THE INTERACTION OF HIGH DENSITY SHORT PULSE LASER WITH MATTER

Abstract

The study of the interaction of High Density Short Pulse (HDSP) lasers with matter is an important rapidly expanding branch of Physics. Since 1985 these lasers have been developed to generate very short pulses with typical high performance parameters: peak powers up to hundreds of TW, pulse duration less than 20 fs, pulse energy more than 2J, repetition rate up to 10 Hz and wavelength of 800nm that could be lowered through higher harmonic generation. When such photons are properly focused on a target, creation of simultaneous unprecedented conditions in the laboratories within very short time takes place, namely: brightness up to 1020 W/cm2, electric fields up to 1011 V/cm, magnetic fields up to 109 gauss, temperatures of the order of 1012 °K, pressures ~109 bars and acceleration of up to 1026cm/s2. These conditions could definitely initiate severe nonlinearities within the exposed materials. The main objective of this paper is to review the studies on particle generation, particularly neutrons, by the interaction of high intensity lasers with solid or gas targets. Then propose their possible applications.