Laser-Plasma Interactions in High-Energy-Density Plasmas

High temperature hohlraums (HTH) are designed to reach high radiation temperatures by coupling a maximum amount of laser energy into a small target in a short time. These 400-800 {micro}m diameter gold cylinders rapidly fill with hot plasma during irradiation with multiple beams in 1ns laser pulses. The high-Z plasmas are dense, (electron density, n{sub e}/n{sub c} {approx} 0.1-0.4), hot (electron temperature, T{sub e} {approx} 10keV) and are bathed in a high-temperature radiation field (radiation temperature, T{sub rad} {approx} 300eV). Here n{sub c}, the critical density, equals 9 x 10{sup 21}/cm{sup 3}. The laser beams heating this plasma are intense ({approx} 10{sup 15} - 10{sup 17} W/cm{sup 2}). The coupling of the laser to the plasma is a rich regime for Laser-Plasma Interaction (LPI) physics. The LPI mechanisms in this study include beam deflection and forward scattering. In order to understand the LPI mechanisms, the plasma parameters must be known. An L-band spectrometer is used to measure the and electron temperature. A ride-along experiment is to develop the x-radiation emitted by the thin back wall of the half-hohlraum into a thermal radiation source

Time-resolved soft x-ray spectra from laser-produced Cu plasma

The volumetric heating of a thin copper target has been studied with time resolved x-ray spectroscopy. The copper target was heated from a plasma produced using the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's Compact Multipulse Terrawatt (COMET) laser. A variable spaced grating spectrometer coupled to an x-ray streak camera measured soft x-ray emission (800-1550 eV) from the back of the copper target to characterize the bulk heating of the target. Radiation hydrodynamic simulations were modeled in 2-dimensions using the HYDRA code. The target conditions calculated by HYDRA were post-processed with the atomic kinetics code CRETIN to generate synthetic emission spectra. A comparison between the experimental and simulated spectra indicates the presence of specific ionization states of copper and the corresponding electron temperatures and ion densities throughout the laser-heated copper target

Results on Plasma Focusing of High Energy Density Electron and Positron Beams

We present results from the SLAC E-150 experiment on plasma focusing of high energy density electron and, for the first time, positron beams. We also discuss measurements on plasma lens-induced synchrotron radiation, longitudinal dynamics of plasma focusing, and laser- and beam-plasma interactions.Comment: LINAC 2000 paper No. THC13, Monterey, CA. Aug.21-25,2000, 3 pages, 2 figure

Observation of Plasma Focusing of a 28.5 GeV Positron Beam

The observation of plasma focusing of a 28.5 GeV positron beam is reported. The plasma was formed by ionizing a nitrogen jet only 3 mm thick. Simultaneous focusing in both transverse dimensions was observed with effective focusing strengths of order Tesla per micron. The minimum area of the beam spot was reduced by a factor of 2.0 +/- 0.3 by the plasma. The longitudinal beam envelope was measured and compared with numerical calculations

X-ray Spectral Measurements and Collisional Radiative Modeling of Hot, High-Z Plasmas at the Omega Laser

M-Band and L-Band Gold spectra between 3 to 5 keV and 8 to 13 keV, respectively, have been recorded by a photometrically calibrated crystal spectrometer. The spectra were emitted from the plasma in the laser deposition region of a 'hot hohlraum'. This is a reduced-scale hohlraum heated with {approx} 9 kJ of 351 nm light in a 1 ns square pulse at the Omega laser. The space- and time-integrated spectra included L-Band line emission from Co-like to Ne-like gold. The three L-Band line features were identified to be the 3s {yields} 2p, 3d{sub 5/2} {yields} 2p{sub 3/2} and 3d{sub 3/2} {yields} 2p{sub 1/2} transitions at {approx}9 keV, {approx}10 keV and {approx}13 keV, respectively. M-Band 5f {yields} 3d, 4d {yields} 3p, and 4p {yields} 3s transition features from Fe-like to P-like gold were also recorded between 3 to 5 keV. Modeling from the radiation-hydrodynamics code LASNEX, the collisional-radiative codes FLYCHK and SCRAM, and the atomic structure code FAC were used to model the plasma and generate simulated spectra for comparison with the recorded spectra. Through these comparisons, we have determined the average electron temperature of the emitting plasma to be {approx} 6.5 keV. The electron temperatures predicted by LASNEX appear to be too large by a factor of about 1.5

