Ion stopping in warm dense matter is a process of fundamental importance for the understanding of the properties of dense plasmas, the realization and the interpretation of experiments involving ...ion-beam-heated warm dense matter samples, and for inertial confinement fusion research. The theoretical description of the ion stopping power in warm dense matter is difficult notably due to electron coupling and degeneracy, and measurements are still largely missing. In particular, the low-velocity stopping range, that features the largest modelling uncertainties, remains virtually unexplored. Here, we report proton energy-loss measurements in warm dense plasma at unprecedented low projectile velocities. Our energy-loss data, combined with a precise target characterization based on plasma-emission measurements using two independent spectroscopy diagnostics, demonstrate a significant deviation of the stopping power from classical models in this regime. In particular, we show that our results are in closest agreement with recent first-principles simulations based on time-dependent density functional theory.
The energy deposition of ions in dense plasmas is a key process in inertial confinement fusion that determines the α-particle heating expected to trigger a burn wave in the hydrogen pellet and ...resulting in high thermonuclear gain. However, measurements of ion stopping in plasmas are scarce and mostly restricted to high ion velocities where theory agrees with the data. Here, we report experimental data at low projectile velocities near the Bragg peak, where the stopping force reaches its maximum. This parameter range features the largest theoretical uncertainties and conclusive data are missing until today. The precision of our measurements, combined with a reliable knowledge of the plasma parameters, allows to disprove several standard models for the stopping power for beam velocities typically encountered in inertial fusion. On the other hand, our data support theories that include a detailed treatment of strong ion-electron collisions.
We report on a new experimental setup for ion energy loss measurements in dense moderately coupled plasma which has recently been developed and tested at GSI Darmstadt. A partially ionized, ...moderately coupled carbon plasma (ne ≤ 0.8* 1022 cm-3, Te = 15 eV, z = 2.5, Γ = 0.5) is generated by volumetrical heating of two thin carbon foils with soft X-rays. This plasma is then probed by a bunched heavy ion beam. For that purpose, a special double gold hohlraum target of sub-millimeter size has been developed which efficiently converts intense laser light into thermal radiation and guarantees a gold-free interaction path for the ion beam traversing the carbon plasma. This setup allows to do precise energy loss measurements in non-ideal plasma at the level of 10 percent solid-state density.
Simulations have been performed to study the energy loss of carbon ions in a hot, laser-generated plasma in the velocity region of the stopping-power maximum. In this parameter range, discrepancies ...of up to 30% exist between the various stopping theories and hardly any experimental data are available. The considered plasma, created by irradiating a thin carbon foil with two high-energy laser beams, is fully-ionized with a temperature of nearly 200 eV. To study the interaction at the maximum stopping power, Monte-Carlo calculations of the ion charge state in the plasma are carried out at a projectile energy of 0.5 MeV per nucleon. The predictions of various stopping-power theories are compared and experimental campaigns are planned for a first-time theory benchmarking in this low-velocity range.
High density plasma physics, radiation emission/scattering and related atomic physics, spectroscopy and diagnostics are going to make large steps forward due to new experimental facilities providing ...beams of intense heavy ions and X/XUV free electron laser radiation. These facilities are currently being established at GSI-Darmstadt and DESY-Hamburg in Germany to access new and complementary parameter regimes for basic research which have never been obtained in laboratories so far: homogenous benchmark samples near solid density and temperatures from eV up to keV. This will provide important impact to many disciplines like astrophysics, atomic physics in dense environments, dense and strongly coupled plasma effects, radiation emission, equation of state. The spectroscopic analysis of the radiation emission plays a key role in this research to investigate the dynamics of electric fields in multi-particle coupled Coulomb systems and the modification of plasma statistics.
Extreme states of matter such as Warm Dense Matter “WDM” and Dense Strongly Coupled Plasmas “DSCP” play a key role in many high energy density experiments, however, creating WDM and DSCP in a manner ...that can be quantified is not readily feasible. In this paper, isochoric heating of matter by intense heavy ion beams in spherical symmetry is investigated for WDM and DSCP research: the heating times are long (100
ns), the samples are macroscopically large (millimeter-size) and the symmetry is advantageous for diagnostic purposes. A dynamic confinement scheme in spherical symmetry is proposed which allows even ion beam heating times that are long on the hydrodynamic time scale of the target response. A particular selection of low-
Z target tamper and X-ray probe radiation parameters allows to identify the X-ray scattering from the target material and use it for independent charge state measurements
Z* of the material under study.
The energy loss of light ions in dense plasmas is investigated with special focus on low to medium projectile energies, i.e., at velocities where the maximum of the stopping power occurs. In this ...region, exceptionally large theoretical uncertainties remain and no conclusive experimental data are available. We perform simulations of beam-plasma configurations well suited for an experimental test of ion energy loss in highly ionized, laser-generated carbon plasmas. The plasma parameters are extracted from two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations, and a Monte Carlo calculation of the charge-state distribution of the projectile ion beam determines the dynamics of the ion charge state over the whole plasma profile. We show that the discrepancies in the energy loss predicted by different theoretical models are as high as 20-30%, making these theories well distinguishable in suitable experiments.
This Letter reports on the measurement of the energy loss and the projectile charge states of argon ions at an energy of 4 MeV/u penetrating a fully ionized carbon plasma. The plasma of n(e)≈10(20) ...cm(-3) and T(e)≈180 eV is created by two laser beams at λ(Las)=532 nm incident from opposite sides on a thin carbon foil. The resulting plasma is spatially homogenous and allows us to record precise experimental data. The data show an increase of a factor of 2 in the stopping power which is in very good agreement with a specifically developed Monte Carlo code, that allows the calculation of the heavy ion beam's charge state distribution and its energy loss in the plasma.
Laser-produced proton beams have been used to achieve ultrafast volumetric heating of carbon samples at solid density. The isochoric melting of carbon was probed by a scattering of x rays from a ...secondary laser-produced plasma. From the scattering signal, we have deduced the fraction of the material that was melted by the inhomogeneous heating. The results are compared to different theoretical approaches for the equation of state which suggests modifications from standard models.
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