Absorption of intense high-contrast sub-picosecond laser pulses in solid targets

The angle dependence of the absorption has been measured for s - and p -polarized light with high-contrast frequency-doubled Ti:sapphire laser pulses of 150 fs duration and a mean intensity of 3 × 10 16 W/cm 2 . With obliquely incident p -polarized laser light an absorption of up to 62% is measured. The results are discussed on the basis of hydrodynamic and PIC simulations. We find that resonance absorption is the main absorption mechanism.