Prepulse and amplified spontaneous emission effects on the interaction of a petawatt class laser with thin solid targets

Timur Zh. Esirkepov, James K. Koga, Atsushi Sunahara +17

When a finite contrast petawatt laser pulse irradiates a micron-thick foil, a prepulse (including amplified spontaneous emission) creates a preplasma, where an ultrashort relativis…