Superponderomotive-energy electrons are observed experimentally from the interaction of an intense laser pulse with a relativistically transparent target. For a relativistically transparent target, ...kinetic modeling shows that the generation of energetic electrons is dominated by energy transfer within the main, classically overdense, plasma volume. The laser pulse produces a narrowing, funnel-like channel inside the plasma volume that generates a field structure responsible for the electron heating. The field structure combines a slowly evolving azimuthal magnetic field, generated by a strong laser-driven longitudinal electron current, and, unexpectedly, a strong propagating longitudinal electric field, generated by reflections off the walls of the funnel-like channel. The magnetic field assists electron heating by the transverse electric field of the laser pulse through deflections, whereas the longitudinal electric field directly accelerates the electrons in the forward direction. The longitudinal electric field produced by reflections is 30 times stronger than that in the incoming laser beam and the resulting direct laser acceleration contributes roughly one third of the energy transferred by the transverse electric field of the laser pulse to electrons of the super-ponderomotive tail.
The ability to produce long-scale length (i.e. millimeter scale-length), homogeneous plasmas is of interest in studying a wide range of fundamental plasma processes. We present here a validated ...experimental platform to create and diagnose uniform plasmas with a density close or above the critical density. The target consists of a polyimide tube filled with an ultra low-density plastic foam where it was heated by x-rays, produced by a long pulse laser irradiating a copper foil placed at one end of the tube. The density and temperature of the ionized foam was retrieved by using x-ray radiography and proton radiography was used to verify the uniformity of the plasma. Plasma temperatures of 5-10 eV and densities around 10(21) cm(-3) are measured. This well-characterized platform of uniform density and temperature plasma is of interest for experiments using large-scale laser platforms conducting High Energy Density Physics investigations.
Experiments were performed to investigate the propagation of a high intensity (I approximately 10(21) W cm(-2)) laser in foam targets with densities ranging from 0.9n(c) to 30n(c). Proton ...acceleration was used to diagnose the interaction. An improvement in proton beam energy and efficiency is observed for the lowest density foam (n(e)=0.9n(c)), compared to higher density foams. Simulations show that the laser beam penetrates deeper into the target due to its relativistic propagation and results in greater collimation of the ensuing hot electrons. This results in the rear surface accelerating electric field being larger, increasing the efficiency of the acceleration. Enhanced collimation of the ions is seen to be due to the self-generated azimuthal magnetic and electric fields at the rear of the target.
The propagation of fast electron currents in near solid-density media was investigated via proton probing. Fast currents were generated inside dielectric foams via irradiation with a short (∼0.6 ps) ...laser pulse focused at relativistic intensities (Iλ^{2}∼4×10^{19} W cm^{-2} μm^{2}). Proton probing provided a spatially and temporally resolved characterization of the evolution of the electromagnetic fields and of the associated net currents directly inside the target. The progressive growth of beam filamentation was temporally resolved and information on the divergence of the fast electron beam was obtained. Hybrid simulations of electron propagation in dense media indicate that resistive effects provide a major contribution to field generation and explain well the topology, magnitude, and temporal growth of the fields observed in the experiment. Estimations of the growth rates for different types of instabilities pinpoints the resistive instability as the most likely dominant mechanism of beam filamentation.
The physics of laser-plasma interaction is studied on the Shenguang III prototype laser facility under conditions relevant to inertial confinement fusion designs. A sub-millimeter-size underdense hot ...plasma is created by ionization of a low-density plastic foam by four high-energy (3.2 kJ) laser beams. An interaction beam is fired with a delay permitting evaluation of the excitation of parametric instabilities at different stages of plasma evolution. Multiple diagnostics are used for plasma characterization, scattered radiation, and accelerated electrons. The experimental results are analyzed with radiation hydrodynamic simulations that take account of foam ionization and homogenization. The measured level of stimulated Raman scattering is almost one order of magnitude larger than that measured in experiments with gasbags and hohlraums on the same installation, possibly because of a greater plasma density. Notable amplification is achieved in high-intensity speckles, indicating the importance of implementing laser temporal smoothing techniques with a large bandwidth for controlling laser propagation and absorption.
The Target Fabrication group at the Central Laser Facility (CLF) works to develop and produce novel targets for the high-power laser community. Targets range from simple foils to more complex ...geometries and with many components and key part of the research is materials development. We describe the recent advances in the CLF in surface preparation for electroplating and the manufacture of thin films. Characterisation of these materials is carried out using Atomic Force Microscope and Scanning Electron Microscopy. These advances have been applied to target components that have been used experimentally on the Vulcan Laser system at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.
Manufacturing low density targets in the numbers needed for high rep rate experiments is highly challenging. This report summarises advances from manual production to semiautomated and the ...improvements that follow both in terms of production time and target uniformity. The production process is described and shown to be improved by the integration of an xyz robot with dispensing capabilities. Results are obtained from manual and semiautomated production runs and compared. The variance in the foam thickness is reduced significantly which should decrease experimental variation due to target parameters and could allow for whole batches to be characterised by the measurement of a few samples. The work applies to both foil backed and free standing foam targets.
This Letter presents first experimental results of the laser imprint reduction in fusion scale plasmas using a low-density foam layer. The experiments were conducted on the LIL facility at the energy ...level of 12 kJ with millimeter-size plasmas, reproducing the conditions of the initial interaction phase in the direct-drive scheme. The results include the generation of a supersonic ionization wave in the foam and the reduction of the initial laser fluctuations after propagation through 500 mum of foam with limited levels of stimulated Brillouin and Raman scattering. The smoothing mechanisms are analyzed and explained.
The low-density solid laser target characterization studies begun with the SkyScan 1074 computer microtomograph (CMT) 1, 2 are now continued with higher resolution of SkyScan 1174. The research is ...particularly focused on the possibility to obtain, control and measure precisely the gradient density polymers for laser target production. Repeatability of the samples and possibility to obtain stable gradients are analysed. The measurements were performed on the mm-scale divinyl benzene (DVB) rods.
Ultra intense laser light propagation in a homogeneous overdense plasma was investigated using a plastic foam target filling a polyimide tube. Laser propagation into overdense plasma was measured via ...Doppler red shift of the reflected laser light from the moving plasma at 0.3-0.4 of speed of light. We also observed strongly collimated electron beam possibly caused by the magnetic field surrounding the plasma channel, and high energy X-rays emitted via synchrotron radiation by the oscillating electrons inside the channel. These features imply that UIL propagates inside the overdense plasma as predicted in PIC calculation, and are very important for direct irradiation scheme of fast ignition.
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