Computational Studies to Understand Scaling in Laser-Driven Tin Ejecta Microjets

Understanding dynamic fragmentation in shock-loaded metals and studying the resulting high-velocity microjets is of considerable importance for applied sciences and engineering applications. The current work presents hydrodynamic simulations of laser-driven microjetting from micron-scale grooves on a tin surface. The simulations supported designing experiments on the OMEGA and OMEGA-EP lasers. Microjet formation is investigated for 3-120 GPa shock pressures, from drives spanning solid on release to melting the target. We examine the effect of variations in target geometry for solid, liquid, and partially melted tin microjets. Model predictions are compared to recent experiments containing geometry and drive variations. Finally, we perform scaling studies of jet formation in the experimental configuration in an effort to link jetting in mm-scale laser experiments with cm-scale gas gun configurations.