Figure 4

(a) Two-dimensional mass density profile 3 ns after interaction of the ns pulse with structured foam with z as the cylindrical axis of symmetry and the direction of laser pulse propagation, while r axis corresponds to radial direction in foam disk (x, r in µm). Foam parameters: 2 mg/cm³ mass density, 450 µm thickness and 180 µm radial size. The black arrow on the color bar indicates the initial foam density. (b) Profiles of density and temperature generated up to the moment of relativistic pulse interaction with plasma: mass density in g/cm³ (black), electron density, cm⁻³ (blue) and electron temperature in eV (red) along z axis.