Simulations of Intense Laser Beams Interacting with Gases and Solids

Abstract

The Los Alamos Bright Source Lasers (LABS I and II) are discussed else-where in this conference1 and in previous publications.2 LABS I generates subpicosecond pulses of 5 eV photons with peak intensities of a few 1017 W/cm2, while LABS II operates with shorter pulses at 4 eV and reaches intensities one order of magnitude higher. These lasers have been focused onto gas and solid targets. The purpose of this paper is to discuss numerical simulations of these experiments.