Enhanced hot-electron production and strong-shock generation in hydrogen-rich ablators for shock ignition.

Experiments were performed with CH, Be, C, and SiO2 ablators interacting with high-intensity UV laser radiation (5×1015 W/cm2, λ=351 nm) to determine the optimum material for hot-electron production and strong-shock generation. Significantly more hot electrons are produced in CH (up to ~13% instantaneous conversion efficiency), while the amount is a factor of ~2 to 3 lower in the other ablators. A larger hot-electron fraction is correlated with a higher effective ablation pressure. The higher conversion efficiency in CH is attributed to stronger damping of ion-acoustic waves because of the presence of light H ions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]