Relativistic electron drift in overdense plasma produced by a superintense femtosecond laser pulse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rastunkov, V.S.; Krainov, V.P.

2004-01-01

The general peculiarities of electron motion in the skin layer at the irradiation of overdense plasma by a superintense linearly polarized laser pulse of femtosecond duration are considered. The quiver electron energy is assumed to be a relativistic quantity. Relativistic electron drift along the propagation of laser radiation produced by a magnetic part of a laser field remains after the end of the laser pulse, unlike the relativistic drift of a free electron in underdense plasma. As a result, the penetration depth is much larger than the classical skin depth. The conclusion has been made that the drift velocity is a nonrelativistic quantity even at the peak laser intensity of 10 21 W/cm 2 . The time at which an electron penetrates into field-free matter from the skin layer is much less than the pulse duration

Relativistic self-focusing of ultra-high intensity X-ray laser beams in warm quantum plasma with upward density profile

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Habibi, M.; Ghamari, F.

2014-01-01

The results of a numerical study of high-intensity X-ray laser beam interaction with warm quantum plasma (WQP) are presented. By means of an upward ramp density profile combined with quantum factors specially the Fermi velocity, we have demonstrated significant relativistic self-focusing (RSF) of a Gaussian electromagnetic beam in the WQP where the Fermi temperature term in the dielectric function is important. For this purpose, we have considered the quantum hydrodynamics model that modifies refractive index of inhomogeneous WQPs with the inclusion of quantum correction through the quantum statistical and diffraction effects in the relativistic regime. Also, to better illustration of the physical difference between warm and cold quantum plasmas and their effect on the RSF, we have derived the envelope equation governing the spot size of X-ray laser beam in Q-plasmas. In addition to the upward ramp density profile, we have found that the quantum effects would be caused much higher oscillation and better focusing of X-ray laser beam in the WQP compared to that of cold quantum case. Our computational results reveal the importance of the use of electrons density profile and Fermi speed in enhancing self-focusing of laser beam

Ultra-intense laser pulse propagation in plasmas: from classic hole-boring to incomplete hole-boring with relativistic transparency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weng, S M; Murakami, M; Mulser, P; Sheng, Z M

2012-01-01

Relativistic laser pulse propagation into homogeneous plasmas has been investigated as a function of plasma density. At first, the propagation features are compared systematically between relativistic transparency (RT) and hole-boring (HB). Paramountly, a considerably broad intermediate regime, namely the incomplete HB regime, has been found between the RT regime and the HB regime for an extremely intense circularly polarized (CP) pulse. In this regime HB proceeds in collaboration with RT, resulting in a much faster propagation speed and a higher cut-off energy of fast ions than in the classic HB regime. Similarly to the classic HB regime, formulae are presented to model the laser propagation and the ion acceleration according to the modified momentum flux balance in this incomplete HB regime. The simulations give the density boundary between this incomplete HB regime and the classic HB regime for CP pulses, which is crucial for estimating the maximum mean ion energy and the maximum conversion efficiency that can be achieved by the classic HB acceleration at a given laser intensity. For linear polarization (LP) the propagation mechanism apparently undergoes a transition in time between these two regimes. A detailed comparison between LP and circular polarization is made for these phenomena. (paper)

Time-resolved plasma spectroscopy of thin foils heated by a relativistic-intensity short-pulse laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Audebert, P.; Gauthier, J.-C.; Shepherd, R.; Fournier, K.B.; Price, D.; Lee, R.W.; Springer, P.; Peyrusse, O.; Klein, L.

2002-01-01

Time-resolved K-shell x-ray spectra are recorded from sub-100 nm aluminum foils irradiated by 150-fs laser pulses at relativistic intensities of Iλ 2 =2x10 18 W μm 2 /cm 2 . The thermal penetration depth is greater than the foil thickness in these targets so that uniform heating takes place at constant density before hydrodynamic motion occurs. The high-contrast, high-intensity laser pulse, broad spectral band, and short time resolution utilized in this experiment permit a simplified interpretation of the dynamical evolution of the radiating matter. The observed spectrum displays two distinct phases. At early time, ≤500 fs after detecting target emission, a broad quasicontinuous spectral feature with strong satellite emission from multiply excited levels is seen. At a later time, the He-like resonance line emission is dominant. The time-integrated data is in accord with previous studies with time resolution greater than 1 ps. The early time satellite emission is shown to be a signature of an initial large area, high density, low-temperature plasma created in the foil by fast electrons accelerated by the intense radiation field in the laser spot. We conclude that, because of this early time phenomenon and contrary to previous predictions, a short, high-intensity laser pulse incident on a thin foil does not create a uniform hot and dense plasma. The heating mechanism has been studied as a function of foil thickness, laser pulse length, and intensity. In addition, the spectra are found to be in broad agreement with a hydrodynamic expansion code postprocessed by a collisional-radiative model based on superconfiguration average rates and on the unresolved transition array formalism

Dynamics of intense laser channel formation in an underdense plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davis, J.; Petrov, G.M.; Velikovich, A.L.

2005-01-01

Efficient guiding and propagation of multi-keV x-rays in plasmas can be achieved by dynamically modifying the media through plasma channel formation. The dynamics of plasma channel formation is studied in preformed underdense plasma irradiated by a high intensity laser. This is done by a two-dimensional model coupling laser propagation to a relativistic particle-in-cell model. For laser intensity of 10 20 W/cm 2 and a laser beam width of 5 μm the channel formation proceeds on a time scale of 60-70 fs in uniform plasma with density 10 18 cm -3 . The channel closes shortly after the rear of the laser pulse has passed due to Coulomb attraction from the ion core. Electron cavitation occurs only if the laser intensity is above a certain threshold intensity and the laser pulse duration exceeds 100 fs. X-ray generation and propagation is feasible for ultrarelativistic laser pulses with small beam width, less than ∼20 μm, and duration of more than 100 fs

Relativistic electron mirrors from high intensity laser nanofoil interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kiefer, Daniel

2012-01-01

The reflection of a laser pulse from a mirror moving close to the speed of light could in principle create an X-ray pulse with unprecedented high brightness owing to the increase in photon energy and accompanying temporal compression by a factor of 4γ 2 , where γ is the Lorentz factor of the mirror. While this scheme is theoretically intriguingly simple and was first discussed by A. Einstein more than a century ago, the generation of a relativistic structure which acts as a mirror is demanding in many different aspects. Recently, the interaction of a high intensity laser pulse with a nanometer thin foil has raised great interest as it promises the creation of a dense, attosecond short, relativistic electron bunch capable of forming a mirror structure that scatters counter-propagating light coherently and shifts its frequency to higher photon energies. However, so far, this novel concept has been discussed only in theoretical studies using highly idealized interaction parameters. This thesis investigates the generation of a relativistic electron mirror from a nanometer foil with current state-of-the-art high intensity laser pulses and demonstrates for the first time the reflection from those structures in an experiment. To achieve this result, the electron acceleration from high intensity laser nanometer foil interactions was studied in a series of experiments using three inherently different high power laser systems and free-standing foils as thin as 3nm. A drastic increase in the electron energies was observed when reducing the target thickness from the micrometer to the nanometer scale. Quasi-monoenergetic electron beams were measured for the first time from ultrathin (≤5nm) foils, reaching energies up to ∝35MeV. The acceleration process was studied in simulations well-adapted to the experiments, indicating the transition from plasma to free electron dynamics as the target thickness is reduced to the few nanometer range. The experience gained from those

Relativistic electron mirrors from high intensity laser nanofoil interactions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kiefer, Daniel

2012-12-21

The reflection of a laser pulse from a mirror moving close to the speed of light could in principle create an X-ray pulse with unprecedented high brightness owing to the increase in photon energy and accompanying temporal compression by a factor of 4γ{sup 2}, where γ is the Lorentz factor of the mirror. While this scheme is theoretically intriguingly simple and was first discussed by A. Einstein more than a century ago, the generation of a relativistic structure which acts as a mirror is demanding in many different aspects. Recently, the interaction of a high intensity laser pulse with a nanometer thin foil has raised great interest as it promises the creation of a dense, attosecond short, relativistic electron bunch capable of forming a mirror structure that scatters counter-propagating light coherently and shifts its frequency to higher photon energies. However, so far, this novel concept has been discussed only in theoretical studies using highly idealized interaction parameters. This thesis investigates the generation of a relativistic electron mirror from a nanometer foil with current state-of-the-art high intensity laser pulses and demonstrates for the first time the reflection from those structures in an experiment. To achieve this result, the electron acceleration from high intensity laser nanometer foil interactions was studied in a series of experiments using three inherently different high power laser systems and free-standing foils as thin as 3nm. A drastic increase in the electron energies was observed when reducing the target thickness from the micrometer to the nanometer scale. Quasi-monoenergetic electron beams were measured for the first time from ultrathin (≤5nm) foils, reaching energies up to ∝35MeV. The acceleration process was studied in simulations well-adapted to the experiments, indicating the transition from plasma to free electron dynamics as the target thickness is reduced to the few nanometer range. The experience gained from those

Ultra-relativistic ion acceleration in the laser-plasma interactions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huang Yongsheng; Wang Naiyan; Tang Xiuzhang; Shi Yijin [China Institute of Atomic Energy, Beijing 102413 (China); Xueqing Yan [Institute of Heavy Ion Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871 (China)

2012-09-15

An analytical relativistic model is proposed to describe the relativistic ion acceleration in the interaction of ultra-intense laser pulses with thin-foil plasmas. It is found that there is a critical value of the ion momentum to make sure that the ions are trapped by the light sail and accelerated in the radiation pressure acceleration (RPA) region. If the initial ion momentum is smaller than the critical value, that is in the classical case of RPA, the potential has a deep well and traps the ions to be accelerated, as the same described before by simulation results [Eliasson et al., New J. Phys. 11, 073006 (2009)]. There is a new ion acceleration region different from RPA, called ultra-relativistic acceleration, if the ion momentum exceeds the critical value. In this case, ions will experience a potential downhill. The dependence of the ion momentum and the self-similar variable at the ion front on the acceleration time has been obtained. In the ultra-relativistic limit, the ion momentum at the ion front is proportional to t{sup 4/5}, where t is the acceleration time. In our analytical hydrodynamical model, it is naturally predicted that the ion distribution from RPA is not monoenergetic, although the phase-stable acceleration mechanism is effective. The critical conditions of the laser and plasma parameters which identify the two acceleration modes have been achieved.

Ultra-relativistic ion acceleration in the laser-plasma interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Yongsheng; Wang Naiyan; Tang Xiuzhang; Shi Yijin; Xueqing Yan

2012-01-01

An analytical relativistic model is proposed to describe the relativistic ion acceleration in the interaction of ultra-intense laser pulses with thin-foil plasmas. It is found that there is a critical value of the ion momentum to make sure that the ions are trapped by the light sail and accelerated in the radiation pressure acceleration (RPA) region. If the initial ion momentum is smaller than the critical value, that is in the classical case of RPA, the potential has a deep well and traps the ions to be accelerated, as the same described before by simulation results [Eliasson et al., New J. Phys. 11, 073006 (2009)]. There is a new ion acceleration region different from RPA, called ultra-relativistic acceleration, if the ion momentum exceeds the critical value. In this case, ions will experience a potential downhill. The dependence of the ion momentum and the self-similar variable at the ion front on the acceleration time has been obtained. In the ultra-relativistic limit, the ion momentum at the ion front is proportional to t 4/5 , where t is the acceleration time. In our analytical hydrodynamical model, it is naturally predicted that the ion distribution from RPA is not monoenergetic, although the phase-stable acceleration mechanism is effective. The critical conditions of the laser and plasma parameters which identify the two acceleration modes have been achieved.

Stationary self-focusing of Gaussian laser beam in relativistic thermal quantum plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patil, S. D.; Takale, M. V.

2013-01-01

In the present paper, we have employed the quantum dielectric response in thermal quantum plasma to model relativistic self-focusing of Gaussian laser beam in a plasma. We have presented an extensive parametric investigation of the dependence of beam-width parameter on distance of propagation in relativistic thermal quantum plasma. We have studied the role of Fermi temperature in the phenomenon of self-focusing. It is found that the quantum effects cause much higher oscillations of beam-width parameter and better relativistic focusing of laser beam in thermal quantum plasma in comparison with that in the relativistic cold quantum plasma and classical relativistic plasma. Our computations show more reliable results in comparison to the previous works

Theory of relativistic radiation reflection from plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Gonoskov, Arkady

2018-01-01

We consider the reflection of relativistically strong radiation from plasma and identify the physical origin of the electrons' tendency to form a thin sheet, which maintains its localisation throughout its motion. Thereby, we justify the principle of relativistic electronic spring (RES) proposed in [Gonoskov et al., Phys. Rev. E 84, 046403 (2011)]. Using the RES principle, we derive a closed set of differential equations that describe the reflection of radiation with arbitrary variation of polarization and intensity from plasma with an arbitrary density profile for an arbitrary angle of incidence. We confirm with ab initio PIC simulations that the developed theory accurately describes laser-plasma interactions in the regime where the reflection of relativistically strong radiation is accompanied by significant, repeated relocation of plasma electrons. In particular, the theory can be applied for the studies of plasma heating and coherent and incoherent emissions in the RES regime of high-intensity laser-plasma interaction.

Topics in high-intensity laser plasma interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leemans, W.P.

1991-01-01

The interaction of high intensity laser pulses with pre-formed and laser-produced plasmas is studied. Through experiments and simulations we have investigated stimulated Compton scattering in preformed plasmas and the plasma physics aspects of tunnel-ionized gases. A theoretical study is presented on the nonlinear dynamics of relativistic plasma waves driven by colinear optical mixing. The electron density-fluctuation spectra induced by stimulated Compton scattering have been directly observed for the first time. A CO2 laser was focused into pre-formed plasmas with densities n(e) varied from 0.4-6 x 10(exp 16) cu cm. The fluctuations corresponding to backscatter were probed using Thomson scattering. At low n(e), the scattered spectra peak at a frequency shift Delta omega is approximately kv e and appears to be in a linear regime. At the highest n(e), a nonlinear saturation of the SCS instability is observed due to a self-induced perturbation of the electron distribution function. Tunnel-ionized plasmas have been studied through experiments and particle simulations. Experimentally, qualitative evidence for plasma temperature control by varying the laser polarization was obtained by the measurement of stimulated Compton scattering fluctuation spectra and x-ray emission from such plasmas. A higher parallel temperature than expected from the single-particle tunneling model was observed. Simulations indicate that stochastic heating and the Weibel instability play an important role in plasma heating in all directions and isotropization. The non-linear dynamics associated with beatwave (Delta omega, Delta k) excited long wavelength plasma waves in the presence of strong, short wavelength density ripple have been examined, using the relativistic Lagrangian oscillator model. This model shows period doubling that roughly follows Feigenbaum scaling, and a transition to chaos

Relativistic magnetic reconnection driven by a moderately intense laser interacting with a micro-plasma-slab

Science.gov (United States)

Yi, Longqing; Shen, Baifei; Pukhov, Alexander; Fülöp, Tünde

2017-10-01

Magnetic reconnection (MR) in the relativistic regime is generally thought to be responsible for powering rapid bursts of non-thermal radiation in astrophysical events. It is therefore of significant importance to study how the field energy is transferred to the plasma to power the observed emission. However, due to the difficulty in making direct measurements in astrophysical systems or achieving relativistic MR in laboratory environments, the particle acceleration is usually studied using fully kinetic PIC simulations. Here we present a numerical study of a readily available (TW-mJ-class) laser interacting with a micro-scale plasma slab. The simulations show when the electron beams excited on both sides of the slab approach the end of the plasma structure, ultrafast relativistic MR occurs. As the field topology changes, the explosive release of magnetic energy results in emission of relativistic electron jets with cut-off energy 12 MeV. The proposed novel scenario can be straightforwardly implemented in experiments, and might significantly improve the understanding of fundamental questions such as field dissipation and particle acceleration in relativistic MR. This work is supported by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and the European Research Council (ERC-2014-CoG Grant 64712).

Simulation of intense short-pulse laser-plasma interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamagiwa, Mitsuru

2000-01-01

We have completed the massive parallelization of a 2-dimensional giga-particle code and have achieved a 530-fold acceleration rate with 512 processing elements (PE's). Using this we have implemented a simulation of the interaction of a solid thin film and a high intensity laser and have discovered a phenomenon in which high quality short pulses from the far ultraviolet to soft X-rays are generated at the back surface of the thin layer. We have also introduced the atomic process database code (Hullac) and have the possibility for high precision simulations of X-ray laser radiation. With respect to laser acceleration we have the possibility to quantitatively evaluate relativistic self-focusing assumed to occur in higher intensity fields. Ion acceleration from a solid target and an underdense plasma irradiated by an intense and an ultra intense laser, respectively, has also been studied by particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. (author)

Effect of radiation damping on the interaction of ultra-intense laser pulses with an overdense plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhidkov, Alexei; Koga, James; Sasaki, Akira; Ueshima, Yutaka

2001-01-01

The effect of radiation damping on the interaction of an ultra-intense laser pulse with an overdense plasma is studied via relativistic particle-in-cell simulation. The calculation is performed for a Cu solid slab including ionization. We find a strong effect from radiation damping on the electron energy cut-off at about 150 MeV and on the absorption of a laser pulse with an intensity I=5x10 22 W/cm 2 and duration of 20 fs. Hot electrons reradiate more then 10% of the laser energy during the laser pulse. With the laser intensity, the energy loss due to the radiation damping increases as I 3 . In addition, we observe that the laser pulse may not propagate in the plasma even if ω pl 2 /ω 2 γ<1. The increase of skin depth with the laser intensity due to relativistic effects gives rise to the absorption efficiency. (author)

Intense EM filamentation in relativistic hot plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hu, Qiang-Lin [Department of Physics, Jinggangshan University, Ji' an, Jiangxi 343009 (China); Chen, Zhong-Ping [Department of Physics and Institute for Fusion Studies, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712 (United States); Mahajan, Swadesh M., E-mail: mahajan@mail.utexas.edu [Department of Physics and Institute for Fusion Studies, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712 (United States); Department of Physics, School of Natural Sciences, Shiv Nadar University, Uttar Pradesh 201314 (India)

2017-03-03

Highlights: • Breaking up of an intense EM pulse into filaments is a spectacular demonstration of the nonlinear wave-plasma interaction. • Filaments are spectacularly sharper, highly extended and longer lived at relativistic temperatures. • EM energy concentration can trigger new nonlinear phenomena with absolute consequences for high energy density matter. - Abstract: Through 2D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations, we demonstrate that the nature of filamentation of a high intensity electromagnetic (EM) pulse propagating in an underdense plasma, is profoundly affected at relativistically high temperatures. The “relativistic” filaments are sharper, are dramatically extended (along the direction of propagation), and live much longer than their lower temperature counterparts. The thermally boosted electron inertia is invoked to understand this very interesting and powerful phenomenon.

Propagation of an asymmetric relativistic laser pulse in plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garuchava, D.P.; Murusidze, I.G.; Suramlishvili, G.I.; Tsintsadze, N.L.; Tskhakaya, D.D.

1997-01-01

The interaction of a relativistically intense asymmetric laser pulse with a plasma has been studied. The asymmetric shape of the pulse implies that the rise time of the leading edge of the pulse is much greater than the fall time of the trailing edge. The numerical simulation of the propagation of such a pulse through an underdense plasma has shown that relativistic self-focusing enhances the effect of ponderomotive self-channeling. The radial ponderomotive force totally expels the electrons from the axis creating a density channel, that is, cavitation occurs. A very short fall time of the trailing edge (τ l ω p <1) causes a rapid increase in the amplitude of a laser driven longitudinal electric field to values of a few GV/cm at the back of the pulse. The numerical simulation also has shown that the channel as well as the large-amplitude longitudinal field can be sustained in the range immediately behind the pulse, thus creating favorable conditions to accelerate a trailing bunch of electrons to extremely high energies. According to our model, the accelerating electric field can reach the value 10 GV/cm. copyright 1997 The American Physical Society

Higher-order paraxial theory of the propagation of ring rippled laser beam in plasma: Relativistic ponderomotive regime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Purohit, Gunjan; Rawat, Priyanka; Chauhan, Prashant; Mahmoud, Saleh T.

2015-01-01

This article presents higher-order paraxial theory (non-paraxial theory) for the ring ripple formation on an intense Gaussian laser beam and its propagation in plasma, taking into account the relativistic-ponderomotive nonlinearity. The intensity dependent dielectric constant of the plasma has been determined for the main laser beam and ring ripple superimposed on the main laser beam. The dielectric constant of the plasma is modified due to the contribution of the electric field vector of ring ripple. Nonlinear differential equations have been formulated to examine the growth of ring ripple in plasma, self focusing of main laser beam, and ring rippled laser beam in plasma using higher-order paraxial theory. These equations have been solved numerically for different laser intensities and plasma frequencies. The well established experimental laser and plasma parameters are used in numerical calculation. It is observed that the focusing of the laser beams (main and ring rippled) becomes fast in the nonparaxial region by expanding the eikonal and other relevant quantities up to the fourth power of r. The splitted profile of laser beam in the plasma is observed due to uneven focusing/defocusing of the axial and off-axial rays. The growths of ring ripple increase when the laser beam intensity increases. Furthermore, the intensity profile of ring rippled laser beam gets modified due to the contribution of growth rate

Review of physics and applications of relativistic plasmas driven by ultra-intense lasers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Umstadter, Donald

2001-01-01

As tabletop lasers continue to reach record levels of peak power, the interaction of light with matter has crossed a new threshold, in which plasma electrons at the laser focus oscillate at relativistic velocities. The highest forces ever exerted by light have been used to accelerate beams of electrons and protons to energies of a million volts in distances of only microns. Not only is this acceleration gradient up to a thousand times greater than in radio-frequency-based sources, but the transverse emittance of the particle beams is comparable or lower. Additionally, laser-based accelerators have been demonstrated to work at a repetition rate of 10 Hz, an improvement of a factor of 1000 over their best performance of just a couple of years ago. Anticipated improvements in energy spread may allow these novel compact laser-based radiation sources to be useful someday for cancer radiotherapy and as injectors into conventional accelerators, which are critical tools for x-ray and nuclear physics research. They might also be used as a spark to ignite controlled thermonuclear fusion. The ultrashort pulse duration of these particle bursts and the x rays they can produce, hold great promise as well to resolve chemical, biological or physical reactions on ultrafast (femtosecond) time scales and on the spatial scale of atoms. Even laser-accelerated protons are soon expected to become relativistic. The dense electron-positron plasmas and vast array of nuclear reactions predicted to occur in this case might even help bring astrophysical phenomena down to Earth, into university laboratories. This paper reviews the many recent advances in this emerging discipline, called high-field science

Relativistic degenerate electron plasma in an intense magnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Delsante, A.E.; Frankel, N.E.

1978-01-01

The dielectric response function for a dense, ultra-degenerate relativistic electron plasma in an intense uniform magnetic field is presented. Dispersion relations for plasma oscillations parallel and perpendicular to the magnetic field are obtained

The interaction of intense subpicosecond laser pulses with underdense plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Coverdale, Christine Ann [Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States)

1995-05-11

Laser-plasma interactions have been of interest for many years not only from a basic physics standpoint, but also for their relevance to numerous applications. Advances in laser technology in recent years have resulted in compact laser systems capable of generating (psec), 10¹⁶ W/cm² laser pulses. These lasers have provided a new regime in which to study laser-plasma interactions, a regime characterized by L_plasma ≥ 2L_Rayleigh > cτ. The goal of this dissertation is to experimentally characterize the interaction of a short pulse, high intensity laser with an underdense plasma (n_o ≤ 0.05n_cr). Specifically, the parametric instability known as stimulated Raman scatter (SRS) is investigated to determine its behavior when driven by a short, intense laser pulse. Both the forward Raman scatter instability and backscattered Raman instability are studied. The coupled partial differential equations which describe the growth of SRS are reviewed and solved for typical experimental laser and plasma parameters. This solution shows the growth of the waves (electron plasma and scattered light) generated via stimulated Raman scatter. The dispersion relation is also derived and solved for experimentally accessible parameters. The solution of the dispersion relation is used to predict where (in k-space) and at what frequency (in ω-space) the instability will grow. Both the nonrelativistic and relativistic regimes of the instability are considered.

Synchrotron radiation based on laser-plasma interaction in the relativistic range

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Albert, F.

2007-12-01

This work illustrates the experimental characterization of a new compact X-ray source: the Betatron X-ray source. It is the first time that collimated hard X-ray source is produced by laser. Through the focusing of an ultra-intense laser radiation (30 TW, 30 fs) on a helium plasma, the ponderomotive force linked to the light intensity gradient expels the plasma electrons forming an accelerating cavity in the wake of the laser plasma. Some electrons trapped in the back of this structure, are accelerated and oscillate to produce X-radiation. This document is composed of 8 chapters. The first one is a presentation of the topic. The second chapter gives an account of the physics behind the laser-plasma interaction in the relativistic range and for ultra-short pulses. The third chapter presents the theoretical characteristics of the Betatron X-ray source. This chapter begins with an analogy with current synchrotron radiation and the radiation emitted by an electron undergoing Betatron oscillations is described in terms of power, spectral intensity and photon flux. The fourth chapter is dedicated to the numerical simulation of the Betatron radiation. The trajectories of the electrons are computed from the equation of motion, taking into account longitudinal and transverse forces. The radiation emission term is then computed from the radiation equation detailed in the previous chapter. The fifth chapter presents the experimental setting to produce Betatron X-rays. The sixth chapter gives the experimental characterization of the source (size, divergence and spectrum) on one hand, and on the other hand studies how source flux and spectra vary when laser and plasma parameters change. The seventh chapter presents experimental methods used to characterize the electrons trajectories in the plasma wiggler. The last chapter draws some perspectives on this source in terms of improvement and uses. (A.C.)

Dependence of high order harmonics intensity on laser focal spot position in preformed plasma plumes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singhal, H.; Ganeev, R.; Naik, P. A.; Arora, V.; Chakravarty, U.; Gupta, P. D.

2008-01-01

The dependence of the high-order harmonic intensity on the laser focal spot position in laser produced plasma plumes is experimentally studied. High order harmonics up to the 59th order (λ∼13.5 nm) were generated by focusing 48 fs laser pulses from a Ti:sapphire laser system in silver plasma plume produced using 300 ps uncompressed laser radiation as the prepulse. The intensity of harmonics nearly vanished when the best focus was located in the plume center, whereas it peaked on either side with unequal intensity. The focal spot position corresponding to the peak harmonic intensity moved away from the plume center for higher order harmonics. The results are explained in terms of the variation of phase mismatch between the driving laser beam and harmonics radiation produced, relativistic drift of electrons, and defocusing effect due to radial ionization gradient in the plasma for different focal spot positions

Electron Acceleration and the Propagation of Ultrashort High-Intensity Laser Pulses in Plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Xiaofang; Krishnan, Mohan; Saleh, Ned; Wang, Haiwen; Umstadter, Donald

2000-01-01

Reported are interactions of high-intensity laser pulses (λ=810 nm and I≤3x10 18 W /cm 2 ) with plasmas in a new parameter regime, in which the pulse duration (τ=29 fs ) corresponds to 0.6-2.6 plasma periods. Relativistic filamentation is observed to cause laser-beam breakup and scattering of the beam out of the vacuum propagation angle. A beam of megaelectronvolt electrons with divergence angle as small as 1 degree sign is generated in the forward direction, which is correlated to the growth of the relativistic filamentation. Raman scattering, however, is found to be much less than previous long-pulse results. (c) 2000 The American Physical Society

Generation of highly collimated high-current ion beams by skin-layer laser-plasma interaction at relativistic laser intensities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Badziak, J.; Jablonski, S.; Glowacz, S.

2006-01-01

Generation of fast ion beams by laser-induced skin-layer ponderomotive acceleration has been studied using a two-dimensional (2D) two-fluid relativistic computer code. It is shown that the key parameter determining the spatial structure and angular divergence of the ion beam is the ratio d L /L n , where d L is the laser beam diameter and L n is the plasma density gradient scale length. When d L >>L n , a dense highly collimated megaampere ion (proton) beam of the ion current density approaching TA/cm 2 can be generated by skin-layer ponderomotive acceleration, even with a tabletop subpicosecond laser

Radiation sources based on laser-plasma interactions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jaroszynski, D.A.; Bingham, R.; Brunetti, E.; Ersfeld, B.; Gallacher, J.G.; Geer, van der S.B.; Issac, R.; Jamison, S.P.; Jones, D.; Loos, de M.J.; Lyachev, A.; Pavlov, V.M.; Reitsma, A.J.W.; Saveliev, Y.M.; Vieux, G.; Wiggins, S.M.

2006-01-01

Plasma waves excited by intense laser beams can be harnessed to produce femtosecond duration bunches of electrons with relativistic energies. The very large electrostatic forces of plasma density wakes trailing behind an intense laser pulse provide field potentials capable of accelerating charged

Specular Reflectivity and Hot-Electron Generation in High-Contrast Relativistic Laser-Plasma Interactions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kemp, Gregory Elijah [The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)

2013-01-01

Ultra-intense laser (> 1018 W/cm2) interactions with matter are capable of producing relativistic electrons which have a variety of applications in state-of-the-art scientific and medical research conducted at universities and national laboratories across the world. Control of various aspects of these hot-electron distributions is highly desired to optimize a particular outcome. Hot-electron generation in low-contrast interactions, where significant amounts of under-dense pre-plasma are present, can be plagued by highly non-linear relativistic laser-plasma instabilities and quasi-static magnetic field generation, often resulting in less than desirable and predictable electron source characteristics. High-contrast interactions offer more controlled interactions but often at the cost of overall lower coupling and increased sensitivity to initial target conditions. An experiment studying the differences in hot-electron generation between high and low-contrast pulse interactions with solid density targets was performed on the Titan laser platform at the Jupiter Laser Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, CA. To date, these hot-electrons generated in the laboratory are not directly observable at the source of the interaction. Instead, indirect studies are performed using state-of-the-art simulations, constrained by the various experimental measurements. These measurements, more-often-than-not, rely on secondary processes generated by the transport of these electrons through the solid density materials which can susceptible to a variety instabilities and target material/geometry effects. Although often neglected in these types of studies, the specularly reflected light can provide invaluable insight as it is directly influenced by the interaction. In this thesis, I address the use of (personally obtained) experimental specular reflectivity measurements to indirectly study hot-electron generation in the context of high-contrast, relativistic

The effect of pre-plasma formation under nonlocal transport conditions for ultra-relativistic laser-plasma interaction

Science.gov (United States)

Holec, M.; Nikl, J.; Vranic, M.; Weber, S.

2018-04-01

Interaction of high-power lasers with solid targets is in general strongly affected by the limited contrast available. The laser pre-pulse ionizes the target and produces a pre-plasma which can strongly modify the interaction of the main part of the laser pulse with the target. This is of particular importance for future experiments which will use laser intensities above 1021 W cm-2 and which are subject to the limited contrast. As a consequence the main part of the laser pulse will be modified while traversing the pre-plasma, interacting with it partially. A further complication arises from the fact that the interaction of a high-power pre-pulse with solid targets very often takes place under nonlocal transport conditions, i.e. the characteristic mean-free-path of the particles and photons is larger than the characteristic scale-lengths of density and temperature. The classical diffusion treatment of radiation and heat transport in the hydrodynamic model is then insufficient for the description of the pre-pulse physics. These phenomena also strongly modify the formation of the pre-plasma which in turn affects the propagation of the main laser pulse. In this paper nonlocal radiation-hydrodynamic simulations are carried out and serve as input for subsequent kinetic simulations of ultra-high intensity laser pulses interacting with the plasma in the ultra-relativistic regime. It is shown that the results of the kinetic simulations differ considerably whether a diffusive or nonlocal transport is used for the radiation-hydrodynamic simulations.

High field terahertz emission from relativistic laser-driven plasma wakefields

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen, Zi-Yu, E-mail: Ziyu.Chen@uni-duesseldorf.de [Institut für Theoretische Physik I, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf 40225 (Germany); LSD, Institute of Fluid Physics, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621999 (China); Pukhov, Alexander [Institut für Theoretische Physik I, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf 40225 (Germany)

2015-10-15

We propose a method to generate high field terahertz (THz) radiation with peak strength of GV/cm level in the THz frequency gap range of 1–10 THz using a relativistic laser interaction with a gaseous plasma target. Due to the effect of local pump depletion, an initially Gaussian laser pulse undergoes leading edge erosion and eventually evolves to a state with leading edge being step function. Interacting with such a pulse, electrons gain transverse residual momentum and excite net transverse currents modulated by the relativistic plasma frequency. These currents give rise to the low frequency THz emission. We demonstrate this process with one and two dimensional particle-in-cell simulations.

Cooling rates and intensity limitations for laser-cooled ions at relativistic energies

Science.gov (United States)

Eidam, Lewin; Boine-Frankenheim, Oliver; Winters, Danyal

2018-04-01

The ability of laser cooling for relativistic ion beams is investigated. For this purpose, the excitation of relativistic ions with a continuous wave and a pulsed laser is analyzed, utilizing the optical Bloch equations. The laser cooling force is derived in detail and its scaling with the relativistic factor γ is discussed. The cooling processes with a continuous wave and a pulsed laser system are investigated. Optimized cooling scenarios and times are obtained in order to determine the required properties of the laser and the ion beam for the planed experiments. The impact of beam intensity effects, like intrabeam scattering and space charge are analyzed. Predictions from simplified models are compared to particle-in-cell simulations and are found to be in good agreement. Finally two realistic example cases of Carbon ions in the ESR and relativistic Titanium ions in SIS100 are compared in order to discuss prospects for future laser cooling experiments.

Particle-in-cell simulations of high energy electron production by intense laser pulses in underdense plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Susumu, Kato; Eisuke, Miura; Kazuyoshi, Koyama; Mitsumori, Tanimoto; Masahiro, Adachi

2004-01-01

The propagation of intense laser pulses and the generation of high energy electrons from underdense plasmas are investigated using two dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. When the ratio of the laser power to the critical power of relativistic self-focusing gets the optimal value, the laser pulse propagates in a steady way and electrons have maximum energies. (author)

Particle-in-cell simulations of high energy electron production by intense laser pulses in underdense plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Susumu, Kato; Eisuke, Miura; Kazuyoshi, Koyama [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Japan); Mitsumori, Tanimoto [Meisei Univ., Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Hino, Tokyo (Japan); Masahiro, Adachi [Hiroshima Univ., Graduate school of Advanced Science of Matter, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima (Japan)

2004-07-01

The propagation of intense laser pulses and the generation of high energy electrons from underdense plasmas are investigated using two dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. When the ratio of the laser power to the critical power of relativistic self-focusing gets the optimal value, the laser pulse propagates in a steady way and electrons have maximum energies. (author)

Optimization and application of electron acceleration in relativistic laser plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koenigstein, Thomas

2013-01-01

This thesis describes experiments and simulations of the acceleration of electrons to relativistic energies (toward γ e ∼ 10 3 ) by structures in plasmas which are generated by ultrashort (pulse length < 10 -14 s) laser pulses. The first part of this work discusses experiments in a parameter space where quasimonoenergetic electron bunches are generated in subcritical (gaseous) plasmas and compares them to analytical scalings. A primary concern in this work is to optimize the stability of the energy and the pointing of the electrons. The second part deals with acceleration of electrons along the surface of solid substrates by laser-plasma interaction. The measurements show good agreement with existing analytical scalings and dedicated numerical simulations. In the third part, two new concepts for multi-stage acceleration will be presented and parameterised by analytical considerations and numerical simulations. The first method uses electron pairs, as produced in the first part, to transfer energy from the first bunch to the second by means of a plasma wave. The second method utilizes a low intensity laser pulse in order to inject electrons from a neutral gas into the accelerating phase of a plasma wave. The final chapter proposes and demonstrates a first application that has been developed in collaboration with ESA. The use of electron beams with exponential energy distribution, as in the second part of this work, offers the potential to investigate the resistance of electronic components against space radiation exposure.

Probing the onset of laser-induced relativistic transparency in massive targets

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Tao; Wagner, Craig; Toncian, Toma; Dyer, Gilliss; Arefiev, Alexey; Ditmire, Todd

2017-10-01

We have investigated a novel approach of using harmonics of the laser frequency generated in the plasma to detect the onset of relativistic transparency induced by an intense laser pulse. The onset of the transparency is directly associated with a forward motion of a relativistically adjusted critical surface. The corresponding velocity is relativistic, so the harmonics generated at this critical surface are noticeably shifted. Using particle-in-cell simulations, we have confirmed that the resulting shift greatly exceeds the shift produced during a hole-boring process when the relativistic transparency plays no role, which allows us to clearly identify the onset of the relativistic transparency. Experiments that we have carried out at the Texas Petawatt laser showcase this approach. The 3rd harmonic signal detected in experiments with massive targets irradiated at laser intensities around 1020 W/cm2 has a pronounced shift associated with the relativistic transparency. The shift represents a recession of the relativistically adjusted critical surface with a velocity close to 0.2 c. This approach opens a new possibility of detecting changes in the optical properties of matter induced by intense laser pulses even when no transmission of the laser pulse takes place. This research was supported part by NSF (Grant No. 1632777) and NNSA (Cont. No. DE-NA0002008). Simulations were performed using HPC resources at TACC at the University of Texas.

Splitter target for controlling magnetic reconnection in relativistic laser plasma interactions

Science.gov (United States)

Gu, Y. J.; Bulanov, S. S.; Korn, G.; Bulanov, S. V.

2018-04-01

The utilization of a conical target irradiated by a high power laser is proposed to study fast magnetic reconnection in relativistic plasma interactions. Such target, placed in front of the near critical density gas jet, splits the laser pulse, forming two parallel laser pulses in the 2D case and a donut shaped pulse in the 3D case. The magnetic annihilation and reconnection occur in the density downramp region of the subsequent gas jet. The magnetic field energy is converted into the particle kinetic energy. As a result, a backward accelerated electron beam is obtained as a signature of reconnection. The above mechanisms are demonstrated using particle-in-cell simulations in both 2D and 3D cases. Facilitating the synchronization of two laser beams, the proposed approach can be used in designing the corresponding experiments on studying fundamental problems of relativistic plasma physics.

Laser-driven relativistic electron dynamics in a cylindrical plasma channel

Science.gov (United States)

Geng, Pan-Fei; Lv, Wen-Juan; Li, Xiao-Liang; Tang, Rong-An; Xue, Ju-Kui

2018-03-01

The energy and trajectory of the electron, which is irradiated by a high-power laser pulse in a cylindrical plasma channel with a uniform positive charge and a uniform negative current, have been analyzed in terms of a single-electron model of direct laser acceleration. We find that the energy and trajectory of the electron strongly depend on the positive charge density, the negative current density, and the intensity of the laser pulse. The electron can be accelerated significantly only when the positive charge density, the negative current density, and the intensity of the laser pulse are in suitable ranges due to the dephasing rate between the wave and electron motion. Particularly, when their values satisfy a critical condition, the electron can stay in phase with the laser and gain the largest energy from the laser. With the enhancement of the electron energy, strong modulations of the relativistic factor cause a considerable enhancement of the electron transverse oscillations across the channel, which makes the electron trajectory become essentially three-dimensional, even if it is flat at the early stage of the acceleration. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11475027, 11765017, 11764039, 11305132, and 11274255), the Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province, China (Grant No. 17JR5RA076), and the Scientific Research Project of Gansu Higher Education, China (Grant No. 2016A-005).

Relativistic electron acceleration by net inverse bremsstrahlung in a laser-irradiated plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, S.H.; Chen, K.W.

1985-01-01

Using the quantum-kinetic method, the net acceleration of relativistic electrons in a laser-irradiated plasma is studied as a function of the relevant parameters of the incident laser wave and the plasma wave. It is suggested that, in general, the net acceleration in laser-produced turbulent plasmas is primarily due to inverse bremsstrahlung proceses, and the acceleration gradient exceeds several hundreds gigavolt per meter when the electron energy is large (TeV) and the momentum spread of the beam is properly controlled

Terahertz radiation driven by two-color laser pulses at near-relativistic intensities: Competition between photoionization and wakefield effects

Science.gov (United States)

González de Alaiza Martínez, P.; Davoine, X.; Debayle, A.; Gremillet, L.; Bergé, L.

2016-01-01

We numerically investigate terahertz (THz) pulse generation by linearly-polarized, two-color femtosecond laser pulses in highly-ionized argon. Major processes consist of tunneling photoionization and ponderomotive forces associated with transverse and longitudinal field excitations. By means of two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations, we reveal the importance of photocurrent mechanisms besides transverse and longitudinal plasma waves for laser intensities >1015 W/cm2. We demonstrate the following. (i) With two-color pulses, photoionization prevails in the generation of GV/m THz fields up to 1017 W/cm2 laser intensities and suddenly loses efficiency near the relativistic threshold, as the outermost electron shell of ionized Ar atoms has been fully depleted. (ii) PIC results can be explained by a one-dimensional Maxwell-fluid model and its semi-analytical solutions, offering the first unified description of the main THz sources created in plasmas. (iii) The THz power emitted outside the plasma channel mostly originates from the transverse currents. PMID:27255689

Relativistic ion acceleration by ultraintense laser interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakajima, K.; Koga, J.K.; Nakagawa, K.

2001-01-01

There has been a great interest in relativistic particle generation by ultraintense laser interactions with matter. We propose the use of relativistically self-focused laser pulses for the acceleration of ions. Two dimensional PIC simulations are performed, which show the formation of a large positive electrostatic field near the front of a relativistically self-focused laser pulse. Several factors contribute to the acceleration including self-focusing distance, pulse depletion, and plasma density. Ultraintense laser-plasma interactions are capable of generating enormous electrostatic fields of ∼3 TV/m for acceleration of protons with relativistic energies exceeding 1 GeV

High intensity surface plasma waves, theory and PIC simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Raynaud, M.; Héron, A.; Adam, J.-C.

2018-01-01

With the development of intense (>1019 W cm-2) short pulses (≤25 fs) laser with very high contrast, surface plasma wave (SPW) can be explored in the relativistic regime. As the SPW propagates with a phase velocity close to the speed of light it may results in a strong acceleration of electron bunches along the surface permitting them to reach relativistic energies. This may be important e.g. for applications in the field of plasma-based accelerators. We investigate in this work the excitation of SPWs on grating preformed over-dense plasmas for laser intensities ranging from 1019 up to 1021 W cm-2. We discuss the nature of the interaction with respect to the solid case in which surface plasmon can be resonantly excited with weak laser intensity. In particular, we show the importance of the pulse duration and focalization of the laser beam on the amplitude of the SPW.

