Dynamics of rare gas nanoclusters irradiated by short and intense laser pulses

We report on a joint experimental–theoretical effort to shed light on the dynamics of rare gas (Ar) nanoclusters irradiated by short and intense laser pulses. The experiments employ a streak camera coupled to a conical crystal to yield energy- and time-resolved X-ray spectra, in the keV range on picosecond scale. These spectra display ultrafast subpicosecond ionization dynamics, leading to highly charged states such as Ar16+, and indicate that the duration of the energetic X-rays is less than the experimental 1.3 ps temporal resolution. The theoretical calculations rely on the well-known nanoplasma model, which has been improved to represent the collisional ionization processes that are of importance in nanoplasma dynamics. Allowance is made for high-order ionization transitions involving intermediate excited states. The simulations indicate significant populations of excited states of highly charged ions, in agreement with the experimental findings. Further, detailed collisional-radiative calculations indicate that the duration of the X-ray bursts is less than 100 fs.