First documentation of the Polygnathoides siluricus conodont Zone (Ludfordian) in South America (Argentina) and the stratigraphic significance of the younger species of Kockelella (Conodonta)

The coquinoid beds from the middle part of the Los Espejos Formation at the Poblete creek section (Talacasto Creek) yielded abundant conodonts. The genus Kockelella (Walliser) represents the most relevant biostratigraphical genus in this conodont fauna. The co-occurrence of Kockelella maenniki Serpagli and Corradini, Kockelella variabilis ichnusae Serpagli and Corradini, K. variabilis Walliser, Kockelella ortus sardoa (Serpagli & Corradini), and Kockelella ortus absidata (Barrick & Klapper) allow us to record for the first time the Polygnathoides siluricus Zone in South America, which suggests the Ludfordian Stage (late Ludlow). We also propose an accurate correlation of the Los Espejos Formation with the lower Ludfordian deposits from the Carnic Alps, Sardinia, Morocco, Czech Republic, Gotland, and North America.Fil: Gomez, Maria Jose. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan. Centro de Investigaciones de la Geosfera y Biosfera. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones de la Geosfera y Biosfera; ArgentinaFil: Mestre, Ana Paula. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan. Centro de Investigaciones de la Geosfera y Biosfera. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones de la Geosfera y Biosfera; ArgentinaFil: Garcias Paez, Yanina Vanesa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan. Centro de Investigaciones de la Geosfera y Biosfera. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones de la Geosfera y Biosfera; ArgentinaFil: Corradini, Carlo. Università degli Studi di Cagliari; Itali

X-band photoinjector for a chirped-pulse FEL

The phase noise and jitter characteristics of the laser and rf systems of a high gradient X-band photoinjector have been measured experimentally. When > 100 coherently phased 5 MeV electron bunches are produced in bursts, the photoinjector should be an ideal electron source for a pulsed, pre-bunched free-electron laser (FEL) operating at 100 GHz. The laser oscillator is a self-modelocked Titanium:Sapphire system operating at the 108th subharmonic of the rf gun. The X-band signal is produced from the laser by a phase-locked dielectric resonance oscillator, and amplified by a pulsed TWT and klystron. A comparison between the klystron and TWT amplifier phase noise and the fields excited in the rf gun demonstrates the filtering effect of the high Q structure, thus indicating that the rf gun can be used as a master oscillator, and could be energized by either a rf oscillator such as a magnetron or a compact source such as a cross-field amplifier. In particular, the rf gun can play the role of a pulsed rf clock to synchronize the photocathode laser system: direct drive of a synchronously mode-locked AlGaAs quantum well laser has been achieved using the X0-band gun rf fields. This novel, GHz repetition rate, sub-picosecond laser system is being developed to replace the more conventional femtosecond Ti: Al2O3 system. Some advantages include pumping this laser with a stabilized current source instead of a costly, low efficiency pump laser. Finally, dark current measurements and initial photoelectron measurements are reported

Plasma-Based Studies on 4th Generation Light Sources

The construction of a short pulse tunable x-ray laser source will be a watershed for plasma-based and warm dense matter research. The areas we will discuss below can be separated broadly into warn dense matter (WDM) research, laser probing of near solid density plasmas, and laser-plasma spectroscopy of ions in plasmas. The area of WDM refers to that part of the density-temperature phase space where the standard theories of condensed matter physics and/or plasma statistical physics are invalid. Warm dense matter, therefore, defines a region between solids and plasmas, a regime that is found in planetary interiors, cool dense stars, and in every plasma device where one starts from a solid, e.g., laser-solid matter produced plasma as well as all inertial fusion schemes. The study of dense plasmas has been severely hampered by the fact that laser-based methods have been unavailable. The single most useful diagnostic of local plasma conditions, e.g., the temperature (T{sub e}), the density (n{sub e}), and the ionization (Z), has been Thomson scattering. However, due to the fact that visible light will not propagate at electron densities, n{sub e}, {ge} 10{sup 22} cm{sup -3} implies dense plasmas can not be probed. The 4th generation sources, LCLS and Tesla will remove these restrictions. Laser-based plasma spectroscopic techniques have been used with great success to determine the line shapes of atomic transitions in plasmas, study the population kinetics of atomic systems embedded in plasmas, and look at redistribution of radiation. However. the possibilities end for plasmas with n{sub e} {ge} 10{sup 22} since light propagation through the medium is severely altered by the plasma. The entire field of high Z plasma kinetics from laser produced plasma will then be available to study with the tunable source