Radiative-Hydro Dynamic Simulation of Solid Density Microstructured Plasmas

High energy-density plasmas (HEDP) can reveal much about fundamental plasma phenomena. In order to study these plasmas, we conducted an experiment where we shot lasers at Al foil embedded with Ti microstructures. This created solid-density plasmas of Al and tracer Ti at temperatures of 1 keV, producing x-rays from the Ti. In order to prepare for this experiment and draw predictions, we modeled the plasma using FLASH, a plasma physics code, programming the variables and conditions of the experiment. We simulated the plasma behavior over 20 picoseconds according to a radiative-magnetohydrodynamic model. The simulations demonstrated that the x-rays were being emitted along the Ti strip, starting in the center of the laser heat source and separating into localized regions of high relative intensity which diminished by 6 orders of magnitude by the end of the runtime. The simulations qualitatively demonstrated that the plasma in the experiment would be dominated by electron transport more so than the ions and the radiation, as suggested by the calculated pressure and density parameters. The presence of Ti in the experiment simulation slightly warped the shape of the electron/ion temperature distributions, bending the blast waves of the plasma at the edges and blocking the plasma radiation to mostly propagate within the Al. Overall, these results were important in modeling laser-driven HEDPs and preparing for the design and optimization of solid density plasma experiments.