The acceleration of ions from ultrathin foils has been investigated by using 250 TW, subpicosecond laser pulses, focused to intensities of up to 3 × 10(20) W cm(-2). The ion spectra show the ...appearance of narrow-band features for protons and carbon ions peaked at higher energies (in the 5-10 MeV/nucleon range) and with significantly higher flux than previously reported. The spectral features and their scaling with laser and target parameters provide evidence of a multispecies scenario of radiation pressure acceleration in the light sail mode, as confirmed by analytical estimates and 2D particle-in-cell simulations. The scaling indicates that monoenergetic peaks with more than 100 MeV/nucleon are obtainable with moderate improvements of the target and laser characteristics, which are within reach of ongoing technical developments.
The dynamics of magnetic fields with an amplitude of several tens of megagauss, generated at both sides of a solid target irradiated with a high-intensity (~10(19) W/cm(2)) picosecond laser pulse, ...has been spatially and temporally resolved using a proton imaging technique. The amplitude of the magnetic fields is sufficiently large to have a constraining effect on the radial expansion of the plasma sheath at the target surfaces. These results, supported by numerical simulations and simple analytical modeling, may have implications for ion acceleration driven by the plasma sheath at the rear side of the target as well as for the laboratory study of self-collimated high-energy plasma jets.
An ultracompact laser-plasma-generated, fs-scale electron double bunch system can be injected into a high-density driver/witness-type plasma wakefield accelerator afterburner stage to boost the ...witness electrons monoenergetically to energies far beyond twice their initial energy on the GeV scale. The combination of conservation of monoenergetic phase-space structure and fs duration with radial electric plasma fields E(r)∼100 GV/m leads to dramatic transversal witness compression and unprecedented charge densities. It seems feasible to upscale and implement the scheme to future accelerator systems.
Abstract
Bulk electron temperatures are calculated for thin Cu targets irradiated by the petawatt class Vulcan laser, from the K
α
yield obtained using highly oriented pyrolytic graphite crystals. ...Cu-K
α
emission studies have been used to probe the bulk electron temperature. A 30–80 eV core temperature extends homogeneously over distances up to ten times the laser focal spot size. Energy shifting has been observed due to different ionization states produced for different temperatures in the plasma. Polarization dependencies of plasma temperature are observed through the production of x-rays in different targets. 2D PIC simulations were performed to measure the polarization dependency of bulk electron temperature, which supports our experimental results. This paper could be of importance in understanding the different behavior of laser coupling at different polarizations and their role in x-ray production.
Absorption measurements on solid conducting targets have been performed in s and p polarization with ultrashort, high-contrast Ti:sapphire laser pulses at intensities up to 5x10{16}W/cm{2} and pulse ...duration of 8 fs. The particular relevance of the reported absorption measurements lies in the fact that the extremely short laser pulse interacts with matter close to solid density during the entire pulse duration. A pronounced increase of absorption for p polarization at increasing angles is observed reaching 77% for an incidence angle of 80 degrees . Simulations performed using a 2D particle in cell code show a very good agreement with the experimental data for a plasma profile of L/lambda approximately 0.01.
Using an ultrafast pulse of mega-electron-volt energy protons accelerated from a laser-irradiated foil, we have heated solid density aluminum plasmas to temperatures in excess of 15 eV. By measuring ...the temperature and the expansion rate of the heated Al plasma simultaneously and with picosecond time resolution we have found the predictions of the SESAME Livermore equation-of-state (LEOS) tables to be accurate to within 18%, in this dense plasma regime, where there have been few previous experimental measurements.
Slowly evolving, regularly spaced patterns have been observed in proton projection images of plasma channels drilled by intense (≳10¹⁹ W cm⁻²) short (∼1 ps) laser pulses propagating in an ionized ...gas jet. The nature and geometry of the electromagnetic fields generating such patterns have been inferred by simulating the laser-plasma interaction and the following plasma evolution with a two-dimensional particle-in-cell code and the probe proton deflections by particle tracing. The analysis suggests the formation of rows of magnetized soliton remnants, with a quasistatic magnetic field associated with vortexlike electron currents resembling those of magnetic vortices.
Electrons have been accelerated from solid target surfaces by sub-10-fs laser pulses of 120 microJ energy which were focused to an intensity of 2x10;{16} W/cm;{2}. The electrons have a narrow angular ...distribution, and their observed energies exceed 150 keV. We show that these energies are not to be attributed to collective plasma effects but are mainly gained directly via repeated acceleration in the transient field pattern created by incident and reflected laser, alternating with phase-shift-generating scattering events in the solid.
The transport of an intense electron-beam produced by the Vulcan petawatt laser through dense plasmas has been studied by imaging with high resolution the optical emission due to electron transit ...through the rear side of coated foam targets. It is observed that the MeV-electron beam undergoes strong filamentation and the filaments organize themselves in a ringlike structure. This behavior has been modeled using particle-in-cell simulations of the laser-plasma interaction as well as of the transport of the electron beam through the preionized plasma. In the simulations the filamentary structures are reproduced and attributed to the Weibel instability.
Hypervelocity impacts of micrometeoroid and space debris particles can produce a highly transient plasma cloud that shows a spectrum of distinct electrical phenomena ranging from charge production to ...electrostatic field and electromagnetic wave generation. The coupling of these effects to electrical probes can be used as a means of in-situ debris detection to monitor the polluted orbits around the Earth. In the past, some detectors were built mainly for the detection of natural dust populations in space, such as a long heritage of charge collection detectors. In addition, several radio astronomy and ambient plasma instruments that were not specifically dedicated to particle detection revealed impact-induced anomalies during interplanetary missions. Most of them were explained by the interaction of electrically sensitive probes with free charges produced upon impact. For the application in low Earth orbits, one needs to take into account, that the man-made debris population differs from natural populations in many regards, as does the plasma environment between interplanetary space and in orbits close to Earth. The paper at hand gives a summary of detectors with flight heritage and devises a first concept for in situ space debris detectors in low Earth orbit by exploiting past experience with dust detectors in deep space.
•Review of past hypervelocity particle detectors.•Proposal for a novel technique for particle detection.•Impact-induced change in spacecraft floating potential.
PDF
