Abstract

A simple two-fluid 1D model is developed from the collisional Vlasov equation, using a Fokker-Planck collision operator. This model is used to study the penetration of a population of suprathermal electrons into a cold background plasma. This is a situation which could result from the absorption of a short-pulsed (100 fsec, 1 μm, 10¹⁸ W/cm²) laser beam by a solid density target. The relative importance of J•E cold background heating, suprathermal collisions, and cold thermal conduction are determined at different temporal stages of the evolution. Simple scaling relations for how the width and temperature of the heated layer of cold electrons evolve with time are presented. The implications of these relations for fast ion generation is also examined.

© 1993 Optical Society of America