Hydrodynamic Investigations of Intense Subpicosecond Laser–Matter Interaction

A model for the interaction of a short laser with matter is presented. The model is based on the solution of wave-propagation equations in a medium with complex dielectric constant. The model is coupled with multigroup radiation hydrodynamics to take into account the space and time evolution of plasma parameters. The complete code is used to analyze various experiments with laser pulse duration varying from 150 fs to 5 ps and laser intensity varying from 10¹² W/cm² to 10¹⁷ W/cm². The model is also used to study the enhancement in absorption with prepulse