75 research outputs found
Next Generation Driver for Attosecond and Laser-plasma Physics
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
The Speed of Sound in Methane under Conditions of the Thermal Boundary Layer of Uranus
We present the first direct observations of acoustic waves in warm dense
matter. We analyze wavenumber- and energy-resolved X-ray spectra taken from
warm dense methane created by laser-heating a cryogenic liquid jet. X-ray
diffraction and inelastic free electron scattering yield sample conditions of
0.30.1 eV and 0.80.1 g/cm, corresponding to a pressure of
13 GPa and matching the conditions predicted in the thermal boundary
layer between the inner and outer envelope of Uranus. Inelastic X-ray
scattering was used to observe the collective oscillations of the ions. With a
highly improved energy resolution of 50 meV, we could clearly distinguish
the Brillouin peaks from the quasi-elastic Rayleigh feature. Data at different
wavenumbers were used to obtain a sound speed of 5.90.5 km/s, which
enabled us to validate the use of Birch's law in this new parameter regime.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures with supplementary informatio
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