Abstract
Many laser produced plasmas contain ions with different charge-to-mass ratios (Z1/M1≠Z2/M2). We study here the free expansion into a vacuum of a multi-ion species plasma with both single and two elecron temperatures. Numerical solutions for CH2 and SiO2 targets are obtained. Analytic asymptotic solutions are obtained for some limiting cases using perturbation analysis. These numerical and asymptotic solutions are compared with experimental fast ion spectra. It is shown that from the ion velocity spectrum important plasma parameters such as the absolute hot-and cold-electron temperatures, the hot-to cold electron temperature ratio, and the hot-to cold electron density ratio can be estimated. The energy loss associated with the fast ion is also estimated.
