529 research outputs found
Suppression of Landau damping via electron band gap
The pondermotive potential in the X-ray Raman compression can generate an
electron band gap which suppresses the Landau damping. The regime is identified
where a Langmuir wave can be driven without damping in the stimulated Raman
compression. It is shown that the partial wave breaking and the frequency
detuning due to the trapped particles would be greatly reduced.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
X-ray Raman compression via two-stream instability in dense plasmas
A Raman compression scheme suitable for x-rays, where the Langmuir wave is
created by an intense beam rather than the pondermotive potential between the
seed and pump pulses, is proposed.
The required intensity of the seed and pump pulses enabling the compression
could be mitigated by more than a factor of 100, compared to conventionally
available other Raman compression schemes. The relevant wavelength of x-rays
ranges from 1 to 10 nm
Theory of plasmon decay in dense plasmas and warm dense matter
The decay of the Langmuir waves in dense plasmas is not accurately predicted
by the prevalent Landau damping theory. A dielectric function theory is
introduced, predicting much higher damping than the Landau damping theory. This
strong damping is in better agreement with the experimentally observed data in
metals. It is shown that the strong plasmon decay leads to the existence of a
parameter regime where the backward Raman scattering is unstable while the
forward Raman scattering is stable. This regime may be used to create intense
x-ray pulses, by means of the the backward Raman compression. The optimal pulse
duration and intensity is estimated
Photonic band gap and x-ray optics in warm dense matter
Photonic band gaps for the soft x-rays, formed in the periodic structures of
solids or dense plasmas, are theoretically investigated. Optical manipulation
mechanisms for the soft x-rays, which are based on these band gaps, are
computationally demonstrated. The reflection and amplification of the soft
x-rays, and the compression and stretching of chirped soft x-ray pulses are
discussed. A scheme for lasing with atoms with two energy levels, utilizing the
band gap, is also studied.Comment: 3 figures, will be published on Po
X-ray diffraction from shock-loaded polycrystals
X-ray diffraction was demonstrated from shock-compressed polycrystalline
metal on nanosecond time scales. Laser ablation was used to induce shock waves
in polycrystalline foils of Be, 25 to 125 microns thick. A second laser pulse
was used to generate a plasma x-ray source by irradiation of a Ti foil. The
x-ray source was collimated to produce a beam of controllable diameter, and the
beam was directed at the Be sample. X-rays were diffracted from the sample, and
detected using films and x-ray streak cameras. The diffraction angle was
observed to change with shock pressure. The diffraction angles were consistent
with the uniaxial (elastic) and isotropic (plastic) compressions expected for
the loading conditions used. Polycrystalline diffraction will be used to
measure the response of the crystal lattice to high shock pressures and through
phase changes
Stochastic homogenization of the laser intensity to improve the irradiation uniformity of capsules directly driven by thousands laser beams
Illumination uniformity of a spherical capsule directly driven by laser beams has been assessed numerically. Laser facilities characterized by ND = 12, 20, 24, 32, 48 and 60 directions of irradiation with associated a single laser beam or a bundle of NB laser beams have been considered. The laser beam intensity profile is assumed super-Gaussian and the calculations take into account beam imperfections as power imbalance and pointing errors. The optimum laser intensity profile, which minimizes the root-mean-square deviation of the capsule illumination, depends on the values of the beam imperfections. Assuming that the NB beams are statistically independents is found that they provide a stochastic homogenization of the laser intensity associated to the whole bundle, reducing the errors associated to the whole bundle by the factor , which in turn improves the illumination uniformity of the capsule. Moreover, it is found that the uniformity of the irradiation is almost the same for all facilities and only depends on the total number of laser beams Ntot = ND × NB
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Progress on the physics of ignition for radiation driven inertial confinement fusion (ICF) targets
Extensive modeling of proposed National Ignition Facility (NIF) ignition targets has resulted in a variety of targets using different materials in the fuel shell, using driving temperatures which range from 250-300 eV, and requiring energies from < 1 MJ up to the full 1. 8 MJ design capability of NIF. Recent Nova experiments have shown that hohlraum walls composed of a mixture of high-z materials could result in targets which require about 20% less energy. Nova experiments are being used to quantify benefits of beam smoothing in reducing stimulated scattering processes and laser beam filamentation for proposed gas-filled hohlraum targets on NIF. Use of Smoothing by Spectral Dispersion with 2-3 {Angstrom}of bandwidth results in <4-5% of Stimulated Raman Scattering and less than about 1% Stimulated Brillouin Scattering for intensities less than about 2x10{sup 15}W/cm{sup 2} for this type of hohlraum. The symmetry in Nova gas- filled hohlraums is affected by the gas fill. A large body of evidence now exists which indicates that this effect is due to laser beam filamentation which can be largely controlled by beam smoothing. We present here the firs 3-D simulations of hydrodynamic instability for the NIF point design capsule. These simulations, with the HYDRA radiation hydrodynamics code, indicate that spikes can penetrate up to 10 {mu}m into the 30{mu}m radius hot spot before ignition is quenched. Using capsules whose surface is modified by laser ablation, Nova experiments have been used to quantify the degradation of implosions subject to near NIF levels of hydrodynamic instability
Ab Initio Simulations of Dense Helium Plasmas
We study the thermophysical properties of dense helium plasmas by using
quantum molecular dynamics and orbital-free molecular dynamics simulations,
where densities are considered from 400 to 800 g/cm and temperatures up
to 800 eV. Results are presented for the equation of state. From the
Kubo-Greenwood formula, we derive the electrical conductivity and electronic
thermal conductivity. In particular, with the increase in temperature, we
discuss the change in the Lorenz number, which indicates a transition from
strong coupling and degenerate state to moderate coupling and partial
degeneracy regime for dense helium.Comment: 4 PRL pages, 3 figure
A reduced coupled-mode description for the electron-ion energy relaxation in dense matter
We present a simplified model for the electron-ion energy relaxation in dense two-temperature systems that includes the effects of coupled collective modes. It also extends the standard Spitzer result to both degenerate and strongly coupled systems. Starting from the general coupled-mode description, we are able to solve analytically for the temperature relaxation time in warm dense matter and strongly coupled plasmas. This was achieved by decoupling the electron-ion dynamics and by representing the ion response in terms of the mode frequencies. The presented reduced model allows for a fast description of temperature equilibration within hydrodynamic simulations and an easy comparison for experimental investigations. For warm dense matter, both fluid and solid, the model gives a slower electron-ion equilibration than predicted by the classical Spitzer result
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