Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 November 2000
The hydrodynamic expansion of plasmas produced by laser beams focused on thin-foil targets is studied using a self-similar approach. The model is useful for studying long-scale-length plasmas, produced by uniform laser irradiation, which become fully underdense during the laser pulse. An essentially qualitative analysis of the hydrodynamics system in Cartesian geometry is given. In particular, a useful expression is obtained by integration of the thermal energy equation.