Modeling Ultra-Fast Ionization Dynamics and Electron Transport with Montecarlo Collisional PIC Simulations

We investigate electron transport and ionization dynamics in solid targets driven by ultra-short intense laser pulses, i.e. with intensities I>10¹⁷ W/cm² and pulse durations below 1 ps theoretically. Using multi-dimensional particle-in-cell models that include field- and electron impact ionization, as well as binary collisions between charged particles, we study the propagation of an electron beam-driven ionization front and consider the effect of ionization and collisions on laser energy absorption, energy partition and transport explicitly before the plasma reaches the universal state.