Collective dynamics and enhancement of absorption in deformed targets

Absorption of intense femtosecond laser pulses in targets having either sel f-generated or imposed deformations is investigated with Vlasov simulations . Absorption attains high values and scales strongly with the deformation d epth but weakly with density and intensity. Fast electron transport is main ly lateral for thin foils with small ratios of target thickness to deformat ion depth. For thick foils with larger ratios a single magnetic channel for ms.