Observation of Laser Driven Supercritical Radiative Shock Precursors

S. Bouquet (1) , C. Stéhlé (2) , M. Koenig (3) , J. -P. Chièze (4) , A. Benuzzi-Mounaix (3) , D. Batani (5) , S. Leygnac (2) , X. Fleury (1) , H. Merdji (6) , Claire Michaut (2) , F. Thais (4, 6) , N. Grandjouan (3) , T.A. Hall (7) , E. Henry (3, 5) , Victor Malka (3) , J.-P. J. Lafon (8)

1 DPTA - Département de Physique Théorique et Appliquée
2 LUTH (UMR_8102) - Laboratoire Univers et Théories
3 LULI - Laboratoire pour l'utilisation des lasers intenses
4 DAP - Département d'Astrophysique (ex SAP)
5 Dipartimento di Fisica "Giuseppe Occhialini" = Department of Physics "Giuseppe Occhialini" [Milano-Bicocca]
6 SPAM - Service des Photons, Atomes et Molécules
7 University of Essex
8 GEPI - Galaxies, Etoiles, Physique, Instrumentation

We present a supercritical radiative shock experiment performed with the LULI nanosecond laser facility. Using targets filled with xenon gas at low pressure, the propagation of a strong shock with a radiative precursor is evidenced. The main measured shock quantities (electronic density and propagation velocity) are shown to be in good agreement with theory and numerical simulations.

Domaines: Optique [physics.optics]

S. Bouquet, C. Stéhlé, M. Koenig, J. -P. Chièze, A. Benuzzi-Mounaix, et al.. Observation of Laser Driven Supercritical Radiative Shock Precursors. Physical Review Letters, 2004, 92 (22), pp.225001. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.225001⟩. ⟨hal-00508786⟩