Shock waves generated by intense femtosecond lasers

Summary form only given. To examine the basic properties of shock waves generated by intense femtosecond lasers, we use a one-dimensional hydrodynamic code which is coupled to an electromagnetic wave solver. The latter is used to treat the coupling of the pump laser radiation to the sample and the interaction of an optical probe with the shock wave. Calculations have been made for a pump laser with a wavelength of 400 nm, pulse length of 120 fs (FWHM) and irradiances ranging from 10/sup 14/-10/sup 16/ W/cm/sup 2/. Aluminum is used as a material standard in our calculations because it is a simple metal and there is a relatively broad knowledge of its physical properties, both theoretically and experimentally. To describe the plasma and shock states produced, we use the quotidian equation of state QEOS and conductivities derived from the dense plasma model of Lee and More. Thermal equilibriation between electrons and ions is treated in a conduction-relaxation model.