Study of ultra-high gradient wakefield excitation by intense ultrashort laser pulses in plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotaki, Hideyuki

2002-12-01

We investigate a mechanism of nonlinear phenomena in laser-plasma interaction, a laser wakefield excited by intense laser pulses, and the possibility of generating an intense bright electron source by an intense laser pulse. We need to understand and further employ some of these phenomena for our purposes. We measure self-focusing, filamentation, and the anomalous blueshift of the laser pulse. The ionization of gas with the self-focusing causes a broad continuous spectrum with blueshift. The normal blueshift depends on the laser intensity and the plasma density. We, however, have found different phenomenon. The laser spectrum shifts to fixed wavelength independent of the laser power and gas pressure above some critical power. We call the phenomenon 'anomalous blueshift'. The results are explained by the formation of filaments. An intense laser pulse can excite a laser wakefield in plasma. The coherent wakefield excited by 2 TW, 50 fs laser pulses in a gas-jet plasma around 10 18 cm -3 is measured with a time-resolved frequency domain interferometer (FDI). The density distribution of the helium gas is measured with a time-resolved Mach-Zehnder interferometer to search for the optimum laser focus position and timing in the gas-jet. The results show an accelerating wakefield excitation of 20 GeV/m with good coherency, which is useful for ultrahigh gradient particle acceleration in a compact system. This is the first time-resolved measurement of laser wakefield excitation in a gas-jet plasma. The experimental results are compared with a Particle-in-Cell (PIC) simulation. The pump-probe interferometer system of FDI and the anomalous blueshift will be modified to the optical injection system as a relativistic electron beam injector. In 1D PIC simulation we obtain the results of high quality intense electron beam acceleration. These results illuminate the possibility of a high energy and a high quality electron beam acceleration. (author)

Relativistic classical and quantum dynamics in intense crossed laser beams of various polarizations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Verschl

2007-02-01

Full Text Available The dynamics of an electron in crossed laser fields is investigated analytically. Two different standing wave configurations are compared. The counterpropagating laser waves are either linearly or circularly polarized. Both configurations have in common that there are one-dimensional trajectories on which the electron can oscillate with vanishing Lorentz force. The dynamics is analyzed for the situations when the electron moves in the vicinity of these ideal axes. If the laser intensities imply nonrelativistic electron dynamics, the system is described quantum mechanically. A semiclassical treatment renders the strongly relativistic regime accessible as well. To describe relativistic wave packets, the results of the classical analysis are employed for a Monte Carlo ensemble. This allows for a comparison of the wave packet dynamics for both configurations in the strongly relativistic regime. It is found for certain cases that relativity slows down the dynamics, i.e., for higher laser intensities, wave packet spreading and the drift away from the ideal axis of vanishing Lorentz force are shown to be increasingly suppressed.

Using self-generated harmonics as a diagnostic of high intensity laser-produced plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krushelnick, K; Watts, I; Tatarakis, M; Gopal, A; Wagner, U; Beg, F N; Clark, E L; Clarke, R J; Dangor, A E; Norreys, P A; Wei, M S; Zepf, M

2002-01-01

The interaction of high intensity laser pulses (up to I∼10 20 W cm -2 ) with plasmas can generate very high order harmonics of the laser frequency (up to the 75th order have been observed). Measurements of the properties of these harmonics can provide important insights into the plasma conditions which exist during such interactions. For example, observations of the spectrum of the harmonic emission can provide information of the dynamics of the critical surface as well as information on relativistic non-linear optical effects in the plasma. However, most importantly, observations of the polarization properties of the harmonics can provide a method to measure the ultra-strong magnetic fields (greater than 350 MG) which can be generated during these interactions. It is likely that such techniques can be scaled to provide a significant amount of information from experiments at even higher intensities

Nonlinear interaction of ultraintense laser pulse with relativistic thin ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

2016-10-13

Oct 13, 2016 ... Today the laser drive of relativistic ions, i.e. ions whose kinetic energy exceeds their rest energy, is an ... this intense electric field, the ions are accelerated and rush towards the electrons with almost the same veloc ... incident laser electric field EL on thin plasma foil of thickness l must satisfy the condition EL ...

Bright X-ray source from a laser-driven micro-plasma-waveguide

CERN Document Server

Yi, Longqing

2016-01-01

Bright tunable x-ray sources have a number of applications in basic science, medicine and industry. The most powerful sources are synchrotrons, where relativistic electrons are circling in giant storage rings. In parallel, compact laser-plasma x-ray sources are being developed. Owing to the rapid progress in laser technology, very high-contrast femtosecond laser pulses of relativistic intensities become available. These pulses allow for interaction with micro-structured solid-density plasma without destroying the structure by parasitic pre-pulses. The high-contrast laser pulses as well as the manufacturing of materials at micro- and nano-scales open a new realm of possibilities for laser interaction with photonic materials at the relativistic intensities. Here we demonstrate, via numerical simulations, that when coupling with a readily available 1.8 Joule laser, a micro-plasma-waveguide (MPW) may serve as a novel compact x-ray source. Electrons are extracted from the walls by the laser field and form a dense ...

effect of the plasma ion channel on self-focusing of a Gaussian laser pulse in underdense plasma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sh Irani

2013-09-01

Full Text Available  We have considered the self-focusing of a Gaussian laser pulse in unmagnetized plasma. High-intensity electromagnetic fields cause the variation of electron density in plasma. These changes in the special conditions cause the acceleration of electrons to the higher energy and velocities. Thus the equation of plasma density evolution was obtained considering the electrons ponderomotive force. Then, an equation for the width of laser pulse with a relativistic mass correction term and the effect of ion channel were derived and the propagation of high-intensity laser pulse in an underdense plasma with weak relativistic approximation was investigated. It is shown that the ratio of ion channel radius to spot size could result in different forms of self focusing for the laser pulse in plasma.

Generation of ultra-short relativistic-electron-bunch by a laser wakefield

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Khachatryan, A.G.; Boller, Klaus J.; van Goor, F.A.

2003-01-01

The possibility of the generation of an ultra-short (about one micron long) relativistic (up to a few GeVs) electron-bunch in a moderately nonlinear laser wakefield excited in an underdense plasma by an intense laser pulse is investigated. The ultra-short bunch is formed by trapping, effective

Plasmas and intense laser light

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kennedy, E.T.

1984-01-01

The present article begins with a description of the laser technology required to reach the high irradiances of interest and provides a brief outline of the more important diagnostic techniques used in investigating the plasmas. An introduction to plasma waves is given and the linear and nonlinear excitation of waves is discussed. The remainder of the article describes some of the experimental evidence supporting the interpretation of the plasma behaviour at high laser-light intensities in terms of the excitation of plasma waves and the subsequent heating of plasma by these waves. (author)

Acceleration of multiply charged ions by a high-contrast femtosecond laser pulse of relativistic intensity from the front surface of a solid target

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Shulyapov, S. A.; Mordvintsev, I. M.; Ivanov, K. A.; Volkov, P. V.; Zarubin, P. I.; Ambrožová, Iva; Turek, Karel; Savelyev, A. B.

2016-01-01

Roč. 46, č. 5 (2016), s. 432-436 ISSN 1063-7818 Institutional support: RVO:61389005 Keywords : relativistic intensity * contrast * laser plasma * ion acceleration * multiply charged ions * collision ionisation Subject RIV: BG - Nuclear, Atomic and Molecular Physics, Colliders Impact factor: 1.119, year: 2016

Self-Guiding of Ultrashort Relativistically Intense Laser Pulses to the Limit of Nonlinear Pump Depletion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ralph, J. E.; Marsh, K. A.; Pak, A. E.; Lu, W.; Clayton, C. E.; Fang, F.; Joshi, C.; Tsung, F. S.; Mori, W. B.

2009-01-01

A study of self-guiding of ultra short, relativistically intense laser pulses is presented. Here, the laser pulse length is on the order of the nonlinear plasma wavelength and the normalized vector potential is greater than one. Self-guiding of ultrashort laser pulses over tens of Rayliegh lengths is possible when driving a highly nonlinear wake. In this case, self-guiding is limited by nonlinear pump depletion. Erosion of the pulse due to diffraction at the head of the laser pulse is minimized for spot sizes close to the blow-out radius. This is due to the slowing of the group velocity of the photons at the head of the laser pulse. Using an approximately 10 TW Ti:Sapphire laser with a pulse length of approximately 50 fs, experimental results are presented showing self-guiding over lengths exceeding 30 Rayliegh lengths in various length Helium gas jets. Fully explicit 3D PIC simulations supporting the experimental results are also presented.

Electron acceleration by femtosecond laser interaction with micro-structured plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Goers, Andy James

Laser-driven accelerators are a promising and compact alternative to RF accelerator technology for generating relativistic electron bunches for medical, scientific, and security applications. This dissertation presents three experiments using structured plasmas designed to advance the state of the art in laser-based electron accelerators, with the goal of reducing the energy of the drive laser pulse and enabling higher repetition rate operation with current laser technology. First, electron acceleration by intense femtosecond laser pulses in He-like nitrogen plasma waveguides is demonstrated. Second, significant progress toward a proof of concept realization of quasi-phasematched direct acceleration (QPM-DLA) is presented. Finally, a laser wakefield accelerator at very high plasma density is studied, enabling relativistic electron beam generation with ˜10 mJ pulse energies. Major results from these experiments include: • Acceleration of electrons up to 120 MeV from an ionization injected wakefield accelerator driven in a 1.5 mm long He-like nitrogen plasma waveguide • Guiding of an intense, quasi-radially polarized femtosecond laser pulse in a 1 cm plasma waveguide. This pulse provides a strong drive field for the QPM-DLA concept. • Wakefield acceleration of electrons up to ˜10 MeV with sub-terawatt, ˜10 mJ pulses interacting with a thin (˜200 mum), high density (>1020 cm-3) plasma. • Observation of an intense, coherent, broadband wave breaking radiation flash from a high plasma density laser wakefield accelerator. The flash radiates > 1% of the drive laser pulse energy in a bandwidth consistent with half-cycle (˜1 fs) emission from violent unidirectional acceleration of electron bunches from rest. These results open the way to high repetition rate (>˜kHz) laser-driven generation of relativistic electron beams with existing laser technology.

Plasma relativistic microwave electronics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuzelev, M.V.; Loza, O.T.; Rukhadze, A.A.; Strelkov, P.S.; Shkvarunets, A.G.

2001-01-01

One formulated the principles of plasma relativistic microwave electronics based on the induced Cherenkov radiation of electromagnetic waves at interaction of a relativistic electron beam with plasma. One developed the theory of plasma relativistic generators and accelerators of microwave radiation, designed and studied the prototypes of such devices. One studied theoretically the mechanisms of radiation, calculated the efficiencies and the frequency spectra of plasma relativistic microwave generators and accelerators. The theory findings are proved by the experiment: intensity of the designed sources of microwave radiation is equal to 500 μW, the frequency of microwave radiation is increased by 7 times (from 4 up to 28 GHz), the width of radiation frequency band may vary from several up to 100%. The designed sources of microwave radiation are no else compared in the electronics [ru

Generation of mega-electron-volt electron beams by an ultrafast intense laser pulse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Xiaofang; Saleh, Ned; Krishnan, Mohan; Wang Haiwen; Backus, Sterling; Murnane, Margaret; Kapteyn, Henry; Umstadter, Donald; Wang Quandong; Shen Baifei

2003-01-01

Mega-electron-volt (MeV) electron emission from the interaction of an ultrafast (τ∼29 fs), intense (>10 18 W/cm 2 ) laser pulse with underdense plasmas has been studied. A beam of MeV electrons with a divergence angle as small as 1 deg. is observed in the forward direction, which is correlated with relativistic filamentation of the laser pulse in plasmas. A novel net-energy-gain mechanism is proposed for electron acceleration resulting from the relativistic filamentation and beam breakup. These results suggest an approach for generating a beam of femtosecond, MeV electrons at a kilohertz repetition rate with a compact ultrafast intense laser system

On the theory of magnetic field generation by relativistically strong laser radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berezhiani, V.I.; Shatashvili, N.L.; Mahajan, S.M.

1996-07-01

The authors consider the interaction of subpicosecond relativistically strong short laser pulses with an underdense cold unmagnetized electron plasma. It is shown that the strong plasma inhomogeneity caused by laser pulses results in the generation of a low frequency (quasistatic) magnetic field. Since the electron density distribution is determined completely by the pump wave intensity, the generated magnetic field is negligibly small for nonrelativistic laser pulses but increases rapidly in the ultrarelativistic case. Due to the possibility of electron cavitation (complete expulsion of electrons from the central region) for narrow and intense beams, the increase in the generated magnetic field slows down as the beam intensity is increased. The structure of the magnetic field closely resembles that of the field produced by a solenoid; the field is maximum and uniform in the cavitation region, then it falls, changes polarity and vanishes. In extremely dense plasmas, highly intense laser pulses in the self-channeling regime can generate magnetic fields ∼ 100 Mg and greater

Bremsstrahlung production with high-intensity laser matter interactions and applications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Galy, J.; Maucec, M.; Hamilton, D. J.; Edwards, R.; Magill, J.

2007-01-01

In the last decade an evolution of experimental relativistic laser-plasma physics has led to highly sophisticated lasers, which are now able to generate ultra short pulses and can be focused to intensities in excess of 10(21) W cm(-2), with more than 500 J on target. In the intense electric field of

Next Generation Driver for Attosecond and Laser-plasma Physics.

Science.gov (United States)

Rivas, D E; Borot, A; Cardenas, D E; Marcus, G; Gu, X; Herrmann, D; Xu, J; Tan, J; Kormin, D; Ma, G; Dallari, W; Tsakiris, G D; Földes, I B; Chou, S-W; Weidman, M; Bergues, B; Wittmann, T; Schröder, H; Tzallas, P; Charalambidis, D; Razskazovskaya, O; Pervak, V; Krausz, F; Veisz, L

2017-07-12

The observation and manipulation of electron dynamics in matter call for attosecond light pulses, routinely available from high-order harmonic generation driven by few-femtosecond lasers. However, the energy limitation of these lasers supports only weak sources and correspondingly linear attosecond studies. Here we report on an optical parametric synthesizer designed for nonlinear attosecond optics and relativistic laser-plasma physics. This synthesizer uniquely combines ultra-relativistic focused intensities of about 10 20  W/cm 2 with a pulse duration of sub-two carrier-wave cycles. The coherent combination of two sequentially amplified and complementary spectral ranges yields sub-5-fs pulses with multi-TW peak power. The application of this source allows the generation of a broad spectral continuum at 100-eV photon energy in gases as well as high-order harmonics in relativistic plasmas. Unprecedented spatio-temporal confinement of light now permits the investigation of electric-field-driven electron phenomena in the relativistic regime and ultimately the rise of next-generation intense isolated attosecond sources.

Influence of light absorption on relativistic self-focusing of Gaussian laser beam in cold quantum plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Patil, S. D.; Valkunde, A. T.; Vhanmore, B. D.; Urunkar, T. U.; Gavade, K. M.; Takale, M. V.

2018-05-01

When inter particle distance is comparable to the de Broglies wavelength of charged particles, quantum effects in plasmas are unavoidable. We have exploited an influence of light absorption on self-focusing of Gaussian laser beam in cold quantum plasma by considering relativistic nonlinearity. Nonlinear differential equation governing beam-width parameter has been established by using parabolic equation approach under paraxial and WKB approximations. The effect of light absorption on variation of beam-width parameter with dimensionless distance of propagation is presented graphically and discussed. It is found that light absorption plays vital role in weakening the relativistic self-focusing of laser beam during propagation in cold quantum plasma and gives reasonably interesting results.

Numerical studies of acceleration of thorium ions by a laser pulse of ultra-relativistic intensity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Domanski Jaroslaw

2018-01-01

Full Text Available One of the key scientific projects of ELI-Nuclear Physics is to study the production of extremely neutron-rich nuclides by a new reaction mechanism called fission-fusion using laser-accelerated thorium (232Th ions. This research is of crucial importance for understanding the nature of the creation of heavy elements in the Universe; however, they require Th ion beams of very high beam fluencies and intensities which are inaccessible in conventional accelerators. This contribution is a first attempt to investigate the possibility of the generation of intense Th ion beams by a fs laser pulse of ultra-relativistic intensity. The investigation was performed with the use of fully electromagnetic relativistic particle-in-cell code. A sub-μm thorium target was irradiated by a circularly polarized 20-fs laser pulse of intensity up to 1023 W/cm2, predicted to be attainable at ELI-NP. At the laser intensity ~ 1023 W/cm2 and an optimum target thickness, the maximum energies of Th ions approach 9.3 GeV, the ion beam intensity is > 1020 W/cm2 and the total ion fluence reaches values ~ 1019 ions/cm2. The last two values are much higher than attainable in conventional accelerators and are fairly promising for the planned ELI-NP experiment.

5. Laser plasma interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Labaune, C.; Fuchs, J.; Bandulet, H.

2002-01-01

Imprint elimination, smoothing and preheat control are considerable problems in inertial fusion and their possible solution can be achieved by using low-density porous materials as a buffer in target design. The articles gathered in this document present various aspects of the laser-plasma interaction, among which we have noticed: -) numerical algorithmic improvements of the Vlasov solver toward the simulation of the laser-plasma interaction are proposed, -) the dependence of radiation temperatures and X-ray conversion efficiencies of hohlraum on the target structures and laser irradiation conditions are investigated, -) a study of laser interaction with ultra low-density (0,5 - 20 mg/cm 3 ) porous media analyzing backscattered light at incident laser frequency ω 0 and its harmonics 3*ω 0 /2 and 2*ω 0 is presented, -) investigations of laser interaction with solid targets and crater formation are carried out with the objective to determine the ablation loading efficiency, -) a self organization in an intense laser-driven plasma and the measure of the relative degree of order of the states in an open system based on the S-theorem are investigated, and -) the existence and stability of electromagnetic solitons generated in a relativistic interaction of an intense laser light with uniform under-dense cold plasma are studied

Electron trapping in the electrosound solitary wave for propagation of high intensity laser in a relativistic plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heidari, E; Aslaninejad, M; Eshraghi, H

2010-01-01

Using a set of relativistic equations for plasmas with warm electrons and cold ions, we have investigated the effects of trapped electrons in the propagation of an electrosound wave and discussed the possibility of the formation of electromagnetic solitons in a plasma. The effective potential energy and deviations of the electron and ion number densities in this relativistic model have been found. We have obtained the governing equations for the amplitude of the HF field with relativistic corrections. In order to show the destructive impact of the trapped electrons on the solitary wave, a relativistic effective potential and the governing equation have been found. It is shown that for certain values of the parameters the condition of localization of the HF amplitude is violated. In addition, it is shown that as the flow velocity of the plasma changes, the shape of the solitary wave shows two opposing behaviours, depending on whether the solitary wave velocity is larger than the flow velocity or smaller. Also, the existence of stationary solitary waves which are prohibited for nonrelativistic plasma has been predicted. Finally, we have obtained the Korteweg-de Vries equation showing the relativistic, trapping and nonlinearity effects.

Plasma heating in a long solenoid by a laser or a relativistic electron beam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tajima, T.

1975-01-01

Advances in the technology of a large energy laser and/or relativistic electron beam (REB) generator have made it possible to seriously consider a long solenoid reactor concept. This concept has been reviewed. The physical problems in the plasma heating of the long solenoid by a laser or a REB are studied

Producing High Intense Attosecond Pulse Train by Interaction of Three-Color Pulse and Overdense Plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Salehi, M.; Mirzanejad, S.

2017-05-01

Amplifying the attosecond pulse by the chirp pulse amplification method is impossible. Furthermore, the intensity of attosecond pulse is low in the interaction of laser pulse and underdense plasma. This motivates us to propose using a multi-color pulse to produce the high intense attosecond pulse. In the present study, the relativistic interaction of a three-color linearly-polarized laser-pulse with highly overdense plasma is studied. We show that the combination of {{ω }}1, {{ω }}2 and {{ω }}3 frequencies decreases the instance full width at half maximum reflected attosecond pulse train from the overdense plasma surface. Moreover, we show that the three-color pulse increases the intensity of generated harmonics, which is explained by the relativistic oscillating mirror model. The obtained results demonstrate that if the three-color laser pulse interacts with overdense plasma, it will enhance two orders of magnitude of intensity of ultra short attosecond pulses in comparison with monochromatic pulse.

Interaction of High Intensity Electromagnetic Waves with Plasmas: Final Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shvets, G.

2008-01-01

The focus of our work during the duration of this grant was on the following areas: (a) the fundamental plasma physics of intense laser-plasma interactions, including the nonlinear excitation of plasma waves for accelerator applications, as well as the recently discovered by us phenomenon of the relativistic bi-stability of relativistic plasma waves driven by a laser beatwave; (b) interaction of high power microwave beams with magnetized plasma, including some of the recently discovered by us phenomena such as the Undulator Induced Transparency (UIT) as well as the new approaches to dynamic manipulation of microwave pulses; (c) investigations of the multi-color laser pulse interactions in the plasma, including the recently discovered by us phenomenon of Electromagnetic Cascading (EC) and the effect of the EC of three-dimensional dynamics of laser pulses (enhanced/suppressed selffocusing etc.); (d) interaction of high-current electron beams with the ambient plasma in the context of Fast Ignitor (FI) physics, with the emphasis on the nonlinear dynamics of the Weibel instability and beam filamentation.

Simulation of QED effects in ultrahigh intensity laser-plasma interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kostyukov, I.; Nerush, E.

2010-01-01

Complete text of publication follows. Due to an impressive progress in laser technology, laser pulses with peak intensity of nearly 2 x 10 22 W/cm 2 are now available in laboratory. When the matter is irradiated by so intense laser pulses high energy density plasma is produced. Besides of fundamental interest such plasma is the efficient source of particles and radiation with extreme parameters that opens bright perspectives in developments of advanced particle accelerators, next generation of radiation sources, laboratory modelling of astrophysics phenomena etc. Even high laser intensity the radiation reaction and QED effects become important. One of the QED effects, which recently attracts much attention, is the electron-positron plasma creation in strong laser field. The plasma can be produced via electromagnetic cascades: the seeded charged particles is accelerated in the field of counter-propagating laser pulses, then they emit energetic photons, the photons by turn decay in the laser field and create electron-positron pairs. The pair particles accelerated in the laser field produce new generation of the photons and pairs. For self-consistent study of the electron-positron plasma dynamics in the laser field we develop 2D code based on particle-in-cell and Monte-Carlo methods. The electron, positron and photon dynamics as well as evolution of the plasma and laser fields are calculated by PIC technique while photon emission and pair production are calculated by Monte-Carlo method. We simulate pair production in the field of counter-propagating linearly polarized laser pulses. It is shown that for the laser intensity above threshold the plasma production becomes so intense that the laser pulse are strongly absorbed in the plasma. The laser intensity threshold and the rate of laser field absorption are calculated. Acknowledgements. This work has been supported by federal target 'The scientific and scientific-pedagogical personnel of innovation in Russia' and by

The acceleration of particles by relativistic electron plasma waves driven by the optical mixing of laser light in a plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ebrahim, N.A.; Douglas, S.R.

1992-03-01

Electron acceleration by relativistic large-amplitude electron plasma waves is studied by theory and particle simulations. The maximum acceleration that can be obtained from this process depends on many different factors. This report presents a study of how these various factors impact on the acceleration mechanism. Although particular reference is made to the laser plasma beatwave concept, the study is equally relevant to the acceleration of particles in the plasma wakefield accelerator and the laser wakefield accelerator

Line intensities for diagnosing laser-produced plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kauffman, R.L.; Matthews, D.L.; Lee, R.W.; Whitten, B.L.; Kilkenny, J.D.

1983-01-01

We have measured relative line intensities of the K x-ray spectra of Si, Cl, and Ca from laser-produced plasmas to assess their usefulness as a plasma diagnostic. The different elements are added at low concentrations to CH disks which are irradiated at 5 x 10 14 W/cm 2 with a 0.53 μm laser pulse of 20 Joules at 1 nsec. The concentration of each element is kept low in order not to change the Z of the plasma, and therefore the plasma dynamics. The various spectra are measured with a time-resolved spectrograph to obtain line intensities as a function of time over the length of the laser pulse. These relative intensities of various He-like and H-like lines are compared with calculations from a steady-state level population code. The results give good consistency among the various line ratios. Agreement is not as good for analysis of the Li-like satellite lines. Modelling of the Li-like lines need further investigation. 10 references, 9 figures

Instability and dynamics of two nonlinearly coupled intense laser beams in a quantum plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Yunliang; Shukla, P. K.; Eliasson, B.

2013-01-01

We consider nonlinear interactions between two relativistically strong laser beams and a quantum plasma composed of degenerate electron fluids and immobile ions. The collective behavior of degenerate electrons is modeled by quantum hydrodynamic equations composed of the electron continuity, quantum electron momentum (QEM) equation, as well as the Poisson and Maxwell equations. The QEM equation accounts the quantum statistical electron pressure, the quantum electron recoil due to electron tunneling through the quantum Bohm potential, electron-exchange, and electron-correlation effects caused by electron spin, and relativistic ponderomotive forces (RPFs) of two circularly polarized electromagnetic (CPEM) beams. The dynamics of the latter are governed by nonlinear wave equations that include nonlinear currents arising from the relativistic electron mass increase in the CPEM wave fields, as well as from the beating of the electron quiver velocity and electron density variations reinforced by the RPFs of the two CPEM waves. Furthermore, nonlinear electron density variations associated with the driven (by the RPFs) quantum electron plasma oscillations obey a coupled nonlinear Schrödinger and Poisson equations. The nonlinearly coupled equations for our purposes are then used to obtain a general dispersion relation (GDR) for studying the parametric instabilities and the localization of CPEM wave packets in a quantum plasma. Numerical analyses of the GDR reveal that the growth rate of a fastest growing parametrically unstable mode is in agreement with the result that has been deduced from numerical simulations of the governing nonlinear equations. Explicit numerical results for two-dimensional (2D) localized CPEM wave packets at nanoscales are also presented. Possible applications of our investigation to intense laser-solid density compressed plasma experiments are highlighted.

Relativistic Channeling of a Picosecond Laser Pulse in a Near-Critical Preformed Plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borghesi, M.; MacKinnon, A.J.; Barringer, L.; Gaillard, R.; Gizzi, L.; Meyer, C.; Willi, O.; Pukhov, A.; Meyer-ter-Vehn, J.

1997-01-01

Relativistic self-channeling of a picosecond laser pulse in a preformed plasma near critical density has been observed both experimentally and in 3D particle-in-cell simulations. Optical probing measurements indicate the formation of a single pulsating propagation channel, typically of about 5μm in diameter. The computational results reveal the importance in the channel formation of relativistic electrons traveling with the light pulse and of the corresponding self-generated magnetic field. copyright 1997 The American Physical Society

Nonlinear dynamics of electromagnetic pulses in cold relativistic plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bonatto, A.; Pakter, R.; Rizzato, F.B. [Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Instituto de Fisica, Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil)

2004-07-01

The propagation of intense electromagnetic pulses in plasmas is a subject of current interest particularly for particle acceleration and laser fusion.In the present analysis we study the self consistent propagation of nonlinear electromagnetic pulses in a one dimensional relativistic electron-ion plasma, from the perspective of nonlinear dynamics. We show how a series of Hamiltonian bifurcations give rise to the electric fields which are of relevance in the subject of particle acceleration. Connections between these bifurcated solutions and results of earlier analysis are made. (authors)

Nonlinear dynamics of electromagnetic pulses in cold relativistic plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonatto, A.; Pakter, R.; Rizzato, F.B.

2004-01-01

The propagation of intense electromagnetic pulses in plasmas is a subject of current interest particularly for particle acceleration and laser fusion.In the present analysis we study the self consistent propagation of nonlinear electromagnetic pulses in a one dimensional relativistic electron-ion plasma, from the perspective of nonlinear dynamics. We show how a series of Hamiltonian bifurcations give rise to the electric fields which are of relevance in the subject of particle acceleration. Connections between these bifurcated solutions and results of earlier analysis are made. (authors)

Intense laser driven collision-less shock and ion acceleration in magnetized plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Mima, K.; Jia, Q.; Cai, H. B.; Taguchi, T.; Nagatomo, H.; Sanz, J. R.; Honrubia, J.

2016-05-01

The generation of strong magnetic field with a laser driven coil has been demonstrated by many experiments. It is applicable to the magnetized fast ignition (MFI), the collision-less shock in the astrophysics and the ion shock acceleration. In this paper, the longitudinal magnetic field effect on the shock wave driven by the radiation pressure of an intense short pulse laser is investigated by theory and simulations. The transition of a laminar shock (electro static shock) to the turbulent shock (electromagnetic shock) occurs, when the external magnetic field is applied in near relativistic cut-off density plasmas. This transition leads to the enhancement of conversion of the laser energy into high energy ions. The enhancement of the conversion efficiency is important for the ion driven fast ignition and the laser driven neutron source. It is found that the total number of ions reflected by the shock increases by six time when the magnetic field is applied.

Electromagnetic soliton production during interaction of relativistically strong laser pulses with plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bulanov, S.V.; Esirkepov, T.Zh.; Kamenets, F.F.; Naumova, N.M.

1995-01-01

The paper presents the results of a numeric modelling of the propagation of ultra short relativistically strong laser pulses in a rarefied plasma by the 'particle in cell'. Primary attention is paid to the process of the formation of electromagnetic solitons which can not be described in the approximation of envelopes. It is found that under certain conditions a significant portion of pulse energy can transform is solitons. The soliton excitation mechanism is related to a decrease of local frequency of electromagnetic radiation due to the generation of wave plasma waves. From one soliton to a stub of solitons can be generated in the wake of a relatively long pulse depending on the parameters of laser pulse in plasma. Particles are effectively accelerated forwards radiation propagation in the electric field of wake plasma waves. 22 refs., 7 figs

Study of laser plasma interactions in the relativistic regime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Umstadter, D.

1997-01-01

We discuss the first experimental demonstration of electron acceleration by a laser wakefield over instances greater than a Rayleigh range (or the distance a laser normally propagates in vacuum). A self-modulated laser wakefield plasma wave is shown to have a field gradient that exceeds that of an RF linac by four orders of magnitude (E => 200 GV/m) and accelerates electrons with over 1-nC of charge per bunch in a beam with space-charge-limited emittance (1 mm-mrad). Above a laser power threshold, a plasma channel, created by the intense ultrashort laser pulse (I approx. 4 x1018 W/CM2, gamma = 1 micron, r = 400 fs), was found to increase the laser propagation distance, decrease the electron beam divergence, and increase the electron energy. The plasma wave, directly measured with coherent Thomson scattering is shown to damp-due to beam loading-in a duration of 1.5 ps or approx. 100 plasma periods. These results may have important implications for the proposed fast ignitor concept

Relativistically Induced Transparency Acceleration (RITA) - laser-plasma accelerated quasi-monoenergetic GeV ion-beams with existing lasers?

Science.gov (United States)

Sahai, Aakash A.

2013-10-01

Laser-plasma ion accelerators have the potential to produce beams with unprecedented characteristics of ultra-short bunch lengths (100s of fs) and high bunch-charge (1010 particles) over acceleration length of about 100 microns. However, creating and controlling mono-energetic bunches while accelerating to high-energies has been a challenge. If high-energy mono-energetic beams can be demonstrated with minimal post-processing, laser (ω0)-plasma (ωpe) ion accelerators may be used in a wide-range of applications such as cancer hadron-therapy, medical isotope production, neutron generation, radiography and high-energy density science. Here we demonstrate using analysis and simulations that using relativistic intensity laser-pulses and heavy-ion (Mi ×me) targets doped with a proton (or light-ion) species (mp ×me) of trace density (at least an order of magnitude below the cold critical density) we can scale up the energy of quasi-mono-energetically accelerated proton (or light-ion) beams while controlling their energy, charge and energy spectrum. This is achieved by controlling the laser propagation into an overdense (ω0 RITA). Desired proton or light-ion energies can be achieved by controlling the velocity of the snowplow, which is shown to scale inversely with the rise-time of the laser (higher energies for shorter pulses) and directly with the scale-length of the plasma density gradient. Similar acceleration can be produced by controlling the increase of the laser frequency (Chirp Induced Transparency Acceleration, ChITA). Work supported by the National Science Foundation under NSF- PHY-0936278. Also, NSF-PHY-0936266 and NSF-PHY-0903039; the US Department of Energy under DEFC02-07ER41500, DE- FG02-92ER40727 and DE-FG52-09NA29552.

Stimulated Raman backscattering at high laser intensities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Skoric, M M [Vinca Inst. of Nuclear Sciences, Belgrade (Yugoslavia); Tajima, Toshiki; Sasaki, Akira; Maluckov, A; Jovanovic, M

1998-03-01

Signatures of Stimulated Raman backscattering of a short-pulse high-intensity laser interacting with an underdense plasma are discussed. We introduce a nonlinear three-wave interaction model that accounts for laser pump depletion and relativistic detuning. A mechanism is revealed based on a generic route to chaos, that predicts a progressive increase of the backscatter complexity with a growing laser intensity. Importance of kinetic effects is outlined and demonstrated in fluid-hybrid and particle simulations. As an application, we show that spectral anomalies of the backscatter, predicted by the above model, are consistent with recent sub-picosecond, high-intensity laser gas-target measurements at Livermore and elsewhere. Finally, a recently proposed scheme for generation of ultra-short, low-prepulse laser pulses by Raman backscattering in a thin foil target, is shown. (author)

Kadomtsev-Petviashvili solitons propagation in a plasma system with superthermal and weakly relativistic effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hafeez-Ur-Rehman; Mahmood, S.; Shah, Asif; Haque, Q.

2011-01-01

Two dimensional (2D) solitons are studied in a plasma system comprising of relativistically streaming ions, kappa distributed electrons, and positrons. Kadomtsev-Petviashvili (KP) equation is derived through the reductive perturbation technique. Analytical solution of the KP equation has been studied numerically and graphically. It is noticed that kappa parameters of electrons and positrons as well as the ions relativistic streaming factor have an emphatic influence on the structural as well as propagation characteristics of two dimensional solitons in the considered plasma system. Our results may be helpful in the understanding of soliton propagation in astrophysical and laboratory plasmas, specifically the interaction of pulsar relativistic wind with supernova ejecta and the transfer of energy to plasma by intense electric field of laser beams producing highly energetic superthermal and relativistic particles [L. Arons, Astrophys. Space Sci. Lib. 357, 373 (2009); P. Blasi and E. Amato, Astrophys. Space Sci. Proc. 2011, 623; and A. Shah and R. Saeed, Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 53, 095006 (2011)].

Energy penetration into arrays of aligned nanowires irradiated with relativistic intensities: Scaling to terabar pressures.

Science.gov (United States)

Bargsten, Clayton; Hollinger, Reed; Capeluto, Maria Gabriela; Kaymak, Vural; Pukhov, Alexander; Wang, Shoujun; Rockwood, Alex; Wang, Yong; Keiss, David; Tommasini, Riccardo; London, Richard; Park, Jaebum; Busquet, Michel; Klapisch, Marcel; Shlyaptsev, Vyacheslav N; Rocca, Jorge J

2017-01-01

Ultrahigh-energy density (UHED) matter, characterized by energy densities >1 × 10 8 J cm -3 and pressures greater than a gigabar, is encountered in the center of stars and inertial confinement fusion capsules driven by the world's largest lasers. Similar conditions can be obtained with compact, ultrahigh contrast, femtosecond lasers focused to relativistic intensities onto targets composed of aligned nanowire arrays. We report the measurement of the key physical process in determining the energy density deposited in high-aspect-ratio nanowire array plasmas: the energy penetration. By monitoring the x-ray emission from buried Co tracer segments in Ni nanowire arrays irradiated at an intensity of 4 × 10 19 W cm -2 , we demonstrate energy penetration depths of several micrometers, leading to UHED plasmas of that size. Relativistic three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, validated by these measurements, predict that irradiation of nanostructures at intensities of >1 × 10 22 W cm -2 will lead to a virtually unexplored extreme UHED plasma regime characterized by energy densities in excess of 8 × 10 10 J cm -3 , equivalent to a pressure of 0.35 Tbar.

Ion response to relativistic electron bunches in the blowout regime of laser-plasma accelerators.

Science.gov (United States)

Popov, K I; Rozmus, W; Bychenkov, V Yu; Naseri, N; Capjack, C E; Brantov, A V

2010-11-05

The ion response to relativistic electron bunches in the so called bubble or blowout regime of a laser-plasma accelerator is discussed. In response to the strong fields of the accelerated electrons the ions form a central filament along the laser axis that can be compressed to densities 2 orders of magnitude higher than the initial particle density. A theory of the filament formation and a model of ion self-compression are proposed. It is also shown that in the case of a sharp rear plasma-vacuum interface the ions can be accelerated by a combination of three basic mechanisms. The long time ion evolution that results from the strong electrostatic fields of an electron bunch provides a unique diagnostic of laser-plasma accelerators.

Analysis of core plasma heating and ignition by relativistic electrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakao, Y.

2002-01-01

Clarification of the pre-compressed plasma heating by fast electrons produced by relativistic laser-plasma interaction is one of the most important issues of the fast ignition scheme in ICF. On the basis of overall calculations including the heating process, both by relativistic hot electrons and alpha-particles, and the hydrodynamic evolution of bulk plasma, we examine the feature of core plasma heating and the possibility of ignition. The deposition of the electron energy via long-range collective mode, i.e. Langmuir wave excitation, is shown to be comparable to that through binary electron-electron collisions; the calculation neglecting the wave excitation considerably underestimates the core plasma heating. The ignition condition is also shown in terms of the intensity I(h) and temperature T(h) of hot electrons. It is found that I(h) required for ignition increases in proportion to T(h). For efficiently achieving the fast ignition, electron beams with relatively 'low' energy (e.g.T(h) below 1 MeV) are desirable. (author)

Relativistic nonlinear electrodynamics the QED vacuum and matter in super-strong radiation fields

CERN Document Server

Avetissian, Hamlet K

2016-01-01

This revised edition of the author’s classic 2006 text offers a comprehensively updated review of the field of relativistic nonlinear electrodynamics. It explores the interaction of strong and super-strong electromagnetic/laser radiation with the electromagnetic quantum vacuum and diverse types of matter – including free charged particles and antiparticles, acceleration beams, plasma and plasmous media.  The appearance of laser sources of relativistic and ultra-relativistic intensities over the last decade has stimulated investigation of a large class of processes under such super-strong radiation fields. Revisions for this second edition reflect these developments and the book includes new chapters on Bremsstrahlung and nonlinear absorption of superintense radiation in plasmas, the nonlinear interaction of relativistic atoms with intense laser radiation, nonlinear interaction of strong laser radiation with Graphene, and relativistic nonlinear phenomena in solid-plasma targets under supershort laser pul...

Laser-plasma interactions in magnetized environment

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Yuan; Qin, Hong; Fisch, Nathaniel J.

2018-05-01

Propagation and scattering of lasers present new phenomena and applications when the plasma medium becomes strongly magnetized. With mega-Gauss magnetic fields, scattering of optical lasers already becomes manifestly anisotropic. Special angles exist where coherent laser scattering is either enhanced or suppressed, as we demonstrate using a cold-fluid model. Consequently, by aiming laser beams at special angles, one may be able to optimize laser-plasma coupling in magnetized implosion experiments. In addition, magnetized scattering can be exploited to improve the performance of plasma-based laser pulse amplifiers. Using the magnetic field as an extra control variable, it is possible to produce optical pulses of higher intensity, as well as compress UV and soft x-ray pulses beyond the reach of other methods. In even stronger giga-Gauss magnetic fields, laser-plasma interaction enters a relativistic-quantum regime. Using quantum electrodynamics, we compute a modified wave dispersion relation, which enables correct interpretation of Faraday rotation measurements of strong magnetic fields.

Whispering gallery effect in relativistic optics

Science.gov (United States)

Abe, Y.; Law, K. F. F.; Korneev, Ph.; Fujioka, S.; Kojima, S.; Lee, S.-H.; Sakata, S.; Matsuo, K.; Oshima, A.; Morace, A.; Arikawa, Y.; Yogo, A.; Nakai, M.; Norimatsu, T.; d'Humières, E.; Santos, J. J.; Kondo, K.; Sunahara, A.; Gus'kov, S.; Tikhonchuk, V.

2018-03-01

relativistic laser pulse, confined in a cylindrical-like target, under specific conditions may perform multiple scattering along the internal target surface. This results in the confinement of the laser light, leading to a very efficient interaction. The demonstrated propagation of the laser pulse along the curved surface is just yet another example of the "whispering gallery" effect, although nonideal due to laser-plasma coupling. In the relativistic domain its important feature is a gradual intensity decrease, leading to changes in the interaction conditions. The proccess may pronounce itself in plenty of physical phenomena, including very efficient electron acceleration and generation of relativistic magnetized plasma structures.

Plasma effects in attosecond pulse generation from ultra-relativistic laser-plasma interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boyd, T.J.M.

2010-01-01

Complete text of publication follows. Particle-in-cell simulations were performed to examine the influence of plasma effects on high harmonic spectra from the interaction of ultra-intense p-polarized laser pulses with overdense plasma targets. Furthermore, a theoretical model is proposed to explain the radiation mechanism that leads to attosecond pulse generation in the reflected field. It is shown that plasma harmonic emission affects the spectral characteristics, causing deviations in the harmonic power decay as compared with the so-called universal 8/3-decay. These deviations may occur, in a varying degree, as a consequence of the extent to which the plasma line and its harmonics affect the emission. It is also found a strong correlation of the emitted attosecond pulses with electron density structures within the plasma, responsible to generate intense localised electrostatic fields. A theoretical model based on the excitation of Langmuir waves by the re-entrant Brunel electron beams in the plasma and their electromagnetic interaction with the laser field is proposed to explain the flatter power spectral emission - described by a weaker 5/3 index and observed in numerical simulations - than that of the universal decay.

