Simulations of Ultra-HED Plasmas Created by Femtosecond Laser Irradiation of Vertically Aligned Nanowire Arrays

We discuss PIC, hydrodynamic, atomic, and radiation transport modeling results of a new approach for the creation of ultra-high energy density multi-Gbar pressure plasmas in the ultrasonic heating regime utilizing femtosecond laser pulse irradiation of vertically aligned nanowire arrays. This regime, initially proposed for sub-critical density plasmas (foam, gas etc targets) and successfully used with large energy ns-duration lasers, was realized here with fs laser pulses by irradiating arrays of vertically aligned metal nanowires which allowed penetration and dissipation of laser radiation in densities 100x the critical density. This leads to the formation of almost classical plasmas that are simultaneously hot and dense, and to the generation of ultra-high pressures and extreme degrees ionizations (eg. Au $+$52). Applications of such plasma to the efficient generation of a point source of short duration multi-keV X-rays and atomic physics studies will be discussed.