Kinetic simulations of the heating of solid density plasma by femtosecond laser pulses

Experiments have been performed in which fs-timescale laser pulses, focused to an intensity ∼1016 W cm−2, are able to directly create and interact with solid density plasma (1). We have performed one-dimensional simulations of the experiments with a kinetic model which solves Maxwell's equations coupled to the Fokker–Planck equation enabling us to self-consistently model the non-local heat flow and absorption process. We find that the heat-flux is magnetized by the laser field and is inhibited relative to the Spitzer value.