High-intensity subpicosecond laser pulse propagation in a 1-cm capillary tube and fast ignitor experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malka, G.; Courtois, C.; Cros, B.; Matthieussent, G.; Borghesi, M.; Gaillard, R.; Mackinnon, A.J.; Willi, O.; Danson, C.; Neely, D.; Altenberd, D.; Feurer, T.; Forster, E.; Gibbon, P.; Sauerbray, R.; Teubner, U.; Theobald, W.; Uschmann, I.; Amiranoff, F.; Baton, S.; Gremillet, L.; Fuchs, J.; Marques, J.R.; Gallant, P.; Kieffer, J.C.; Pepin, H.; Adam, J.C.; Heron, A.; Laval, G.; Mora, P.

2000-01-01

We present an abstract of ultra short and intense laser plasma interaction experiments which were performed with the 100 TW P102 laser facility at CEA/Limeil-Valenton. Laser interaction at relativistic regime (I>10 18 W/cm 2 ) has been investigated with different 'targets': overdense plasma, underdense plasma, free electrons and capillary tube. These experiments are of great interests for the Fast Ignitor concept and the Laser Particle Accelerator. (authors)

Self-focusing and Raman scattering of laser pulses in tenuous plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antonsen, T.M. Jr.; Mora, P.

1993-01-01

The propagation and self-focusing of short, intense laser pulses in a tenuous plasma is studied both analytically and numerically. Specifically, pulses of length of the order of a few plasma wavelengths and of intensity, which is large enough for relativistic self-focusing to occur, are considered. Such pulses are of interest in various laser plasma acceleration schemes. It is found that these pulses are likely to be strongly affected by Raman instabilities. Two different regimes of instability, corresponding to large and small scattering angles, are found to be important. Small-angle scattering is perhaps the most severe since it couples strongly with relativistic self-focusing, leading the pulses to acquire significant axial and transverse structure in a time of the order of the self-focusing time. Thus it will be difficult to propagate smooth self-focused pulses through tenuous plasmas for distances longer than the Rayleigh length, except for pulse duration of the order of the plasma period

Interaction of intense femtosecond laser pulses with high-Z solids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhidkov, A.; Sasaki, Akira; Utsumi, Takayuki; Fukumoto, Ichirou; Tajima, Toshiki; Yoshida, Masatake; Kondo, Kenichi

2000-01-01

A plasma irradiated by an intense very short pulse laser can be an ultimate high brightness source of incoherent inner-shell X-ray emission of 1-30 keV. The recently developed 100 TW, 20 fs laser facility in JAERI can make considerable enhancement here. To show this a hybrid model combining hydrodynamics and collisional particle-in-cell simulations is applied. Effect of laser prepulse on the interaction of an intense s-polarized femtosecond, ∼20/40 fs, laser pulse with high-Z solid targets is studied. A new absorption mechanism originating from the interaction of the laser pulse with plasma waves excited by the relativistic component of the Lorentz force is found to increase the absorption rate over 30% even for a very short laser pulse. The obtained hot electron temperature exceeds 0.5-1 MeV at optimal conditions for absorption. Results of the simulation for lower laser pulse intensities are in good agreement with the experimental measurements of the hot electron energy distribution. (author)

High-intensity subpicosecond laser pulse propagation in a 1-cm capillary tube and fast ignitor experiments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Malka, G.; Courtois, C.; Cros, B.; Matthieussent, G. [Paris-11 Univ., 91 - Orsay (France). Lab. de Physique des Gaz et des Plasmas; Blanchot, N.; Bonnaud, G.; Busquet, M.; Canaud, B.; Desenne, D.; Diskier, L.; Garconnet, J.P.; Louis-Jacquet, M.; Lefebvre, E.; Lours, L.; Mens, A.; Miquel, J.L.; Peyrusse, O.; Rousseaux, C. [CEA/Limeil Valenton, 94 - Villeneuve Saint Georges (France); Borghesi, M.; Gaillard, R.; Mackinnon, A.J.; Willi, O. [Imperial Coll., Plasma Physics Groups, London (United Kingdom); Danson, C.; Neely, D. [Rutherford Appleton Lab., Chilton (United Kingdom); Altenberd, D.; Feurer, T.; Forster, E.; Gibbon, P.; Sauerbray, R.; Teubner, U.; Theobald, W.; Uschmann, I. [Institut fur Optik und Quantenelektronik, Jena (Germany); Amiranoff, F.; Baton, S.; Gremillet, L.; Fuchs, J.; Marques, J.R. [Ecole Polytechnique, Lab. d' Utilisation de Lasers Intenses, CNRS-CEA, 91 - Palaiseau (France); Gallant, P.; Kieffer, J.C.; Pepin, H. [INRS Energie et Materiaux, Quebec (Canada); Adam, J.C.; Heron, A.; Laval, G.; Mora, P. [Ecole Polytechnique, 91 - Palaiseau (France). Centre de Physique Theorique

2000-07-01

We present an abstract of ultra short and intense laser plasma interaction experiments which were performed with the 100 TW P102 laser facility at CEA/Limeil-Valenton. Laser interaction at relativistic regime (I>10{sup 18} W/cm{sup 2}) has been investigated with different 'targets': overdense plasma, underdense plasma, free electrons and capillary tube. These experiments are of great interests for the Fast Ignitor concept and the Laser Particle Accelerator. (authors)

Energy Penetration into Arrays of Aligned Nanowires Irradiated with Relativistic Intensities: Scaling to Terabar Pressures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bargsten, Clayton [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Hollinger, Reed [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Capeluto, Maria Gabriela [Univ. of Buenos Aires (Argentina); Kaymak, Vural [Heinrich Heine Univ., Dusseldorf (Germany); Pukhov, Alexander [Heinrich Heine Univ., Dusseldorf (Germany); Wang, Shoujun [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Rockwood, Alex [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Wang, Yong [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Keiss, David [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Tommasini, Riccardo [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); London, Richard [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Park, Jaebum [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Busquet, Michel [ARTEP Inc., Ellicott City, MD (United States); Klapisch, M [ARTEP Inc., Ellicott City, MD (United States); Shlyaptsev, Vyacheslav N. [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Rocca, Jorge J. [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)

2016-11-11

Ultra-high-energy-density (UHED) matter, characterized by energy densities > 1 x 10⁸ J cm^-3 and pressures greater than a gigabar, is encountered in the center of stars and in inertial confinement fusion capsules driven by the world’s largest lasers. Similar conditions can be obtained with compact, ultra-high contrast, femtosecond lasers focused to relativistic intensities onto targets composed of aligned nanowire arrays. Here we report the measurement of the key physical process in determining the energy density deposited in high aspect ratio nanowire array plasmas: the energy penetration. By monitoring the x-ray emission from buried Co tracer segments in Ni nanowire arrays irradiated at an intensity of 4 x 10¹⁹ W cm^-2, we demonstrate energy penetration depths of several μm, leading to UHED plasmas of that size. Relativistic 3D particle-in-cell-simulations, validated by these measurements, predict that irradiation of nanostructures at intensities of > 1 x 10²² W cm^-2 will lead to a virtually unexplored extreme UHED plasma regime characterized by energy densities in excess of 8 x 10¹⁰ J cm^-3, equivalent to a pressure of 0.35 Tbar.

Relativistic electron beam - plasma interaction with intense self-fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davidson, R.C.

1984-01-01

The major interest in the equilibrium, stability and radiation properties of relativistic electron beams and in beam-plasma interactions originates from several diverse research areas. It is well known that a many-body collection of charged particles in which there is not overall charge neutrality and/or current neutrality can be characterized by intense self-electric fields and/or self-magnetic fields. Moreover, the intense equilibrium self-fields associated with the lack of charge neutrality and/or current neutrality can have a large effect on particle trajectories and on detailed equilibrium and stability behavior. The main emphasis in Sections 9.1.2-9.1.5 of this chapter is placed on investigations of the important influence of self-fields on the equilibrium and stability properties of magnetically confined electron beam-plasma systems. Atomic processes and discrete particle interactions (binary collisions) are omitted from the analysis, and collective processes are assumed to dominate on the time and length scales of interest. Moreover, both macroscopic (Section 9.1.2) and kinetic (Sections 9.1.3-9.1.5) theoretical models are developed and used to investigate equilibrium and stability properties in straight cylindrical geometry. Several of the classical waves and instabilities characteristic of nonneutral plasmas and beam-plasma systems are analyzed in Sections 9.1.2-9.1.5, including stable surface oscillation on a nonneutral electron beam, the ion resonance instability, the diocotron instability, two-stream instabilities between beam electrons and plasma electrons and between beam electrons and plasma ions, the filamentation instability, the modified two-stream instability, etc

Plasma discreteness effects in the presence of an intense, ultrashort laser pulse

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Savchenko, V.I.; Fisch, N.J.

1996-03-01

Discrete effects of the plasma irradiated by an ultrashort, intense laser pulse are investigated. Although, for most plasmas of interest, the damping of the laser pulse is due to collective plasma effects, in certain regimes the energy absorbed in the plasma microfields can be important. A scattering matrix is derived for an electron scattering off an ion in the presence of an intense laser field.

Plasma discreteness effects in the presence of an intense, ultrashort laser pulse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Savchenko, V.I.; Fisch, N.J.

1996-03-01

Discrete effects of the plasma irradiated by an ultrashort, intense laser pulse are investigated. Although, for most plasmas of interest, the damping of the laser pulse is due to collective plasma effects, in certain regimes the energy absorbed in the plasma microfields can be important. A scattering matrix is derived for an electron scattering off an ion in the presence of an intense laser field

Self-focusing of laser beams in magnetized relativistic electron beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Whang, M.H.; Ho, A.Y.; Kuo, S.P.

1989-01-01

Recently, there is considerable interest in radiation focusing and optical guiding using the resonant interaction between the radiation field and electron beam. The result of radiation focusing has been shown to play a central role in the practical utilization of the FEL. This result allows the device to use longer interaction length for achieving higher output power. Likewise, the possibility of self-focusing of the laser beam in cyclotron resonance with a relativistic electron beam is also an important issue in the laser acceleration concepts for achieving high-gradient electron acceleration. The effectiveness of the acceleration process relies strongly on whether the laser intensity can be maintained at the desired level throughout the interaction. In this work, the authors study the problem concerning the self-focusing of laser beam in the relativistic electron beams under the cyclotron auto-resonance interaction. They assume that there is no electron density perturbation prohibited from the background magnetic field for the time scale of interest. The nonlinearity responsible for self-focusing process is introduced by the energy dependence of the relativistic mass of electrons. The plasma frequency varies with the electron energy which is proportional to the radiation amplitude. They then examine such a relativistic nonlinear effect on the propagation of a Gaussian beam in the electron beam. A parametric study of the dependence of the laser beam width on the axial position for various electron beam density has been performed

Optically-ionized plasma recombination x-ray lasers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amendt, P.; Eder, D.C.; Wilks, S.C.; Dunning, M.J.; Keane, C.J.

1991-01-01

Design studies for recombination x-ray lasers based on plasmas ionized by high intensity, short pulse optical lasers are presented. Transient lasing on n = 3 to n = 2 transitions in Lithium-like Neon allows for moderately short wavelengths (≤ 100 angstrom) without requiring ionizing intensities associated with relativistic electron quiver energies. The electron energy distribution following the ionizing pulse affects directly the predicted gains for this resonance transition. Efficiencies of 10 -6 or greater are found for plasma temperatures in the vicinity of 40 eV. Simulation studies of parametric heating phenomena relating to stimulated Raman and Compton scattering are presented. For electron densities less than about 2.5 x 10 20 cm -3 and peak driver intensity of 2 x 10 17 W/cm 2 at 0.25 μm with pulse length of 100 fsec, the amount of electron heating is found to be marginally significant. For Lithium-like Aluminum, the required relativistic ionizing intensity gives excessive electron heating and reduced efficiency, thereby rendering this scheme impractical for generating shorter wavelength lasing (≤ 50 angstrom) in the transient case. Following the transient lasing phase, a slow hydrodynamic expansion into the surrounding cool plasma is accompanied by quasi-static gain on the n = 4 to n = 3 transition in Lithium-like Neon. Parametric heating effects on gain optimization in this regime are also discussed. 18 refs., 6 figs

On the Acceleration and Transport of Electrons Generated by Intense Laser-Plasma Interactions at Sharp Interfaces

Science.gov (United States)

May, Joshua Joseph

The continued development of the chirped pulse amplification technique has allowed for the development of lasers with powers of in excess of 10 15W, for pulse lengths with durations of between .01 and 10 picoseconds, and which can be focused to energy densities greater than 100 giga-atmospheres. When such lasers are focused onto material targets, the possibility of creating particle beams with energy fluxes of comparable parameters arises. Such interactions have a number of theorized applications. For instance, in the Fast Ignition concept for Inertial Confinement Fusion [1], a high-intensity laser efficiently transfers its energy into an electron beam with an appropriate spectra which is then transported into a compressed target and initiate a fusion reaction. Another possible use is the so called Radiation Pressure Acceleration mechanism, in which a high-intensity, circularly polarized laser is used to create a mono-energetic ion beam which could then be used for medical imaging and treatment, among other applications. For this latter application, it is important that the laser energy is transferred to the ions and not to the electrons. However the physics of such high energy-density laser-matter interactions is highly kinetic and non-linear, and presently not fully understood. In this dissertation, we use the Particle-in-Cell code OSIRIS [2, 3] to explore the generation and transport of relativistic particle beams created by high intensity lasers focused onto solid density matter at normal incidence. To explore the generation of relativistic electrons by such interactions, we use primarily one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D), and a few three-dimensional simulations (3D). We initially examine the idealized case of normal incidence of relatively short, plane-wave lasers on flat, sharp interfaces. We find that in 1D the results are highly dependent on the initial temperature of the plasma, with significant absorption into relativistic electrons only

Particle sources with high-intensity lasers: a tool for plasma diagnostics and an innovative source for applications; Sources de particules avec des lasers de haute intensite: un outil pour les diagnostics plasma et une source innovante pour les applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fritzler, S

2003-09-15

This work is an experimental study on particle generation with high-intensity lasers. This document is divided into 4 parts, whereas the first is dedicated to theoretical basics of particle generation and acceleration mechanisms during relativistic laser plasma interactions, the 3 other parts cover experimental studies on neutron, electron as well as proton generation. In the first part basic laser and plasma characteristics will be introduced as well as physical processes of interest during the interaction of a relativistic high-intensity laser with an underdense / overdense plasma. In the second part we introduce methodological basics of neutron generation by D(d,n)He{sup 3} reactions since this can reveal information about ion kinetics and possible ion heating mechanisms in plasmas. Subsequently the set-up for this experiment, pursued in the underdense regime, will be described in detail. The experimental results will be discussed for the gas jet interaction as well as for the beam target model since it was deduced that plasma ions are heated during the interaction to fusion temperatures of about 1 keV. The third part describes the generation of an electron beam with an energy up to 200 MeV in a new regime termed 'forced laser Wakefield'. Here, the presented experimental results were for the first time fully explained and even extended by the numerical modelling of this interaction in terms of energy, yield, angular divergence, emittance as well as bunch length of this electron beam. In the last part we present a 10 MeV proton beam generation using foil targets and a 10 Hz laser. Again the kinematic simulation of this experiment is in agreement with the experimental results by means of yield and angular divergence.

Laser pulse guiding and electron acceleration in the ablative capillary discharge plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kameshima, T.; Kotaki, H.; Kando, M.; Daito, I.; Kawase, K.; Fukuda, Y.; Homma, T.; Esirkepov, T. Zh.; Chen, L. M.; Kondo, S.; Bobrova, N. A.; Sasorov, P. V.; Bulanov, S. V.

2009-01-01

The results of experiments are presented for the laser electron acceleration in the ablative capillary discharge plasma. The plasma channel is formed by the discharge inside the ablative capillary. The intense short laser pulse is guided over a 4 cm length. The generated relativistic electrons show both the quasimonoenergetic and quasi-Maxwellian energy spectra, depending on laser and plasma parameters. The analysis of the inner walls of the capillaries that underwent several tens of shots shows that the wall deformation and blistering resulted from the discharge and laser pulse effects.

Nonlinear relativistic plasma resonance: Renormalization group approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Metelskii, I. I., E-mail: metelski@lebedev.ru [Russian Academy of Sciences, Lebedev Physical Institute (Russian Federation); Kovalev, V. F., E-mail: vfkvvfkv@gmail.com [Dukhov All-Russian Research Institute of Automatics (Russian Federation); Bychenkov, V. Yu., E-mail: bychenk@lebedev.ru [Russian Academy of Sciences, Lebedev Physical Institute (Russian Federation)

2017-02-15

An analytical solution to the nonlinear set of equations describing the electron dynamics and electric field structure in the vicinity of the critical density in a nonuniform plasma is constructed using the renormalization group approach with allowance for relativistic effects of electron motion. It is demonstrated that the obtained solution describes two regimes of plasma oscillations in the vicinity of the plasma resonance— stationary and nonstationary. For the stationary regime, the spatiotemporal and spectral characteristics of the resonantly enhanced electric field are investigated in detail and the effect of the relativistic nonlinearity on the spatial localization of the energy of the plasma relativistic field is considered. The applicability limits of the obtained solution, which are determined by the conditions of plasma wave breaking in the vicinity of the resonance, are established and analyzed in detail for typical laser and plasma parameters. The applicability limits of the earlier developed nonrelativistic theories are refined.

7. Lasers and plasmas forum - ILP 2015 Forum. Book of abstracts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mora, P.; Le Marec, A.; Ferri, S.; Corde, S.; Ceccotti, T.; Dozieres, M.; Pariente, G.; Azamoum, Y.; Cheriaux, G.; Baccou, C.; Romagnani, L.; Ravasio, A.; Masson-Laborde, P.E.; Laffite, S.; Neuville, C.; Casner, A.; Debayle, A.; Lobet, M.; Cosse, P.; Falize, E.; Taieb, R.; Rozmus, W.; Colaitis, A.; Boutoux, G.; Llor Aisa, E.; Ducret, J.E.; Le Pennec, M.; Barbrel, B.; Rouan, D.; Smets, R.; Seisson, G.; Boyer, S.; Massacrier, G.; Harmand, M.; Jacquemot, S.; Adam, J.C.; Boutoux, G.; Busquet, M.; Bychenkov, V. Yu.; Castan, A.; Chatagnier, A.; Chiaramello, M.; Debayle, A.; Deschaud, Basil; Do, A.; Fedeli, L.; Ferri, J.; Gangolf, T.; Gilles, D.; Vallet, A.; D'Humieres, E.; Khiar, B.; Grassi, A.; Hadj-Bachir, M.; Lee, P.; Lobet, M.; Loiseau, P.; Maitrallain, A.; Masson-Laborde, P.E.; Mollica, F.; Moreau, J.G.; Nicolas, Loic; Pain, J.-C.; Penninckx, D.; Riconda, C.; Ruyer, C.; Soleilhac, A.; Van Box Som, L.

2015-06-01

List of oral presentation abstracts: Effect of XUV lasers partial coherence on the characterization of their spectral properties; Study of ionization potential lowering and other statistical properties of coupled plasmas using numerical simulation and classical molecular dynamics; Plasma acceleration by particle beam; Electron acceleration by surface wave resonant excitation in relativistic regime; Optimization of a laser-generated X Ka source (Ti:Sa 10 TW - 100 Hz); Apollon 10 PW: description and status; The future of the research federation and of power laser facilities; Inertial confinement fusion and operation of 'rugby'-shape hohlraums; Chronometry and efficiency of direct attack implosion at OMEGA facility; Laser-plasma interaction physics in beam crossing configuration; NIF Discovery Science experiments for the study of the strongly nonlinear regime of the ablative Rayleigh-Taylor instability; X opacity measurements in mid-Z dense plasmas with a new target design of indirect heating; Photoionization dynamics: Transition and scattering delays; Ion acceleration induced by laser-produced electrostatic shocks; Electron Transport and Related Non-equilibrium Distribution Functions in Hot Large Scale ICF Plasmas; Rate optimization of neutron-less fusion reactions initiated by laser-accelerated protons; Nonlinear laser-plasma interactions modeling at hydrodynamic scales: application to beam crossing energy exchange; Evolution of a Sedov-Taylor blast-wave: radiative, nonlocal heat transport and field effects; Measuring ultra-intense laser beams in space time; A few applications of the radiative and quantum electrodynamics effects in future extreme-intensity laser-matter experiments; X-rays imaging diagnostics for PETAL; Laboratory Astrophysics with High Power Lasers; Femto-second electron dynamics in the Warm dense Matter; The extra-solar planets; Study of HEDP magnetic reconnection; Opacity of solar-type stars inside: what (un)certainties?; Validation of solar

Relativistic self-focusing of intense laser beam in thermal collisionless quantum plasma with ramped density profile

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Zare

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Propagation of a Gaussian x-ray laser beam has been analyzed in collisionless thermal quantum plasma with considering a ramped density profile. In this density profile due to the increase in the plasma density, an earlier and stronger self-focusing effect is noticed where the beam width oscillates with higher frequency and less amplitude. Moreover, the effect of the density profile slope and the initial plasma density on the laser propagation has been studied. It is found that, by increasing the initial density and the ramp slope, the laser beam focuses faster with less oscillation amplitude, smaller laser spot size and more oscillations. Furthermore, a comparison is made among the laser self-focusing in thermal quantum plasma, cold quantum plasma and classical plasma. It is realized that the laser self-focusing in the quantum plasma becomes stronger in comparison with the classical regime.

Studies on the propagation of relativistic plasma waves in high density plasmas produced by hypersonic ionizing shock waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, R.L.; Johnson, J.A. III

1993-01-01

The feasibility of using an ionizing shock wave to produce high density plasmas suitable for the propagation large amplitude relativistic plasma waves is being investigated. A 20 kv arc driven shock tube of coaxial geometry produces a hypersonic shock wave (10 p > 10 17 cm -3 ). The shock can be made to reflect off the end of the tube, collide with its wake, and thus increase the plasma density further. After reflecting, the plasma is at rest. The shock speed is measured using piezoelectric pressure probes and the ion density is measured using laser induced fluorescence (LIF) techniques on argon 488.0 nm and 422.8 nm lines. The future plans are to excite large amplitude relativistic plasma waves in this plasma by either injecting a short pulse laser (Laser Wake Field Scheme), two beating lasers (Plasma Beat Wave Scheme), or a short bunch of relativistic electrons (Plasma Wake Field Scheme). Results of recent computational and theoretical studies, as well as initial experimental measurements on the plasma using LIF, are reported. Implications for the application of high density plasmas produced in this way to such novel schemes as the plasma wave accelerator, photon accelerator, plasma wave undulator, and also plasma lens, are discussed. The effect of plasma turbulence is also discussed

Study on the intense relativistic electron beam propagation in a collisionless plasma of small density

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Korenev, S.A.; Rubin, N.B.; Khodataev, K.V.

1982-01-01

The results of the experimental studies of the intense relativistic electron beam (IREB) propagation with ν/γ approximately 0.1, and γ approximately 1.6 (γ is an electron beam relativistic factor) in a collisionless plasma of small density over the 180 cm length are presented. Plasma is generated with the incomplete discharge over dielectric surface at the residual gas pressure of P approximately 10 -5 Torr. It is shown that the transportation efficiency may be essentially high, if the electron concentration in plasma satisfies the equilibrium conditions and if it is less or equal to the electron concentration in a beam. At concentration less than optimum one, the transportation efficiency decreases due to violations of equilibrium conditions. At high concentration the transportation efficiency also decreased due to the scattering and breaking on excited small-scale and plasma oscillations. The IREB propagation occurs without essential time delay under optimum conditions

Collective scattering of electromagnetic waves from a relativistic magnetized plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu Quankang

1998-01-01

Recently, laser and microwave scattering has become one of the important diagnostic means for plasma. Laser and microwave correlative scattering spectrum is determined by particle-density fluctuations in a weak turbulent plasma. In a relativistic plasma, on the basis of complete electromagnetic-interaction between particles, a general expression for particle density fluctuations and spectrums of laser and microwave scattering from a magnetized plasma are derived. The laser and microwave scattering spectrums provide informations on electron density and temperature, ion temperature, resonance and nonresonance effects. (author)

Modelling properties of hard x-rays generated by the interaction between relativistic electrons and very intense laser beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Popa, Alexandru

2009-01-01

In a previous paper we presented a calculation model for high harmonic generation by relativistic Thomson scattering of the electromagnetic radiation by free electrons. In this paper we present a similar model for the calculation of the energies of hard x-rays (20- 200 keV) resulted from the interaction between relativistic electrons (20-100 MeV) and very intense laser beams. Starting from the relativistic equations of motion of an electron in the electromagnetic field we show that the Lienard-Wiechert equation leads to electromagnetic waves whose frequencies are in the domain of hard x-rays. When the relativistic parameter of the laser beam is greater than unity, the model predicts the existence of harmonics of the above frequencies. Our theoretical values are in good agreement with experimental values of the x-ray energies from the literature and predict accurately their angular distribution.

Plasma based charged-particle accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bingham, R; Mendonca, J T; Shukla, P K

2004-01-01

Studies of charged-particle acceleration processes remain one of the most important areas of research in laboratory, space and astrophysical plasmas. In this paper, we present the underlying physics and the present status of high gradient and high energy plasma accelerators. We will focus on the acceleration of charged particles to relativistic energies by plasma waves that are created by intense laser and particle beams. The generation of relativistic plasma waves by intense lasers or electron beams in plasmas is important in the quest for producing ultra-high acceleration gradients for accelerators. With the development of compact short pulse high brightness lasers and electron positron beams, new areas of studies for laser/particle beam-matter interactions is opening up. A number of methods are being pursued vigorously to achieve ultra-high acceleration gradients. These include the plasma beat wave accelerator mechanism, which uses conventional long pulse (∼100 ps) modest intensity lasers (I ∼ 10 14 -10 16 W cm -2 ), the laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA), which uses the new breed of compact high brightness lasers ( 10 18 W cm -2 , the self-modulated LWFA concept, which combines elements of stimulated Raman forward scattering, and electron acceleration by nonlinear plasma waves excited by relativistic electron and positron bunches. In the ultra-high intensity regime, laser/particle beam-plasma interactions are highly nonlinear and relativistic, leading to new phenomena such as the plasma wakefield excitation for particle acceleration, relativistic self-focusing and guiding of laser beams, high-harmonic generation, acceleration of electrons, positrons, protons and photons. Fields greater than 1 GV cm -1 have been generated with particles being accelerated to 200 MeV over a distance of millimetre. Plasma wakefields driven by positron beams at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center facility have accelerated the tail of the positron beam. In the near future

Relativistic electron kinetic effects on laser diagnostics in burning plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Mirnov, V. V.; Den Hartog, D. J.

2018-02-01

Toroidal interferometry/polarimetry (TIP), poloidal polarimetry (PoPola), and Thomson scattering systems (TS) are major optical diagnostics being designed and developed for ITER. Each of them relies upon a sophisticated quantitative understanding of the electron response to laser light propagating through a burning plasma. Review of the theoretical results for two different applications is presented: interferometry/polarimetry (I/P) and polarization of Thomson scattered light, unified by the importance of relativistic (quadratic in vTe/c) electron kinetic effects. For I/P applications, rigorous analytical results are obtained perturbatively by expansion in powers of the small parameter τ = Te/me c2, where Te is electron temperature and me is electron rest mass. Experimental validation of the analytical models has been made by analyzing data of more than 1200 pulses collected from high-Te JET discharges. Based on this validation the relativistic analytical expressions are included in the error analysis and design projects of the ITER TIP and PoPola systems. The polarization properties of incoherent Thomson scattered light are being examined as a method of Te measurement relevant to ITER operational regimes. The theory is based on Stokes vector transformation and Mueller matrices formalism. The general approach is subdivided into frequency-integrated and frequency-resolved cases. For each of them, the exact analytical relativistic solutions are presented in the form of Mueller matrix elements averaged over the relativistic Maxwellian distribution function. New results related to the detailed verification of the frequency-resolved solutions are reported. The precise analytic expressions provide output much more rapidly than relativistic kinetic numerical codes allowing for direct real-time feedback control of ITER device operation.

Self-focusing and guiding of short laser pulses in ionizing gases and plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Esarey, E.; Sprangle, P.; Krall, J.; Ting, A.

1997-01-01

The propagation of intense laser pulses in gases and plasmas is relevant to a wide range of applications, including laser-driven accelerators, laser-plasma channeling, harmonic generation, supercontinuum generation, X-ray lasers, and laser-fusion schemes. Here, several features of intense, short-pulse (≤1 ps) laser propagation in gases undergoing ionization and in plasmas are reviewed, discussed, and analyzed. The wave equations for laser pulse propagation in a gas undergoing ionization and in a plasma are derived. The source-dependent expansion method is discussed, which is a general method for solving the paraxial wave equation with nonlinear source terms. In gases, the propagation of high-power (near the critical power) laser pulses is considered including the effects of diffraction, nonlinear self-focusing, ionization, and plasma generation. Self-guided solutions and the stability of these solutions are discussed. In plasmas, optical guiding by relativistic effects, ponderomotive effects, and preformed density channels is considered. The self-consistent plasma response is discussed, including plasma wave effects and instabilities such as self-modulation. Recent experiments on the guiding of laser pulses in gases and in plasmas are briefly summarized

Isolated elliptically polarized attosecond soft X-ray with high-brilliance using polarization gating of harmonics from relativistic plasmas at oblique incidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Zi-Yu; Li, Xiao-Ya; Li, Bo-Yuan; Chen, Min; Liu, Feng

2018-02-19

The production of intense isolated attosecond pulse is a major goal in ultrafast research. Recent advances in high harmonic generation from relativistic plasma mirrors under oblique incidence interactions gave rise to photon-rich attosecond pulses with circular or elliptical polarization. However, to achieve an isolated elliptical attosecond pulse via polarization gating using currently available long driving pulses remains a challenge, because polarization gating of high harmonics from relativistic plasmas is assumed only possible at normal or near-normal incidence. Here we numerically demonstrate a scheme around this problem. We show that via control of plasma dynamics by managing laser polarization, it is possible to gate an intense single attosecond pulse with high ellipticity extending to the soft X-ray regime at oblique incidence. This approach thus paves the way towards a powerful tool enabling high-time-resolution probe of dynamics of chiral systems and magnetic materials with current laser technology.

Research on imploded plasma heating by short pulse laser for fast ignition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kodama, R.; Kitagawa, Y.; Mima, K.

2001-01-01

Since the peta watt module (PWM) laser was constructed in 1995, investigated are heating processes of imploded plasmas by intense short pulse lasers. In order to heat the dense plasma locally, a heating laser pulse should be guided into compressed plasmas as deeply as possible. Since the last IAEA Fusion Conference, the feasibility of fast ignition has been investigated by using the short pulse GEKKO MII glass laser and the PWM laser with GEKKO XII laser. We found that relativistic electrons are generated efficiently in a preformed plasma to heat dense plasmas. The coupling efficiency of short pulse laser energy to a solid density plasma is 40% when no plasmas are pre-formed, and 20% when a large scale plasma is formed by a long pulse laser pre-irradiation. The experimental results are confirmed by numerical simulations using the simulation code 'MONET' which stands for the Monte-Carlo Electron Transport code developed at Osaka. In the GEKKO XII and PWM laser experiments, intense heating pulses are injected into imploded plasmas. As a result of the injection of heating pulse, it is found that high energy electrons and ions could penetrate into imploded core plasmas to enhance neutron yield by factor 3∼5. (author)

Strong field interaction of laser radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pukhov, Alexander

2003-01-01

The Review covers recent progress in laser-matter interaction at intensities above 10 18 W cm -2 . At these intensities electrons swing in the laser pulse with relativistic energies. The laser electric field is already much stronger than the atomic fields, and any material is instantaneously ionized, creating plasma. The physics of relativistic laser-plasma is highly non-linear and kinetic. The best numerical tools applicable here are particle-in-cell (PIC) codes, which provide the most fundamental plasma model as an ensemble of charged particles. The three-dimensional (3D) PIC code Virtual Laser-Plasma Laboratory runs on a massively parallel computer tracking trajectories of up to 10 9 particles simultaneously. This allows one to simulate real laser-plasma experiments for the first time. When the relativistically intense laser pulses propagate through plasma, a bunch of new physical effects appears. The laser pulses are subject to relativistic self-channelling and filamentation. The gigabar ponderomotive pressure of the laser pulse drives strong currents of plasma electrons in the laser propagation direction; these currents reach the Alfven limit and generate 100 MG quasistatic magnetic fields. These magnetic fields, in turn, lead to the mutual filament attraction and super-channel formation. The electrons in the channels are accelerated up to gigaelectronvolt energies and the ions gain multi-MeV energies. We discuss different mechanisms of particle acceleration and compare numerical simulations with experimental data. One of the very important applications of the relativistically strong laser beams is the fast ignition (FI) concept for the inertial fusion energy (IFE). Petawatt-class lasers may provide enough energy to isochorically ignite a pre-compressed target consisting of thermonuclear fuel. The FI approach would ease dramatically the constraints on the implosion symmetry and improve the energy gain. However, there is a set of problems to solve before the FI

Compact tunable Compton x-ray source from laser-plasma accelerator and plasma mirror

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsai, Hai-En; Wang, Xiaoming; Shaw, Joseph M.; Li, Zhengyan; Zgadzaj, Rafal; Henderson, Watson; Downer, M. C.; Arefiev, Alexey V.; Zhang, Xi; Khudik, V.; Shvets, G.

2015-01-01

We present an in-depth experimental-computational study of the parameters necessary to optimize a tunable, quasi-monoenergetic, efficient, low-background Compton backscattering (CBS) x-ray source that is based on the self-aligned combination of a laser-plasma accelerator (LPA) and a plasma mirror (PM). The main findings are (1) an LPA driven in the blowout regime by 30 TW, 30 fs laser pulses produce not only a high-quality, tunable, quasi-monoenergetic electron beam, but also a high-quality, relativistically intense (a 0 ∼ 1) spent drive pulse that remains stable in profile and intensity over the LPA tuning range. (2) A thin plastic film near the gas jet exit retro-reflects the spent drive pulse efficiently into oncoming electrons to produce CBS x-rays without detectable bremsstrahlung background. Meanwhile, anomalous far-field divergence of the retro-reflected light demonstrates relativistic “denting” of the PM. Exploiting these optimized LPA and PM conditions, we demonstrate quasi-monoenergetic (50% FWHM energy spread), tunable (75–200 KeV) CBS x-rays, characteristics previously achieved only on more powerful laser systems by CBS of a split-off, counter-propagating pulse. Moreover, laser-to-x-ray photon conversion efficiency (∼6 × 10 −12 ) exceeds that of any previous LPA-based quasi-monoenergetic Compton source. Particle-in-cell simulations agree well with the measurements

Double Relativistic Electron Accelerating Mirror

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saltanat Sadykova

2013-02-01

Full Text Available In the present paper, the possibility of generation of thin dense relativistic electron layers is shown using the analytical and numerical modeling of laser pulse interaction with ultra-thin layers. It was shown that the maximum electron energy can be gained by optimal tuning between the target width, intensity and laser pulse duration. The optimal parameters were obtained from a self-consistent system of Maxwell equations and the equation of motion of electron layer. For thin relativistic electron layers, the gaining of maximum electron energies requires a second additional overdense plasma layer, thus cutting the laser radiation off the plasma screen at the instant of gaining the maximum energy (DREAM-schema.

On the physics of electron ejection from laser-irradiated overdense plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thévenet, M.; Vincenti, H.; Faure, J. [Laboratoire d' Optique Appliquée, ENSTA ParisTech, CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, Université Paris-Saclay, 828 bd des Maréchaux, 91762 Palaiseau Cedex (France)

2016-06-15

Using 1D and 2D PIC simulations, we describe and model the backward ejection of electron bunches when a laser pulse reflects off an overdense plasma with a short density gradient on its front side. The dependence on the laser intensity and gradient scale length is studied. It is found that during each laser period, the incident laser pulse generates a large charge-separation field, or plasma capacitor, which accelerates an attosecond bunch of electrons toward vacuum. This process is maximized for short gradient scale lengths and collapses when the gradient scale length is comparable to the laser wavelength. We develop a model that reproduces the electron dynamics and the dependence on laser intensity and gradient scale length. This process is shown to be strongly linked with high harmonic generation via the Relativistic Oscillating Mirror mechanism.

Ponderomotive and weakly relativistic self-focusing of Gaussian laser beam in plasma: Effect of light absorption

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Patil, S. D., E-mail: sdpatilphy@gmail.com [Department of Physics, Devchand College, Arjunnagar, Dist.: Kolhapur 591 237 (India); Takale, M. V. [Department of Physics, Shivaji University, Kolhapur 416 004 (India)

2016-05-06

This paper presents an influence of light absorption on self-focusing of laser beam propagation in plasma. The differential equation for beam-width parameter is obtained using the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin and paraxial approximations through parabolic equation approach. The nonlinearity in dielectric function is assumed to be aroused due to the combined effect of weakly relativistic and ponderomotive regime. To highlight the nature of propagation, behavior of beam-width parameter with dimensionless distance of propagation is presented graphically and discussed. The present work is helpful to understand issues related to the beam propagation in laser plasma interaction experiments where light absorption plays a vital role.

Effects of high energy photon emissions in laser generated ultra-relativistic plasmas: Real-time synchrotron simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wallin, Erik [Department of Physics, Umeå University, SE–901 87 Umeå (Sweden); Department of Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, SE–412 96 Göteborg (Sweden); Gonoskov, Arkady [Department of Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, SE–412 96 Göteborg (Sweden); Institute of Applied Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nizhny Novgorod 603950 (Russian Federation); University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod 603950 (Russian Federation); Marklund, Mattias [Department of Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, SE–412 96 Göteborg (Sweden)

2015-03-15

We model the emission of high energy photons due to relativistic charged particle motion in intense laser-plasma interactions. This is done within a particle-in-cell code, for which high frequency radiation normally cannot be resolved due to finite time steps and grid size. A simple expression for the synchrotron radiation spectra is used together with a Monte-Carlo method for the emittance. We extend previous work by allowing for arbitrary fields, considering the particles to be in instantaneous circular motion due to an effective magnetic field. Furthermore, we implement noise reduction techniques and present validity estimates of the method. Finally, we perform a rigorous comparison to the mechanism of radiation reaction, and find the emitted energy to be in excellent agreement with the losses calculated using radiation reaction.

Relativistic electromagnetic waves in an electron-ion plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Chian, Abraham C.-L.; Kennel, Charles F.

1987-01-01

High power laser beams can drive plasma particles to relativistic energies. An accurate description of strong waves requires the inclusion of ion dynamics in the analysis. The equations governing the propagation of relativistic electromagnetic waves in a cold electron-ion plasma can be reduced to two equations expressing conservation of energy-momentum of the system. The two conservation constants are functions of the plasma stream velocity, the wave velocity, the wave amplitude, and the electron-ion mass ratio. The dynamic parameter, expressing electron-ion momentum conversation in the laboratory frame, can be regarded as an adjustable quantity, a suitable choice of which will yield self-consistent solutions when other plasma parameters were specified. Circularly polarized electromagnetic waves and electrostatic plasma waves are used as illustrations.

Heating of a dense plasma with an intense relativistic electron beam: initial observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Montgomery, M.D.; Parker, J.V.; Riepe, K.B.; Sheffield, R.L.

1981-01-01

A dense (approx. 10 17 cm -3 ) plasma has been heated via the relativistic two-stream instability using a 3 MeV, intense (5 x 10 5 A/cm 2 ) electron beam. Evidence for heating has been obtained with diamagnetic loops, thin-foil witness plates, and a 2-channel, broad-band soft x-ray detector. Measurements of energy loss from the beam using calorimetry techniques have been attempted. The measured strong dependence of heating on beam transverse temperature and the very short interaction length ( 100 ns after the beam pulse are consistent with a plasma temperature <150 eV and line emission near 80 to 90 eV

Study on intense relativistic electron beam propagation in a low density collisionless plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Korenev, S.A.; Rubin, N.B.; Khodataev, K.V.

1982-01-01

The results of investigations into the increase in effectivity of transport of an intensive relativistic electron beam (IREB) in a collisionless plasma of low density are presented. The electron beam with the current of 1.5 kA, energy of 300 keV, radius of 1.5 cm is in ected into a plasma channel 180 cm long which is a metallic cylinder covered with a biniplast layer from inside 0.5 cm thickness on which there is a metallic net from the vacuum side. Plasma production is carried out during the supply of voltage pulse to the net. A condition of the optimum IREB distribution is found. It is sohwn that self-focusing IREB transport in plasma of low density can be effective if equilibrium conditions are carried out in plasma with the concentration of electrons less (or equal) to the concentration of electrons in a beam

Progress of laser-plasma interaction simulations with the particle-in-cell code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakagami, Hitoshi; Kishimoto, Yasuaki; Sentoku, Yasuhiko; Taguchi, Toshihiro

2005-01-01

As the laser-plasma interaction is a non-equilibrium, non-linear and relativistic phenomenon, we must introduce a microscopic method, namely, the relativistic electromagnetic PIC (Particle-In-Cell) simulation code. The PIC code requires a huge number of particles to validate simulation results, and its task is very computation-intensive. Thus simulation researches by the PIC code have been progressing along with advances in computer technology. Recently, parallel computers with tremendous computational power have become available, and thus we can perform three-dimensional PIC simulations for the laser-plasma interaction to investigate laser fusion. Some simulation results are shown with figures. We discuss a recent trend of large-scale PIC simulations that enable direct comparison between experimental facts and computational results. We also discharge/lightning simulations by the extended PIC code, which include various atomic and relaxation processes. (author)

Weibel instability mediated collisionless shocks using intense laser-driven plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Palaniyappan, Sasikumar; Fiuza, Federico; Huang, Chengkun; Gautier, Donald; Ma, Wenjun; Schreiber, Jorg; Raymer, Abel; Fernandez, Juan; Shimada, Tom; Johnson, Randall

2017-10-01

The origin of cosmic rays remains a long-standing challenge in astrophysics and continues to fascinate physicists. It is believed that ``collisionless shocks'' - where the particle Coulomb mean free path is much larger that the shock transition - are a dominant source of energetic cosmic rays. These shocks are ubiquitous in astrophysical environments such as gamma-ray bursts, supernova remnants, pulsar wind nebula and coronal mass ejections from the sun. A particular type of electromagnetic plasma instability known as Weibel instability is believed to be the dominant mechanism behind the formation of these collisionless shocks in the cosmos. The understanding of the microphysics behind collisionless shocks and their particle acceleration is tightly related with nonlinear basic plasma processes and remains a grand challenge. In this poster, we will present results from recent experiments at the LANL Trident laser facility studying collisionless shocks using intense ps laser (80J, 650 fs - peak intensity of 1020 W/cm2) driven near-critical plasmas using carbon nanotube foam targets. A second short pulse laser driven protons from few microns thick gold foil is used to radiograph the main laser-driven plasma. Work supported by the LDRD program at LANL.

