Entire-target, Particle-In-Cell Modeling of Ultra-Intense Laser Experiments with Cone-Coupled Wire Targets

Ultra-intense laser-matter interactions with cone-wire target geometries have been extensively studied both experimentally and theoretically. We present some of the most physically-motivated Particle-In-Cell (PIC) simulations of these experiments to date using the LSP code. These simulations allow us to self-consistently model, everywhere and and over long (15 ps) timescales, the laser-generated E \& B fields and sheath fields that arise on entire mm-scale cone-wire targets. Using FLASH radiative-hydrodynamic simulations of the pre-pulse interaction with the target, these PIC simulations illuminate key trends in total Cu $K\alpha$ fluence in recent experiments performed at the Titan laser without any free parameters. The match between our simulations and the observed $K\alpha$ trends is qualitatively good and we discuss the implications of our results which indicate a critical role played by refluxing through the cone walls.