On the importance of damping phenomena in clusters irradiated by intense laser fields

Abstract

In this paper, we study within the framework of the nanoplasma model, the dynamics of large clusters irradiated by strong and short laser pulses. We investigate the influence of surface collisions which have not been considered in previous version of this model. We show that they dominate the Inverse Bremstrahlung Collisions when plasmon resonance occur. The dynamics of the cluster changes considerably and the predictions of the model are significantly modified. Moreover, there is no evidence for the presence of highly charged ions and the hydrodynamic pressure is found smaller than the Coulomb one which rule the expansion of the cluster. However, the presence of a double peak structure in the electron spectrum, as observed experimentally, is confirmed by our simulations.