Plasma hydrodynamics of the intense laser-cluster interaction*

Science.gov (United States)

Milchberg, Howard

2002-11-01

We present a 1D hydrodynamic model of the intense laser-cluster interaction in which the laser field is treated self-consistently. We find that for clusters initially as small as 25Å in radius, for which the hydrodynamic model is appropriate, nonuniform expansion of the heated material results in long-time resonance of the laser field at the critical density plasma layer. A significant result of this is that the ponderomotive force, which is enhanced at the critical density surface, can be large enough to strongly modify the plasma hydrodynamics, even at laser intensities as low as 10^15 W/cm^2 for 800 nm laser pulses. Recent experiments in EUV and x-ray generation as a function of laser pulsewidth [1], and femtosecond time-resolved measurements of cluster transient polarizability [2] provide strong support for the basic physics of this model. Recent results using a 2D hybrid fluid/PIC code show qualitative agreement with the 1D hydrocode [3]. *Work supported by the National Science Foundation and the EUV-LLC. 1. E. Parra, I. Alexeev, J. Fan, K. Kim, S.J. McNaught, and H. M. Milchberg, Phys. Rev. E 62, R5931 (2000). 2. K.Y. Kim, I. Alexeev, E. Parra, and H.M. Milchberg, submitted for publication. 3. T. Taguchi, T. Antonsen, and H.M Milchberg, this meeting.

Self-modulation and anomalous collective scattering of laser produced intense ion beam in plasmas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Mima

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The collective interaction between intense ion beams and plasmas is studied by simulations and experiments, where an intense proton beam produced by a short pulse laser is injected into a pre-ionized gas. It is found that, depending on its current density, collective effects can significantly alter the propagated ion beam and the stopping power. The quantitative agreement that is found between theories and experiments constitutes the first validation of the collective interaction theory. The effects in the interaction between intense ion beams and background gas plasmas are of importance for the design of laser fusion reactors as well as for beam physics. Keywords: Two stream instabilities, Ultra intense short pulse laser, Proton beam, Wake field, Electron plasma wave, Laser plasma interaction, PACS codes: 52.38.Kd, 29.27.Fh, 52.40.Kh, 52.70.Nc

Relativistic modeling capabilities in PERSEUS extended MHD simulation code for HED plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hamlin, Nathaniel D., E-mail: nh322@cornell.edu [438 Rhodes Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853 (United States); Seyler, Charles E., E-mail: ces7@cornell.edu [Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853 (United States)

2014-12-15

We discuss the incorporation of relativistic modeling capabilities into the PERSEUS extended MHD simulation code for high-energy-density (HED) plasmas, and present the latest hybrid X-pinch simulation results. The use of fully relativistic equations enables the model to remain self-consistent in simulations of such relativistic phenomena as X-pinches and laser-plasma interactions. By suitable formulation of the relativistic generalized Ohm’s law as an evolution equation, we have reduced the recovery of primitive variables, a major technical challenge in relativistic codes, to a straightforward algebraic computation. Our code recovers expected results in the non-relativistic limit, and reveals new physics in the modeling of electron beam acceleration following an X-pinch. Through the use of a relaxation scheme, relativistic PERSEUS is able to handle nine orders of magnitude in density variation, making it the first fluid code, to our knowledge, that can simulate relativistic HED plasmas.

Prepulse effect on intense femtosecond laser pulse propagation in gas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giulietti, Antonio; Tomassini, Paolo; Galimberti, Marco; Giulietti, Danilo; Gizzi, Leonida A.; Koester, Petra; Labate, Luca; Ceccotti, Tiberio; D'Oliveira, Pascal; Auguste, Thierry; Monot, Pascal; Martin, Philippe

2006-01-01

The propagation of an ultrashort laser pulse can be affected by the light reaching the medium before the pulse. This can cause a serious drawback to possible applications. The propagation in He of an intense 60-fs pulse delivered by a Ti:sapphire laser in the chirped pulse amplification (CPA) mode has been investigated in conditions of interest for laser-plasma acceleration of electrons. The effects of both nanosecond amplified spontaneous emission and picosecond pedestals have been clearly identified. There is evidence that such effects are basically of refractive nature and that they are not detrimental for the propagation of a CPA pulse focused to moderately relativistic intensity. The observations are fully consistent with numerical simulations and can contribute to the search of a stable regime for laser acceleration

Generation of Attosecond x-ray pulse using Coherent Relativistic Nonlinear Thomson Scattering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Ki Tae; Park, Seong Hee; Cha, Yong Ho; Jeong, Young Uk; Lee, Byung Cheol [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2005-07-01

Relativistic plasma, a new regime in physics, has been opened due to the development in ultra-intense laser technology during the past decade. Not only the fundamental aspect of relativistic plasma are attractive but also its potential application seems to be significant especially in the area of the generation of high energy particles such as electrons, ions, positrons, and {gamma}-rays. The generation of x-ray radiation with a pulse width of sub-femtoseconds presently draws much attention because such a radiation allows one to explore ultra-fast dynamics of electrons and nucleons. Several schemes have been proposed and/or demonstrated to generate an ultra-short x-ray pulse: the relativistic Doppler shift of a backscattered laser pulse by a relativistic electron beam, the harmonic frequency upshift of a laser pulse by relativistic nonlinear motion of electrons, high order harmonic generation in the interaction of intense laser pulse with noble gases and solids The train of a few 100 attosecond pulses has been observed in the case of laser-noble gas interaction. When a low-intensity laser pulse is irradiated on an electron, the electron undergoes a harmonic oscillatory motion and generates a dipole radiation with the same frequency as the incident laser pulse, which is called Thomson scattering. As the laser intensity increases, the oscillatory motion of the electron becomes relativistically nonlinear, which leads to the generation of harmonic radiations, referred to as Relativistic Nonlinear Thomson Scattered (RNTS) radiation. The motion of the electron begins to be relativistic as the following normalized vector potential approaches to unity: a{sub 0}=8.5 x 10{sup -10} {lambda}{iota}{sup 1/2} , (1) where {lambda} is the laser wavelength in {mu}m and I the laser intensity in W/cm{sup 2} The RNTS radiation has been investigated in analytical ways. Recently, indebted to the development of the ultra-intense laser pulse, experiments on RNTS radiation have been carried

The role of the gas/plasma plume and self-focusing in a gas-filled capillary discharge waveguide for high-power laser-plasma applications

CERN Document Server

Ciocarlan, C.; Islam, M. R.; Ersfeld, B.; Abuazoum, S.; Wilson, R.; Aniculaesei, C.; Welsh, G. H.; Vieux, G.; Jaroszynski, D. A.; 10.1063/1.4822333

2013-01-01

The role of the gas/plasma plume at the entrance of a gas-filled capillary discharge plasma waveguide in increasing the laser intensity has been investigated. Distinction is made between neutral gas and hot plasma plumes that, respectively, develop before and after discharge breakdown. Time-averaged measurements show that the on-axis plasma density of a fully expanded plasma plume over this region is similar to that inside the waveguide. Above the critical power, relativistic and ponderomotive selffocusing lead to an increase in the intensity, which can be nearly a factor of 2 compared with the case without a plume. When used as a laser plasma wakefield accelerator, the enhancement of intensity can lead to prompt electron injection very close to the entrance of the waveguide. Self-focusing occurs within two Rayleigh lengths of the waveguide entrance plane in the region, where the laser beam is converging. Analytical theory and numerical simulations show that, for a density of 3.01018 cm3, the peak normalized...

Dynamics of plasma ions motion in ultra-intense laser-excited plasma wakes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Suyun; Li Jing

2013-01-01

The effects of heavy ions and protons motion in an ultra-intense laser-driven plasma wake are compared by rebuilding a plasma wake model. It is shown that with the same laser and plasma background electron density n 0 , the heavy ions' motion suppresses wake-field resonant excitation less than the protons' motion in their own plasma wake. Though heavy ions obtain more kinetic energy from the plasma wake, its energy density is less than that of the protons due to the ion density being far less than the proton density. As a result, the total energy of heavy ions obtained from the wake-field is far less than that of protons. The dependence of the kinetic energy and the energy density of protons and heavy ions on n 0 is discussed. (paper)

Ultra-intense laser-matter interactions at extreme parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hegellich, Bjorn M.

2010-01-01

at less than 3nm, i.e. 1/300 of the laser wavelength, are even thinner than the plasma skin depth. This drastically changes the laser-matter interaction physics leading to the emergence of new particle acceleration mechanisms, like Break-Out Afterburner (BOA) Acceleration, driven by a relativistic, kinetic plasma instability or Radiation Pressure Acceleration (RPA), driven by stabilized charge separation. Furthermore, these interactions also produce relativistic high harmonics in forward direction as well as mono-en,ergetic electron pulses which might lend itself as a source for fully coherent Thomson scattering in the mulit-keV regime. In this talk I will present an overview over the laser developments leading to this paradigm change as well as over the theoretical and experimental results following from it. Specifically we were able for the first time to demonstrate BOA acceleration of Carbon ions to up to 0.5 GeV using a laser pulse with ∼10 20 W/cm 2 intensity and showing the scalability of this mechanism into regimes relevant for Hadron Therapy. We were further able to demonstrate mono-energetic electron break-out from ultrathin targets, as a first step towards a flying mirror.

Laser plasma acceleration of electrons with multi-PW laser beams in the frame of CILEX

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cros, B., E-mail: brigitte.cros@u-psud.fr [LPGP, CNRS and Université Paris Sud, Orsay (France); Paradkar, B.S. [LPGP, CNRS and Université Paris Sud, Orsay (France); Davoine, X. [CEA DAM DIF, Arpajon F-91297 (France); Chancé, A. [CEA IRFU-SACM, Gif-Sur-Yvette (France); Desforges, F.G. [LPGP, CNRS and Université Paris Sud, Orsay (France); Dobosz-Dufrénoy, S. [CEA DSM-IRAMIS-SPAM, Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Delerue, N. [LAL, CNRS and Universit Paris Sud, Orsay (France); Ju, J.; Audet, T.L.; Maynard, G. [LPGP, CNRS and Université Paris Sud, Orsay (France); Lobet, M.; Gremillet, L. [CEA DAM DIF, Arpajon F-91297 (France); Mora, P. [CPhT, CNRS and Ecole Polytechnique, Palaiseau (France); Schwindling, J.; Delferrière, O. [CEA IRFU-SACM, Gif-Sur-Yvette (France); Bruni, C.; Rimbault, C.; Vinatier, T. [LAL, CNRS and Universit Paris Sud, Orsay (France); Di Piazza, A. [Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg (Germany); Grech, M. [LULI, Ecole Polytechnique, CNRS, CEA, UPMC, Palaiseau (France); and others

2014-03-11

Laser plasma acceleration of electrons has progressed along with advances in laser technology. It is thus expected that the development in the near-future of multi-PW-class laser and facilities will enable a vast range of scientific opportunities for laser plasma acceleration research. On one hand, high peak powers can be used to explore the extremely high intensity regime of laser wakefield acceleration, producing for example large amounts of electrons in the GeV range or generating high energy photons. On the other hand, the available laser energy can be used in the quasi-linear regime to create accelerating fields in large volumes of plasma and study controlled acceleration in a plasma stage of externally injected relativistic particles, either electrons or positrons. In the frame of the Centre Interdisciplinaire de la Lumière EXtrême (CILEX), the Apollon-10P laser will deliver two beams at the 1 PW and 10 PW levels, in ultra-short (>15fs) pulses, to a target area dedicated to electron acceleration studies, such as the exploration of the non-linear regimes predicted theoretically, or multi-stage laser plasma acceleration.

Plasma wave amplitude measurement created by guided laser wakefield

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wojda, Franck

2010-01-01

The interaction of an intense laser pulse of short duration with a plasma produces a plasma wave with large amplitude in its wake, which is associated with a longitudinal electric field. It can be used to accelerate relativistic electrons injected into the wave to energies in the GeV range over distances of the order of a few centimeters, short compared to acceleration lengths in conventional accelerators. The control of the electron beam characteristics during the acceleration process is fundamental for achieving a usable laser-plasma acceleration stage. The main result of this thesis is the creation and characterization of a plasma wave in a weakly nonlinear regime over a length of several centimeters. Capillary tubes are used to guide the laser beam over these distances, while maintaining a large enough intensity (∼ 10 17 W/cm 2 ). The guided laser beam ionizes the gas in the tube and creates the plasma wave. A diagnostic based on the modification of the laser pulse spectrum was used to determine the amplitude of the plasma wave along the tube. The amplitude of the plasma wave was studied as a function of gas filling pressure, length of the capillary and laser energy. Experimental results are compared; they are in excellent agreement with analytical results and modeling. They show that the electric field associated with the plasma wave is between 1 and 10 GV/m over a length of up to 8 cm. This work has demonstrated the ability to create a controlled plasma wave in a weakly nonlinear regime. (author)

Ultrashort x-ray pulse generation by nonlinear Thomson scattering of a relativistic electron with an intense circularly polarized laser pulse

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Liu

2012-07-01

Full Text Available The nonlinear Thomson scattering of a relativistic electron with an intense laser pulse is calculated numerically. The results show that an ultrashort x-ray pulse can be generated by an electron with an initial energy of 5 MeV propagating across a circularly polarized laser pulse with a duration of 8 femtosecond and an intensity of about 1.1×10^{21}  W/cm^{2}, when the detection direction is perpendicular to the propagation directions of both the electron and the laser beam. The optimal values of the carrier-envelop phase and the intensity of the laser pulse for the generation of a single ultrashort x-ray pulse are obtained and verified by our calculations of the radiation characteristics.

Kinetic magnetization by fast electrons in laser-produced plasmas at sub-relativistic intensities

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Pisarczyk, T.; Gus'kov, S. Yu.; Chodukowski, T.; Dudžák, Roman; Korneev, Ph.; Demchenko, N. N.; Kalinowska, Z.; Dostál, Jan; Zaras-Szydlowska, A.; Borodziuk, S.; Juha, Libor; Cikhardt, Jakub; Krása, Josef; Klír, Daniel; Cikhardtová, B.; Kubeš, P.; Krouský, Eduard; Krůs, Miroslav; Ullschmied, Jiří; Jungwirth, Karel; Hřebíček, Jan; Medřík, Tomáš; Golasowski, Jiří; Pfeifer, Miroslav; Renner, Oldřich; Singh, Sushil K.; Kar, S.; Ahmed, H.; Skála, Jiří; Pisarczyk, P.

2017-01-01

Roč. 24, č. 10 (2017), s. 1-11, č. článku 102711. ISSN 1070-664X R&D Projects: GA MŠk EF15_008/0000162 EU Projects: European Commission(XE) 654148 - LASERLAB-EUROPE Grant - others:ELI Beamlines(XE) CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/15_008/0000162 Institutional support: RVO:68378271 ; RVO:61389021 Keywords : laser-produced plasma * femtosecond polaro-interferometry * spontaneous magnetic fiel * spatial and temporal electron density distribution Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics OBOR OECD: Fluids and plasma physics (including surface physics) Impact factor: 2.115, year: 2016

Modelling of radiation losses for ion acceleration at ultra-high laser intensities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Capdessus Remi

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Radiation losses of charged particles can become important in ultra high intensity laser plasma interaction. This process is described by the radiation back reaction term in the electron equation of motion. This term is implemented in the relativistic particle-in-cell code by using a renormalized Lorentz-Abraham-Dirac model. In the hole boring regime case of laser ion acceleration it is shown that radiation losses results in a decrease of the piston velocity.

Transmutation prospect of long-lived nuclear waste induced by high-charge electron beam from laser plasma accelerator

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, X. L.; Xu, Z. Y.; Luo, W.; Lu, H. Y.; Zhu, Z. C.; Yan, X. Q.

2017-09-01

Photo-transmutation of long-lived nuclear waste induced by a high-charge relativistic electron beam (e-beam) from a laser plasma accelerator is demonstrated. A collimated relativistic e-beam with a high charge of approximately 100 nC is produced from high-intensity laser interaction with near-critical-density (NCD) plasma. Such e-beam impinges on a high-Z convertor and then radiates energetic bremsstrahlung photons with flux approaching 1011 per laser shot. Taking a long-lived radionuclide 126Sn as an example, the resulting transmutation reaction yield is the order of 109 per laser shot, which is two orders of magnitude higher than obtained from previous studies. It is found that at lower densities, a tightly focused laser irradiating relatively longer NCD plasmas can effectively enhance the transmutation efficiency. Furthermore, the photo-transmutation is generalized by considering mixed-nuclide waste samples, which suggests that the laser-accelerated high-charge e-beam could be an efficient tool to transmute long-lived nuclear waste.

Laser vacuum acceleration of a relativistic electron bunch

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Glazyrin, I V; Karpeev, A V; Kotova, O G; Nazarov, K S [E.I. Zababakhin All-Russian Scientific-Research Institute of Technical Physics, Russian Federal Nuclear Centre, Snezhinsk, Chelyabinsk region (Russian Federation); Bychenkov, V Yu [P N Lebedev Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow (Russian Federation)

2015-06-30

With regard to the problem of laser acceleration of a relativistic electron bunch we present a scheme of its vacuum acceleration directly by a relativistic intensity laser pulse. The energy of the electron bunch injected into the laser pulse leading edge increases during its coaxial movement to a thin, pulse-reflecting target. The laser-accelerated electrons continue to move free forward, passing through the target. The study of this acceleration scheme in the three-dimensional geometry is verified in a numerical simulation by the particle-in-cell method, which showed that the energy of a part of the electrons can increase significantly compared to the initial one. Restrictions are discussed, which impose limiting values of energy and total charge of accelerated electrons. (superstrong light fields)

Propagation of an intense laser beam in a tapered plasma channel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jha, Pallavi; Singh, Ram Gopal; Upadhyaya, Ajay K.; Mishra, Rohit K.

2008-01-01

Propagation characteristics and modulation instability of an intense laser beam propagating in an axially tapered plasma channel, having a parabolic radial density profile, are studied. Using the source-dependent expansion technique, the evolution equation for the laser spot is set up and conditions for propagation of the laser beam with a constant spot size (matched beam) are obtained. Further, the dispersion relation and growth rate of modulation instability of the laser pulse as it propagates through linearly and quadratically tapered plasma channels, have been obtained

Laser heating of large noble gas clusters: from the resonant to the relativistic interaction regimes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gumbrell, E T; Moore, A S; Clark, E L; Garbett, W J; Comley, A J; Edwards, R D; Eagleton, R E [Plasma Physics Division, AWE Aldermaston, Reading RG7 4PR (United Kingdom); Lazarus, J A; Nilson, P M; Robinson, J S; Hohenberger, M; Symes, D R; Smith, R A [Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, London SW7 2BZ (United Kingdom); Clarke, R J [Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton OX11 0QX (United Kingdom)], E-mail: edward.gumbrell@awe.co.uk, E-mail: r.a.smith@imperial.ac.uk

2008-12-15

Wide-ranging measurements of sub-picosecond laser interactions with large noble gas cluster targets have been conducted in order to help clarify the nature and extent of the underlying laser-plasma heating. Within the sub-relativistic vacuum irradiance range of 10{sup 16}-10{sup 17} W cm{sup -2}, we find that electron temperatures measured with continuum x-ray spectroscopy exhibit a pronounced multi-keV enhancement. Analysis indicates this behaviour to be consistent with collisional or collisionless resonant heating mechanisms. We also present the first measurements of laser-to-cluster energy deposition at relativistic vacuum irradiances, our data demonstrating absorption fractions of 90% or more. Optical probing was used to resolve the onset of a supersonic ionization front resulting from this very high absorption, and shows that despite significant pre-focus heating, the greatest plasma energy densities can be generated about the vacuum focus position. Electron energy spectra measurements confirm that laser-plasma super-heating occurs, and together with ion data establish that relativistic laser-plasma coupling in atomic clusters can take place without significant MeV particle beam production. In conjunction with optical self-emission data, the optical probing also indicates laser pre-pulse effects at peak vacuum irradiance of 5 x 10{sup 19} W cm{sup -2}. Laser absorption, plasma heating and energy transport data are supported throughout with analytical and numerical modelling.

Nuclear Fusion Effects Induced in Intense Laser-Generated Plasmas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lorenzo Torrisi

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Deutered polyethylene (CD2n thin and thick targets were irradiated in high vacuum by infrared laser pulses at 1015W/cm2 intensity. The high laser energy transferred to the polymer generates plasma, expanding in vacuum at supersonic velocity, accelerating hydrogen and carbon ions. Deuterium ions at kinetic energies above 4 MeV have been measured by using ion collectors and SiC detectors in time-of-flight configuration. At these energies the deuterium–deuterium collisions may induce over threshold fusion effects, in agreement with the high D-D cross-section valuesaround 3 MeV energy. At the first instants of the plasma generation, during which high temperature, density and ionacceleration occur, the D-D fusions occur as confirmed by the detection of mono-energetic protonsand neutrons with a kinetic energy of 3.0 MeV and 2.5 MeV, respectively, produced by the nuclear reaction. The number of fusion events depends strongly on the experimental set-up, i.e. on the laser parameters (intensity, wavelength, focal spot dimension, target conditions (thickness, chemical composition, absorption coefficient, presence of secondary targets and used geometry (incidence angle, laser spot, secondary target positions.A number of D-D fusion events of the order of 106÷7 per laser shot has been measured.

Self-resonant wakefield excitation by intense laser pulse in plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andreev, N.E.; Pogosova, A.A.; Gorbunov, L.M.; Ramazashvili, R.R.; Kirsanov, V.I.

1993-01-01

It is demonstrated by theoretical analysis and numerical calculations that in an underdense plasma the process of three-dimensional evolution of the short and strong laser pulse (with duration equal to several plasma periods) leads to compression and self-modulation of the pulse, so that during a fairly long period of time beats of pulse amplitude generates resonantly a strong and stable plasma wakefield. The intensity of the wake-field is so high that it can provide a new promising outlook for the plasma based accelerator concept. Linear analysis of dispersion relation predicts that taking into account transverse component of wavenumber considerably increases the growth rate of resonance instability of the pulse. The numerical simulations demonstrate that considered self-focusing and resonant-modulation instability are essentially three dimensional processes. Laser field evolution in each transverse cross section of the pulse is synchronized by the regular structure of plasma wave that is excited by the pulse. The considered effect of resonant modulation has a threshold. For the pulses with the intensity below the threshold the refraction dominates and no modulation appears. The studied phenomenon can be referred to as the Self-Resonant Wakefield (SRWF) excitation that is driven by self-focusing and self-modulation of laser pulse with quite a moderate initial duration. In fact, this method of excitation differs from both suggested in Ref.1 (PBWA) and in Refs.2,3 (LWFA), being even more than the combination of these concepts. Unlike the first scheme it does not require initially the two-frequency laser pulse, since the modulation here appears in the most natural way due to evolution of the pulse. In contrast with the LWFA, the considered SRWF generation scheme gives the possibility to raise the intensity of wake-excitation due to pulse self-focusing ( initial stage) and self modulation (second stage)

Comment on “Stationary self-focusing of Gaussian laser beam in relativistic thermal quantum plasma” [Phys. Plasmas 20, 072703 (2013)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Habibi, M.; Ghamari, F.

2014-01-01

Patil and Takale in their recent article [Phys. Plasmas 20, 072703 (2013)], by evaluating the quantum dielectric response in thermal quantum plasma, have modeled the relativistic self-focusing of Gaussian laser beam in a plasma. We have found that there are some important shortcomings and fundamental mistakes in Patil and Takale [Phys. Plasmas 20, 072703 (2013)] that we give a brief description about them and refer readers to important misconception about the use of the Fermi temperature in quantum plasmas, appearing in Patil and Takale [Phys. Plasmas 20, 072703 (2013)

En Route: next-generation laser-plasma-based electron accelerators; En Route: Elektronenbeschleuniger der naechsten Generation auf Laser-Plasma-Basis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hidding, Bernhard

2008-05-15

Accelerating electrons to relativistic energies is of fundamental interest, especially in particle physics. Today's accelerator technology, however, is limited by the maximum electric fields which can be created. This thesis presents results on various mechanisms aiming at exploiting the fields in focussed laser pulses and plasma waves for electron acceleration, which can be orders of magnitude higher than with conventional accelerators. With relativistic, underdense laser-plasma-interaction, quasimonoenergetic electron bunches with energies up to {approx}50 MeV and normalized emittances of the order of 5mmmrad have been generated. This was achieved by focussing the {approx}80 fs, 1 J pulses of the JETI-laser at the FSU Jena to intensities of several 10{sup 19}W=cm{sup 2} into gas jets. The experimental observations could be explained via 'bubble acceleration', which is based on self-injection and acceleration of electrons in a highly nonlinear breaking plasma wave. For the rst time, this bubble acceleration was achieved explicitly in the self-modulated laser wakefield regime (SMLWFA). This quasimonoenergetic SMLWFA-regime stands out by relaxing dramatically the requirements on the driving laser pulse necessary to trigger bubble acceleration. This is due to self-modulation of the laser pulse in high-density gas jets, leading to ultrashort laser pulse fragments capable of initiating bubble acceleration. Electron bunches with durations laser pulse fragment can be powerful enough to drive a bubble. Distinct double peaks have been observed in the electron spectra, indicating that two quasimonoenergetic electron bunches separated by only few tens of fs have formed. This is backed up by PIC-Simulations (Particle-in-Cell). These results underline the feasibility of the construction of small table

Magnetic field generation during intense laser channelling in underdense plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smyth, A. G.; Sarri, G.; Doria, D.; Kar, S.; Borghesi, M. [School of Mathematics and Physics, The Queen' s University of Belfast, University Road, Belfast BT7 1NN (United Kingdom); Vranic, M.; Guillaume, E.; Silva, L. O.; Vieira, J. [GoLP/IPFN, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisbon (Portugal); Amano, Y.; Habara, H.; Tanaka, K. A. [Graduate School of Engineering Osaka University. Suita, Osaka 5650871 (Japan); Heathcote, R.; Norreys, P. A. [STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, Oxon OX1 0Qx (United Kingdom); Hicks, G.; Najmudin, Z.; Nakamura, H. [Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BZ (United Kingdom)

2016-06-15

Channel formation during the propagation of a high-energy (120 J) and long duration (30 ps) laser pulse through an underdense deuterium plasma has been spatially and temporally resolved via means of a proton imaging technique, with intrinsic resolutions of a few μm and a few ps, respectively. Conclusive proof is provided that strong azimuthally symmetric magnetic fields with a strength of around 0.5 MG are created inside the channel, consistent with the generation of a collimated beam of relativistic electrons. The inferred electron beam characteristics may have implications for the cone-free fast-ignition scheme of inertial confinement fusion.

High-intensity laser physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohideen, U.

1993-01-01

This thesis is a study of the effect of high intensity lasers on atoms, free electrons and the generation of X-rays from solid density plasmas. The laser produced 50 milli Joule 180 femto sec pulses at 5 Hz. This translates to a maximum intensity of 5 x 10 18 W/cm 2 . At such high fields the AC stark shifts of atoms placed at the focus is much greater than the ionization energy. The characteristics of multiphoton ionization of atoms in intense laser fields was studied by angle resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. Free electrons placed in high intensity laser fields lead to harmonic generation. This phenomenon of Nonlinear Compton Scattering was theoretically investigated. Also, when these high intensity pulses are focused on solids a hot plasma is created. This plasma is a bright source of a short X-ray pulse. The pulse-width of X-rays from these solid density plasmas was measured by time-resolved X-ray spectroscopy

The physics of megajoule, large-scale, and ultrafast short-scale laser plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Campbell, E.M.

1992-01-01

Recent advances in laser science and technology have opened new possibilities for the study of high energy density plasma physics. The advances include techniques to control the laser spatial and temporal coherence, and the development of laser architectures and optical materials that have led to the demonstration of compact, short pulse (τ≤10 -12 sec) high brightness lasers, capable of irradiating plasmas with intensities ≥10 18 W/cm 2 . Experiments with reduced laser coherence have shown a substantial decrease in laser-driven parametric instabilities and have extended the parameter range where inverse bremsstrahlung absorption is the dominant coupling process. Beam smoothing with short wavelength lasers should result in inverse bremsstrahlung dominated coupling in the irradiance parameter regimes of the millimeter scale-length plasmas envisioned for the megajoule class lasers for ignition and gain in inertial fusion. In addition new regimes of laser--plasma coupling will become experimentally accessible when plasmas are irradiated with I≥10 18 W/cm 2 . Relativistic effects, extreme profile modification, and electrons heated to energies exceeding 1 MeV are several of the phenomena that are expected. Numerous applications in basic and applied plasma physics will result from these new capabilities

Particle-in-cell modeling of laser Thomson scattering in low-density plasmas at elevated laser intensities

Science.gov (United States)

Powis, Andrew T.; Shneider, Mikhail N.

2018-05-01

Incoherent Thomson scattering is a non-intrusive technique commonly used for measuring local plasma density. Within low-density, low-temperature plasmas and for sufficient laser intensity, the laser may perturb the local electron density via the ponderomotive force, causing the diagnostic to become intrusive and leading to erroneous results. A theoretical model for this effect is validated numerically via kinetic simulations of a quasi-neutral plasma using the particle-in-cell technique.

Pondermotive absorption of a short intense laser pulse in a non-uniform plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andreev, A A; Platonov, K Yu [Inst. for Laser Physics, SC ` Vavilov State Optical Inst.` 12, Birzhevaya line, St Petersburg (Russian Federation); Tanaka, K A

1998-03-01

An analytical description of the pondermotive absorption mechanism at a short high intense laser pulse interaction with a strong inhomogeneous plasma is presented. The optimal conditions for the maximum of resonance absorption of laser pulse interaction with non-uniform plasma at normal incidence are founded. (author)

En Route: next-generation laser-plasma-based electron accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hidding, Bernhard

2008-05-01

Accelerating electrons to relativistic energies is of fundamental interest, especially in particle physics. Today's accelerator technology, however, is limited by the maximum electric fields which can be created. This thesis presents results on various mechanisms aiming at exploiting the fields in focussed laser pulses and plasma waves for electron acceleration, which can be orders of magnitude higher than with conventional accelerators. With relativistic, underdense laser-plasma-interaction, quasimonoenergetic electron bunches with energies up to ∼50 MeV and normalized emittances of the order of 5mmmrad have been generated. This was achieved by focussing the ∼80 fs, 1 J pulses of the JETI-laser at the FSU Jena to intensities of several 10 19 W=cm 2 into gas jets. The experimental observations could be explained via ''bubble acceleration'', which is based on self-injection and acceleration of electrons in a highly nonlinear breaking plasma wave. For the rst time, this bubble acceleration was achieved explicitly in the self-modulated laser wakefield regime (SMLWFA). This quasimonoenergetic SMLWFA-regime stands out by relaxing dramatically the requirements on the driving laser pulse necessary to trigger bubble acceleration. This is due to self-modulation of the laser pulse in high-density gas jets, leading to ultrashort laser pulse fragments capable of initiating bubble acceleration. Electron bunches with durations < or similar 5 fs can thus be created, which is at least an order of magnitude shorter than with conventional accelerator technology. In addition, more than one laser pulse fragment can be powerful enough to drive a bubble. Distinct double peaks have been observed in the electron spectra, indicating that two quasimonoenergetic electron bunches separated by only few tens of fs have formed. This is backed up by PIC-Simulations (Particle-in-Cell). These results underline the feasibility of the construction of small table-top accelerators, while at the

Multiphoton ionization of many-electron atoms and highly-charged ions in intense laser fields: a relativistic time-dependent density functional theory approach

Science.gov (United States)

Tumakov, Dmitry A.; Telnov, Dmitry A.; Maltsev, Ilia A.; Plunien, Günter; Shabaev, Vladimir M.

2017-10-01

We develop an efficient numerical implementation of the relativistic time-dependent density functional theory (RTDDFT) to study multielectron highly-charged ions subject to intense linearly-polarized laser fields. The interaction with the electromagnetic field is described within the electric dipole approximation. The resulting time-dependent relativistic Kohn-Sham (RKS) equations possess an axial symmetry and are solved accurately and efficiently with the help of the time-dependent generalized pseudospectral method. As a case study, we calculate multiphoton ionization probabilities of the neutral argon atom and argon-like xenon ion. Relativistic effects are assessed by comparison of our present results with existing non-relativistic data.

Plasma Density Tapering for Laser Wakefield Acceleration of Electrons and Protons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ting, A.; Gordon, D.; Kaganovich, D.; Sprangle, P.; Helle, M.; Hafizi, B.

2010-01-01

Extended acceleration in a Laser Wakefield Accelerator can be achieved by tailoring the phase velocity of the accelerating plasma wave, either through profiling of the density of the plasma or direct manipulation of the phase velocity. Laser wakefield acceleration has also reached a maturity that proton acceleration by wakefield could be entertained provided we begin with protons that are substantially relativistic, ∼1 GeV. Several plasma density tapering schemes are discussed. The first scheme is called ''bucket jumping'' where the plasma density is abruptly returned to the original density after a conventional tapering to move the accelerating particles to a neighboring wakefield period (bucket). The second scheme is designed to specifically accelerate low energy protons by generating a nonlinear wakefield in a plasma region with close to critical density. The third scheme creates a periodic variation in the phase velocity by beating two intense laser beams with laser frequency difference equal to the plasma frequency. Discussions and case examples with simulations are presented where substantial acceleration of electrons or protons could be obtained.

Analysis of plasma channels in mm-scale plasmas formed by high intensity laser beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murakami, R; Habara, H; Iwawaki, T; Uematsu, Y; Tanaka, K A; Ivancic, S; Anderson, K; Haberberger, D; Stoeckl, C; Theobald, W; Sakagami, H

2016-01-01

A plasma channel created by a high intensity infrared laser beam was observed in a long scale-length plasma (L ∼ 240 μm) with the angular filter refractometry technique, which indicated a stable channel formation up to the critical density. We analyzed the observed plasma channel using a rigorous ray-tracing technique, which provides a deep understanding of the evolution of the channel formation. (paper)

High quality electron beams from a plasma channel guided laser wakefield accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geddes, C.G.R.; Toth, Cs.; Tilborg, J. van; Esarey, E.; Schroeder, C.B.; Bruhwiler, D.; Nieter, C.; Cary, J.; Leemans, W.P.

2004-01-01

Laser driven accelerators, in which particles are accelerated by the electric field of a plasma wave driven by an intense laser, have demonstrated accelerating electric fields of hundreds of GV/m. These fields are thousands of times those achievable in conventional radiofrequency (RF) accelerators, spurring interest in laser accelerators as compact next generation sources of energetic electrons and radiation. To date however, acceleration distances have been severely limited by lack of a controllable method for extending the propagation distance of the focused laser pulse. The ensuing short acceleration distance results in low energy beams with 100% electron energy spread, limiting applications. Here we demonstrate that a relativistically intense laser can be guided by a preformed plasma density channel and that the longer propagation distance can result in electron beams of percent energy spread with low emittance and increased energy, containing >10 9 electrons above 80 MeV. The preformed plasma channel technique forms the basis of a new class of accelerators, combining beam quality comparable to RF accelerators with the high gradients of laser accelerators to produce compact tunable high brightness electron and radiation sources

On the control of filamentation of intense laser beams propagating in underdense plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, E.A.

2006-01-01

In indirect drive inertial confinement fusion ignition designs, the laser energy is delivered into the hohlraum through the laser entrance holes (LEHs), which are sized as small as practicable to minimize x-ray radiation losses. On the other hand, deleterious laser plasma processes, such as filamentation and stimulated backscatter, typically increase with laser intensity. Ideally, therefore, the laser spot shape should be a close fit to the LEH, with uniform (envelope) intensity in the spot and minimal energy at larger radii spilling onto the LEH material. This keeps the laser intensity as low as possible, consistent with the area of the LEH aperture and the power requirements of the design. This can be achieved (at least for apertures significantly larger than the laser's aberrated focal spot) by the use of custom-designed phase plates. However, outfitting the 192-beam National Ignition Facility [J. A. Paisner, E. M. Campbell, and W. J. Hogan, Fusion Tech. 26, 755 1994)] laser with multiple sets of phase plates optimized for a variety of different LEH aperture sizes is an expensive proposition. It is thus important to assess the impact on laser-plasma interaction processes of using phase plates with a smaller than optimum focal spot (or even no phase plates at all!) and then defocusing the beam to expand it to fill the LEH and lower its intensity. Significant effects are found from changes in the characteristic sizes of the laser speckle, from the lack of uniformity of the laser envelope out of the focal plane and on the efficacy of additional polarization smoothing and/or smoothing by spectral dispersion (SSD). These effects are quantified with analytic estimates and simulations using PF3D, our laser-plasma interaction code

Magnetized relativistic electron-ion plasma expansion

Science.gov (United States)

Benkhelifa, El-Amine; Djebli, Mourad

2016-03-01

The dynamics of relativistic laser-produced plasma expansion across a transverse magnetic field is investigated. Based on a one dimensional two-fluid model that includes pressure, enthalpy, and rest mass energy, the expansion is studied in the limit of λD (Debye length) ≤RL (Larmor radius) for magnetized electrons and ions. Numerical investigation conducted for a quasi-neutral plasma showed that the σ parameter describing the initial plasma magnetization, and the plasma β parameter, which is the ratio of kinetic to magnetic pressure are the key parameters governing the expansion dynamics. For σ ≪ 1, ion's front shows oscillations associated to the break-down of quasi-neutrality. This is due to the strong constraining effect and confinement of the magnetic field, which acts as a retarding medium slowing the plasma expansion.

Interaction of ultra-high intensity laser pulse with a mass limited targets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andreev, A.A.; Platonov, K.Yu.; Limpouch, J.; Psikal, J.; Kawata, S.

2006-01-01

Complete test of publication follows. Ultra-high intensity laser pulses may be produced now via CPA scheme by using very short laser pulses of a relatively low energy. Interaction of such pulses with massive target is not very efficient as the energy delivered to charged particles spreads out quickly over large distances and it is redistributed between many secondary particles. One possibility to limit this undesirable energy spread is to use mass limited targets (MLT), for example droplets, big clusters or small foil sections. This is an intermediate regime in target dimensions between bulk solid and nanometer-size atomic cluster targets. A few experimental and theoretical studies have been carried out on laser absorption, fast particle generation and induced nuclear fusion reactions in the interaction of ultrashort laser pulses with MLT plasma. We investigate here laser interactions with MLT via 2D3V relativistic electromagnetic PIC simulations. We assume spherical droplet as a typical MLT. However, the sphere is represented in 2D simulations by an infinite cylinder irradiated uniformly along its length. We assume that MLT is fully ionized before main pulse interaction either due to insufficient laser contrast or due to a prepulse. For simplicity, we assume homogeneous plasma of high initial temperature. We analyze the interaction of relativistic laser pulses of various polarizations with targets of different shapes, such as a foil, quadrant and sphere. The mechanisms of laser absorption, electron and ion acceleration are clarified for different laser and target parameters. When laser interacts with the target front side, kinetic energy of electrons rises rapidly with fast oscillations in the kinetic and field energy, caused by electron oscillations in the laser field. Small energy oscillations, observed later, are caused by the electron motion back and forth through the droplet. Approximately 40% of laser energy is transferred to the kinetic energy of electrons

Bright ultrashort x-rays from intense subpicosecond laser-plasma interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Umstadter, D.

1995-01-01

Short-pulse, high-intensity lasers interacting with solid targets make possible the study of a new class of laser-plasma interactions. They are unique because during the ultrashort laser pulse relatively little expansion occurs, and the density scale length remains much less than the laser wavelength. This makes possible the direct deposition of a significant amount of the laser energy at close to solid density. Steep plasma temperature and density gradients subsequently cause rapid cooling, resulting in highly non-equilibrium conditions and the concurrent emission of extremely bright ultrashort x-ray pulses. In this study, the latter are investigated experimentally with temporally and spectrally resolved soft x-ray diagnostics. The emitted x-ray spectra from solid targets with various atomic numbers are characterized for a laser pulse width τ l ∼ 400 fs. These ultrashort x rays may be used as (1) a diagnostic of solid-density plasma conditions, (2) a tool for the study of radiation hydrodynamics in a parameter regime that is otherwise inaccessible, and (3) a source for time-resolved diffraction, spectroscopy, or microscopy studies of transient chemical, biological or physical phenomena

Mono-energetic ion beam acceleration in solitary waves during relativistic transparency using high-contrast circularly polarized short-pulse laser and nanoscale targets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yin, L.; Albright, B. J.; Bowers, K. J.; Shah, R. C.; Palaniyappan, S.; Fernandez, J. C.; Jung, D.; Hegelich, B. M.

2011-01-01

In recent experiments at the Trident laser facility, quasi-monoenergetic ion beams have been obtained from the interaction of an ultraintense, circularly polarized laser with a diamond-like carbon target of nm-scale thickness under conditions of ultrahigh laser pulse contrast. Kinetic simulations of this experiment under realistic laser and plasma conditions show that relativistic transparency occurs before significant radiation pressure acceleration and that the main ion acceleration occurs after the onset of relativistic transparency. Associated with this transition are a period of intense ion acceleration and the generation of a new class of ion solitons that naturally give rise to quasi-monoenergetic ion beams. An analytic theory has been derived for the properties of these solitons that reproduces the behavior observed in kinetic simulations and the experiments.

