HOT ELECTRON ENERGY DISTRIBUTIONS FROM ULTRA-INTENSE LASER SOLID INTERACTIONS

We present experimental data of electron energy distributions from ultra-intense (>10{sup 19} W/cm{sup 2}) laser-solid interactions using the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Vulcan petawatt laser. These measurements were made using a CCD-based magnetic spectrometer. We present details on the distinct effective temperatures that were obtained for a wide variety of targets as a function of laser intensity. It is found that as the intensity increases from 10{sup 17} W/cm{sup 2} to 10{sup 19} W/cm{sup 2}, a 0.4 dependence on the laser intensity is found. Between 10{sup 19} W/cm{sup 2} and 10{sup 20} W/cm{sup 2}, a gradual rolling off of temperature with intensity is observed