Plasma induced energy deposition and radiation transport effects in ion beam heated plane metal targets and analytic solutions of the non-linear radiation conduction equation

Abstract

The effects of microscopic energy deposition in hot, dense plasmas and radiation transport in plasmas, on the interaction of ion beams with plane metal targets are investigated in this paper. In order to do this we analyze the plasma dynamics of ablatively accelerated plane metal foils. The physical analysis of these results is achieved by the derivation of solutions of the non-linear radiation conduction equation with boundary temperatures which increase in time. We illustrate, by means of numerical simulations, how range shortening due to plasma effects such as increased energy loss to excited electrons and an increased effective charge due to a reduction in the recombination rate, may be compensated for by radiation transport. The effect of radiation transport and detailed microscopic energy deposition on ion beam implosions, including hydrodynamic instability, is discussed.