Dynamics of a collisionless plasma interacting with an ultra-intense laser pulse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Capdessus, Remi

2013-01-01

The interaction of a plasma with an ultra-intense laser pulse becomes more and more interesting as a result of the advances made in terms of numerical tools laser technology. The radiation reaction impacts the electrons dynamics, those of the synchrotron radiation as well as those of the ions by means of charge separation field, for laser intensities above 10 22 W/cm 2 . The kinetic equations governing the particles transport at ultra-high intensity have been obtained. The radiation reaction involves the shrinkage of the space volume of the electrons phases. It has been shown with numerical simulations the strong retro-action that the collective effects induce on the synchrotron radiation generated by the accelerated electrons. The importance of the collective effects depends strongly on the ions mass and of the thickness of the considered plasma. These effects could be verified experimentally with hydrogen cryogenic targets. (author) [fr

Laser-plasmas in the relativistic-transparency regime: science and applications

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Fernandez, J.C.; Gautier, D. C.; Huang, Ch.; Palaniyappan, S.; Albright, B.J.; Bang, W.; Dyer, G.; Favalli, A.; Hunter, J.F.; Mendez, J.; Roth, M.; Swinhoe, M.; Bradley, P.A.; Deppert, O.; Espy, M.; Falk, Kateřina; Guler, N.; Hamilton, Ch.; Hegelich, B.M.; Henzlova, D.; Ianakiev, K.D.; Iliev, M.; Johnson, R. P.; Kleinschmidt, A.; Losko, A.S.; McCary, E.; Mocko, M.; Nelson, R.O.; Roycroft, R.; Santiago Cordoba, M.A.; Schanz, V.A.; Schaumann, G.; Schmidt, D.W.; Sefkow, A.; Shimada, T.; Taddeucci, T.N.; Tebartz, A.; Vogel, S.C.; Vold, E.; Wurden, G.A.; Yin, L.

2017-01-01

Roč. 24, č. 5 (2017), 1-19, č. článku 056702. ISSN 1070-664X R&D Projects: GA MŠk EF15_008/0000162; GA MŠk LQ1606 Grant - others:ELI Beamlines(XE) CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/15_008/0000162 Institutional support: RVO:68378271 Keywords : ion beams * neutrons * gamma rays * plasma temparature * relativistics plasmas Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics OBOR OECD: Fluids and plasma physics (including surface physics) Impact factor: 2.115, year: 2016

Enhanced relativistic self-focusing of Hermite-cosh-Gaussian laser beam in plasma under density transition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nanda, Vikas; Kant, Niti

2014-01-01

Enhanced and early relativistic self-focusing of Hermite-cosh-Gaussian (HChG) beam in the plasmas under density transition has been investigated theoretically using Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin and paraxial ray approximation for mode indices m=0, 1, and 2. The variation of beam width parameter with normalized propagation distance for m=0, 1, and 2 is reported, and it is observed that strong self-focusing occurs as the HChG beam propagates deeper inside the nonlinear medium as spot size shrinks due to highly dense plasmas and the results are presented graphically. A comparative study between self-focusing of HChG beam in the presence and absence of plasmas density transition is reported. The dependency of beam width parameter on the normalized propagation distance for different values of decentered parameter “b” has also been presented graphically. For m=0 and 1, strong self-focusing is reported for b=1.8, and for m=2 and b=1.8, beam gets diffracted. The results obtained indicate the dependency of the self-focusing of the HChG beam on the selected values of decentered parameter. Moreover, proper selection of decentered parameter results strong self-focusing of HChG beam. Stronger self-focusing of laser beam is observed due to the presence of plasma density transition which might be very useful in the applications like the generation of inertial fusion energy driven by lasers, laser driven accelerators, etc

Enhanced relativistic self-focusing of Hermite-cosh-Gaussian laser beam in plasma under density transition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nanda, Vikas; Kant, Niti, E-mail: nitikant@yahoo.com [Department of Physics, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara 144411, Punjab (India)

2014-04-15

Enhanced and early relativistic self-focusing of Hermite-cosh-Gaussian (HChG) beam in the plasmas under density transition has been investigated theoretically using Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin and paraxial ray approximation for mode indices m=0, 1, and 2. The variation of beam width parameter with normalized propagation distance for m=0, 1, and 2 is reported, and it is observed that strong self-focusing occurs as the HChG beam propagates deeper inside the nonlinear medium as spot size shrinks due to highly dense plasmas and the results are presented graphically. A comparative study between self-focusing of HChG beam in the presence and absence of plasmas density transition is reported. The dependency of beam width parameter on the normalized propagation distance for different values of decentered parameter “b” has also been presented graphically. For m=0 and 1, strong self-focusing is reported for b=1.8, and for m=2 and b=1.8, beam gets diffracted. The results obtained indicate the dependency of the self-focusing of the HChG beam on the selected values of decentered parameter. Moreover, proper selection of decentered parameter results strong self-focusing of HChG beam. Stronger self-focusing of laser beam is observed due to the presence of plasma density transition which might be very useful in the applications like the generation of inertial fusion energy driven by lasers, laser driven accelerators, etc.

A tesselation-based model for intensity estimation and laser plasma interactions calculations in three dimensions

Science.gov (United States)

Colaïtis, A.; Chapman, T.; Strozzi, D.; Divol, L.; Michel, P.

2018-03-01

A three-dimensional laser propagation model for computation of laser-plasma interactions is presented. It is focused on indirect drive geometries in inertial confinement fusion and formulated for use at large temporal and spatial scales. A modified tesselation-based estimator and a relaxation scheme are used to estimate the intensity distribution in plasma from geometrical optics rays. Comparisons with reference solutions show that this approach is well-suited to reproduce realistic 3D intensity field distributions of beams smoothed by phase plates. It is shown that the method requires a reduced number of rays compared to traditional rigid-scale intensity estimation. Using this field estimator, we have implemented laser refraction, inverse-bremsstrahlung absorption, and steady-state crossed-beam energy transfer with a linear kinetic model in the numerical code Vampire. Probe beam amplification and laser spot shapes are compared with experimental results and pf3d paraxial simulations. These results are promising for the efficient and accurate computation of laser intensity distributions in holhraums, which is of importance for determining the capsule implosion shape and risks of laser-plasma instabilities such as hot electron generation and backscatter in multi-beam configurations.

Intensity and shape of spectral lines from laser-produced plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jamelot, G; Jaegle, P; Carillon, A; Wehenkel, C [Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 91 - Orsay (France); Paris-11 Univ., 91 - Orsay (France); Ecole Polytechnique, 91 - Palaiseau (France))

1979-01-01

In starting from spectral studies of multicharged ions in dense laser-produced plasmas, the main processes which determine the intensity and the shape of lines in the X-UV range are described. The role of radiation transfer is underlined. Intensity anomalies resulting from occurrence of population inversions are considered and a recent experiment performed for investigating such anomalies is described.

Observations of MeV electrons and scattered light from intense, subpicosecond laser-plasma interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Darrow, C.; Lane, S.; Klem, D.; Perry, M.D.

1993-01-01

In this paper the authors present work in progress in their experimental investigation of the coupling of intense, subpicosecond laser pulses with plasmas preformed on solid targets. (This situation is to be contrasted with the interaction of intense laser fields with solid-density matter. A subject which has generated considerable interest in the last several years.) The characterization of the energy distribution of energetic electrons which escape a solid target irradiated by an intense laser is discussed. The authors have also performed experiments to study the excitation of parametric instabilities near the quarter-critical layer and second-harmonic generation near the critical layer in the plasma. They discuss some preliminary scattered light spectroscopy measurements

RELATIVISTIC CYCLOTRON INSTABILITY IN ANISOTROPIC PLASMAS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

López, Rodrigo A.; Moya, Pablo S.; Muñoz, Víctor; Valdivia, J. Alejandro [Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 653, Santiago (Chile); Navarro, Roberto E.; Araneda, Jaime A. [Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160-C, Concepción (Chile); Viñas, Adolfo F., E-mail: rlopez186@gmail.com [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Heliophysics Science Division, Geospace Physics Laboratory, Mail Code 673, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)

2016-11-20

A sufficiently large temperature anisotropy can sometimes drive various types of electromagnetic plasma micro-instabilities, which can play an important role in the dynamics of relativistic pair plasmas in space, astrophysics, and laboratory environments. Here, we provide a detailed description of the cyclotron instability of parallel propagating electromagnetic waves in relativistic pair plasmas on the basis of a relativistic anisotropic distribution function. Using plasma kinetic theory and particle-in-cell simulations, we study the influence of the relativistic temperature and the temperature anisotropy on the collective and noncollective modes of these plasmas. Growth rates and dispersion curves from the linear theory show a good agreement with simulations results.

Temporal resolution criterion for correctly simulating relativistic electron motion in a high-intensity laser field

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arefiev, Alexey V. [Institute for Fusion Studies, The University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712 (United States); Cochran, Ginevra E.; Schumacher, Douglass W. [Physics Department, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210 (United States); Robinson, Alexander P. L. [Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory, Didcot OX11 0QX (United Kingdom); Chen, Guangye [Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)

2015-01-15

Particle-in-cell codes are now standard tools for studying ultra-intense laser-plasma interactions. Motivated by direct laser acceleration of electrons in sub-critical plasmas, we examine temporal resolution requirements that must be satisfied to accurately calculate electron dynamics in strong laser fields. Using the motion of a single electron in a perfect plane electromagnetic wave as a test problem, we show surprising deterioration of the numerical accuracy with increasing wave amplitude a{sub 0} for a given time-step. We go on to show analytically that the time-step must be significantly less than λ/ca{sub 0} to achieve good accuracy. We thus propose adaptive electron sub-cycling as an efficient remedy.

X-ray spectrum in the range (6-12) A emitted by laser-produced plasma of samarium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Louzon, Einat; Henis, Zohar; Levi, Izhak; Hurvitz, Gilad; Ehrlich, Yosi; Fraenkel, Moshe; Maman, Shlomo; Mandelbaum, Pinchas

2009-01-01

A detailed analysis of the x-ray spectrum emitted by laser-produced plasma of samarium (6-12 A) is presented, using ab initio calculations with the HULLAC relativistic code and isoelectronic considerations. Resonance 3d-nf (n=4 to 7), 3p-4d, 3d-4p, and 3p-4s transitions in Ni samarium ions and in neighboring ionization states (from Mn to Zn ions) were identified. The experiment results show changes in the fine details of the plasma spectrum for different laser intensities.

Ultra-intense, short pulse laser-plasma interactions with applications to the fast ignitor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilks, S.C.; Kruer, W.L.; Young, P.E.; Hammer, J.; Tabak, M.

1995-04-01

Due to the advent of chirped pulse amplification (CPA) as an efficient means of creating ultra-high intensity laser light (I > 5x10 17 W/cm 2 ) in pulses less than a few picoseconds, new ideas for achieving ignition and gain in DT targets with less than 1 megajoule of input energy are currently being pursued. Two types of powerful lasers are employed in this scheme: (1) channeling beams and (2) ignition beams. The current state of laser-plasma interactions relating to this fusion scheme will be discussed. In particular, plasma physics issues in the ultra-intense regime are crucial to the success of this scheme. We compare simulation and experimental results in this highly nonlinear regime

Effects of relativistic and channel focusing on q-Gaussian laser beam propagating in a preformed parabolic plasma channel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Li; Hong, Xue-Ren, E-mail: hxr_nwnu@163.com; Sun, Jian-An, E-mail: sunja@nwnu.edu.cn; Tang, Rong-An; Yang, Yang; Zhou, Wei-Jun; Tian, Jian-Min; Duan, Wen-Shan

2017-07-12

The propagation of q-Gaussian laser beam in a preformed plasma channel is investigated by means of the variational method. A differential equation for the spot size has been obtained by including the effects of relativistic self-focusing, ponderomotive self-channeling and preformed channel focusing. The propagation behaviors and their corresponding physical conditions are identified. The comparison of the propagation between q-Gaussian and Gaussian laser beams is done by theoretical and numerical analysis. It is shown that, in the same channel, the focusing power of q-Gaussian laser beam is lower than that of Gaussian laser beam, i.e., the q-Gaussian laser beam is easier to focus than Gaussian laser beam. - Highlights: • Some behaviors for Gaussian laser are also found for q-Gaussian one. • The parameter regions corresponding to different laser behaviors are given. • Influence of q on the laser propagation behavior is obvious. • The q-Gaussian laser beam is easier to focus than the Gaussian one.

Effects of relativistic and channel focusing on q-Gaussian laser beam propagating in a preformed parabolic plasma channel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Li; Hong, Xue-Ren; Sun, Jian-An; Tang, Rong-An; Yang, Yang; Zhou, Wei-Jun; Tian, Jian-Min; Duan, Wen-Shan

2017-01-01

The propagation of q-Gaussian laser beam in a preformed plasma channel is investigated by means of the variational method. A differential equation for the spot size has been obtained by including the effects of relativistic self-focusing, ponderomotive self-channeling and preformed channel focusing. The propagation behaviors and their corresponding physical conditions are identified. The comparison of the propagation between q-Gaussian and Gaussian laser beams is done by theoretical and numerical analysis. It is shown that, in the same channel, the focusing power of q-Gaussian laser beam is lower than that of Gaussian laser beam, i.e., the q-Gaussian laser beam is easier to focus than Gaussian laser beam. - Highlights: • Some behaviors for Gaussian laser are also found for q-Gaussian one. • The parameter regions corresponding to different laser behaviors are given. • Influence of q on the laser propagation behavior is obvious. • The q-Gaussian laser beam is easier to focus than the Gaussian one.

Experimental platform for investigations of high-intensity laser plasma interactions in the magnetic field of a pulsed power generator

Science.gov (United States)

Ivanov, V. V.; Maximov, A. V.; Swanson, K. J.; Wong, N. L.; Sarkisov, G. S.; Wiewior, P. P.; Astanovitskiy, A. L.; Covington, A. M.

2018-03-01

An experimental platform for the studying of high-intensity laser plasma interactions in strong magnetic fields has been developed based on the 1 MA Zebra pulsed power generator coupled with the 50-TW Leopard laser. The Zebra generator produces 100-300 T longitudinal and transverse magnetic fields with different types of loads. The Leopard laser creates plasma at an intensity of 1019 W/cm2 in the magnetic field of coil loads. Focusing and targeting systems are integrated in the vacuum chamber of the pulsed power generator and protected from the plasma debris and strong mechanical shock. The first experiments with plasma at laser intensity >2 × 1018 W/cm2 demonstrated collimation of the laser produced plasma in the axial magnetic field strength >100 T.

Ionization and bound-state relativistic quantum dynamics in laser-driven multiply charged ions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hetzheim, Henrik

2009-01-01

The interaction of ultra-strong laser fields with multiply charged hydrogen-like ions can be distinguished in an ionization and a bound dynamics regime. Both are investigated by means of numerically solving the Dirac equation in two dimensions and by a classical relativistic Monte-Carlo simulation. For a better understanding of highly nonlinear physical processes the development of a well characterized ultra-intense relativistic laser field strength has been driven forward, capable of studying e.g. the magnetic field effects of the laser resulting in an additional electron motion in the laser propagation direction. A novel method to sensitively measure these ultra-strong laser intensities is developed and employed from the optical via the UV towards the XUV frequency regime. In the bound dynamics field, the determination of multiphoton transition matrixelements has been investigated between different bound states via Rabi oscillations. (orig.)

Ionization and bound-state relativistic quantum dynamics in laser-driven multiply charged ions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hetzheim, Henrik

2009-01-14

The interaction of ultra-strong laser fields with multiply charged hydrogen-like ions can be distinguished in an ionization and a bound dynamics regime. Both are investigated by means of numerically solving the Dirac equation in two dimensions and by a classical relativistic Monte-Carlo simulation. For a better understanding of highly nonlinear physical processes the development of a well characterized ultra-intense relativistic laser field strength has been driven forward, capable of studying e.g. the magnetic field effects of the laser resulting in an additional electron motion in the laser propagation direction. A novel method to sensitively measure these ultra-strong laser intensities is developed and employed from the optical via the UV towards the XUV frequency regime. In the bound dynamics field, the determination of multiphoton transition matrixelements has been investigated between different bound states via Rabi oscillations. (orig.)

Relativistic Boltzmann theory for a plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Erkelens, H. van.

1984-01-01

This thesis gives a self-contained treatment of the relativistic Boltzmann theory for a plasma. Here plasma means any mixture containing electrically charged particles. The relativistic Boltzmann equation is linearized for the case of a plasma. The Chapman-Enskog method is elaborated further for transport phenomena. Linear laws for viscous phenomena are derived. Then the collision term in the Boltzmann theory is dealt with. Using the transport equation, a kinetic theory of wave phenomena is developed and the dissipation of hydromagnetic waves in a relativistic plasma is investigated. In the final chapter, it is demonstrated how the relativistic Boltzmann theory can be applied in cosmology. In doing so, expressions are derived for the electric conductivity of the cosmological plasma in the lepton era, the plasma era and the annihilation era. (Auth.)

Control of proton beam divergence in intense-laser foil-plasma interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawata, S.; Sonobe, R.; Miyazaki, S.; Sakai, K.; Kikuchi, T.

2006-01-01

Quality of an ion beam is one of the critical factors in intense-laser ion beam generation. A purpose of this study is the suppression of transverse proton divergence by a controlled electron cloud in laser-foil interactions. In this study, the foil target has a hole at the opposite side of the laser illumination. The electrons accelerated by an intense laser are limited in transverse by a neutral plasma at a protuberant part. Therefore the protons are accelerated and also controlled transversely by the electron cloud structure. In our 2.5-dimensional Particle-in-Cell simulations we demonstrate that the transverse shape of the electron cloud is well controlled and the collimated proton beam is generated successfully in the target with the hole. (authors)

Study of self-focusing of Non Gaussian laser beam in a plasma with density variation using moment theory approach

Science.gov (United States)

Pathak, Nidhi; Kaur, Sukhdeep; Singh, Sukhmander

2018-05-01

In this paper, self-focusing/defocusing effects have been studied by taking into account the combined effect of ponder-motive and relativistic non linearity during the laser plasma interaction with density variation. The formulation is based on the numerical analysis of second order nonlinear differential equation for appropriate set of laser and plasma parameters by employing moment theory approach. We found that self-focusing increases with increasing the laser intensity and density variation. The results obtained are valuable in high harmonic generation, inertial confinement fusion and charge particle acceleration.

X-ray spectrum emitted by a laser-produced cerium plasma in the 7.5 to 12 A wavelength range

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doron, R.; Behar, E.; Fraenkel, M.; Mandelbaum, P.; Schwob, J.L.; Zigler, A.

2001-01-01

A highly stripped cerium (Z = 58) plasma is produced by irradiating a solid cerium target with an intense short laser pulse. The X-ray spectrum emitted from the plasma is recorded in the 7.5-12 A wavelength range using a flat RAP crystal spectrometer. Ab-initio calculations using the RELAC relativistic computer code, as well as isoelectronic trends deduced from previous works, together with spectra obtained under different laser beam focusing conditions, are all employed for the identification of the spectral lines and features emitted by various ions from Fe-like Ce 32+ to As-like Ce 25+ . The technique of comparing spectra obtained using different laser intensities is also employed to confirm or to resolve some ambiguous identifications of spectral features in the spectrum of a laser-produced lanthanum plasma studied in a previous work. (orig.)

X-ray spectrum emitted by a laser-produced cerium plasma in the 7.5 to 12 A wavelength range

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Doron, R.; Behar, E.; Fraenkel, M.; Mandelbaum, P.; Schwob, J.L.; Zigler, A. [Hebrew Univ., Jerusalem (Israel). Racah Inst. of Physics; Faenov, A.Ya.; Pikuz, T.A. [Multicharged Ion Spectra Data Center, VNIIFTRI, Mendeleevo (Russian Federation)

2001-01-01

A highly stripped cerium (Z = 58) plasma is produced by irradiating a solid cerium target with an intense short laser pulse. The X-ray spectrum emitted from the plasma is recorded in the 7.5-12 A wavelength range using a flat RAP crystal spectrometer. Ab-initio calculations using the RELAC relativistic computer code, as well as isoelectronic trends deduced from previous works, together with spectra obtained under different laser beam focusing conditions, are all employed for the identification of the spectral lines and features emitted by various ions from Fe-like Ce{sup 32+} to As-like Ce{sup 25+}. The technique of comparing spectra obtained using different laser intensities is also employed to confirm or to resolve some ambiguous identifications of spectral features in the spectrum of a laser-produced lanthanum plasma studied in a previous work. (orig.)

Ultra-intense, short pulse laser-plasma interactions with applications to the fast ignitor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wilks, S.C.; Kruer, W.L.; Young, P.E.; Hammer, J.; Tabak, M.

1995-04-01

Due to the advent of chirped pulse amplification (CPA) as an efficient means of creating ultra-high intensity laser light (I > 5{times}10{sup 17} W/cm{sup 2}) in pulses less than a few picoseconds, new ideas for achieving ignition and gain in DT targets with less than 1 megajoule of input energy are currently being pursued. Two types of powerful lasers are employed in this scheme: (1) channeling beams and (2) ignition beams. The current state of laser-plasma interactions relating to this fusion scheme will be discussed. In particular, plasma physics issues in the ultra-intense regime are crucial to the success of this scheme. We compare simulation and experimental results in this highly nonlinear regime.

Laser-pulsed relativistic electron gun

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sherman, N.K.

1986-01-01

A relativistic (β ≅ 0.8) electron gun with good emittance and subnanosecond pulse duration which can be synchronized to picosecond laser pulses is being developed at NRC for use in studies of particle acceleration by lasers. Bursts of electron pulses exceeding 280 keV in energy have been extracted into air form a laser-driven vacuum photodiode. Trains of 5 ps pulses of ultraviolet UV light illuminate a magnesium cathode. Photoelectrons emitted from the cathode are accelerated in a graded electrostatic potential set up by a 360 kV Marx-generator. The UV pulses are obtained by doubling the frequency of a 606 nm dye laser modelocked at 160 MHz. Electron energies were measured by residual range in an echelon of Al foils. Total charge per burst was measured by picoammeter. Time structure of the bursts has been examined with plastic scintillator and a fast photomultiplier. Tests on a low voltage photodiode achieved a current density of 180 A/cm/sup 2/ from an Mg cathode, with quantum efficiency of 2.4 x 10/sup -6/ electron per UV photon. The brevity and intensity of the laser pulses cause the electric charge collected per pulse to increase linearly with bias voltage rather than according to the Langmuir-Child law. Gun emittance is about 150 mm-msr and beam brightness is about 1A/cm/sup 2/-sr. Estimated duration of individual electron pulses of a burst is about 400 ps with instantaneous current of about 0.1 mA. Energy spread within one pulse is expected to be about 15%. This gun has the potential to be a useful source of relativistic electrons for laser acceleration studies

ILIAS. Ion and laser beam interaction and application studies. Progress report no. 3 of the PHELIX theory group

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mulser, P. (ed.)

2008-04-15

The following topics are dealt with: The PHELIX laser-plasma facility, coupling of nuclear matter to intense photon fields, QED effects in strong laser fields, relativistic critical density increase in a linearly polarized laser beam, absorption of ultrashort laser pulses in strongly overdense targets, Coulomb focusing in electron-ion collisions in a strong laser field, quasiperiodic waves in relativistic plasmas, high-energy-density physics studied by intense particle beams, heavy ions in a high-power laser beam, Monte-Carlo study of electron dynamics in silicon during irradiation with an ultrashort VUV laser pulse. (HSI)

ILIAS. Ion and laser beam interaction and application studies. Progress report no. 3 of the PHELIX theory group

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mulser, P.

2008-04-01

The following topics are dealt with: The PHELIX laser-plasma facility, coupling of nuclear matter to intense photon fields, QED effects in strong laser fields, relativistic critical density increase in a linearly polarized laser beam, absorption of ultrashort laser pulses in strongly overdense targets, Coulomb focusing in electron-ion collisions in a strong laser field, quasiperiodic waves in relativistic plasmas, high-energy-density physics studied by intense particle beams, heavy ions in a high-power laser beam, Monte-Carlo study of electron dynamics in silicon during irradiation with an ultrashort VUV laser pulse. (HSI)

Electrons in a relativistic-intensity laser field: generation of zeptosecond electromagnetic pulses and energy spectrum of the accelerated electrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andreev, A A; Galkin, A L; Kalashnikov, M P; Korobkin, V V; Romanovsky, Mikhail Yu; Shiryaev, O B

2011-01-01

We study the motion of an electron and emission of electromagnetic waves by an electron in the field of a relativistically intense laser pulse. The dynamics of the electron is described by the Newton equation with the Lorentz force in the right-hand side. It is shown that the electrons may be ejected from the interaction region with high energy. The energy spectrum of these electrons and the technique of using the spectrum to assess the maximal intensity in the focus are analysed. It is found that electromagnetic radiation of an electron moving in an intense laser field occurs within a small angle around the direction of the electron trajectory tangent. The tangent quickly changes its direction in space; therefore, electromagnetic radiation of the electron in the far-field zone in a certain direction in the vicinity of the tangent is a short pulse with a duration as short as zeptoseconds. The calculation of the temporary and spectral distribution of the radiation field is carried out. (superintense laser fields)

Relativistic generalization of strong plasma turbulence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chian, A.C.-L.

1982-01-01

Two fundamental electrostatic modes of an unmagnetized plasma, namely, ion acoustic mode and Langumir mode are studied. Previous theories are generalized to include the effect of relativistic mass variations. The existence of relativistic ion acoustic solitons is demonstrated. In addition, it is shown that simple, relativistic Langumir solitons do not exist in a infinite plasma. (L.C.) [pt

An optical trap for relativistic plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Ping; Saleh, Ned; Chen Shouyuan; Sheng Zhengming; Umstadter, Donald

2003-01-01

The first optical trap capable of confining relativistic electrons, with kinetic energy ≤350 keV was created by the interference of spatially and temporally overlapping terawatt power, 400 fs duration laser pulses (≤2.4x10 18 W/cm 2 ) in plasma. Analysis and computer simulation predicted that the plasma density was greatly modulated, reaching a peak density up to 10 times the background density (n e /n 0 ∼10) at the interference minima. Associated with this charge displacement, a direct-current electrostatic field of strength of ∼2x10 11 eV/m was excited. These predictions were confirmed experimentally by Thomson and Raman scattering diagnostics. Also confirmed were predictions that the electron density grating acted as a multi-layer mirror to transfer energy between the crossed laser beams, resulting in the power of the weaker laser beam being nearly 50% increased. Furthermore, it was predicted that the optical trap acted to heat electrons, increasing their temperature by two orders of magnitude. The experimental results showed that the number of high energy electrons accelerated along the direction of one of the laser beams was enhanced by a factor of 3 and electron temperature was increased ∼100 keV as compared with single-beam illumination

Direct acceleration of electrons by a CO2 laser in a curved plasma waveguide

CERN Document Server

Yi, Longqing; Shen, Baifei

2016-01-01

Laser plasma interaction with micro-engineered targets at relativistic intensities has been greatly promoted by recent progress in the high contrast lasers and the manufacture of advanced micro- and nano-structures. This opens new possibilities for the physics of laser-matter interaction. Here we propose a novel approach that leverages the advantages of high-pressure CO 2 laser, laser-waveguide interaction, as well as micro-engineered plasma structure to accelerate electrons to peak energy greater than 1 GeV with narrow slice energy spread (~1%) and high overall efficiency. The acceleration gradient is 26 GV/m for a 1.3 TW CO2 laser system. The micro-bunching of a long electron beam leads to the generation of a chain of ultrashort electron bunches with the duration roughly equal to half-laser-cycle. These results open a way for developing a compact and economic electron source for diverse applications.

Laser-matter interaction at high intensity and high temporal contrast

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doumy, G.

2006-01-01

The continuous progress in the development of laser installations has already lead to ultra-short pulses capable of achieving very high focalized intensities (I > 10 18 W/cm 2 ). At these intensities, matter presents new non-linear behaviours, due to the fact that the electrons are accelerated to relativistic speeds. The experimental access to this interaction regime on solid targets has long been forbidden because of the presence, alongside the femtosecond pulse, of a pedestal (mainly due to the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) which occurs in the laser chain) intense enough to modify the state of the target. In this thesis, we first characterized, both experimentally and theoretically, a device which allows an improvement of the temporal contrast of the pulse: the Plasma Mirror. It consists in adjusting the focusing of the pulse on a dielectric target, so that the pedestal is mainly transmitted, while the main pulse is reflected by the overcritical plasma that it forms at the surface. The implementation of such a device on the UHI 10 laser facility (CEA Saclay - 10 TW - 60 fs) then allowed us to study the interaction between ultra-intense, high contrast pulses with solid targets. In a first part, we managed to generate and characterize dense plasmas resulting directly from the interaction between the main pulse and very thin foils (100 nm). This characterization was realized by using an XUV source obtained by high order harmonics generation in a rare gas jet. In a second part, we studied experimentally the phenomenon of high order harmonics generation on solid targets, which is still badly understood, but could potentially lead to a new kind of energetic ultra-short XUV sources. (author)

Measurements of magnetic fields generated in underdense plasmas by intense lasers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Najmudin, Z.; Walton, B. R.; Mangles, S. P. D.; Dangor, A. E.; Krushelnick, K.; Fritzler, S.; Malka, V.; Faure, J.; Tatarakis, M.

2006-01-01

Measurements have been made of the magnetic field generated by the passage of high intensity short laser pulses through underdense plasmas. For a 30 fs, 1 J, 800 nm linearly-polarised laser pulse, an azimuthal magnetic field is observed at a radial extent of approximately 200 μm. The field is found to exceed 2.8 MG. For a 1 ps, 40 J, 1054 nm circularly-polarised laser pulse, a solenoidal field is observed that can exceed 7 MG. This solenoidal field is absent with linear polarised light, and hence can be considered as an Inverse Faraday effect. Both types of field are found to decay on the picosecond timescale. For both the azimuthal and solenoidal fields produced by such intense lasers, the production of energetic electrons by the interaction is thought to be vital for magnetic field generation

Effects induced by high and low intensity laser plasma on SiC Schottky detectors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sciuto Antonella

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Silicon-Carbide detectors are extensively employed as diagnostic devices in laser-generated plasma, allowing the simultaneous detection of photons, electrons and ions, when used in time-of-flight configuration. The plasma generated by high intensity laser (1016 W/cm2 producing high energy ions was characterized by SiC detector with a continuous front-electrode, and a very thick active depth, while SiC detector with an Interdigit front-electrode was used to measure the low energy ions of plasma generated by low intensity laser (1010 W/cm2. Information about ion energy, number of charge states, plasma temperature can be accurately obtained. However, laser exposure induces the formation of surface and bulk defects whose concentration increases with increasing the time to plasma exposure. The surface defects consist of clusters with a main size of the order of some microns and they modify the diode barrier height and the efficiency of the detector as checked by alpha spectrometry. The bulk defects, due to the energy loss of detected ions, strongly affect the electrical properties of the device, inducing a relevant increase of the leakage (reverse current and decrease the forward current related to a deactivation of the dopant in the active detector region.

Effects induced by high and low intensity laser plasma on SiC Schottky detectors

Science.gov (United States)

Sciuto, Antonella; Torrisi, Lorenzo; Cannavò, Antonino; Mazzillo, Massimo; Calcagno, Lucia

2018-01-01

Silicon-Carbide detectors are extensively employed as diagnostic devices in laser-generated plasma, allowing the simultaneous detection of photons, electrons and ions, when used in time-of-flight configuration. The plasma generated by high intensity laser (1016 W/cm2) producing high energy ions was characterized by SiC detector with a continuous front-electrode, and a very thick active depth, while SiC detector with an Interdigit front-electrode was used to measure the low energy ions of plasma generated by low intensity laser (1010 W/cm2). Information about ion energy, number of charge states, plasma temperature can be accurately obtained. However, laser exposure induces the formation of surface and bulk defects whose concentration increases with increasing the time to plasma exposure. The surface defects consist of clusters with a main size of the order of some microns and they modify the diode barrier height and the efficiency of the detector as checked by alpha spectrometry. The bulk defects, due to the energy loss of detected ions, strongly affect the electrical properties of the device, inducing a relevant increase of the leakage (reverse) current and decrease the forward current related to a deactivation of the dopant in the active detector region.

Electron Generation and Transport in Intense Relativistic Laser-Plasma Interactions Relevant to Fast Ignition ICF

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ma, Tammy Yee Wing [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States)

2010-01-01

The reentrant cone approach to Fast Ignition, an advanced Inertial Confinement Fusion scheme, remains one of the most attractive because of the potential to efficiently collect and guide the laser light into the cone tip and direct energetic electrons into the high density core of the fuel. However, in the presence of a preformed plasma, the laser energy is largely absorbed before it can reach the cone tip. Full scale fast ignition laser systems are envisioned to have prepulses ranging between 100 mJ to 1 J. A few of the imperative issues facing fast ignition, then, are the conversion efficiency with which the laser light is converted to hot electrons, the subsequent transport characteristics of those electrons, and requirements for maximum allowable prepulse this may put on the laser system. This dissertation examines the laser-to-fast electron conversion efficiency scaling with prepulse for cone-guided fast ignition. Work in developing an extreme ultraviolet imager diagnostic for the temperature measurements of electron-heated targets, as well as the validation of the use of a thin wire for simultaneous determination of electron number density and electron temperature will be discussed.

Wave function of free electron in a strong laser plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu Shitong; Shen Wenda; Guo Qizhi

1993-01-01

The wave function of free electron in a strong laser plasma is obtained by solving exactly the Dirac equation in a curved space-time with optical metric for the laser plasma. When the laser field is diminished to zero, the wave function is naturally reduced to relativistic wave function of free electron. The possible application of the wave function is discussed

Pump depletion limited evolution of the relativistic plasma wave-front in a forced laser-wakefield accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fang, F; Clayton, C E; Marsh, K A; Pak, A E; Ralph, J E; Joshi, C; Lopes, N C

2009-01-01

In a forced laser-wakefield accelerator experiment (Malka et al 2002 Science 298 1596) where the length of the pump laser pulse is a few plasma periods long, the leading edge of the laser pulse undergoes frequency downshifting and head erosion as the laser energy is transferred to the wake. Therefore, after some propagation distance, the group velocity of the leading edge of the pump pulse-and thus of the driven electron plasma wave-will slow down. This can have implications for the dephasing length of the accelerated electrons and therefore needs to be understood experimentally. We have carried out an experimental investigation where we have measured the velocity v f of the 'wave-front' of the plasma wave driven by a nominally 50 fs (full width half maximum), intense (a 0 ≅ 1), 0.815 μm laser pulse. To determine the speed of the wave front, time- and space-resolved refractometry, interferometry and Thomson scattering were used. Although a laser pulse propagating through a relatively low-density plasma (n e = 1.3 x 10 19 cm -3 ) showed no measurable changes in v f over 1.3 mm (and no accelerated electrons), a high-density plasma (n e = 5 x 10 19 cm -3 ) generated accelerated electrons and showed a continuous change in v f as the laser pulse propagated through the plasma. Possible causes and consequences of the observed v f evolution are discussed.

Relativistically Self-Channeled Femtosecond Terawatt Lasers for High-Field Physics and X-Ray Generation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Borisov, A.B.; Boyer, K.; Cameron, S.M.; Luk, T.S.; McPherson, A.; Nelson, T.; Rhodes, C.K.

1999-01-01

Optical channeling or refractive guiding processes involving the nonlinear interaction of intense femtosecond optical pulses with matter in the self-focussing regime has created exciting opportunities for next-generation laser plasma-based x-ray sources and directed energy applications. This fundamentally new form of extended paraxial electromagnetic propagation in nonlinear dispersive media such as underdense plasma is attributed to the interplay between normal optical diffraction and intensity-dependent nonlinear focussing and refraction contributions in the dielectric response. Superposition of these mechanisms on the intrinsic index profile acts to confine the propagating energy in a dynamic self-guiding longitudinal waveguide structure which is stable for power transmission and robust compression. The laser-driven channels are hypothesized to support a degree of solitonic transport behavior, simultaneously stable in the space and time domains (group velocity dispersion balances self-phase modulation), and are believed to be self-compensating for diffraction and dispersion over many Rayleigh lengths in contrast with the defining characteristics of conventional diffractive imaging and beamforming. By combining concentrated power deposition with well-ordered spatial localization, this phenomena will also create new possibilities for production and regulation of physical interactions, including electron beams, enhanced material coupling, and self-modulated plasma wakefields, over extended gain distances with unprecedented energy densities. Harmonious combination of short-pulse x-ray production with plasma channeling resulting from a relativistic charge displacement nonlinearity mechanism in the terawatt regime (10{sup 18} W/cm{sup 2}) has been shown to generate high-field conditions conducive to efficient multi-kilovolt x-ray amplification and peak spectral brightness. Channeled optical propagation with intense short-pulse lasers is expected to impact several

Target Surface Area Effects on Hot Electron Dynamics from High Intensity Laser-Plasma Interactions

Science.gov (United States)

2016-08-19

Science, University ofMichigan, AnnArbor,MI 48109-2099, USA E-mail: czulick@umich.edu Keywords: laser- plasma ,mass-limited, fast electrons , sheath...New J. Phys. 18 (2016) 063020 doi:10.1088/1367-2630/18/6/063020 PAPER Target surface area effects on hot electron dynamics from high intensity laser... plasma interactions CZulick, ARaymond,AMcKelvey, VChvykov, AMaksimchuk, AGRThomas, LWillingale, VYanovsky andKKrushelnick Center forUltrafast Optical

Production of ultrahigh ion current densities at skin-layer subrelativistic laser-plasma interaction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Badziak, J [Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion, Warsaw (Poland); Glowacz, S [Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion, Warsaw (Poland); Jablonski, S [Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion, Warsaw (Poland); Parys, P [Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion, Warsaw (Poland); Wolowski, J [Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion, Warsaw (Poland); Hora, H [Department of Theoretical Physics, University of New South Wales, Sydney (Australia); Krasa, J [Institute of Physics, ASCR, Prague (Czech Republic); Laska, L [Institute of Physics, ASCR, Prague (Czech Republic); Rohlena, K [Institute of Physics, ASCR, Prague (Czech Republic)

2004-12-01

Some applications of fast ions driven by a short ({<=}1 ps) laser pulse (e.g. fast ignition of ICF targets, x-ray laser pumping, laboratory astrophysics research or some nuclear physics experiments) require ion beams of picosecond (or shorter) time durations and of very high ion current densities ({approx}10{sup 10} A cm{sup -2} or higher). A possible way of producing ion beams with such extreme parameters is ballistic focusing of fast ions generated by a target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) mechanism at relativistic laser intensities. In this paper we discuss another method, where the production of short-pulse ion beams of ultrahigh current densities is possible in a planar geometry at subrelativistic laser intensities and at a low energy ({<=}1 J) of the laser pulse. This method-referred to as skin-layer ponderomotive acceleration (S-LPA)-uses strong ponderomotive forces induced at the skin-layer interaction of a short laser pulse with a proper preplasma layer in front of a solid target. The basic features of the high-current ion generation by S-LPA were investigated using a simplified theory, numerical hydrodynamic simulations and measurements. The experiments were performed with subjoule 1 ps laser pulses interacting with massive or thin foil targets at intensities of up to 2 x 10{sup 17} W cm{sup -2}. It was found that both in the backward and forward directions highly collimated high-density ion beams (plasma blocks) with current densities at the ion source (close to the target) approaching 10{sup 10} A cm{sup -2} are produced, in accordance with the theory and numerical calculations. These ion current densities were found to be comparable to (or even higher than) those estimated from recent short-pulse TNSA experiments with relativistic laser intensities. Apart from the simpler physics of the laser-plasma interaction, the advantage of the considered method is the low energy of the driving laser pulses allowing the production of ultrahigh

Ion energy distributions from laser-generated plasmas at two different intensities

Science.gov (United States)

Ceccio, Giovanni; Torrisi, Lorenzo; Okamura, Masahiro; Kanesue, Takeshi; Ikeda, Shunsuke

2018-01-01

Laser-generated non-equilibrium plasmas were analyzed at Brookhaven National Laboratory (NY, USA) and MIFT Messina University (Italy). Two laser intensities of 1012 W/cm2 and 109 W/cm2, have been employed to irradiate Al and Al with Au coating targets in high vacuum conditions. Ion energy distributions were obtained using electrostatic analyzers coupled with ion collectors. Time of flight measurements were performed by changing the laser irradiation conditions. The study was carried out to provide optimum keV ions injection into post acceleration systems. Possible applications will be presented.

Charge-exchange-induced formation of hollow atoms in high-intensity laser-produced plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rosmej, F.B. [TU-Darmstadt, Institut fuer Kernphysik, Darmstadt (Germany); Faenov, A.Ya.; Pikuz, T.A.; Magunov, A.I.; Skobelev, I.Yu. [Multicharged Ions Spectra Data Center of VNIIFTRI, Mendeleevo (Russian Federation); Auguste, T.; D' Oliveira, P.; Hulin, S.; Monot, P. [Commissariat a lEnergie Atomique DSM/DRECAM/SPAM, Gif-Sur-Yvette Cedex (France); Andreev, N.E.; Chegotov, M.V.; Veisman, M.E. [High Energy Density Research Centre, Institute of High Temperatures of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow (Russian Federation)

1999-03-14

For the first time registration of high-resolution soft x-ray emission and atomic data calculations of hollow-atom dielectronic satellite spectra of highly charged nitrogen have been performed. Double-electron charge-exchange processes from excited states are proposed for the formation of autoionizing levels nln'l' in high-intensity laser-produced plasmas, when field-ionized ions penetrate into the residual gas. Good agreement is found between theory and experiment. Plasma spectroscopy with hollow ions is proposed and a temperature diagnostic for laser-produced plasmas in the long-lasting recombining regime is developed. (author). Letter-to-the-editor.

The elimination of pump depletion in laser-plasma beat-wave accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma Jinxiu; Xu Zhizhan

1988-01-01

The pump depletion is a severe problem which hinders the laser-plasma beat-wave accelerator concept from being practical. Starting with the weak relativistic equation of beat-wave excitation of electron plasma waves, the authors have derived the condition for eliminating the pump depletion in the fame moving with the light pulse for arbitrary pulse shapes. It is shown that the depletion can be eliminated by a phase jump of π at the center of the pump pulse and by the appropriated choice of initial plasma density detuning. The numerical calculation have yielded the dependence of the initial detuning on the pump intensity for square pump pulses, and have supported the methods used in this paper

Manipulation of the polarization of intense laser beams via optical wave mixing in plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Michel, Pierre; Divol, Laurent; Turnbull, David; Moody, John

2014-10-01

When intense laser beams overlap in plasmas, the refractive index modulation created by the beat wave via the ponderomotive force can lead to optical wave mixing phenomena reminiscent of those used in crystals and photorefractive materials. Using a vector analysis, we present a full analytical description of the modification of the polarization state of laser beams crossing at arbitrary angles in a plasma. We show that plasmas can be used to provide full control of the polarization state of a laser beam, and give simple analytical estimates and practical considerations for the design of novel photonics devices such as plasma polarizers and plasma waveplates. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC52-07NA27344.

