Formation and propagation of laser-driven plasma jets in an ambient medium studied with X-ray radiography and optical diagnostics

In this paper, we present experimental results obtained on the LULI2000 laser facility regarding structure and dynamics of astrophysical jets propagating in interstellar medium. The jets, generated by using a cone-shaped target, propagate in a nitrogen gas that mimics the interstellar medium. X-ray radiography as well as optical diagnostics were used to probe both high and low density regions. In this paper, we show how collimation of the jets evolves with the gas density.