INVESTIGATION OF THE TURBULENT MIXING OF THIN-LAYERS OF MATERIALS OF DIFFERENT DENSITY DURING THE LASER ACCELERATION OF FLAT MULTILAYER TARGETS IN THE ISKRA-4 FACILITY

The results of the fil st experiments devised to investigate the mixin g of thin layers of Al and Au during the laser acceleration of flat th ree-layer targets of Si (5 mu m), Al (2 mu m), and Au (0.05-0.26 mu m) by radiation converted to the second harmonic from the Iskra-4 iodine laser with an intensity of 4 x 10(13) - 7 x 10(13) W/cm(2) (tau(0.5)s imilar to 1 ns), which acts on the Si side of the target. A method for detecting the occurrence of mixing is developed. It is established th at under the experimental conditions the thickness of the mixing regio n is at least similar to 0.15 mu m. The results of a theoretical analy sis of the evolution of the disturbances leading to mixing are present ed. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.