Device and method for relativistic electron beam heating of a high-density plasma to drive fast liners

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thode, L.E.

1981-01-01

A device and method for relativistic electron beam heating of a high-density plasma in a small localized region are described. A relativistic electron beam generator or accelerator produces a high-voltage electron beam which propagates along a vacuum drift tube and is modulated to initiate electron bunching within the beam. The beam is then directed through a low-density gas chamber which provides isolation between the vacuum modulator and the relativistic electron beam target. The relativistic beam is then applied to a high-density target plasma which typically comprises dt, dd, hydrogen boron or similar thermonuclear gas at a density of 1017 to 1020 electrons per cubic centimeter. The target gas is ionized prior to application of the electron beam by means of a laser or other preionization source to form a plasma. Utilizing a relativistic electron beam with an individual particle energy exceeding 3 mev, classical scattering by relativistic electrons passing through isolation foils is negligible. As a result, relativistic streaming instabilities are initiated within the high-density target plasma causing the relativistic electron beam to efficiently deposit its energy and momentum into a small localized region of the high-density plasma target. Fast liners disposed in the high-density target plasma are explosively or ablatively driven to implosion by a heated annular plasma surrounding the fast liner which is generated by an annular relativistic electron beam. An azimuthal magnetic field produced by axial current flow in the annular plasma, causes the energy in the heated annular plasma to converge on the fast liner

Directional enhancement of selected high-order-harmonics from intense laser irradiated blazed grating targets.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Guobo; Chen, Min; Liu, Feng; Yuan, Xiaohui; Weng, Suming; Zheng, Jun; Ma, Yanyun; Shao, Fuqiu; Sheng, Zhengming; Zhang, Jie

2017-10-02

Relativistically intense laser solid target interaction has been proved to be a promising way to generate high-order harmonics, which can be used to diagnose ultrafast phenomena. However, their emission direction and spectra still lack tunability. Based upon two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we show that directional enhancement of selected high-order-harmonics can be realized using blazed grating targets. Such targets can select harmonics with frequencies being integer times of the grating frequency. Meanwhile, the radiation intensity and emission area of the harmonics are increased. The emission direction is controlled by tailoring the local blazed structure. Theoretical and electron dynamics analysis for harmonics generation, selection and directional enhancement from the interaction between multi-cycle laser and grating target are carried out. These studies will benefit the generation and application of laser plasma-based high order harmonics.

A study of fast electron energy transport in relativistically intense laser-plasma interactions with large density scalelengths

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scott, R. H. H.; Norreys, P. A. [Department of Physics, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Oxford, Didcot, Oxford OX11 0QX (United Kingdom); Perez, F.; Baton, S. D. [LULI, Ecole Polytechnique, UMR 7605, CNRS/CEA/UPMC, Route de Saclay, 91128 Palaiseau (France); Santos, J. J.; Nicolai, Ph.; Hulin, S. [Univ. Bordeaux/CNRS/CEA, CELIA, UMR 5107, 33405 Talence (France); Ridgers, C. P. [Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU (United Kingdom); Department of Physics, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Davies, J. R. [GoLP, Instituto de Plasmas e Fusao Nuclear - Laboratorio Associado, Instituto Superior Tecnico, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Lancaster, K. L.; Trines, R. M. G. M. [Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Oxford, Didcot, Oxford OX11 0QX (United Kingdom); Bell, A. R.; Tzoufras, M. [Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU (United Kingdom); Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Oxford, Didcot, Oxford OX11 0QX (United Kingdom); Rose, S. J. [Department of Physics, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom)

2012-05-15

A systematic experimental and computational investigation of the effects of three well characterized density scalelengths on fast electron energy transport in ultra-intense laser-solid interactions has been performed. Experimental evidence is presented which shows that, when the density scalelength is sufficiently large, the fast electron beam entering the solid-density plasma is best described by two distinct populations: those accelerated within the coronal plasma (the fast electron pre-beam) and those accelerated near or at the critical density surface (the fast electron main-beam). The former has considerably lower divergence and higher temperature than that of the main-beam with a half-angle of {approx}20 Degree-Sign . It contains up to 30% of the total fast electron energy absorbed into the target. The number, kinetic energy, and total energy of the fast electrons in the pre-beam are increased by an increase in density scalelength. With larger density scalelengths, the fast electrons heat a smaller cross sectional area of the target, causing the thinnest targets to reach significantly higher rear surface temperatures. Modelling indicates that the enhanced fast electron pre-beam associated with the large density scalelength interaction generates a magnetic field within the target of sufficient magnitude to partially collimate the subsequent, more divergent, fast electron main-beam.

Pump depletion limited evolution of the relativistic plasma wave-front in a forced laser-wakefield accelerator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fang, F; Clayton, C E; Marsh, K A; Pak, A E; Ralph, J E; Joshi, C [Department of Electrical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States); Lopes, N C [Grupo de Lasers e Plasmas, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisbon (Portugal)], E-mail: cclayton@ucla.edu

2009-02-15

In a forced laser-wakefield accelerator experiment (Malka et al 2002 Science 298 1596) where the length of the pump laser pulse is a few plasma periods long, the leading edge of the laser pulse undergoes frequency downshifting and head erosion as the laser energy is transferred to the wake. Therefore, after some propagation distance, the group velocity of the leading edge of the pump pulse-and thus of the driven electron plasma wave-will slow down. This can have implications for the dephasing length of the accelerated electrons and therefore needs to be understood experimentally. We have carried out an experimental investigation where we have measured the velocity v{sub f} of the 'wave-front' of the plasma wave driven by a nominally 50 fs (full width half maximum), intense (a{sub 0} {approx_equal} 1), 0.815 {mu}m laser pulse. To determine the speed of the wave front, time- and space-resolved refractometry, interferometry and Thomson scattering were used. Although a laser pulse propagating through a relatively low-density plasma (n{sub e} = 1.3 x 10{sup 19} cm{sup -3}) showed no measurable changes in v{sub f} over 1.3 mm (and no accelerated electrons), a high-density plasma (n{sub e} = 5 x 10{sup 19} cm{sup -3}) generated accelerated electrons and showed a continuous change in v{sub f} as the laser pulse propagated through the plasma. Possible causes and consequences of the observed v{sub f} evolution are discussed.

Planar and nonplanar ion acoustic shock waves in relativistic degenerate astrophysical electron-positron-ion plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ata-ur-Rahman,; Qamar, A. [Institute of Physics and Electronics, University of Peshawar, Peshawar 25000 (Pakistan); National Centre for Physics, QAU Campus, Shahdrah Valley Road, Islamabad 44000 (Pakistan); Ali, S. [National Centre for Physics, QAU Campus, Shahdrah Valley Road, Islamabad 44000 (Pakistan); Mirza, Arshad M. [Theoretical Plasma Physics Group, Physics Department, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 45320 (Pakistan)

2013-04-15

We have studied the propagation of ion acoustic shock waves involving planar and non-planar geometries in an unmagnetized plasma, whose constituents are non-degenerate ultra-cold ions, relativistically degenerate electrons, and positrons. By using the reductive perturbation technique, Korteweg-deVries Burger and modified Korteweg-deVries Burger equations are derived. It is shown that only compressive shock waves can propagate in such a plasma system. The effects of geometry, the ion kinematic viscosity, and the positron concentration are examined on the ion acoustic shock potential and electric field profiles. It is found that the properties of ion acoustic shock waves in a non-planar geometry significantly differ from those in planar geometry. The present study has relevance to the dense plasmas, produced in laboratory (e.g., super-intense laser-dense matter experiments) and in dense astrophysical objects.

Simulation of intense laser-dense matter interactions. X-ray production and laser absorption

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ueshima, Yutaka; Kishimoto, Yasuaki; Sasaki, Akira [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Neyagawa, Osaka (Japan). Kansai Research Establishment; Sentoku, Yasuhiko; Tajima, Toshiki

1998-03-01

The development of short-pulse ultra high intensity lasers will enable us to generate short-pulse intense soft and hard X-rays. Acceleration of an electron in laser field generates intense illuminated located radiation, Larmor radiation, around KeV at 10{sup 18} W/cm{sup 2} with 100 TW and 1 {mu}m wave length laser. The Coulomb interaction between rest ions and relativistic electron generates broad energy radiation, bremsstrahlung emission, over MeV at 10{sup 18} W/cm{sup 2} with the same condition. These intense radiations come in short pulses of the same order as that of the irradiated laser. The generated intense X-rays, Larmor and bremsstrahlung radiation, can be applied to sources of short pulse X-ray, excitation source of inner-shell X-ray laser, position production and nuclear excitation, etc. (author)

Betatron radiation from a laser-plasma accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schnell, Michael

2014-01-01

The presented thesis investigates the processes which lead to the generation of highenergetic X-ray radiation, also known as ''betatron radiation'', by means of a relativistic laser-plasma interaction. The generated betatron radiation has been extensively characterized by measuring its radiated intensity, energy distribution, far-field beam profile, and source size. It was shown for the first time that betatron radiation can be used as a non-invasive diagnostic tool to retrieve very subtle information on the electron acceleration dynamics within the plasma wave. Furthermore, a compact polarimeter setup has been developed in a unique experiment in which the polarization state of the laser-plasma generated betatron radiation was measured in single-shot mode. This lead to a detailed study of the orientation of the electron trajectory within the plasma interaction. By controlling the injection of the electrons into the plasma wave it was demonstrated that one can tune the polarization state of the emitted X-rays. This result is very promising for further applications, particularly for feeding the electrons into an additional conventional accelerator or a permanent magnet based undulator for the production of intense X-ray beams. During this work, the experimental setup for accelerating electrons and generating high-energy X-ray beams was consistently improved: to enhance both its reliability and stability. Subsequently, the betatron radiation was used as a reliable diagnostic tool of the electron dynamics within the plasma. Parallel to the experimental work, 3-Dimensional Particle-In-Cell (3D-PlC) simulations were performed together with colleagues from the University of Duesseldorf. The simulations included the electron acceleration and the X-ray generation processes together with the recoil force acting on an accelerating electron caused by the emitted radiation during which one can also ascertain its polarization state. The simulations proved to be in good agreement

Electron acceleration using laser produced plasmas

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva; Landua, Rolf

2005-01-01

Low density plasmas have long been of interest as a potential medium for particle acceleration since relativistic plasma waves are capable of supporting electric fields greater than 100 GeV/m. The physics of particle acceleration using plasmas will be reviewed, and new results will be discussed which have demonstrated that relatively narrow energy spread (<3%) beams having energies greater than 100 MeV can be produced from femtosecond laser plasma interactions. Future experiments and potential applications will also be discussed.

On plane-wave relativistic electrodynamics in plasmas and in vacuum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fiore, Gaetano

2014-01-01

We revisit the exact microscopic equations (in differential, and equivalent integral form) ruling a relativistic cold plasma after the plane-wave Ansatz, without customary approximations. We show that in the Eulerian description the motion of a very diluted plasma initially at rest and excited by an arbitrary transverse plane electromagnetic travelling-wave has a very simple and explicit dependence on the transverse electromagnetic potential; for a non-zero density plasma the above motion is a good approximation of the real one as long as the back-reaction of the charges on the electromagnetic field can be neglected, i.e. for a time lapse decreasing with the plasma density, and can be used as initial step in an iterative resolution scheme. As one of many possible applications, we use these results to describe how the ponderomotive force of a very intense and short plane laser pulse hitting normally the surface of a plasma boosts the surface electrons into the ion background. In response to this penetration, the electrons are pulled back by the electric force exerted by the ions and the other displaced electrons and may leave the plasma with high energy in the direction opposite to that of propagation of the pulse ‘slingshot effect’ (Fiore G et al 2013 arXiv:1309.1400). (paper)

Relativistic reversal of the ponderomotive force in a standing laser wave

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pokrovsky, A.L.; Kaplan, A.E.

2005-01-01

Effect of relativistic reversal of the ponderomotive force (PF), reported earlier for a collinear configuration of electron and laser standing wave [A. E. Kaplan and A. L. Pokrovsky, Phys. Rev. Lett., 95, 053601 (2005)], is studied here theoretically for various types of polarizations of the laser beam. We demonstrated that the collinear configuration, in which the laser wave is linearly polarized with electric field E-vector parallel to the initial electron momentum p-vector 0 , is the optimal configuration for the relativistic reversal. In that case, the transverse PF reverses its direction when the incident momentum is p 0 =mc. The reversal effect vanishes in the cases of circular and linear with E-vector perpendicular p-vector 0 polarizations. We have discovered, however, that the counter-rotating circularly polarized standing waves develop attraction and repulsion areas along the axis of laser, in the laser field whose intensity is homogeneous in that axis, i.e., has no field gradient

Theory of free-electron-laser heating and current drive in magnetized plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cohen, B.I.; Cohen, R.H.; Nevins, W.M.; Rognlien, T.D.

1991-01-01

The introduction of a powerful new microwave source, the free-electron laser, provides new opportunities for novel heating and current-drive schemes to be used in toroidal fusion devices. This high-power, pulsed source has a number of technical advantages for these applications, and its use is predicted to lead to improved current-drive efficiencies and opacities in reactor-grade fusion plasmas in specific cases. The Microwave Tokamak Experiment at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will provide a test for some of these new heating and current-drive schemes. Although the motivation for much of this research has derived from the application of a free-electron laser to the heating of a tokamak plasma at a frequency near the electron cyclotron frequency, the underlying physics, i.e., the highly nonlinear interaction of an intense, pulsed, coherent electromagnetic wave with an electron in a magnetized plasma including relativistic effects, is of general interest. Other relevant applications include ionospheric modification by radio-frequency waves, high-energy electron accelerators, and the propagation of intense, pulsed electromagnetic waves in space and astrophysical plasmas. This review reports recent theoretical progress in the analysis and computer simulation of the absorption and current drive produced by intense pulses, and of the possible complications that may arise, e.g., parametric instabilities, nonlinear self-focusing, trapped-particle sideband instability, and instabilities of the heated plasma

Enhanced resonant second harmonic generation in plasma based on density transition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kant Niti

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Resonant second harmonic generation of a relativistic self-focusing laser in plasma with density ramp profile has been investigated. A high intense Gaussian laser beam generates resonant second harmonic beam in plasma with density ramp profile. The second harmonic undergoes periodic focusing in the plasma channel created by the fundamental wave. The normalized second harmonic amplitude varies periodically with distance and attains maximum value in the focal region. Enhancement in the second harmonic amplitude on account of relativistic self-focusing of laser based on plasma density transition is seen. Plasma density ramp plays an important role to make self-focusing stronger which leads to enhance the second harmonic generation in plasma.

Instability of the time splitting scheme for the one-dimensional and relativistic Vlasov-Maxwell system

CERN Document Server

Huot, F; Bertrand, P; Sonnendrücker, E; Coulaud, O

2003-01-01

The Time Splitting Scheme (TSS) has been examined within the context of the one-dimensional (1D) relativistic Vlasov-Maxwell model. In the strongly relativistic regime of the laser-plasma interaction, the TSS cannot be applied to solve the Vlasov equation. We propose a new semi-Lagrangian scheme based on a full 2D advection and study its advantages over the classical Splitting procedure. Details of the underlying integration of the Vlasov equation appear to be important in achieving accurate plasma simulations. Examples are given which are related to the relativistic modulational instability and the self-induced transparency of an ultra-intense electromagnetic pulse in the relativistic regime.

Compressing and focusing a short laser pulse by a thin plasma lens

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ren, C.; Duda, B. J.; Hemker, R. G.; Mori, W. B.; Katsouleas, T.; Antonsen, T. M.; Mora, P.

2001-01-01

We consider the possibility of using a thin plasma slab as an optical element to both focus and compress an intense laser pulse. By thin we mean that the focal length is larger than the lens thickness. We derive analytic formulas for the spot size and pulse length evolution of a short laser pulse propagating through a thin uniform plasma lens. The formulas are compared to simulation results from two types of particle-in-cell code. The simulations give a greater final spot size and a shorter focal length than the analytic formulas. The difference arises from spherical aberrations in the lens which lead to the generation of higher-order vacuum Gaussian modes. The simulations also show that Raman side scattering can develop. A thin lens experiment could provide unequivocal evidence of relativistic self-focusing

Electron self-injection and acceleration in the bubble regime of laser-plasma interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kostyukov, I.; Nerush, E.

2010-01-01

Complete text of publication follows. The intense laser-plasma and beam-plasma interactions are highly nonlinear-phenomena, which besides being of fundamental interest, attract a great attention due to a number of important applications. One of the key applications is particle acceleration based on excitation of the strong plasma wakefield by laser pulse. In the linear regime of interaction when the laser intensity is low the plasma wake is the linear plasma wave. Moreover, the ponderomotive force of the laser pulse pushes out the plasma electrons from high intensity region leaving behind the laser pulse the plasma cavity - bubble, which is almost free from the plasma electrons. This is the bubble the laser-plasma interaction. Although the bubble propagates with velocity, which is close to speed of light, the huge charge of unshielded ions inside the plasma cavity can trap the cold plasma electrons. Moreover, the electrons are trapped in the accelerated phase of the bubble plasma field thereby leading to efficient electron acceleration. The electron self-injection is an important advantage of the plasma-based acceleration, which allows to exclude the beam loading system requiring accurate synchronization and additional space. The recent experiments have demonstrated high efficiency of the electron self-injection. The beam quality is often of crucial importance in many applications ranging from inertial confinement fusion to the x-ray free electron lasers. Despite a great interest there is still a little theory for relativistic electron dynamics in the plasma wake in multidimensional geometry including electron self-injection. The dynamics of the self-injected electrons can be roughly divided into three stage: (i) electron scattering by the laser pulse, (ii) electron trapping by the bubble, (iii) electron acceleration in the bubble. We developed two analytical models for electron dynamics in the bubble field and verify them by direct measurements of model parameters

Interaction of high power ultrashort laser pulses with plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geissler, M.

2000-12-01

based on an improved model for HHG. Apart from the generation of coherent x-ray radiation, the interaction of few-cycle laser pulses with gases has the potential to generate attosecond pulses (1as=10 -18 s). Such pulses should be present in current HHG experiments but due to the lack of measuring them the unique time resolution cannot be used. A method to measure sub-fs pulses is proposed and theoretically analyzed, which allows resolving pulse durations on the order of a fraction of the optical period. In the second part, interaction at higher intensities is discussed, where relativistic effects have to be considered. First a three dimensional simulation code, developed for this work, is presented, followed by the investigation of electron acceleration mechanisms with short pulses. Finally simulations indicate that relativistic laser-plasma interactions leads to the generation of high power half-cycle Terrahertz pulses (1 THz=10 12 Hz), with peak intensities and conversion efficiencies exceeding current THz sources by orders of magnitude. The mechanism of the THz generation is presented in the last part of the thesis. (author)

Propagation of an intense laser pulse in an under-dense plasma: channeling and stimulated Raman scattering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Friou, A.

2012-01-01

This thesis is divided in two parts: i) the laser channeling in hundreds of microns long under-dense plasmas (0.1 nc ≤ n ≤ nc, nc being the critical density) of a laser pulse of intensity 10 18-20 W/cm 2 and duration 1-10 ps; ii) the saturation mechanisms of stimulated Raman back-scattering of a laser pulse of intensity 10 14 to 10 16 W/cm 2 and duration of about 1 ps. A parametric study was performed to study the channeling of a very intense laser pulse, using a 2D PIC (Particle In Cell) code. Various kinds of channels were obtained depending on the laser and plasma parameters, thereby reproducing and enlarging previous studies. Moreover, the channeling velocity was measured and scaling laws were established for homogeneous plasmas. They are then applied to inhomogeneous plasmas, similar to those encountered in inertial confinement fusion (ICF). It is then possible to estimate the energy necessary to channel to the critical density, an important step for the fast ignition scheme of ICF. Raman saturation was studied using numerical simulations, in order to determine if it is due to dephasing or to the growth of sidebands, using different approaches. The first is to study Raman simulations (electromagnetic) performed with kinetic PIC and Vlasov codes. The second, is to study the evolution of a plasma initialized with a distribution function after the adiabatic theory, using a Vlasov code (electrostatic). In this case, we observe the growth of a sideband, with dominant wave number and growth rate in good agreement with kinetic simulations. The saturation of the plasma wave can be caused by both saturation mechanisms. [fr

Study on Laser Induced Plasma Produced in Liquid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsuda, N.; Yamada, J.

2003-01-01

When an intense laser light is focused in liquid, a hot plasma is produced at the focal spot. The breakdown threshold and the transmittance of sodium choroids solution are observed using excimer laser or YAG laser. The breakdown threshold decreases with increasing NaCl concentration. Threshold intensity of plasma produced by YAG laser is lower than excimer laser. The behavior of plasma development is observed by a streak camera. The plasma produced by a YAG laser develops only backward. However, the plasma produced by excimer laser develops not only backward but also forward same as the plasma development in high-pressure gases

High-order harmonics generation from overdense plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quere, F.; Thaury, C.; Monot, P.; Martin, Ph.; Geindre, J.P.; Audebert, P.; Marjoribanks, R.

2006-01-01

Complete test of publication follows. When an intense laser beam reflects on an overdense plasma generated on a solid target, high-order harmonics of the incident laser frequency are observed in the reflected beam. This process provides a way to produce XUV femtosecond and attosecond pulses in the μJ range from ultrafast ultraintense lasers. Studying the mechanisms responsible for this harmonic emission is also of strong fundamental interest: just as HHG in gases has been instrumental in providing a comprehensive understanding of basic intense laser-atom interactions, HHG from solid-density plasmas is likely to become a unique tool to investigate many key features of laser-plasma interactions at high intensities. We will present both experimental and theoretical evidence that two mechanisms contribute to this harmonic emission: - Coherent Wake Emission: in this process, harmonics are emitted by plasma oscillations in te overdense plasma, triggered in the wake of jets of Brunel electrons generated by the laser field. - The relativistic oscillating mirror: in this process, the intense laser field drives a relativistic oscillation of the plasma surface, which in turn gives rise to a periodic phase modulation of the reflected beam, and hence to the generation of harmonics of the incident frequency. Left graph: experimental harmonic spectrum from a polypropylene target, obtained with 60 fs laser pulses at 10 19 W/cm 2 , with a very high temporal contrast (10 10 ). The plasma frequency of this target corresponds to harmonics 15-16, thus excluding the CWE mechanism for the generation of harmonics of higher orders. Images on the right: harmonic spectra from orders 13 et 18, for different distances z between the target and the best focus. At the highest intensity (z=0), harmonics emitted by the ROM mechanism are observed above the 15th order. These harmonics have a much smaller spectral width then those due to CWE (below the 15th order). These ROM harmonics vanish as soon

Interaction of intense laser pulses with neutral gases and preformed plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mackinnon, A. J.; Borghesi, M.; Iwase, A.; Jones, M. W.; Willi, O.

1998-01-01

The interaction of a high intensity laser pulse with a neutral gas or preformed plasma has been studied over a wide range of target and laser conditions. It was found that the propagation of 2ps laser pulses (λ=1.054μm, P=5-10TW, I∼5x10 14 -1x10 14 -1x10 18 Wcm -2 ) in neutral gases with atomic densities greater than 0.001 of critical was strongly influenced by ionisation induced refraction. Preformed density channels were effective in overcoming refraction but the channel length was found to be limited by ionization induced defocusing of the prepulse

Relativistic and nonlinear radiation interaction between laser beams and plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kane, E.L.; Hora, H.

1981-01-01

Starting from a combination of Maxwell's laws for the electromagnetic field and the conservation equations for a fully ionized plasma, the appropriate equations describing electrodynamic laser propagation and plasma dynamic particle motion are developed and solved. Calculations for multiply ionized transient conditions are carried out to yield electric field amplitudes, radial electron number density distributions and the progress of formation of a self-focused beam filament as a function of the target plasma density distribution and the laser pulse power-time history, among other parameters. Separate solutions emphasizing field-induced plasma motion on the one hand and significant beam contraction on the other are illustrated

Suprathermal Electron Generation and Channel Formation by an Ultrarelativistic Laser Pulse in an Underdense Preformed Plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malka, G.; Gaillard, R.; Miquel, J.L.; Rousseaux, C.; Bonnaud, G.; Busquet, M.; Lours, L.; Fuchs, J.; Pepin, H.; Fuchs, J.; Amiranoff, F.; Baton, S.D.

1997-01-01

Relativistic electrons are produced, with energies up to 20MeV, by the interaction of a high-intensity subpicosecond laser pulse (1 μm , 300 fs , 10 19 W/cm 2 ) with an underdense plasma. Two suprathermal electron populations appear with temperatures of 1 and 3MeV. In the same conditions, the laser beam transmission is increased up to 20% 30%. We observe both features along with the evidence of laser pulse channeling. A fluid model predicts a strong self-focusing of the pulse. Acceleration in the enhanced laser field seems the most likely mechanism leading to the second electron population. copyright 1997 The American Physical Society

Relativistic motion of charged particles in the interaction of short pulses of intense laser light with plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gomez R, F.

2004-01-01

the electrons in the plasma. These oscillations, calls of Langmuir, its are produced by the present electric field in the electrically neuter plasma when it is produced any deviation of the space distribution of the electrons takes place regarding that of the equilibrium. An analytical theory for the case of a particle in a plasma, which decreases to the one described in the chapter 4 is studied. It will see that in a dense plasma the movement of the electrons produces strong interactions, which modify the dynamics of the electron and the propagation of the pulse. These effects will be analyzed by means of simulations in which a single particle intervenes and where the space-charge effects will be represented by means of a vectorial potential. In this calculation the effects of the movement of the electron on the propagation of the laser its will be rejected. Our results will be compare with those reported by Bardsley et al. and the excellent approaches obtained will be shown. To carry out the analytical compute in the calculations, atomic units (u a) are introduced, which are more appropriate for this type of study. For the interpretation of the numerical results it will be convenient to carry out certain analytical calculations. Diagrams of trajectory where the electron is initially in repose, and where the maximum amplitude of the electric field will be of 100 u a (5,14 x 10 11 V/cm), corresponding to an intensity of pulse of 3,5 x 10 20 W/cm 2 and to an optical frequency of ω = 0,18 u a, of a KrF laser will be present. The final part will dedicate it to the presentation and interpretation of our results, as well as the perspectives and research lines opened up around the studied problem. In the last part of this work its put on all the bibliographical references that have been consulted for the realization of this work. (Author)

Plasma ion emission from high intensity picosecond laser pulse interactions with solid targets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fews, A.P.; Norreys, P.A.; Beg, F.N.; Bell, A.R.; Dangor, A.E.; Danson, C.N.; Lee, P.; Rose, S.J.

1994-01-01

The fast ion emission from high intensity, picosecond laser plasmas has been measured to give the characteristic ion energy and the amount of laser energy transferred to ions with energies ≥100 keV/nucleon as a function of incident intensity. The characteristic ion energy varies from 0.2 to 1.3 MeV over the range 2.0x10 17 --2.0x10 18 W cm -2 . Ten percent of the laser energy is transferred into MeV ions at 2.0x10 18 W cm -2 . Calculations of stopping power in high density materials are presented that show that fast ions cannot be ignored in modeling fast ignitor schemes

Progress of Laser-Driven Plasma Accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakajima, Kazuhisa

2007-01-01

There is a great interest worldwide in plasma accelerators driven by ultra-intense lasers which make it possible to generate ultra-high gradient acceleration and high quality particle beams in a much more compact size compared with conventional accelerators. A frontier research on laser and plasma accelerators is focused on high energy electron acceleration and ultra-short X-ray and Tera Hertz radiations as their applications. These achievements will provide not only a wide range of sciences with benefits of a table-top accelerator but also a basic science with a tool of ultrahigh energy accelerators probing an unknown extremely microscopic world.Harnessing the recent advance of ultra-intense ultra-short pulse lasers, the worldwide research has made a tremendous breakthrough in demonstrating high-energy high-quality particle beams in a compact scale, so called ''dream beams on a table top'', which represents monoenergetic electron beams from laser wakefield accelerators and GeV acceleration by capillary plasma-channel laser wakefield accelerators. This lecture reviews recent progress of results on laser-driven plasma based accelerator experiments to quest for particle acceleration physics in intense laser-plasma interactions and to present new outlook for the GeV-range high-energy laser plasma accelerators

An energy principle for two-dimensional collisionless relativistic plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Otto, A.; Schindler, K.

1984-01-01

Using relativistic Vlasov theory an energy principle for two-dimensional plasmas is derived, which provides a sufficient and necessary criterion for the stability of relativistic plasma equilibria. This energy principle includes charge separating effects since the exact Poisson equation was taken into consideration. Applying the variational principle to the case of the relativistic plane plasma sheet, the same marginal wave length is found as in the non-relativistic case. (author)

Studies of intense-laser plasma instabilities

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Láska, Leoš; Krása, Josef; Badziak, J.; Jungwirth, Karel; Krouský, Eduard; Margarone, Daniele; Parys, P.

2013-01-01

Roč. 272, May (2013), 94-98 ISSN 0169-4332 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) 7E09092; GA MŠk(CZ) LC528; GA AV ČR IAA100100715 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10100523 Keywords : laser plasma instabilities * self-generated magnetic field * longitudinal structure of the expanding plasma Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 2.538, year: 2013

Relativistic electron beam acceleration by cascading nonlinear Landau damping of electromagnetic waves in a plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugaya, R.; Ue, A.; Maehara, T.; Sugawa, M.

1996-01-01

Acceleration and heating of a relativistic electron beam by cascading nonlinear Landau damping involving three or four intense electromagnetic waves in a plasma are studied theoretically based on kinetic wave equations and transport equations derived from relativistic Vlasov endash Maxwell equations. Three or four electromagnetic waves excite successively two or three nonresonant beat-wave-driven relativistic electron plasma waves with a phase velocity near the speed of light [v p =c(1-γ -2 p ) 1/2 , γ p =ω/ω pe ]. Three beat waves interact nonlinearly with the electron beam and accelerate it to a highly relativistic energy γ p m e c 2 more effectively than by the usual nonlinear Landau damping of two electromagnetic waves. It is proved that the electron beam can be accelerated to more highly relativistic energy in the plasma whose electron density decreases temporally with an appropriate rate because of the temporal increase of γ p . copyright 1996 American Institute of Physics

The effect of quantum correction on plasma electron heating in ultraviolet laser interaction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zare, S.; Sadighi-Bonabi, R., E-mail: Sadighi@sharif.ir; Anvari, A. [Department of Physics, Sharif University of Technology, P.O. Box 11365-9567, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Yazdani, E. [Department of Energy Engineering and Physics, Amirkabir University of Technology, P.O. Box 15875-4413, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Hora, H. [Department of Theoretical Physics, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052 (Australia)

2015-04-14

The interaction of the sub-picosecond UV laser in sub-relativistic intensities with deuterium is investigated. At high plasma temperatures, based on the quantum correction in the collision frequency, the electron heating and the ion block generation in plasma are studied. It is found that due to the quantum correction, the electron heating increases considerably and the electron temperature uniformly reaches up to the maximum value of 4.91 × 10{sup 7 }K. Considering the quantum correction, the electron temperature at the laser initial coupling stage is improved more than 66.55% of the amount achieved in the classical model. As a consequence, by the modified collision frequency, the ion block is accelerated quicker with higher maximum velocity in comparison with the one by the classical collision frequency. This study proves the necessity of considering a quantum mechanical correction in the collision frequency at high plasma temperatures.

Resonant heating of a cluster plasma by intense laser light

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antonsen, Thomas M. Jr.; Taguchi, Toshihiro; Gupta, Ayush; Palastro, John; Milchberg, Howard M.

2005-01-01

Gases of atomic clusters are interaction media for laser pulse propagation with properties useful for applications such as extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and x-ray microscopy, harmonic generation, EUV lithography, and laser plasma acceleration. To understand cluster heating and expansion, a series of two- and three-dimensional electrostatic particle in cell simulations of the explosion of argon clusters of diameter in the range 20 nm-53 nm have been preformed. The studies show that heating is dominated by a nonlinear, resonant absorption process that gives rise to a size-dependent intensity threshold for strong absorption and that controls the dielectric properties of the cluster. Electrons are first accelerated out from the cluster and then driven back into it by the combined effects of the laser field and the electrostatic field produced by the laser-driven charge separation. Above the intensity threshold for strong heating there is a dramatic increase in the production of energetic particles and harmonic radiation. The dielectric properties of a gas of clusters are determined by the ensemble average cluster polarizability. Individual electrons contribute to the polarizability differently depending on whether they are in the core of the cluster or in the outer edge. Consequently, there can be large fluctuations in polarizability during the heating of a cluster

Probing ultrafast dynamics of solid-density plasma generated by high-contrast intense laser pulses

Science.gov (United States)

Jana, Kamalesh; Blackman, David R.; Shaikh, Moniruzzaman; Lad, Amit D.; Sarkar, Deep; Dey, Indranuj; Robinson, Alex P. L.; Pasley, John; Ravindra Kumar, G.

2018-01-01

We present ultrafast dynamics of solid-density plasma created by high-contrast (picosecond contrast ˜10-9), high-intensity (˜4 × 1018 W/cm2) laser pulses using time-resolved pump-probe Doppler spectrometry. Experiments show a rapid rise in blue-shift at early time delay (2-4.3 ps) followed by a rapid fall (4.3-8.3 ps) and then a slow rise in blue-shift at later time delays (>8.3 ps). Simulations show that the early-time observations, specifically the absence of any red-shifting of the reflected probe, can only be reproduced if the front surface is unperturbed by the laser pre-pulse at the moment that the high intensity pulse arrives. A flexible diagnostic which is capable of diagnosing the presence of low-levels of pre-plasma formation would be useful for potential applications in laser-produced proton and ion production, such as cancer therapy and security imaging.

WDM production with intense relativistic electrons

Science.gov (United States)

Coleman, Josh; Andrews, Heather; Klasky, Mark; Colgan, James; Burris-Mog, Trevor; Creveling, Dan; Miller, Craig; Welch, Dale; Berninger, Mike

2016-10-01

The production of warm dense matter (WDM) through collisional heating with intense relativistic electrons is underway. A 100-ns-long monochromatic bunch of electrons with energies of 19.1-19.8 MeV and currents of 0.2-1.7 kA is used to heat 100- μm-thick foils with Z measuring the equation of state with particle beams and benchmark numerical models. Measurements indicate the formation of a warm dense plasma near the end of the pulse, which is on the order of the beam size. These plasmas expand 5 mm in the first microsecond and slow down to 1018 cm-3. At these densities our plasma is collisionally dominated making it possible to spectrally model the density and temperature in LTE. Preliminary density gradient measurements will also be presented indicating the spatial extent of the solid density cutoff. This work was supported by the National Nuclear Se- curity Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC52-06NA25396.

Emission spectra from super-critical rippled plasma density profiles illuminated by intense laser pulses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ondarza R, R.; Boyd, T.J.M.

2000-01-01

High-order harmonic emission from the interaction of intense femtosecond laser pulses with super-critical plasmas characterized by a rippled density profile at the vacuum-plasma interface has been observed from particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. A plasma simulation box several laser wavelengths in extent was prepared with a rippled density of a fraction of a laser wavelength. Emission spectra at the very initial stage of the interaction were recorded with spectral characteristics dissimilar to those previously reported in the literature. The reflected light spectra were characterized by a strong emission at the plasma line and by a series of harmonics at multiples of the ripple frequency. Harmonic spectra were obtained for different values of the plasma ripple frequency. In all cases the harmonics were emitted at the precise multiple harmonic number of the ripple frequency. Another important feature apparent from the simulations was that the emission peaks appeared to havea complex structure as compared with those for unrippled plasmas. For the cases when the plasma was rippled the peaks that corresponded to the multiples of the rippled density typically showed a double peak for the first few harmonics. The reflected emission plots for the main laser pulse showed strong emission at the plasma frequency and at multiples of that frequency as reported by the authors in the literature. (Author)

Extending laser plasma accelerators into the mid-IR spectral domain with a next-generation ultra-fast CO2 laser

Science.gov (United States)

Pogorelsky, I. V.; Babzien, M.; Ben-Zvi, I.; Polyanskiy, M. N.; Skaritka, J.; Tresca, O.; Dover, N. P.; Najmudin, Z.; Lu, W.; Cook, N.; Ting, A.; Chen, Y.-H.

2016-03-01

Expanding the scope of relativistic plasma research to wavelengths longer than the λ/≈   0.8-1.1 μm range covered by conventional mode-locked solid-state lasers would offer attractive opportunities due to the quadratic scaling of the ponderomotive electron energy and critical plasma density with λ. Answering this quest, a next-generation mid-IR laser project is being advanced at the BNL ATF as a part of the user facility upgrade. We discuss the technical approach to this conceptually new 100 TW, 100 fs, λ  =   9-11 μm CO2 laser BESTIA (Brookhaven Experimental Supra-Terawatt Infrared at ATF) that encompasses several innovations applied for the first time to molecular gas lasers. BESTIA will enable new regimes of laser plasma accelerators. One example is shock-wave ion acceleration (SWA) from gas jets. We review ongoing efforts to achieve stable, monoenergetic proton acceleration by dynamically shaping the plasma density profile from a hydrogen gas target with laser-produced blast waves. At its full power, 100 TW BESTIA promises to achieve proton beams at an energy exceeding 200 MeV. In addition to ion acceleration in over-critical plasma, the ultra-intense mid-IR BESTIA will open up new opportunities in driving wakefields in tenuous plasmas, expanding the landscape of laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA) studies into the unexplored long-wavelength spectral domain. Simple wavelength scaling suggests that a 100 TW CO2 laser beam will be capable of efficiently generating plasma ‘bubbles’ a thousand times greater in volume compared with a near-IR solid state laser of an equivalent power. Combined with a femtosecond electron linac available at the ATF, this wavelength scaling will facilitate the study of external seeding and staging of LWFAs.

Relativistic Buneman instability in the laser breakout afterburner

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Albright, B. J.; Yin, L.; Bowers, Kevin J.; Hegelich, B. M.; Flippo, K. A.; Kwan, T. J. T.; Fernandez, J. C.

2007-01-01

A new laser-driven ion acceleration mechanism has been identified in particle-in-cell simulations of high-contrast-ratio ultraintense lasers with very thin (10 s of nm) solid targets [Yin et al., Laser and Particle Beams 24, 291 (2006); Yin et al., Phys. Plasmas 13, 072701 (2007)]. After a brief period of target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA), 'enhanced' TNSA follows. In this stage, the laser rapidly heats all the electrons in the target as the target thickness becomes comparable to the skin depth and enhanced acceleration of the ions results. Then, concomitant with the laser penetrating the target, a large accelerating longitudinal electric field is generated that co-moves with the ions. This last phase has been termed the laser 'breakout afterburner' (BOA). Earlier work suggested that the BOA was associated with the Buneman instability that efficiently converts energy from the drift of the electrons into the ions. In this Brief Communication, this conjecture is found to be consistent with particle-in-cell simulation data and the analytic dispersion relation for the relativistic Buneman instability

Principles of laser-plasma accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malka, V.; Mora, P.

2009-01-01

The continuing development of powerful laser systems has permitted to extend the interaction of laser beams with matter far into the relativistic domain in which extremely high electric and magnetic fields are generated. Thanks to these tremendous fields, that only plasma can support and sustain, new and compact approaches for producing energetic particle beams have been recently achieved (for example the bubble regime and the colliding laser pulses scheme). The incredible progress of these laser-plasma accelerators has allowed physicists to produce high quality beams of energetic radiation and particles. These beams have interesting properties such as shortness, brightness and spatial quality, and could lend themselves to applications in many fields, including medicine (radiotherapy, proton therapy, imaging), radiation biology (short-time-scale), chemistry (radiolysis), physics and material science (radiography, electron and photon diffraction), security (material inspection), and of course accelerator science. Stimulated by the advent of compact and powerful lasers, with moderate costs and high repetition rate, this research field has witnessed considerable growth in the past few years, and the promises of laser-plasma accelerators are in tremendous progress. The recent years in particular have seen spectacular progress in the acceleration of electrons and of ions, both in terms of energy and in terms of quality of the beams. (authors)

Laser cooled ion beams and strongly coupled plasmas for precision experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bussmann, Michael

2008-01-01

This cumulative thesis summarizes experimental and theoretical results on cooling of ion beams using single-frequency, single-mode tabletop laser systems. It consists of two parts. One deals with experiments on laser-cooling of ion beams at relativistic energies, the other with simulations of stopping and sympathetic cooling of ions for precision in-trap experiments. In the first part, experimental results are presented on laser-cooling of relativistic C 3+ ion beams at a beam energy of 122 MeV/u, performed at the Experimental Storage Ring (ESR) at GSI. The main results presented in this thesis include the first attainment of longitudinally space-charge dominated relativistic ion beams using pure laser-cooling. The second part lists theoretical results on stopping and sympathetic cooling of ions in a laser-cooled one-component plasma of singly charged 24 Mg ions, which are confined in a three-dimensional harmonic trap potential. (orig.)

Dynamics of the spectrum of a self-modulated powerful laser pulse in an underdense plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andreev, N.E.; Kirsanov, V.I.; Sakharov, A.S.

1997-01-01

The evolution of the spectrum of a powerful laser pulse during its self-modulation in an underdense plasma is studied analytically and numerically. It is shown that, in the early stages of the self-modulation instability, the linear theory gives a qualitatively correct description of the dynamics of the pulse spectrum in most cases. Depending on the parameters of the laser pulse and of the plasma, this spectrum contains either Stocks satellites (downshifted from the fundamental frequency to a value equal to the plasma frequency), or both Stocks and anti-Stocks satellites of the fundamental frequency. When the three-dimensional mechanism for the instability is dominant and the pulse power is close to the critical power for relativistic self-focusing, the numerical calculations show that the intensity of the blue satellite exceeds the intensity of the red one. This specific feature of the spectrum, which does not arise when the instability is one-dimensional, cannot be explained in terms of the linear para-axial theory, and can be used to identify the three-dimensional mechanism for the instability in experiments on the self-modulation of powerful laser pulses. It is shown that the transition to the nonlinear stage of the instability is accompanied by the occurrence of cascades (at frequencies separated from the laser carrier frequency by intervals equal to an integer number of plasma frequencies) in the spectrum of the laser pulse

The effect of high intensity laser propagation instabilities on channel formation in underdense plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Najmudin, Z.; Krushelnick, K.; Tatarakis, M.; Clark, E.L.; Danson, C.N.; Malka, V.; Neely, D.; Santala, M.I.K.; Dangor, A.E.

