MEASUREMENT OF RETURN CURRENT IN A LASER-PRODUCED PLASMA

A laser-fusion target's support fiber is heated at large distances from the laser plasma principally by Ohmic heating due to an electrical return current. Optical and electrical measurements demonstrate that return-current heating dominates over other heating mechanics such as hot-electron propagation along the fiber, thermal conduction, and line-of-sight plasma radiation. © 1979 The American Physical Society.