RESIDUAL ENERGY IN OPTICAL-FIELD-IONIZED PLASMAS WITH PARTICLE SIMULATION

The space charge effect on residual energy of electrons in optical-fie ld-ionized plasmas is studied in detail by a cloud-in-cell simulation. It is found that a moderate space charge field can restrain ponderomo tive heating and cause a transfer of a part of the kinetic energy of e lectrons into potential energy so that the residual energy of electron s can be reduced effectively. The effects of inverse Bremsstrahlung he ating, stimulated Raman scattering and radiation on electron temperatu re are also briefly discussed. Comparison is made between our results and experimental data.