2003-01-01

Experiments have been performed using high power laser pulses (up to 50 TW) focused into underdense helium plasmas (n e ≤5x10 19 cm -3 ). Using shadowgraphy, it is observed that the laser pulse can produce irregular density channels, which exhibit features such as long wavelength hosing and 'sausage-like' self-focusing instabilities. This phenomenon is a high intensity effect and the characteristic period of oscillation of these instabilities is typically found to correspond to the time required for ions to move radially out of the region of highest intensity

Parametric decay of an extraordinary electromagnetic wave in relativistic plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dorofeenko, V. G. [Institute for Advanced Studies (Austria); Krasovitskiy, V. B., E-mail: krasovit@mail.ru [Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics (Russian Federation); Turikov, V. A. [Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (Russian Federation)

2015-03-15

Parametric instability of an extraordinary electromagnetic wave in plasma preheated to a relativistic temperature is considered. A set of self-similar nonlinear differential equations taking into account the electron “thermal” mass is derived and investigated. Small perturbations of the parameters of the heated plasma are analyzed in the linear approximation by using the dispersion relation determining the phase velocities of the fast and slow extraordinary waves. In contrast to cold plasma, the evanescence zone in the frequency range above the electron upper hybrid frequency vanishes and the asymptotes of both branches converge. Theoretical analysis of the set of nonlinear equations shows that the growth rate of decay instability increases with increasing initial temperature of plasma electrons. This result is qualitatively confirmed by numerical simulations of plasma heating by a laser pulse injected from vacuum.

Anomalous intensities of Ne-like ion resonance line in plasma produced by picosecond laser pulse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bryunetkin, B.A.; Skobelev, I.Yu.; Faenov, A.Ya.; Kalashnikov, M.P.; Nikles, P.; Shnyupep, M.

1995-01-01

An anomalous structure of intensities of spectral lines of CuXX and GeXXX Ne-like ions emitted by plasma produced by laser pulses of picosecond duration and up to 2x10 18 W/cm 2 flux density is recorded for the first time. It is shown that spectrum maximum of these ions is emitted from a plasma region whose density is significantly above the critical value of the length of heating laser radiation wave. 9 refs.; 3 figs

A plasma microlens for ultrashort high power lasers

Science.gov (United States)

Katzir, Yiftach; Eisenmann, Shmuel; Ferber, Yair; Zigler, Arie; Hubbard, Richard F.

2009-07-01

We present a technique for generation of miniature plasma lens system that can be used for focusing and collimating a high intensity femtosecond laser pulse. The plasma lens was created by a nanosecond laser, which ablated a capillary entrance. The spatial configuration of the ablated plasma focused a high intensity femtosecond laser pulse. This configuration offers versatility in the plasma lens small f-number for extremely tight focusing of high power lasers with no damage threshold restrictions of regular optical components.

A plasma microlens for ultrashort high power lasers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katzir, Yiftach; Eisenmann, Shmuel; Ferber, Yair; Zigler, Arie; Hubbard, Richard F.

2009-01-01

We present a technique for generation of miniature plasma lens system that can be used for focusing and collimating a high intensity femtosecond laser pulse. The plasma lens was created by a nanosecond laser, which ablated a capillary entrance. The spatial configuration of the ablated plasma focused a high intensity femtosecond laser pulse. This configuration offers versatility in the plasma lens small f-number for extremely tight focusing of high power lasers with no damage threshold restrictions of regular optical components.

Simulation of laser interaction with ablative plasma and hydrodynamic behavior of laser supported plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tong Huifeng; Yuan Hong [Institute of Fluid Physics, Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics, P.O. Box 919-101, Mianyang, Sichuan 621900 (China); Tang Zhiping [CAS Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, Department of Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026 (China)

2013-01-28

When an intense laser beam irradiates on a solid target, ambient air ionizes and becomes plasma, while part of the target rises in temperature, melts, vaporizes, ionizes, and yet becomes plasma. A general Godunov finite difference scheme WENO (Weighted Essentially Non-Oscillatory Scheme) with fifth-order accuracy is used to simulate 2-dimensional axis symmetrical laser-supported plasma flow field in the process of laser ablation. The model of the calculation of ionization degree of plasma and the interaction between laser beam and plasma are considered in the simulation. The numerical simulations obtain the profiles of temperature, density, and velocity at different times which show the evolvement of the ablative plasma. The simulated results show that the laser energy is strongly absorbed by plasma on target surface and that the velocity of laser supported detonation (LSD) wave is half of the ideal LSD value derived from Chapman-Jouguet detonation theory.

Angular distributions of plasma edge velocity and integrated intensity: Update on specific impulse for Ablative Laser Propulsion

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Jun; Pakhomov, Andrew V.

2005-04-01

This work concludes our discussion of the image processing technique developed earlier for determination of specific impulse (Isp) for Ablative Laser Propulsion (ALP). The plasma plumes are recorded with a time-resolved intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD) camera. The plasma was formed in vacuum (˜ 3×10-3 Torr) by focusing output pulses of a laser system (100-ps pulsewidth at 532 nm wavelength and ˜35 mJ energy) on surfaces of C (graphite), Al, Si, Fe, Cu, Zn, Sn, and Pb elements. Angular profiles for integrated intensity and plasma expansion velocity were determined for the tested elements. Such profiles were used further for assessment of specific impulse. Specific impulses derived from angular distributions of plasma expansion velocity and integral intensity appeared in excellent agreement with the data derived earlier from force measurements.

Angular distributions of plasma edge velocity and integrated intensity: Update on specific impulse for Ablative Laser Propulsion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin Jun; Pakhomov, Andrew V.

2005-01-01

This work concludes our discussion of the image processing technique developed earlier for determination of specific impulse (Isp) for Ablative Laser Propulsion (ALP). The plasma plumes are recorded with a time-resolved intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD) camera. The plasma was formed in vacuum (∼ 3x10-3 Torr) by focusing output pulses of a laser system (100-ps pulsewidth at 532 nm wavelength and ∼35 mJ energy) on surfaces of C (graphite), Al, Si, Fe, Cu, Zn, Sn, and Pb elements. Angular profiles for integrated intensity and plasma expansion velocity were determined for the tested elements. Such profiles were used further for assessment of specific impulse. Specific impulses derived from angular distributions of plasma expansion velocity and integral intensity appeared in excellent agreement with the data derived earlier from force measurements

Electromagnetic solitons in degenerate relativistic electron–positron plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berezhiani, V I; Shatashvili, N L; Tsintsadze, N L

2015-01-01

The existence of soliton-like electromagnetic (EM) distributions in a fully degenerate electron–positron plasma is studied applying relativistic hydrodynamic and Maxwell equations. For a circularly polarized wave it is found that the soliton solutions exist both in relativistic as well as nonrelativistic degenerate plasmas. Plasma density in the region of soliton pulse localization is reduced considerably. The possibility of plasma cavitation is also shown. (invited comment)

Creation of electron-positron plasma with superstrong laser field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Narozhny, N.B.; Fedotov, A.M.

2014-01-01

We present a short review of recent progress in studying QED effects within the interaction of ultra-relativistic laser pulses with vacuum and e - e + plasma. Current development in laser technologies promises very rapid growth of laser intensities in the near future. Two exa-watt class facilities (ELI and XCELS, Russia) in Europe are already in the planning stage. Realization of these projects will make available a laser intensity of 10 26 W/cm 2 or even higher. Therefore, discussion of nonlinear optical effects in vacuum are becoming compelling for experimentalists and are currently gaining much attention. We show that, in spite of the fact that the expected field strength is still essentially less than E S = m 2 c 3 /eℎ = 1.32*10 16 V/cm, the nonlinear vacuum effects will be accessible for observation at the ELI and XCELS facilities. The most promising effect for observation is pair creation by a laser pulse in vacuum. It is shown, that at intensities of about 5*10 25 W/cm 2 , creation even of a single pair is accompanied by the development of an avalanche QED cascade. There exists a distinctive feature of the laser-induced cascades, as compared with the air showers arising due primarily to cosmic rays entering the atmosphere. In our case the laser field plays not only the role of a target (similar to a nucleus in the case of air showers) but is also responsible for the acceleration of slow particles. It is shown that the effect of pair creation imposes a natural limit for the attainable laser intensity and, apparently, the field strength E ≅ E S is not accessible for a pair-creating electromagnetic field at all. (authors)

Generation of relativistic electron bunches in plasma synchrotron Gyrac-x for hard x-ray production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andreev, V.V.; Umnov, A.M.

2000-01-01

Experiment performed on plasma synchrotron Gyrac-X operating on synchrotron gyromagnetic autoresonance (SGA) is described. Gyrac-X is a compact plasma x-ray source in which kinetic energy of relativistic electrons obtained under SGA converts into x-ray by falling e-bunches on to a heavy metal target. The plasma synchrotron acts in a regime of a magnetic field pulse packet under constant level of microwave power. Experiments and numerical modeling of the process showed that such a regime allowed obtaining dense short lived relativistic electron bunches with average electron energy of 500 keV - 4.5 MeV. Parameters of the relativistic electron bunch (energy, density and volume) and dynamics of the electron bunches can be controlled by varying the parameters of the SGA process. Possibilities of x-ray intensity increase are also discussed

High-intensity laser for Ta and Ag implantation into different substrates for plasma diagnostics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cutroneo, M., E-mail: cutroneo@ujf.cas.cz [Nuclear Physics Institute, AS CR, 25068 Rez (Czech Republic); Mackova, A.; Malinsky, P. [Nuclear Physics Institute, AS CR, 25068 Rez (Czech Republic); Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, J.E. Purkinje University, Ceske mladeze 8, 400 96 Usti nad Labem (Czech Republic); Matousek, J. [Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, J.E. Purkinje University, Ceske mladeze 8, 400 96 Usti nad Labem (Czech Republic); Torrisi, L. [Department of Physics and Earth Sciences, Messina University, V.le F.S. d’Alcontres 31, 98166 S. Agata, Messina (Italy); Ullschmied, J. [Institute of Physics, ASCR, v.v.i., 182 21 Prague 8 (Czech Republic)

2015-07-01

High-intensity lasers generating non-equilibrium plasma, can be employed to accelerate ions in the keV–MeV region, useful for many applications. In the present work, we performed study of ion implantation into different substrates by using a high-intensity laser at the PALS laboratory in Prague. Multi-energy ions generated by plasma from Ta and Ag targets were implanted into polyethylene and metallic substrates (Al, Ti) at energies of tens of keV per charge state. The ion emission was monitored online using time-of-flight detectors and electromagnetic deflection systems. Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) was used to characterise the elemental composition in the implanted substrates by ion plasma emission and to provide the implanted ion depth profiling. These last measurements enable offline plasma characterisation and provide information on the useful potentiality of multi-ion species and multi-energy ion implantation into different substrates. XPS analysis gives information on the chemical bonds and their modifications in the first superficial implanted layers. The depth distributions of implanted Ta and Ag ions were compared with the theoretical ones achieved by using the SRIM-2012 simulation code.

Coherent nonlinear backscattering by laser-plasma interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, D.; Wilhelmsson, H.

1974-01-01

A theoretical analysis is carried out for the problem of coherent nonlinear backscattering of laser radiation by a high density plasma. A number of effects of direct interest to the DT-pellet fusion research is investigated. A simple physical description is introduced, which relies on a nonlinear potential formulation of the scattering equations. The simplicity and the unified nature of the approach enables one to evaluate and compare the influence on the radiation reflectivity of different effects, such as e.g. inhomogeneities, blow-off velocities, temperature gradients, laser band width and relativistic oscillatory velocities. The understanding of the role played by the various phenomena has consequently improved and it is thought that this approach should be useful for the interpretation of laser-plasma data obtained by computer simulation or laboratory experiments. The results may also be utilized to estimate how and to what extent one may avoid undesired anomalous reflection when planning new laser-plasma devices. (Auth.)

Geometrical optimization of an ellipsoidal plasma mirror toward tight focusing of ultra-intense laser pulse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kon, A; Nakatsutsumi, M; Chen, Z L; Kodama, R; Buffechoux, S; Fuchs, J; Jin, Z

2010-01-01

We developed for the first time, very compact ( 3 ) extremely low f-number (f/number = 0.4) confocal ellipsoid focusing systems. Direct measurement of the laser focal spot using a low-energy laser beam indicates 1/5 reduction of the spot size compared to standard focusing (using a f/2.7 optics). Such mirror is thus able to achieve significant enhancement of the focused laser intensity without modifying the laser system itself. The mirror is then used under plasma mirror regime which enables us to compactify the size, to liberate us from the anxiety of protecting the optics from target debris after shots, and to enhance the temporal contrast. In this paper, we focus our attention to designing and optimizing the geometry of such innovative plasma optics.

Relativistic current sheets in electron-positron plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zenitani, S.

2008-01-01

The current sheet structure with magnetic field reversal is one of the fundamental structure in space and astrophysical plasmas. It draws recent attention in high-energy astrophysical settings, where relativistic electron-positron plasmas are considered. In this talk we will review the recent progress of the physical processes in the relativistic current sheet. The kinetic stability of a single current sheet, the nonlinear behavior of these instabilities, and recent challenges on the multi current sheet systems are introduced. We will also introduce some problems of magnetic reconnection in these relativistic environments. (author)

Laser cooled ion beams and strongly coupled plasmas for precision experiments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bussmann, Michael

2008-03-17

This cumulative thesis summarizes experimental and theoretical results on cooling of ion beams using single-frequency, single-mode tabletop laser systems. It consists of two parts. One deals with experiments on laser-cooling of ion beams at relativistic energies, the other with simulations of stopping and sympathetic cooling of ions for precision in-trap experiments. In the first part, experimental results are presented on laser-cooling of relativistic C{sup 3+} ion beams at a beam energy of 122 MeV/u, performed at the Experimental Storage Ring (ESR) at GSI. The main results presented in this thesis include the first attainment of longitudinally space-charge dominated relativistic ion beams using pure laser-cooling. The second part lists theoretical results on stopping and sympathetic cooling of ions in a laser-cooled one-component plasma of singly charged {sup 24}Mg ions, which are confined in a three-dimensional harmonic trap potential. (orig.)

The utilization of high-intensity lasers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fabre, E.

1988-01-01

The 1988 progress report of the laboratory for the Utilization of High-Intensity Lasers (Polytechnic School, France), is presented. The research program is focused on the laser-plasma physics, on the generation of high pressures by means of laser shock heating, on the laser spectroscopy and on the laser implosions. Numerical simulation codes are developed. Concerning the atomic physics, the investigations on dense plasmas and the x-laser research developments are carried out. The research activities of the laboratory teams, the published papers, the national and international cooperations, are given [fr

Extremely short relativistic-electron-bunch generation in the laser wakefield via novel bunch injection scheme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. G. Khachatryan

2004-12-01

Full Text Available Recently a new electron-bunch injection scheme for the laser wakefield accelerator has been proposed [JETP Lett. 74, 371 (2001JTPLA20021-364010.1134/1.1427124; Phys. Rev. E 65, 046504 (2002PLEEE81063-651X10.1103/PhysRevE.65.046504]. In this scheme, a low energy electron bunch, sent in a plasma channel just before a high-intensity laser pulse, is trapped in the laser wakefield, considerably compressed and accelerated to an ultrarelativistic energy. In this paper we show the possibility of the generation of an extremely short (on the order of 1   μm long or a few femtoseconds in duration relativistic-electron-bunch by this mechanism. The initial electron bunch, which can be generated, for example, by a laser-driven photocathode rf gun, should have an energy of a few hundred keVs to a few MeVs, a duration in the picosecond range or less and a relatively low concentration. The trapping conditions and parameters of an accelerated bunch are investigated. The laser pulse dynamics as well as a possible experimental setup for the demonstration of the injection scheme are also considered.

Relativistic theory of tunnel and multiphoton ionization of atoms in a strong laser field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Popov, V. S.; Karnakov, B. M.; Mur, V. D.; Pozdnyakov, S. G.

2006-01-01

Relativistic generalization is developed for the semiclassical theory of tunnel and multiphoton ionization of atoms and ions in the field of an intense electromagnetic wave (Keldysh theory). The cases of linear, circular, and elliptic polarizations of radiation are considered. For arbitrary values of the adiabaticity parameter γ, the exponential factor in the ionization rate for a relativistic bound state is calculated. For low-frequency laser radiation , an asymptotically exact formula for the tunnel ionization rate for the atomic s level is obtained including the Coulomb, spin, and adiabatic corrections and the preexponential factor. The ionization rate for the ground level of a hydrogen-like atom (ion) with Z ≤ 100 is calculated as a function of the laser radiation intensity. The range of applicability is determined for nonrelativistic ionization theory. The imaginary time method is used in the calculations

Prospective application of laser plasma propulsion in rocket technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu Xin; Zhang Jie; Li Yingjun

2002-01-01

Interest in laser plasma propulsion is growing intensively. The interaction of high intensity short laser pulses with materials can produce plasma expansion with a velocity of hundreds of km/s. The specific impulse of ablative laser propulsion can be many tens of times greater than that of chemical rockets. The development and potential application of laser plasma propulsion are discussed

Electrons trajectories around a bubble regime in intense laser plasma interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, Ding; Xie, Bai-Song; Ali Bake, Muhammad; Sang, Hai-Bo; Zhao, Xue-Yan; Wu, Hai-Cheng

2013-01-01

Some typical electrons trajectories around a bubble regime in intense laser plasma interaction are investigated theoretically. By considering a modification of the fields and ellipsoid bubble shape due to the presence of residual electrons in the bubble regime, we study in detail the electrons nonlinear dynamics with or without laser pulse. To examine the electron dynamical behaviors, a set of typical electrons, which locate initially at the front of the bubble, on the transverse edge and at the bottom of the bubble respectively, are chosen for study. It is found that the range of trapped electrons in the case with laser pulse is a little narrower than that without laser pulse. The partial phase portraits for electrons around the bubble are presented numerically and their characteristic behaviors are discussed theoretically. Implication of our results on the high quality electron beam generation is also discussed briefly

From laser-plasma accelerators to femtosecond X-ray sources: study, development and applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Corde, S.

2012-01-01

During the relativistic interaction between a short and intense laser pulse and an underdense plasma, electrons can be injected and accelerated up to hundreds of MeV in an accelerating structure formed in the wake of the pulse: this is the so-called laser-plasma accelerator. One of the major perspectives for laser-plasma accelerators resides in the realization of compact sources of femtosecond x-ray beams. In this thesis, two x-ray sources was studied and developed. The betatron radiation, intrinsic to laser-plasma accelerators, comes from the transverse oscillations of electrons during their acceleration. Its characterization by photon counting revealed an x-ray beam containing 10"9 photons, with energies extending above 10 keV. We also developed an all-optical Compton source producing photons with energies up to hundreds of keV, based on the collision between a photon beam and an electron beam. The potential of these x-ray sources was highlighted by the realization of single shot phase contrast imaging of a biological sample. Then, we showed that the betatron x-ray radiation can be a powerful tool to study the physics of laser-plasma acceleration. We demonstrated the possibility to map the x-ray emission region, which gives a unique insight into the interaction, permitting us for example to locate the region where electrons are injected. The x-ray angular and spectral properties allow us to gain information on the transverse dynamics of electrons during their acceleration. (author)

Laser-matter interaction at high intensity and high temporal contrast; Interaction laser matiere a haut flux et fort contraste temporel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Doumy, G

2006-01-15

The continuous progress in the development of laser installations has already lead to ultra-short pulses capable of achieving very high focalized intensities (I > 10{sup 18} W/cm{sup 2}). At these intensities, matter presents new non-linear behaviours, due to the fact that the electrons are accelerated to relativistic speeds. The experimental access to this interaction regime on solid targets has long been forbidden because of the presence, alongside the femtosecond pulse, of a pedestal (mainly due to the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) which occurs in the laser chain) intense enough to modify the state of the target. In this thesis, we first characterized, both experimentally and theoretically, a device which allows an improvement of the temporal contrast of the pulse: the Plasma Mirror. It consists in adjusting the focusing of the pulse on a dielectric target, so that the pedestal is mainly transmitted, while the main pulse is reflected by the overcritical plasma that it forms at the surface. The implementation of such a device on the UHI 10 laser facility (CEA Saclay - 10 TW - 60 fs) then allowed us to study the interaction between ultra-intense, high contrast pulses with solid targets. In a first part, we managed to generate and characterize dense plasmas resulting directly from the interaction between the main pulse and very thin foils (100 nm). This characterization was realized by using an XUV source obtained by high order harmonics generation in a rare gas jet. In a second part, we studied experimentally the phenomenon of high order harmonics generation on solid targets, which is still badly understood, but could potentially lead to a new kind of energetic ultra-short XUV sources. (author)

Laser-plasma interaction with an adaptive optics wavefront-corrected laser beam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewis, K.

2008-12-01

The propagation of an intense laser beam trough a preformed plasma is of particular interest in order to achieve laser inertial confinement fusion. Experiments carried out with a near-diffraction limited laser beam, producing a single hot spot interacting with the plasma, delivered new results, presented in this Ph.D. dissertation. In particular the first experimental observation of the filament instability confirms the numerous theoretical and numerical studies on the subject. Beam spreading and filament-ion thresholds are studied thanks to near-field and far-field images, with respect to laser intensity, time and space, and plasma transverse velocity. Same diagnostics have been applied to the stimulated Brillouin scattered light, enabling the first observation of the transverse Brillouin activity in the plasma. (author)

Laser Requirements for High-Order Harmonic Generation by Relativistic Plasma Singularities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander S. Pirozhkov

2018-03-01

Full Text Available We discuss requirements on relativistic-irradiance (I0 > 1018 W/cm2 high-power (multi-terawatt ultrashort (femtosecond lasers for efficient generation of high-order harmonics in gas jet targets in a new regime discovered recently (Pirozhkov et al., 2012. Here, we present the results of several experimental campaigns performed with different irradiances, analyse the obtained results and derive the required laser parameters. In particular, we found that the root mean square (RMS wavefront error should be smaller than ~100 nm (~λ/8. Further, the angular dispersion should be kept considerably smaller than the diffraction divergence, i.e., μrad level for 100–300-mm beam diameters. The corresponding angular chirp should not exceed 10−2 μrad/nm for a 40-nm bandwidth. We show the status of the J-KAREN-P laser (Kiriyama et al., 2015; Pirozhkov et al., 2017 and report on the progress towards satisfying these requirements.

Guiding of laser pulses in plasma waveguides created by linearly-polarized femtosecond laser pulses

OpenAIRE

Lemos, N.; Cardoso, L.; Geada, J.; Figueira, G.; Albert, F.; Dias, J. M.

2018-01-01

We experimentally demonstrate that plasma waveguides produced with ultra-short laser pulses (sub-picosecond) in gas jets are capable of guiding high intensity laser pulses. This scheme has the unique ability of guiding a high-intensity laser pulse in a plasma waveguide created by the same laser system in the very simple and stable experimental setup. A hot plasma column was created by a femtosecond class laser that expands into an on-axis parabolic low density profile suitable to act as a wav...

Relativistic plasma dielectric tensor evaluation based on the exact plasma dispersion functions concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castejon, F.; Pavlov, S. S.

2006-01-01

The fully relativistic plasma dielectric tensor for any wave and plasma parameter is estimated on the basis of the exact plasma dispersion functions concept. The inclusion of this concept allows one to write the tensor in a closed and compact form and to reduce the tensor evaluation to the calculation of those functions. The main analytical properties of these functions are studied and two methods are given for their evaluation. The comparison between the exact dielectric tensor with the weakly relativistic approximation, widely used presently in plasma waves calculations, is given as well as the range of plasma temperature, harmonic number, and propagation angle in which the weakly relativistic approximation is valid

Guiding of short, intense laser pulses through solid guides and preformed plasma channels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borghesi, M.; Mackinnon, A.J.; Gaillard, R.; Malka, G.; Vickers, C.; Willi, O.; Blanchot, N.; Miquel, J.L.; Canaud, B.; Davies, J.R.; Malka, G.; Offenberger, A.A.

2000-01-01

In a series of experiments carried out at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton (UK) and at the Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique, Limeil (France), various techniques of guiding ultra-intense laser pulses over distances exceeding the natural diffraction length were investigated. Efficient guiding was demonstrated both through density channels formed in an underdense plasma by an intense prepulse and through solid guides (hollow capillary tubes). Indication of collimated fast electron propagation though solid targets has also been obtained. (authors)

Realistic PIC modelling of laser-plasma interaction: a direct implicit method with adjustable damping and high order weight functions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drouin, M.

2009-11-01

This research thesis proposes a new formulation of the relativistic implicit direct method, based on the weak formulation of the wave equation which is solved by means of a Newton algorithm. The first part of this thesis deals with the properties of the explicit particle-in-cell (PIC) methods: properties and limitations of an explicit PIC code, linear analysis of a numerical plasma, numerical heating phenomenon, interest of a higher order interpolation function, and presentation of two applications in high density relativistic laser-plasma interaction. The second and main part of this report deals with adapting the direct implicit method to laser-plasma interaction: presentation of the state of the art, formulating of the direct implicit method, resolution of the wave equation. The third part concerns various numerical and physical validations of the ELIXIRS code: case of laser wave propagation in vacuum, demonstration of the adjustable damping which is a characteristic of the proposed algorithm, influence of space-time discretization on energy conservation, expansion of a thermal plasma in vacuum, two cases of plasma-beam unsteadiness in relativistic regime, and then a case of the overcritical laser-plasma interaction

ILIAS - Ion and laser beam interaction and application studies. Progress report no. 2 of the PHELIX theory group

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mulser, P.; Schlegel, T. (eds.)

2007-02-15

The following topics are dealt with:QED, nuclear and high energy processes in extremely strong laser pulses, waves with constant phase velocity in relativistic plasmas, the effective critical electron density and its relativistic increase in an intense laser field, acceleration of electrons by laser pulses in vacuum, electron capture acceleration in a slit laser beam, laser acceleration of ion beams, collisionless high-power laser beam absorption, vacuum heating vs skin layer absorption of intense fs laser pulses, timescales of laser-induced phase transitions, quasi-static electron equilibria of laser-heted clusters, correlations in multi-electronic satellite spectra, radiation transport in the CAVEAT code. (HSI)

ILIAS - Ion and laser beam interaction and application studies. Progress report no. 2 of the PHELIX theory group

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mulser, P.; Schlegel, T.

2007-02-01

The following topics are dealt with:QED, nuclear and high energy processes in extremely strong laser pulses, waves with constant phase velocity in relativistic plasmas, the effective critical electron density and its relativistic increase in an intense laser field, acceleration of electrons by laser pulses in vacuum, electron capture acceleration in a slit laser beam, laser acceleration of ion beams, collisionless high-power laser beam absorption, vacuum heating vs skin layer absorption of intense fs laser pulses, timescales of laser-induced phase transitions, quasi-static electron equilibria of laser-heted clusters, correlations in multi-electronic satellite spectra, radiation transport in the CAVEAT code. (HSI)

A novel femtosecond-gated, high-resolution, frequency-shifted shearing interferometry technique for probing pre-plasma expansion in ultra-intense laser experiments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Feister, S., E-mail: feister.7@osu.edu; Orban, C. [Department of Physics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210 (United States); Innovative Scientific Solutions, Inc., Dayton, Ohio 45459 (United States); Nees, J. A. [Innovative Scientific Solutions, Inc., Dayton, Ohio 45459 (United States); Center for Ultra-Fast Optical Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 (United States); Morrison, J. T. [Fellow, National Research Council, Washington, D.C. 20001 (United States); Frische, K. D. [Innovative Scientific Solutions, Inc., Dayton, Ohio 45459 (United States); Chowdhury, E. A. [Department of Physics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210 (United States); Intense Energy Solutions, LLC., Plain City, Ohio 43064 (United States); Roquemore, W. M. [Air Force Research Laboratory, Dayton, Ohio 45433 (United States)

2014-11-15

Ultra-intense laser-matter interaction experiments (>10{sup 18} W/cm{sup 2}) with dense targets are highly sensitive to the effect of laser “noise” (in the form of pre-pulses) preceding the main ultra-intense pulse. These system-dependent pre-pulses in the nanosecond and/or picosecond regimes are often intense enough to modify the target significantly by ionizing and forming a plasma layer in front of the target before the arrival of the main pulse. Time resolved interferometry offers a robust way to characterize the expanding plasma during this period. We have developed a novel pump-probe interferometry system for an ultra-intense laser experiment that uses two short-pulse amplifiers synchronized by one ultra-fast seed oscillator to achieve 40-fs time resolution over hundreds of nanoseconds, using a variable delay line and other techniques. The first of these amplifiers acts as the pump and delivers maximal energy to the interaction region. The second amplifier is frequency shifted and then frequency doubled to generate the femtosecond probe pulse. After passing through the laser-target interaction region, the probe pulse is split and recombined in a laterally sheared Michelson interferometer. Importantly, the frequency shift in the probe allows strong plasma self-emission at the second harmonic of the pump to be filtered out, allowing plasma expansion near the critical surface and elsewhere to be clearly visible in the interferograms. To aid in the reconstruction of phase dependent imagery from fringe shifts, three separate 120° phase-shifted (temporally sheared) interferograms are acquired for each probe delay. Three-phase reconstructions of the electron densities are then inferred by Abel inversion. This interferometric system delivers precise measurements of pre-plasma expansion that can identify the condition of the target at the moment that the ultra-intense pulse arrives. Such measurements are indispensable for correlating laser pre-pulse measurements

Nonlinear dynamics of intense EM pulses in plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahajan, Ranju; Gill, Tarsem Singh; Kaur, Ravinder

2010-01-01

The evolution of laser beam in underdense/overdense plasma medium which is key to understanding of several nonlinear processes and underlying physics is governed by nonlinear parabolic equation. The nonlinearity considered here is of relativistic as well as of ponderomotive type. We have set Lagrangian for the problem and reduced Lagrangian problem is solved using appropriate trial function. Equation for the beam width and phase are derived. Further, these equations are used to solve eigenvalue problem for the stability of laser beam evolution and Hurwitz condition is satisfied.

Design considerations for the use of laser-plasma accelerators for advanced space radiation studies

Science.gov (United States)

Königstein, T.; Karger, O.; Pretzler, G.; Rosenzweig, J. B.; Hidding, B.; Hidding

2012-08-01

We present design considerations for the use of laser-plasma accelerators for mimicking space radiation and testing space-grade electronics. This novel application takes advantage of the inherent ability of laser-plasma accelerators to produce particle beams with exponential energy distribution, which is a characteristic shared with the hazardous relativistic electron flux present in the radiation belts of planets such as Earth, Saturn and Jupiter. Fundamental issues regarding laser-plasma interaction parameters, beam propagation, flux development, and experimental setup are discussed.

Spectral characteristics of a relativistic plasma microwave generator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuzelev, M.V.; Loza, O.T.; Ponomarev, A.V.; Rukhadze, A.A.; Strelkov, P.S.; Ul'yanov, D.K.; Shkvarunets, A.G.

1996-01-01

The radiation spectrum of a broad-band relativistic plasma microwave generator, in which a hollow relativistic electron beam is injected into a plasma waveguide consisting of a hollow plasma within a round metallic waveguide is measured experimentally. The radiation spectrum is measured using a wide-aperture calorimetric spectrometer in the frequency range 3-32 GHz. The influence of the plasma density and the beam-plasma gap on the radiation spectrum is investigated. The amplification of the noise electromagnetic radiation when a relativistic electron beam is injected into the plasma waveguide is calculated on the basis of the nonlinear theory. The theory predicts passage from a one-particle generation regime to a collective regime and narrowing of the radiation spectrum as the plasma density and the gap between the hollow beam and the plasma increases. A comparison of the measurement results with the nonlinear theory accounts for several features of the measured spectrum. However, the predicted change in the generation regimes is not observed experimentally. Qualitative arguments are advanced, which explain the observed phenomena and call for further theoretical and experimental research, are advanced

Coherent, Short-Pulse X-ray Generation via Relativistic Flying Mirrors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masaki Kando

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Coherent, Short X-ray pulses are demanded in material science and biology for the study of micro-structures. Currently, large-sized free-electron lasers are used; however, the available beam lines are limited because of the large construction cost. Here we review a novel method to downsize the system as well as providing fully (spatially and temporally coherent pulses. The method is based on the reflection of coherent laser light by a relativistically moving mirror (flying mirror. Due to the double Doppler effect, the reflected pulses are upshifted in frequency and compressed in time. Such mirrors are formed when an intense short laser pulse excites a strongly nonlinear plasma wave in tenuous plasma. Theory, proof-of-principle, experiments, and possible applications are addressed.

Probing plasma wakefields using electron bunches generated from a laser wakefield accelerator

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, C. J.; Wan, Y.; Guo, B.; Hua, J. F.; Pai, C.-H.; Li, F.; Zhang, J.; Ma, Y.; Wu, Y. P.; Xu, X. L.; Mori, W. B.; Chu, H.-H.; Wang, J.; Lu, W.; Joshi, C.

2018-04-01

We show experimental results of probing the electric field structure of plasma wakes by using femtosecond relativistic electron bunches generated from a laser wakefield accelerator. Snapshots of laser-driven linear wakes in plasmas with different densities and density gradients are captured. The spatiotemporal evolution of the wake in a plasma density up-ramp is recorded. Two parallel wakes driven by a laser with a main spot and sidelobes are identified in the experiment and reproduced in simulations. The capability of this new method for capturing the electron- and positron-driven wakes is also shown via 3D particle-in-cell simulations.

Contribution of power lasers to fundamental physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mainfray, G.

1997-01-01

The use of power lasers for studying the response of atoms that are perturbed by an intense laser electromagnetic field was considered at the CEA as soon as 1966, leading to a new research domain, atom multi-photonic ionization, and the analysis of the photon-matter interaction. The development of a new generation of compact laser delivering several terawatt in a few tenth of picoseconds resulting in illuminations superior to 10 18 W/cm 2 , enabled the shift to researches concerning photon-plasma interactions and the relativistic regime of the laser-plasma interaction

Relativistic solitary waves modulating long laser pulses in plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanchez-Arriaga, G; Siminos, E; Lefebvre, E

2011-01-01

This paper discusses the existence of solitary electromagnetic waves trapped in a self-generated Langmuir wave and embedded in an infinitely long circularly polarized electromagnetic wave propagating through a plasma. From a mathematical point of view they are exact solutions of the one-dimensional relativistic cold fluid plasma model with nonvanishing boundary conditions. Under the assumption of travelling wave solutions with velocity V and vector potential frequency ω, the fluid model is reduced to a Hamiltonian system. The solitary waves are homoclinic (grey solitons) or heteroclinic (dark solitons) orbits to fixed points. Using a dynamical systems description of the Hamiltonian system and a spectral method, we identify a large variety of solitary waves, including asymmetric ones, discuss their disappearance for certain parameter values and classify them according to (i) grey or dark character, (ii) the number of humps of the vector potential envelope and (iii) their symmetries. The solutions come in continuous families in the parametric V-ω plane and extend up to velocities that approach the speed of light. The stability of certain types of grey solitary waves is investigated with the aid of particle-in-cell simulations that demonstrate their propagation for a few tens of the inverse of the plasma frequency.

Generation of atto-second pulses on relativistic mirror plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vincenti, H.

2012-12-01

When an ultra intense femtosecond laser (I > 10 16 W.cm -2 ) with high contrast is focused on a solid target, the laser field at focus is high enough to completely ionize the target surface during the rising edge of the laser pulse and form a plasma. This plasma is so dense (the electron density is of the order of hundred times the critical density) that it completely reflects the incident laser beam in the specular direction: this is the so-called 'plasma mirror'. When laser intensity becomes very high, the non-linear response of the plasma mirror to the laser field periodically deforms the incident electric field leading to high harmonic generation in the reflected beam. In the temporal domain this harmonic spectrum is associated to a train of atto-second pulses. The goals of my work were to get a better comprehension of the properties of harmonic beams produced on plasma mirrors and design new methods to control theses properties, notably in order to produce isolated atto-second pulses instead of trains. Initially, we imagined and modeled the first realistic technique to generate isolated atto-second on plasma mirrors. This brand new approach is based on a totally new physical effect: 'the atto-second lighthouse effect'. Its principle consists in sending the atto-second pulses of the train in different directions and selects one of these pulses by putting a slit in the far field. Despite its simplicity, this technique is very general and applies to any high harmonic generation mechanism. Moreover, the atto-second lighthouse effect has many other applications (e.g in metrology). In particular, it paves the way to atto-second pump-probe experiments. Then, we studied the spatial properties of these harmonics, whose control and characterization are crucial if one wants to use this source in future application experiments. For instance, we need to control very precisely the harmonic beam divergence in order to achieve the atto-second lighthouse effect and get

Scaling electron acceleration in the bubble regime for upcoming lasers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jansen, O.; Tueckmantel, T.; Pukhov, A.

2014-01-01

Electron acceleration in the laser-plasma bubble appeared to be the most successful regime of laser wake field acceleration in the last decade. The laser technology became mature enough to generate short and relativistically intense pulses required to reach the bubble regime naturally delivering quasi-monoenergetic bunches of relativistic electrons. The upcoming laser technology projects are promising short pulses with many times more energy than the existing ones. The natural question is how will the bubble regime scale with the available laser energy. We present here a parametric study of laser-plasma acceleration in the bubble regime using full three dimensional particle-in-cell simulations and compare numerical results with the analytical scalings from the relativistic laser-plasma similarity theory. Our simulations and the theory match almost perfectly for spot sizes above R = 2λ and laser amplitudes above a 0 = 4. We also studied the emission of synchrotron radiation by the accelerated electrons. Both classical and a QED model were applied. We found borders, at which theory and simulations stopped matching. With small spot radii (R < 2λ) we almost never observed the formation of a bubble structure or any form of mono-energetic acceleration. Low laser amplitudes lead to higher energies than predicted by the theory

Study of electrons distribution produced by laser-plasma interaction on x-ray generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nikzad, L.; Sadighi-Bonabi, R.

2010-01-01

Complete text of publication follows. In the present work, X-ray beams are generated from interaction of relativistic electron beams produced by interaction of 500 mJ, 30 femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser pulses with thin solid targets such as lead, molybdenum and tungsten. After interaction of an intense pulsed laser with He gas-jet, a micron-scale laser produced plasma, creates and accelerates electron bunches, which propagate in the ion channel produced in the wake of the laser pulse. When an electron bunch is injected into the bubble in phase with its field, it will gain relativistic energies within very short distance. These accelerated electrons with Megaelectron-Volt energy and different distributions, can interact with targets to generate X-ray radiation with Kiloelectron-Volt energy, providing to be close enough to the gas-jet, where the relativistic accelerated electrons exist. Here, to determine the results, Monte Carlo simulation (MCNP-4C code) is employed to present Bremsstrahlung and characteristic X-ray production by quasi-Maxwellian and quasi-monoenergetic electron beams for three samples with different thicknesses. The outcome shows that for one specific electron spectrum and one definite target, the energy which the maximum characteristic x-ray flux takes place, varies with thickness. Also, for each material the energy which this maximum happens is constant for all thicknesses, for both produced electron spectra. For each sample, x-ray flux is calculated for different thicknesses and the thickness which the maximum characteristic x-ray flux occurs is obtained. Besides, it is concluded that by increasing the atomic number of the target, maximum X-ray flux moves towards higher energy. Also, comparison of the results for three targets and two electron distributions shows that by using quasi-monoenergetic electron spectra, more intense and narrower characteristic X-ray can be produced compared to the quasi-Maxwellian electron distribution, almost for all

Laser dynamics in transversely inhomogeneous plasma and its relevance to wakefield acceleration

Science.gov (United States)

Pathak, V. B.; Vieira, J.; Silva, L. O.; Nam, Chang Hee

2018-05-01

We present full set of coupled equations describing the weakly relativistic dynamics of a laser in a plasma with transverse inhomogeneity. We apply variational principle approach to obtain these coupled equations governing laser spot-size, transverse wavenumber, curvature, transverse centroid, etc. We observe that such plasma inhomogeneity can lead to stronger self-focusing. We further discuss the guiding conditions of laser in parabolic plasma channels. With the help of multi-dimensional particle in cell simulations the study is extended to the blowout regime of laser wakefield acceleration to show laser as well as self-injected electron bunch steering in plasma to generate unconventional particle trajectories. Our simulation results demonstrate that such transverse inhomogeneities due to asymmetric self focusing lead to asymmetric bubble excitation, thus inducing off-axis self-injection.

Efficient second- and third-harmonic radiation generation from relativistic laser-plasma interactions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Singh, Mamta; Gupta, D. N., E-mail: dngupta@physics.du.ac.in [Department of Physics and Astrophysics, University of Delhi, Delhi 110 007 (India); Suk, H. [Department of Physics and Photon Science, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju 500 712 (Korea, Republic of)

2015-06-15

We propose an idea to enhance the efficiency of second- and third-harmonic generation by considering the amplitude-modulation of the fundamental laser pulse. A short-pulse laser of finite spot size is modeled as amplitude modulated in time. Amplitude-modulation of fundamental laser contributes in quiver velocity of the plasma electrons and produces the strong plasma-density perturbations, thereby increase in current density at second- and third-harmonic frequency. In a result, the conversion efficiency of harmonic generation increases significantly. Power conversion efficiency of harmonic generation process is the increasing function of the amplitude-modulation parameter of the fundamental laser beam. Harmonic power generated by an amplitude modulated laser is many folds higher than the power obtained in an ordinary case.

Efficient second- and third-harmonic radiation generation from relativistic laser-plasma interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, Mamta; Gupta, D. N.; Suk, H.

2015-01-01

We propose an idea to enhance the efficiency of second- and third-harmonic generation by considering the amplitude-modulation of the fundamental laser pulse. A short-pulse laser of finite spot size is modeled as amplitude modulated in time. Amplitude-modulation of fundamental laser contributes in quiver velocity of the plasma electrons and produces the strong plasma-density perturbations, thereby increase in current density at second- and third-harmonic frequency. In a result, the conversion efficiency of harmonic generation increases significantly. Power conversion efficiency of harmonic generation process is the increasing function of the amplitude-modulation parameter of the fundamental laser beam. Harmonic power generated by an amplitude modulated laser is many folds higher than the power obtained in an ordinary case

Heating of a plasma by a powerful relativistic electron beam in a strong magnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arzhannikov, A.V.; Brejzman, B.N.; Vyacheslavov, L.N.; Kojdan, V.S.; Konyukhov, V.V.; Ryutov, D.D.

