Characterization of Thin-Foil Preformed Plasmas for High-Intensity Laser Plasma Interactions

We observe the electron density distribution of preformed plasmas of a titanium foil target with the 400 nm probe beam as an interferometer. The preformed plasma at the front side of the target is generated by a prepulse with a high-intensity Ti:sapphire laser. On the other hand, the preformed plasma at the rear side is not observed within the region ∼18 μm away from the original surface. The characterization of preformed plasmas will contribute to describe the high-intensity laser and thin-foil interactions.