189 research outputs found
A study of laser plasmas as X-ray sources in the 1-10 keV spectral region
An experimental investigation on X-ray emission from laser-produced plasmas is presented and the properties of such an emission of interest for application purposes are examined. Plasmas were generated by focusing 1 μm, 3 ns Nd laser pulses onto Al and Cu targets at an intensity of 1013 W/cm2. The temporal evolution of the emission and its spectral features were investigated by using an X-ray streak-camera and an X-ray photodiode. In the case of Cu targets, the analysis of the emission showed two spectral components. The main component was centered at ≈ 1.2 keV and a minor component, whose intensity was measured to be 10-3 of the previous component, was observed at ≈7 keV. The X-ray conversion efficiency, in the investigated spectral region, was measured to be 1% for Cu targets and 0.3% for Al targets
Theory of laser ion acceleration from a foil target of nanometers
A theory for laser ion acceleration is presented to evaluate the maximum ion
energy in the interaction of ultrahigh contrast (UHC) intense laser with a
nanometer-scale foil. In this regime the energy of ions may be directly related
to the laser intensity and subsequent electron dynamics. This leads to a simple
analytical expression for the ion energy gain under the laser irradiation of
thin targets. Significantly, higher energies for thin targets than for thicker
targets are predicted. Theory is concretized to the details of recent
experiments which may find its way to compare with these results.Comment: 22 pages 7 figures. will be submitted to NJ
Evidence of resonant surface wave excitation in the relativistic regime through measurements of proton acceleration from grating targets
The interaction of laser pulses with thin grating targets, having a periodic
groove at the irradiated surface, has been experimentally investigated.
Ultrahigh contrast () pulses allowed to demonstrate an enhanced
laser-target coupling for the first time in the relativistic regime of
ultra-high intensity >10^{19} \mbox{W/cm}^{2}. A maximum increase by a factor
of 2.5 of the cut-off energy of protons produced by Target Normal Sheath
Acceleration has been observed with respect to plane targets, around the
incidence angle expected for resonant excitation of surface waves. A
significant enhancement is also observed for small angles of incidence, out of
resonance.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, 2nd version implements final correction
Iron and Nickel spectral opacity calculations in conditions relevant for pulsating stellar envelopes and experiments
Seismology of stars is strongly developing. To address this question we have
formed an international collaboration OPAC to perform specific experimental
measurements, compare opacity calculations and improve the opacity calculations
in the stellar codes [1]. We consider the following opacity codes: SCO,
CASSANDRA, STA, OPAS, LEDCOP, OP, SCO-RCG. Their comparison has shown large
differences for Fe and Ni in equivalent conditions of envelopes of type II
supernova precursors, temperatures between 15 and 40 eV and densities of a few
mg/cm3 [2, 3, 4]. LEDCOP, OPAS, SCO-RCG structure codes and STA give similar
results and differ from OP ones for the lower temperatures and for spectral
interval values [3]. In this work we discuss the role of Configuration
Interaction (CI) and the influence of the number of used configurations. We
present and include in the opacity code comparisons new HULLAC-v9 calculations
[5, 6] that include full CI. To illustrate the importance of this effect we
compare different CI approximations (modes) available in HULLAC-v9 [7]. These
results are compared to previous predictions and to experimental data.
Differences with OP results are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, conference Inertial Fusion Sciences and
Applications, Bordeaux, 12th to 16th September 2011; EPJ web of Conferences
201
Extreme Ultraviolet Beam Enhancement by Relativistic Surface Plasmons
The emission of high-order harmonics in the extreme ultraviolet range from the interaction of a short, intense laser pulse with a grating target is investigated experimentally. When resonantly exciting a surface plasmon, both the intensity and the highest order observed for the harmonic emission along the grating surface increase with respect to a flat target. Harmonics are obtained when a suitable density gradient is preformed at the target surface, demonstrating the possibility to manipulate the grating profile on a nanometric scale without preventing the surface plasmon excitation. In support of this, the harmonic emission is spatiotemporally correlated to the acceleration of multi-MeV electron bunches along the grating surface. Particle-in-cell simulations reproduce the experimental results and give insight on the mechanism of high harmonic generation in the presence of surface plasmons
Assessing the impact of two independent direction-dependent calibration algorithms on the LOFAR 21-cm signal power spectrum
Detecting the 21-cm signal from the Epoch of Reionisation (EoR) is
challenging due to the strong astrophysical foregrounds, ionospheric effects,
radio frequency interference and instrumental effects. Understanding and
calibrating these effects are crucial for the detection. In this work, we
introduce a newly developed direction-dependent (DD) calibration algorithm
DDECAL and compare its performance with an existing algorithm, SAGECAL, in the
context of the LOFAR-EoR 21-cm power spectrum experiment. In our data set, the
North Celestial Pole (NCP) and its flanking fields were observed
simultaneously. We analyse the NCP and one of its flanking fields. The NCP
field is calibrated by the standard pipeline, using SAGECAL with an extensive
sky model and 122 directions, and the flanking field is calibrated by DDECAL
and SAGECAL with a simpler sky model and 22 directions. Additionally, two
strategies are used for subtracting Cassiopeia A and Cygnus A. The results show
that DDECAL performs better at subtracting sources in the primary beam region
due to the application of a beam model, while SAGECAL performs better at
subtracting Cassiopeia A and Cygnus A. This indicates that including a beam
model during DD calibration significantly improves the performance. The benefit
is obvious in the primary beam region. We also compare the 21-cm power spectra
on two different fields. The results show that the flanking field produces
better upper limits compared to the NCP in this particular observation. Despite
the minor differences between DDECAL and SAGECAL due to the beam application,
we find that the two algorithms yield comparable 21-cm power spectra on the
LOFAR-EoR data after foreground removal. Hence, the current LOFAR-EoR 21-cm
power spectrum limits are not likely to depend on the DD calibration method.Comment: 28 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Measurement of XUV-absorption spectra of ZnS radiatively heated foils
Time-resolved absorption of zinc sulfide (ZnS) and aluminum in the XUV-range
has been measured. Thin foils in conditions close to local thermodynamic
equilibrium were heated by radiation from laser-irradiated gold spherical
cavities. Analysis of the aluminum foil radiative hydrodynamic expansion, based
on the detailed atomic calculations of its absorption spectra, showed that the
cavity emitted flux that heated the absorption foils corresponds to a radiation
temperature in the range 55 60 eV. Comparison of the ZnS absorption spectra
with calculations based on a superconfiguration approach identified the
presence of species Zn6+ - Zn8+ and S5+ - S6+. Based on the validation of the
radiative source simulations, experimental spectra were then compared to
calculations performed by post-processing the radiative hydrodynamic
simulations of ZnS. Satisfying agreement is found when temperature gradients
are accounted for
Electron Acceleration by Relativistic Surface Plasmons in Laser-Grating Interaction
The generation of energetic electron bunches by the interaction of a short, ultraintense (I>1019 W/cm2) laser pulse with "grating" targets has been investigated in a regime of ultrahigh pulse-to-prepulse contrast (1012). For incidence angles close to the resonant condition for surface plasmon excitation, a strong electron emission was observed within a narrow cone along the target surface, with energy spectra peaking at 5-8 MeV and total charge of ∼100 pC. Both the energy and the number of emitted electrons were strongly enhanced with respect to simple flat targets. The experimental data are closely reproduced by three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, which provide evidence for the generation of relativistic surface plasmons and for their role in driving the acceleration process. Besides the possible applications of the scheme as a compact, ultrashort source of MeV electrons, these results are a step forward in the development of high-field plasmonics
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