1975-01-01

The results of an experimental investigation into the interaction of a powerful relativistic electron beam with plasma in the INAR apparatus are presented. The relativistic electron beam had initial energy of 1 MeV, maximum injection current of 10 kA, duration of 70 ns, and diameter of 2 cm. The total beam energy at entry into the plasma was approximately 300 J. The beam was injected into the column of a hydrogen plasma 230 cm long, 8 cm in diameter, and with a density of 3x10 14 cm -3 . The magnetic field had mirror-trap geometry (mirror ratio 1.7, intensity in the uniform region up to 15 kOe). In the experiments various diagnostic methods were used, making it possible to measure the beam current, the total current within the plasma, the total energy of the beam entering and leaving the plasma, and the distribution of beam current over the cross-section at the plasma outlet; the energy content of the plasma was determined from diamagnetic measurements; the electron distribution function was analysed by the method of Thomson scattering of light at 90 0 . From an analysis of the shape of the diamagnetic signals and distribution of diamagnetism along the length of the apparatus it was established that under the assumption of predominant electron heating, the temperature of plasma electrons in order of magnitude equals 1 keV for a plasma density of 5x10 13 cm -3 . The cause of heating cannot be dissipation of the reversed current. Thomson scattering of laser radiation indicated the presence of a comparatively cold plasma component with a temperature of 25 eV. High-energy electrons moving from the opposite direction toward the beam were recorded; their appearance evidently was associated with acceleration of plasma electrons in the induction fields. Mechanisms which can provide effective heating of the whole mass of electrons under conditions in which pair collisions are minor are indicated. (author)

Plasma waves in hot relativistic beam-plasma systems: Pt. 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Magneville, A.

1990-01-01

Dispersion relations of plasma waves in a beam-plasma system are computed in the general case where the plasma and beam temperatures, and the velocity of the beam, may be relativistic. The two asymptotic temperature cases, and different contributions of plasma or beam particles to wave dispersion are considered. (author)

Experimental investigation of the interaction of an intense laser beam with a long and hot plasma in the context of shock ignition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goyon, Clement

2014-01-01

Shock ignition is an alternative direct-drive scheme for inertial fusion that consists in two steps. The first one is a several nanoseconds long compression with low intensity beams. The second one is a several hundred of picoseconds stage using high intensity beams to create a converging shock leading to ignition. During the second phase, the laser beam goes through a long and hot under-critical plasma. However, the coupling of this intense pulse with the coronal plasma has not been much studied experimentally or numerically. Then, the energy absorbed as well as the role of parametric instabilities regarding reflected or transmitted intensity cannot be predicted. In this PhD dissertation, we describe an experimental study of an intense laser pulse between 2.10 15 W/cm 2 and 2.10 16 W/cm 2 interacting with millimetric plasma heated close to one keV. We begin with a theoretical description of the interaction conditions in the coronal plasma. Brillouin scattering is in strongly coupled regime, Raman instability is kinetic regime and laser intensity is above ponderomotive filamentation threshold. We recreate these interaction conditions experimentally by means of pre-heated targets which are foams or thin plastic foils. Then, we present the first measurements of time resolved backscattered spectra from the smoothed picosecond beam as well as transmitted intensity distribution through the plasma. We find that Brillouin instability can be responsible for up to 60% reflectivity in plasmas with electronic density close to critical while Raman reflectivity stays at low levels. Transmitted intensity distribution is smoothed by the propagation and its diameter increases compared to the laser focal spot in vacuum. Finally, we discuss interaction measurements in nanosecond regime to highlight the fact that parametric instabilities reduction is essential for shock ignition to be a successful scheme. (author) [fr

Simulations of relativistic quantum plasmas using real-time lattice scalar QED

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Yuan; Xiao, Jianyuan; Qin, Hong; Fisch, Nathaniel J.

2018-05-01

Real-time lattice quantum electrodynamics (QED) provides a unique tool for simulating plasmas in the strong-field regime, where collective plasma scales are not well separated from relativistic-quantum scales. As a toy model, we study scalar QED, which describes self-consistent interactions between charged bosons and electromagnetic fields. To solve this model on a computer, we first discretize the scalar-QED action on a lattice, in a way that respects geometric structures of exterior calculus and U(1)-gauge symmetry. The lattice scalar QED can then be solved, in the classical-statistics regime, by advancing an ensemble of statistically equivalent initial conditions in time, using classical field equations obtained by extremizing the discrete action. To demonstrate the capability of our numerical scheme, we apply it to two example problems. The first example is the propagation of linear waves, where we recover analytic wave dispersion relations using numerical spectrum. The second example is an intense laser interacting with a one-dimensional plasma slab, where we demonstrate natural transition from wakefield acceleration to pair production when the wave amplitude exceeds the Schwinger threshold. Our real-time lattice scheme is fully explicit and respects local conservation laws, making it reliable for long-time dynamics. The algorithm is readily parallelized using domain decomposition, and the ensemble may be computed using quantum parallelism in the future.

Effects of laser wavelength and density scale length on absorption of ultrashort intense lasers on solid-density targets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Susumu, Kato; Eiichi, Takahashi; Tatsuya, Aota; Yuji, Matsumoto; Isao, Okuda; Yoshiro, Owadano [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Japan)

2004-07-01

The interaction of intense laser pulses with overdense plasmas has attracted much interest for the fast igniter concept in inertial fusion energy. Hot electron temperatures and electron energy spectra in the course of interaction between intense laser pulse and overdense plasmas are reexamined from a viewpoint of the difference in laser wavelength. The hot electron temperature measured by a particle-in-cell simulation is scaled by I rather than I{lambda}{sup 2} at the interaction with overdense plasmas with fixed ions, where I and {lambda} are the laser intensity and wavelength, respectively. (authors)

Generation of Ultra-high Intensity Laser Pulses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fisch, N.J.; Malkin, V.M.

2003-01-01

Mainly due to the method of chirped pulse amplification, laser intensities have grown remarkably during recent years. However, the attaining of very much higher powers is limited by the material properties of gratings. These limitations might be overcome through the use of plasma, which is an ideal medium for processing very high power and very high total energy. A plasma can be irradiated by a long pump laser pulse, carrying significant energy, which is then quickly depleted in the plasma by a short counterpropagating pulse. This counterpropagating wave effect has already been employed in Raman amplifiers using gases or plasmas at low laser power. Of particular interest here are the new effects which enter in high power regimes. These new effects can be employed so that one high-energy optical system can be used like a flashlamp in what amounts to pumping the plasma, and a second low-power optical system can be used to extract quickly the energy from the plasma and focus it precisely. The combined system can be very compact. Thus, focused intensities more than 10 25 W/cm 2 can be contemplated using existing optical elements. These intensities are several orders of magnitude higher than what is currently available through chirped pump amplifiers

Laser Absorption by Over-Critical Plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

May, J.; Tonge, J.; Fiuza, F.; Fonseca, R. A.; Silva, L. O.; Mori, W. B.

2015-11-01

Absorption of high intensity laser light by matter has important applications to emerging sciences and technology, such as Fast Ignition ICF and ion acceleration. As such, understanding the underlying mechanisms of this absorption is key to developing these technologies. Critical features which distinguish the interaction of high intensity light - defined here as a laser field having a normalized vector potential greater than unity - are that the reaction of the material to the fields results in sharp high-density interfaces; and that the movement of the electrons is in general relativistic, both in a fluid and a thermal sense. The results of these features are that the absorption mechanisms are qualitatively distinct from those at lower intensities. We will review previous work, by our group and others, on the absorption mechanisms, and highlight current research. We will show that the standing wave structure of the reflected laser light is key to particle dynamics for normally incident lasers. The authors acknowledge the support of the Department of Energy under contract DE-NA 0001833 and the National Science Foundation under contract ACI 1339893.

On-line depth measurement for laser-drilled holes based on the intensity of plasma emission

Science.gov (United States)

Ho, Chao-Ching; Chiu, Chih-Mu; Chang, Yuan-Jen; Hsu, Jin-Chen; Kuo, Chia-Lung

2014-09-01

The direct time-resolved depth measurement of blind holes is extremely difficult due to the short time interval and the limited space inside the hole. This work presents a method that involves on-line plasma emission acquisition and analysis to obtain correlations between the machining processes and the optical signal output. Given that the depths of laser-machined holes can be estimated on-line using a coaxial photodiode, this was employed in our inspection system. Our experiments were conducted in air under normal atmospheric conditions without gas assist. The intensity of radiation emitted from the vaporized material was found to correlate with the depth of the hole. The results indicate that the estimated depths of the laser-drilled holes were inversely proportional to the maximum plasma light emission measured for a given laser pulse number.

Extreme field limits in the interaction of laser light with ultrarelativistic electrons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bulanov, S. V.; Esirkepov, T. Zh.; Hayashi, Y.; Kando, M.; Kiriyama, H.; Koga, J.; Kondo, K.; Kotaki, H.; Pirozhkov, A.; Bulanov, S. S.; Zhidkov, A.; Chen, P.; Neely, D.; Kato, Y.; Narozhny, N. B.; Korn, G. [Kansai Photon Science Institute, JAEA, Kizugawa, Kyoto 619-0215 (Japan); University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871 (Japan); National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan (China); Central Laser Facility, STFC, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot OX11 0QX (United Kingdom); Graduate School for the Creation of New Photonics Industries, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 431-1202 (Japan); Moscow Engineering Physics Institute (State University), Moscow 115409 (Russian Federation); Max-Planck-Institut fuer Quantenoptik, Garching 85748 (Germany) and ELI Beamline Facility, Institute of Physics, CAS, Prague 18221 (Czech Republic)

2012-07-11

The critical electric field of quantum electrodynamics is so strong that it produces electron-positron pairs from vacuum, converting the energy of light into matter. This field has become feasible through the construction of extremely high power lasers or/and with the sophisticated use of nonlinear processes in relativistic plasmas. A feasibility of the experiments on the collision of laser light and high intensity electromagnetic pulses, generated by relativistic flying mirrors, with relativistic electrons for the studying of extreme field limits in the nonlinear interaction of electromagnetic waves is discussed.

Time-resolved Thomson scattering on high-intensity laser-produced hot dense helium plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sperling, P; Liseykina, T; Bauer, D; Redmer, R

2013-01-01

The introduction of brilliant free-electron lasers enables new pump–probe experiments to characterize warm and hot dense matter states, i.e. systems at solid-like densities and temperatures of one to several hundred eV. Such extreme conditions are relevant for high-energy density studies such as, e.g., in planetary physics and inertial confinement fusion. We consider here a liquid helium jet pumped with a high-intensity optical short-pulse laser that is subsequently probed with brilliant soft x-ray radiation. The optical short-pulse laser generates a strongly inhomogeneous helium plasma which is characterized with particle-in-cell simulations. We derive the respective Thomson scattering spectrum based on the Born–Mermin approximation for the dynamic structure factor considering the full density and temperature-dependent Thomson scattering cross section throughout the target. We observe plasmon modes that are generated in the interior of the target and study their temporal evolution. Such pump–probe experiments are promising tools to measure the important plasma parameters density and temperature. The method described here can be applied to various pump–probe scenarios by combining optical lasers, soft x-rays and hard x-ray sources. (paper)

Hydrodynamic simulation of X-UV laser-produced plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fajardo, M.; Zeitoun, P.; Gauthier, J.C.

2004-01-01

With the construction of novel X-UV sources, such as V-UV FEL's (free-electron lasers), X-UV laser-matter interaction will become available at ultra-high intensities. But even table-top facilities such as X-UV lasers or High Harmonic Generation, are starting to reach intensities high enough to produce dense plasmas. X-UV laser-matter interaction is studied by a 1-dimensional hydrodynamic Lagrangian code with radiative transfer for a range of interesting X-UV sources. Heating is found to be very different for Z=12-14 elements having L-edges around the X-UV laser wavelength. Possible absorption mechanisms were investigated in order to explain this behaviour, and interaction with cold dense matter proved to be dominant. Plasma sensitivity to X-UV laser parameters such as energy, pulse duration, and wavelength was also studied, covering ranges of existing X-UV lasers. We found that X-UV laser-produced plasmas could be studied using table-top lasers, paving the way for future V-UV-FEL high intensity experiments. (authors)

On the design of experiments for the study of extreme field limits in the ultra-relativistic interaction of electromagnetic waves with plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Bulanov, Sergei V.; Esirkepov, Timur Z.; Hayashi, Yukio; Kando, Masaki; Kiriyama, Hiromitsu; Koga, James K.; Kondo, Kiminori; Kotaki, Hideyuki; Pirozhkov, Alexander S.; Bulanov, Stepan S.; Zhidkov, Alexei G.; Chen, Pisin; Neely, David; Kato, Yoshiaki; Narozhny, Nikolay B.; Korn, Georg

2011-06-01

The critical electric field of quantum electrodynamics, called also the Schwinger field, is so strong that it produces electron-positron pairs from vacuum, converting the energy of light into matter. Since the dawn of quantum electrodynamics, there has been a dream on how to reach it on Earth. With the rise of laser technology this field has become feasible through the construction of extremely high power lasers or/and with the sophisticated use of nonlinear processes in relativistic plasmas. This is one of the most attractive motivations for extremely high power laser development, i.e. producing matter from vacuum by pure light in fundamental process of quantum electrodynamics in the nonperturbative regime. Recently it has been realized that a laser with intensity well below the Schwinger limit can create an avalanche of electron-positron pairs similar to a discharge before attaining the Schwinger field. It has also been realized that the Schwinger limit can be reached using an appropriate configuration of laser beams. In experiments on the collision of laser light and high intensity electromagnetic pulses generated by relativistic flying mirrors, with electron bunches produced by a conventional accelerator and with laser wake field accelerated electrons the studying of extreme field limits in the nonlinear interaction of electromagnetic waves is proposed. The regimes of dominant radiation reaction, which completely changes the electromagnetic wave-matter interaction, will be revealed. This will result in a new powerful source of high brightness gamma-rays. A possibility of the demonstration of the electronpositron pair creation in vacuum via multi-photon processes can be realized. This will allow modeling under terrestrial laboratory conditions neutron star magnetospheres, cosmological gamma ray bursts and the Leptonic Era of the Universe.

Conductivity of a relativistic plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Braams, B.J.; Karney, C.F.F.

1989-03-01

The collision operator for a relativistic plasma is reformulated in terms of an expansion in spherical harmonics. This formulation is used to calculate the electrical conductivity. 13 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab.

Conductivity of a relativistic plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Braams, B.J.; Karney, C.F.F.

1989-03-01

The collision operator for a relativistic plasma is reformulated in terms of an expansion in spherical harmonics. This formulation is used to calculate the electrical conductivity. 13 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab

Interaction of an intense relativistic electron beam with full density air

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murphy, D.P.; Pechacek, R.E.; Raleigh, M.; Oliphant, W.F.; Meger, R.A.

1987-01-01

The authors report on a study of plasma generation by direct deposition of energy from an intense relativistic electron beam (REB) into full density air. It has been postulated that a sufficiently intense REB can fully ionize the air and produce a 2 eV plasma with Spitzer conductivity. The REB is produced from a field emission diode driven by either the Gamble I or Gamble II generator. Gamble I can produce a 0.60 MV, 300 kA, 50 ns REB and Gamble II can produce a 2.0 MV, 1.0 MA, 50 ns REB. The REB was injected into a short diagnostic cell containing full density air and up to a 14 kG solenoidal magnetic field. The diagnostics include beam and net current measurements, x-ray and visible photography and visible light spectroscopy

Relativistic simulation of the Vlasov equation for plasma expansion into vacuum

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H Abbasi

2012-12-01

Full Text Available   In this study, relativistic Vlasov simulation of plasma for expansion of collisionless plasma for into vacuum is presented. The model is based on 1+1 dimensional phase space and electrostatic approximation. For this purpose, the electron dynamics is studied by the relativistic Vlasov equation. Regardless of the ions temperature, fluid equations are used for their dynamics. The initial electrons distribution function is the relativistic Maxwellian. The results show that due to the electrons relativistic temperature, the process of the plasma expansion takes place faster, the resulting electric field is stronger and the ions are accelerated to higher velocities, in comparison to the non-relativistic case.

A novel nuclear pyrometry for the characterization of high-energy bremsstrahlung and electrons produced in relativistic laser-plasma interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guenther, M. M.; Sonnabend, K.; Harres, K.; Roth, M.; Brambrink, E.; Vogt, K.; Bagnoud, V.

2011-01-01

We present a novel nuclear activation-based method for the investigation of high-energy bremsstrahlung produced by electrons above 7 MeV generated by a high-power laser. The main component is a novel high-density activation target that is a pseudo alloy of several selected isotopes with different photo-disintegration reaction thresholds. The gamma spectrum emitted by the activated targets is used for the reconstruction of the bremsstrahlung spectrum using an analysis method based on Penfold and Leiss. This nuclear activation-based technique allows for the determination of the number of bremsstrahlung photons per energy bin in a wide range energy without any anticipated fit procedures. Furthermore, the analysis method also allows for the determination of the absolute yield, the energy distribution, and the temperature of high-energy electrons at the relativistic laser-plasma interaction region. The pyrometry is sensitive to energies above 7 MeV only, i.e., this diagnostic is insensitive to any low-energy processes.

A novel nuclear pyrometry for the characterization of high-energy bremsstrahlung and electrons produced in relativistic laser-plasma interactions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guenther, M. M.; Sonnabend, K.; Harres, K.; Roth, M. [Institut fuer Kernphysik, Schlossgartenstr. 9, Technische Universitaet Darmstadt, D-64289 Darmstadt (Germany); Brambrink, E. [Laboratoire pour l' Utilisation des Lasers Intenses, UMR 7605 CNRS-CEA-Ecole Polytechnique-Universite Paris VI, F-91128 Palaiseau (France); Vogt, K.; Bagnoud, V. [GSI - Helmholtzzentrum fuer Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Planckstr. 1, D-64291 Darmstadt (Germany)

2011-08-15

We present a novel nuclear activation-based method for the investigation of high-energy bremsstrahlung produced by electrons above 7 MeV generated by a high-power laser. The main component is a novel high-density activation target that is a pseudo alloy of several selected isotopes with different photo-disintegration reaction thresholds. The gamma spectrum emitted by the activated targets is used for the reconstruction of the bremsstrahlung spectrum using an analysis method based on Penfold and Leiss. This nuclear activation-based technique allows for the determination of the number of bremsstrahlung photons per energy bin in a wide range energy without any anticipated fit procedures. Furthermore, the analysis method also allows for the determination of the absolute yield, the energy distribution, and the temperature of high-energy electrons at the relativistic laser-plasma interaction region. The pyrometry is sensitive to energies above 7 MeV only, i.e., this diagnostic is insensitive to any low-energy processes.

Coherent combs in ionization by intense and short laser pulses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krajewska, K., E-mail: Katarzyna.Krajewska@fuw.edu.pl [Institute of Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 5, 02-093 Warszawa (Poland); Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588-0299 (United States); Kamiński, J.Z., E-mail: Jerzy.Kaminski@fuw.edu.pl [Institute of Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 5, 02-093 Warszawa (Poland)

2016-03-22

Photoionization of positive ions by a train of intense, short laser pulses is investigated within the relativistic strong field approximation, using the velocity gauge. The formation of broad peak structures in the high-energy domain of photoelectrons is observed and interpreted. The emergence of coherent photoelectron energy combs within these structures is demonstrated, and it is interpreted as the consequence of the Fraunhofer-type interference/diffraction of probability amplitudes of ionization from individual pulses comprising the train. Extensions to the coherent angular combs are also studied, and effects related to the radiation pressure are presented. - Highlights: • We develop relativistic Strong-Field Approximation for ionization by intense and short laser pulses of arbitrary spectral compositions. • We show that the consistent interpretation of results is provided by the Keldysh-type saddle point analysis of probability amplitudes. • We derive a general Fraunhofer-type interference/diffraction formula for finite train of pulses. • We study the coherent combs in photoelectron probability distributions.

Proposed development of novel diagnostics for intense, ultrafast laser-plasma experiments at JAEA-KPSI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bolton, Paul R.; Tatchyn, Roman; Fukuda, Yuji; Kando, Masaki; Daito, Izuru; Ma, Jinglong; Chen, Liming; Pirozhkov, Alexander; Tajima, Toshiki

2007-01-01

Development of new diagnostics is critical for future laser-plasma accelerators, laser-driven light sources and for x-ray FELs. Recent laser wakefield electron acceleration developments and novel beam-based light source schemes (such as free electron lasers) obviate the need for next generation ultrafast diagnostics, capable of temporal resolution of a few femtoseconds (and in some cases attoseconds) for laser pulses (high order harmonics), x-ray pulses and electron bunches. Single shot detection capability in noninvasive and parasitic modes is also important. Alterations of laser pulse spectra and the associated dynamics can be informative diagnostics. The portion of a high intensity laser pulse that is transmitted through a self-induced underdense plasma (such as in laser wakefield acceleration LWFA schemes) carries the effects of plasma processes it has experienced. A distinction between the self-modulated laser wakefield (SMLWF) acceleration regime and the forced laser wakefield (FLWF) acceleration regime is in the spectral signature of the transmitted ir laser pulse. The former regime generates sidebands from stimulated Raman forward scattering (SRS-F) and the latter exhibits general spectral broadening that evidences ir laser pulse compression. Transmitted spectral effects can diagnose these acceleration regimes. Existing noninvasive electro-optic (EO) schemes for detection of ultrashort electron bunches are limited by material properties to temporal resolution at the 50-100 femtosecond level. While timing jitter at conventional accelerators is of this order (or greater), single bunch longitudinal profile measurements can require improvement of at least an order of magnitude. A new FO technique is described here which monitors enhancement and associated dynamics of spectral components in a probe pulse. Three correlation schemes for detecting ultrashort x-ray pulses are described. Two-photon absorption in tailored ion targets is proposed for scanning auto

Nonlinear electrostatic excitations in magnetized dense plasmas with nonrelativistic and ultra-relativistic degenerate electrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahmood, S.; Sadiq, Safeer; Haque, Q.

2013-01-01

Linear and nonlinear electrostatic waves in magnetized dense electron-ion plasmas are studied with nonrelativistic and ultra-relativistic degenerate and singly, doubly charged helium (He + , He ++ ) and hydrogen (H + ) ions, respectively. The dispersion relation of electrostatic waves in magnetized dense plasmas is obtained under both the energy limits of degenerate electrons. Using reductive perturbation method, the Zakharov-Kuznetsov equation for nonlinear propagation of electrostatic solitons in magnetized dense plasmas is derived for both nonrelativistic and ultra-relativistic degenerate electrons. It is found that variations in plasma density, magnetic field intensity, different mass, and charge number of ions play significant role in the formation of electrostatic solitons in magnetized dense plasmas. The numerical plots are also presented for illustration using the parameters of dense astrophysical plasma situations such as white dwarfs and neutron stars exist in the literature. The present investigation is important for understanding the electrostatic waves propagation in the outer periphery of compact stars which mostly consists of hydrogen and helium ions with degenerate electrons in dense magnetized plasmas

Laser-plasma booster for ion post acceleration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Satoh D.

2013-11-01

Full Text Available A remarkable ion energy increase is demonstrated for post acceleration by a laser-plasma booster. An intense short-pulse laser generates a strong current by high-energy electrons accelerated, when this intense short-pulse laser illuminates a plasma target. The strong electric current creates a strong magnetic field along the high-energy electron current in plasma. During the increase phase in the magnetic field, a longitudinal inductive electric field is induced for the forward ion acceleration by the Faraday law. Our 2.5-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations demonstrate a remarkable increase in ion energy by several tens of MeV.

Few-photon electron-positron pair creation in the collision of a relativistic nucleus and an intense x-ray laser beam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mueller, C.; Gruen, N.; Voitkiv, A.B.

2004-01-01

We study the nonlinear process of e - e + pair creation by a nucleus which moves at a relativistic energy in the laboratory frame and collides with an intense x-ray laser beam. The collision system under consideration is chosen in such a way that the simultaneous absorption of at least two photons from the laser wave is required in order to exceed the energy threshold of the reaction. We calculate total and differential rates for both free-free and bound-free pair production. In the case of free-free pair creation we demonstrate the effect of the laser polarization on the spectra of the produced particles, and we show that at very high intensities the total rate exhibits features analogous to those well known from above-threshold ionization rates for atoms. In the case of bound-free pair creation a singularity is found in the laboratory frame angular distribution of the produced positron. This singularity represents a distinct characteristic of the bound-free pair production and allows one to separate this process from free-free pair creation even without detecting a bound state of the captured electron. For both types of pair creation we consider the dependences of the total rates on the collision parameters, give the corresponding scaling laws, and discuss the possibility to observe these nonlinear processes in a future experiment

Study of the radiation X-UV produced during the relativistic interaction between a femtosecond laser and an helium plasma; Etude du rayonnement X-UV produit lors de l'interaction relativiste entre un laser femtoseconde et un plasme d'helium

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ta Phuoc, K

2002-10-15

The aim of this work is to design a new source of X-radiation that is both femtosecond and polychromatic. We have studied the Larmor radiation emitted during the relativistic interaction between an intense femtosecond laser and an under dense helium plasma. When the value of a{sub 0}, the laser force parameter, is below 1 and when the interaction is volume is important, the characteristics of the emitted radiation are those of Bremsstrahlung radiation and radiative recombination. When the value of a{sub 0} is about 5 the emitted radiation is strongly different and look like much more the Larmor radiation. Nevertheless some features such as the shape of the angular distribution or the amplitude of the laser polarization effect are not yet well understood. The spectra of the X-ray produced is peaked around 150 eV and spreads up to 2 keV. The number of photons produced by laser shot is over 10{sup 9} and the duration of the X-ray impulse is expected to be in the same order of magnitude as that of the laser impulse: 30 fs. The average photon flux is 2*10{sup 3} ph/s/0.1%BW at 2 keV and reaches 6*10{sup 7} ph/s/0.1%BW at 0.15 keV. The average brilliance is 1.5*10{sup 4} ph/s/mm{sup 2}/mrad{sup 2}/0.1%BW at 2 keV and 8*10{sup 4} ph/s/mm{sup 2}/mrad{sup 2}/0.1%BW at 0.15 keV. Different ways are considered to improve the characteristics of this new X-ray source. (A.C.)

Request for Support for the Conference on Super Intense Laser Atom Physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Todd Ditmire

2004-01-01

The Conference on Super Intense Laser Atom Physics (SILAP) was held in November 2003 in Dallas, Texas. The venue for the meeting was South Fork Ranch in the outskirts of Dallas. The topics of the meeting included high harmonic generation and attosecond pulse generation, strong field interactions with molecules and clusters, particle acceleration, and relativistic laser atom interactions

Recent progresses in relativistic beam-plasma instability theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Bret

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Beam-plasma instabilities are a key physical process in many astrophysical phenomena. Within the fireball model of Gamma ray bursts, they first mediate a relativistic collisionless shock before they produce upstream the turbulence needed for the Fermi acceleration process. While non-relativistic systems are usually governed by flow-aligned unstable modes, relativistic ones are likely to be dominated by normally or even obliquely propagating waves. After reviewing the basis of the theory, results related to the relativistic kinetic regime of the poorly-known oblique unstable modes will be presented. Relevant systems besides the well-known electron beam-plasma interaction are presented, and it is shown how the concept of modes hierarchy yields a criterion to assess the proton to electron mass ratio in Particle in cell simulations.

Proton emission from laser-generated plasmas at different intensities

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Torrisi, L.; Cutroneo, M.; Cavallaro, S.; Giuffrida, L.; Margarone, Daniele

2012-01-01

Roč. 57, č. 2 (2012), s. 237-240 ISSN 0029-5922. [International Conference on Research and Applications of Plasmas (PLASMA). Warsaw, 12.09.2011-16.09.2011] Institutional support: RVO:68378271 Keywords : laser-generated plasma * hydrogenated targets * proton acceleration Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 0.507, year: 2012

Self-generated magnetic fields and energy transport by ultra-intense laser-plasma interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abudurexiti, A.; Tuniyazi, P.; Wang Qian

2011-01-01

The electromagnetic instability (Weibel instability) and its mechanism in ultra-intense laser-plasma interactions are studied by using three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. The transport of energy in electron thermal conduction is analyzed by the Spitzer-Harm theory, and the election's vertical pyrogenation phenomenon that resulted from anisotropic heating of laser is observed. The results indicate that the strong magnetic field excited by Weibel instability makes the electron beam deposit its energy within a very short distance, and it restrains the electron thermal flux formed when the laser ponderomotive force bursts through the electron. With the increase of the self-generated magnetic field, the electron will be seized by the wave of magnetic field, and the transport of heat will be restricted. (authors)

Plasma mirrors for ultrahigh-intensity optics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thaury, C; Quere, F; Levy, A; Ceccotti, T; Monot, P; Bougeard, M; Reau, F; D' Oliveira, P; Martin, PH [CEA, DSM, DRECAM, Serv Photons Atomes and Mol, F-91191 Gif Sur Yvette, (France); Geindre, J P; Audebert, P [Ecole Polytech, CNRS, Lab Utilisat Lasers Inst, F-91128 Palaiseau, (France); Marjoribanks, R [Univ Toronto, Dept Phys, Toronto, ON M5S 1A7, (Canada); Marjoribanks, R [Univ Toronto, Inst Opt Sci, Toronto, ON M5S 1A7, (Canada)

2007-07-01

Specular reflection is one of the most fundamental processes of optics. At moderate light intensities generated by conventional light sources this process is well understood. But at those capable of being produced by modern ultrahigh-intensity lasers, many new and potentially useful phenomena arise. When a pulse from such a laser hits an optically polished surface, it generates a dense plasma that itself acts as a mirror, known as a plasma mirror (PM). PMs do not just reflect the remainder of the incident beam, but can act as active optical elements. Using a set of three consecutive PMs in different regimes, we significantly improve the temporal contrast of femtosecond pulses, and demonstrate that high-order harmonics of the laser frequency can be generated through two distinct mechanisms. A better understanding of these processes should aid the development of laser-driven atto-second sources for use in fields from materials science to molecular biology. (authors)

Plasma mirrors for ultrahigh-intensity optics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thaury, C.; Quere, F.; Levy, A.; Ceccotti, T.; Monot, P.; Bougeard, M.; Reau, F.; D'Oliveira, P.; Martin, PH.; Geindre, J.P.; Audebert, P.; Marjoribanks, R.; Marjoribanks, R.

2007-01-01

Specular reflection is one of the most fundamental processes of optics. At moderate light intensities generated by conventional light sources this process is well understood. But at those capable of being produced by modern ultrahigh-intensity lasers, many new and potentially useful phenomena arise. When a pulse from such a laser hits an optically polished surface, it generates a dense plasma that itself acts as a mirror, known as a plasma mirror (PM). PMs do not just reflect the remainder of the incident beam, but can act as active optical elements. Using a set of three consecutive PMs in different regimes, we significantly improve the temporal contrast of femtosecond pulses, and demonstrate that high-order harmonics of the laser frequency can be generated through two distinct mechanisms. A better understanding of these processes should aid the development of laser-driven atto-second sources for use in fields from materials science to molecular biology. (authors)

PIC simulation of electron acceleration in an underdense plasma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S Darvish Molla

2011-06-01

Full Text Available One of the interesting Laser-Plasma phenomena, when the laser power is high and ultra intense, is the generation of large amplitude plasma waves (Wakefield and electron acceleration. An intense electromagnetic laser pulse can create plasma oscillations through the action of the nonlinear pondermotive force. electrons trapped in the wake can be accelerated to high energies, more than 1 TW. Of the wide variety of methods for generating a regular electric field in plasmas with strong laser radiation, the most attractive one at the present time is the scheme of the Laser Wake Field Accelerator (LWFA. In this method, a strong Langmuir wave is excited in the plasma. In such a wave, electrons are trapped and can acquire relativistic energies, accelerated to high energies. In this paper the PIC simulation of wakefield generation and electron acceleration in an underdense plasma with a short ultra intense laser pulse is discussed. 2D electromagnetic PIC code is written by FORTRAN 90, are developed, and the propagation of different electromagnetic waves in vacuum and plasma is shown. Next, the accuracy of implementation of 2D electromagnetic code is verified, making it relativistic and simulating the generating of wakefield and electron acceleration in an underdense plasma. It is shown that when a symmetric electromagnetic pulse passes through the plasma, the longitudinal field generated in plasma, at the back of the pulse, is weaker than the one due to an asymmetric electromagnetic pulse, and thus the electrons acquire less energy. About the asymmetric pulse, when front part of the pulse has smaller time rise than the back part of the pulse, a stronger wakefield generates, in plasma, at the back of the pulse, and consequently the electrons acquire more energy. In an inverse case, when the rise time of the back part of the pulse is bigger in comparison with that of the back part, a weaker wakefield generates and this leads to the fact that the electrons

Recent Progress on Laser Produced Positron Research At LLN

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Hui; Hermann, M.; Kalantar, D.; Kemp, A.; Link, A.; Jiang, S.; Martinez, D.; Park, J.; Remington, B.; Sherlock, M.; Williams, Gj; Beg, F.; Edghill, B.; Fedosejevs, R.; Kerr, S.; D'Humieres, E.; Fiuza, F.; Willingale, L.; Fiksel, G.; Nakai, N.; Arikawa, Y.; Morace, A.; Sentoku, Y.

2017-10-01

We report the recent results on laser-produced relativistic electron-positron plasma jets. This includes: the prepulse and material dependence of pair generation; time dependent positron acceleration and maximum achieved pair density. We will highlight the results from recent experiments on the Omega EP laser testing nanostructured target to increase pair yield. We will also report on a newly commissioned platform using the NIF ARC lasers which was developed for efficient pair creation using 10 ps laser duration at near relativistic laser intensity. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. DOE by LLNL under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344, and funded by LDRD (#17-ERD-010).

Present status of the theoretical relativistic plasma SHF electronics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuzelev, M.V.; Rukhadze, A.A.

2000-01-01

Paper presents a review of theoretical investigations into powerful sources of SHF waves grounded on the forced emission of relativistic electron beams in plasma wave guides and resonator. Emission sources operating under amplification of a certain inlet signal and under generation mode were studied. Two mechanisms of forced emission: resonance Cherenkov radiation of relativistic electron beams in plasma and nonresonance Pierce emission resulting from evolution of high-frequency Pierce instability, were studied. Paper discusses theoretical problems only, all evaluations and calculations are made for the parameters of the exact experiments, the theoretical results are compared with the available experimental data. Factors affecting formation of spectrum of waves excited by relativistic electron beam in plasma systems are discussed [ru

Experimental investigation of the trapping and energy loss mechanisms of intense relativistic electron rings in hydrogen gas and plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, A.C. Jr.

1977-01-01

The results of an experimental study on the trapping and energy loss mechanisms of intense, relativistic electron rings confined in Astron-like magnetic field geometries are presented. The work is subdivided into four sections: gas trapping; average ring electron energetics; plasma trapping, and hollow-beam cusp-injection into gas and plasma. The mechanisms by which the injected beam coalesces into a current ring in the existing Cornell RECE-Berta facility are considered. To investigate the nature of ring electron energy loss mechanisms following completion of the trapping process, a diagnostic was developed utilizing multi-foil X-ray absorption spectroscopy to analyze the Bremsstrahlung generated by the electrons as they impinge upon a thin tungsten wire target suspended in the circulating current. Finally, a set of preliminary experimental results is presented in which an annular electron beam was passed through a coaxial, non-adiabatic magnetic cusp located at one end of a magnetic mirror well

Enhanced propagation for relativistic laser pulses in inhomogeneous plasmas using hollow channels.

Science.gov (United States)

Fuchs, J; d'Humières, E; Sentoku, Y; Antici, P; Atzeni, S; Bandulet, H; Depierreux, S; Labaune, C; Schiavi, A

2010-11-26

The influence of long (several millimeters) and hollow channels, bored in inhomogeneous ionized plasma by using a long pulse laser beam, on the propagation of short, ultraintense laser pulses has been studied. Compared to the case without a channel, propagation in channels significantly improves beam transmission and maintains a beam quality close to propagation in vacuum. In addition, the growth of the forward-Raman instability is strongly reduced. These results are beneficial for the direct scheme of the fast ignitor concept of inertial confinement fusion as we demonstrate, in fast-ignition-relevant conditions, that with such channels laser energy can be carried through increasingly dense plasmas close to the fuel core with minimal losses.

Physical processes in relativistic plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Svensson, R.

1984-01-01

The continuum emission in many active galactic nuclei (AGNs) extend to 100 keV and beyond (e.g. Rothschild et al. 1983). In thermal models of the continuum emission this implies temperatures above 10 9 K or kT of order mc 2 . In such a plasma the electrons are at least mildly relativistic and furthermore the particles and the photons are energetic enough to produce electron-positron pairs. The physics of such hot plasmas has only recently been studied in any detail and here we review the results of those studies. Significant electron-positron pair production may also occur in non-thermal models of the continuum emission if the optical depth to photon-photon pair production is greater than unity. We review the few results obtained regarding this interesting but not very well studied possibility. First, however, we briefly discuss the processes taking place in relativistic plasmas and the standard models for the continuum emission from AGNs. We then summarize the effects pair production have on these models and the observational implications of the presence of electron-positron pairs. (orig./WL)

Heating of underdense plasmas by intense lasers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kruer, W.L.

1972-08-01

In this note we show that two intense driving fields with frequency much greater than the electron plasma frequency (ω/sub pe/), but with a frequency separation of nearly ω/sub pe/, will couple electron and ion plasma waves and drive them unstable. 6 refs

Heating of a plasma by a powerful relativistic electron beam in a strong magnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arzhannikov, A.V.; Brejzman, B.N.; Vyacheslavov, L.N.; Kojdan, V.S.; Konyukhov, V.V.; Ryutov, D.D.

1975-01-01

The results of an experimental investigation into the interaction of a powerful relativistic electron beam with plasma in the INAR apparatus are presented. The relativistic electron beam had initial energy of 1 MeV, maximum injection current of 10 kA, duration of 70 ns, and diameter of 2 cm. The total beam energy at entry into the plasma was approximately 300 J. The beam was injected into the column of a hydrogen plasma 230 cm long, 8 cm in diameter, and with a density of 3 x 10 14 cm -3 . The magnetic field had mirror-trap geometry (mirror ratio 1.7, intensity in the uniform portion up to 15 kOe). In the experiments, various diagnostic methods were used, making it possible to measure the beam current, the total current within the plasma, the total energy of the beam entering and leaving the plasma, and the distribution of beam current over the cross-section at the plasma outlet; opposing high-energy electrons were recorded. The density of the preliminary plasma was controlled during the experiment; the energy content of the plasma was determined from diamagnetic measurements; the electron distribution function was analysed by the method of Thomson scattering of light at 90deg. From an analysis of the shape of the diamagnetic signals and distribution of diamagnetism along the length of the apparatus it was established that under the assumption of predominant electron heating, the temperature of plasma electrons in order of magnitude equals 1 keV for a plasma density of 5 x 10 13 cm -3 . The cause of heating cannot be dissipation of the reversed current. According to Thomson scattering of laser radiation, the authors established the presence of a comparatively cold plasma component with temperature of 25 eV. High-energy electrons moving from the opposite direction toward the beam were recorded; their appearance evidently was associated with acceleration of plasma electrons in the induction fields. Mechanisms which can provide effective heating of the whole mass of

On the dispersion characteristics of extraordinary mode in a relativistic fully degenerate electron plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Noureen, S.; Abbas, G.; Sarfraz, M.

2018-01-01

The study of relativistic degenerate plasmas is important in many astrophysical and laboratory environments. Using linearized relativistic Vlasov-Maxwell equations, a generalized expression for the plasma conductivity tensor is derived. Employing Fermi-Dirac distribution at zero temperature, the dispersion relation of the extraordinary mode in a relativistic degenerate electron plasma is investigated. The propagation characteristics are examined in different relativistic density ranges. The shifting of cutoff points due to relativistic effects is observed analytically and graphically. Non-relativistic and ultra-relativistic limiting cases are also presented.

Intense relativistic electron beam injector system for tokamak current drive

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bailey, V.L.; Creedon, J.M.; Ecker, B.M.; Helava, H.I.

1983-01-01

We report experimental and theoretical studies of an intense relativistic electron beam (REB) injection system designed for tokamak current drive experiments. The injection system uses a standard high-voltage pulsed REB generator and a magnetically insulated transmission line (MITL) to drive an REB-accelerating diode in plasma. A series of preliminary experiments has been carried out to test the system by injecting REBs into a test chamber with preformed plasma and applied magnetic field. REBs were accelerated from two types of diodes: a conventional vacuum diode with foil anode, and a plasma diode, i.e., an REB cathode immersed in the plasma. REB current was in the range of 50 to 100 kA and REB particle energy ranged from 0.1 to 1.0 MeV. MITL power density exceeded 10 GW/cm 2 . Performance of the injection system and REB transport properties is documented for plasma densities from 5 x 10 12 to 2 x 10 14 cm -3 . Injection system data are compared with numerical calculations of the performance of the coupled system consisting of the generator, MITL, and diode

On the kinetic theory of parametric resonance in relativistic plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Ashry, M.Y.

1982-08-01

The instability of relativistic hot plasma located in high-frequency external electric field is studied. The dispersion relation, in the case when the plasma electrons have relativistic oscillatory motion, is obtained. It is shown that if the electron Deby's radius is less than the wave length of plasma oscillation and far from the resonance on the overtones of the external field frequency, the oscillation build-up is possible. It is also shown that taking into account the relativistic motion of electrons leads to a considerable decrease in the frequency at which the parametric resonance takes place. (author)

Energy transport in laser produced plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Key, M.H.

1989-06-01

The study of energy transport in laser produced plasmas is of great interest both because it tests and develops understanding of several aspects of basic plasma physics and also because it is of central importance in major applications of laser produced plasmas including laser fusion, the production of intense X-ray sources, and X-ray lasers. The three sections cover thermal electrons (energy transport in one dimension, plane targets and lateral transport from a focal spot, thermal smoothing, thermal instabilities), hot electrons (preheating in one dimension, lateral transport from a focal spot) and radiation (preheating in one dimension, lateral transport and smoothing, instabilities). (author)

Plasma satellites of X-ray lines of ions in a picosecond laser plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)