The reflectivity of relativistic ultra-thin electron layers

The coherent reflectivity of a dense, relativistic, ultra-thin electron layer is derived analytically for an obliquely incident probe beam. Results are obtained by two-fold Lorentz transformation. For the analytical treatment, a plane uniform electron layer is considered. All electrons move with uniform velocity under an angle to the normal direction of the plane; such electron motion corresponds to laser acceleration by direct action of the laser fields, as it is described in a companion paper. Electron density is chosen high enough to ensure that many electrons reside in a volume \lambda_R^3, where \lambda_R is the wavelength of the reflected light in the rest frame of the layer. Under these conditions, the probe light is back-scattered coherently and is directed close to the layer normal rather than the direction of electron velocity. An important consequence is that the Doppler shift is governed by \gamma_x=(1-(V_x/c)^2)^{-1/2} derived from the electron velocity component V_x in normal direction rather than the full \gamma-factor of the layer electrons.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, submitted to the special issue "Fundamental Physics with Ultra-High Fields" in The European Physical Journal

Acceleration of ultra-thin electron layer. Analytical treatment compared with 1D-PIC simulation

In this paper, we apply an analytical model [V.V. Kulagin et al., Phys. Plasmas 14,113101 (2007)] to describe the acceleration of an ultra-thin electron layer by a schematic single-cycle laser pulse and compare with one-dimensional particle-in-cell (1D-PIC) simulations. This is in the context of creating a relativistic mirror for coherent backscattering and supplements two related papers in this EPJD volume. The model is shown to reproduce the 1D-PIC results almost quantitatively for the short time of a few laser periods sufficient for the backscattering of ultra-short probe pulses.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to the special issue "Fundamental Physics with Ultra-High Fields" in The European Physical Journal

Coulomb implosion mechanism of negative ion acceleration in laser plasmas

Coulomb implosion mechanism of the negatively charged ion acceleration in laser plasmas is proposed. When a cluster target is irradiated by an intense laser pulse and the Coulomb explosion of positively charged ions occurs, the negative ions are accelerated inward. The maximum energy of negative ions is several times lower than that of positive ions. The theoretical description and Particle-in-Cell simulation of the Coulomb implosion mechanism and the evidence of the negative ion acceleration in the experiments on the high intensity laser pulse interaction with the cluster targets are presented.Comment: 4 page

Stability improvement of a laser-accelerated electron beam and the pulse width measurement of the electron beam

Laser wakefield acceleration has the possibility to generate an ultrashort electron beam of the order of femtoseconds or less. In applications of these laser accelerated electron beams, stable and controllable electron beams are necessary. A high stability electron bunch is generated by laser wakefield acceleration with the help of a colliding laser pulse (optical injection). Stable and monoenergetic electron beams have been generated in the self-injection scheme of laser acceleration by using a Nitrogen gas jet target. The electron interaction with the laser field results in transverse oscillations of the electron beam. From the electron oscillation period dependence on the electron energy we find that the electron beam width is equal to 1.7 fs (rms).В процессе ускорения кильватерными волнами возможна генерация сверхкоротких электронных пучков фемтосекундной длительностью. Для приложений требуются электронные пучки с воспроизводимыми и котролируемыми параметрами. Оптическая инжекция, использующая сталкивающиеся лазерные импульсы, обеспечивает высокую воспроизводимость параметров пучков ускоренных электронов. Моноэнергетические пучки электронов с воспроизводимыми параметрами были получены при «самоинжекции» в кильватерную волну в экспериментах, использующих в качестве мишени струю азота. Взаимодействие электронов с излучением лазерного импульса приводит к поперечным осцилляциям электронного пучка. Анализ наблюдаемой в эксперименте зависимости периода осцилляций от энергии электронов позволяет найти длительность электронного пучка, равную 1.7 фс.В процесі прискорення кільватерними хвилями можлива генерація надкоротких електронних пучків фемтосекундної тривалості. Для додатків потрібні електронні пучки з відтворюючими і котролюючими параметрами. Оптична інжекція, що використовує зіштовхуючі лазерні імпульси, забезпечує високу відтворюваність параметрів пучків прискорених електронів. Моноенергетичні пучки електронів з відтворюваними параметрами були отримані при «самоінжекції» в кільватерну хвилю в експериментах, в яких в якості мішені використовувалася струмінь азоту. Взаємодія електронів з випромінюванням лазерного імпульсу призводить до поперечних осциляцій електронного пучка. Аналіз спостерігаючої в експерименті залежності періоду осциляцій від енергії електронів дозволяє знайти тривалість електронного пучка, яка дорівнює 1.7 фс

Observation of Burst Intensification by Singularity Emitting Radiation generated from relativistic plasma with a high-intensity laser

Coherent x-rays via the Burst Intensification by Singularity Emitting Radiation (BISER) mechanism are generated from relativistic plasma in helium gas target. A broad modulation of the BISER spectrum, which is significantly wider than the harmonic order, is observed and characterized. In particular, we found that the modulation period can be as large as 41 eV

X-ray emission from stainless steel foils irradiated by femtosecond petawatt laser pulses

We report about nonlinear growth of x-ray emission intensity emitted from plasma generated by femtosecond petawatt laser pulses irradiating stainless steel foils. X-ray emission intensity increases as ∼ I 4.5 with laser intensity I on a target. High spectrally resolved x-ray emission from front and rear surfaces of 5 μm thickness stainless steel targets were obtained at the wavelength range 1.7-2.1 Å, for the first time in experiments at femtosecond petawatt laser facility J-KAREN-P. Total intensity of front x-ray spectra three times dominates to rear side spectra for maximum laser intensity I ≈ 3.21021 W/cm2. Growth of x-ray emission is mostly determined by contribution of bremsstrahlung radiation that allowed estimating bulk electron plasma temperature for various magnitude of laser intensity on target

High order harmonics from relativistic electron spikes

A new regime of relativistic high-order harmonic generation is discovered [Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 135004 (2012)]. Multi-terawatt relativistic-irradiance (>1018 W/cm2) femtosecond (~30-50 fs) lasers focused to underdense (few×1019 cm-3) plasma formed in gas jet targets produce comb-like spectra with hundreds of even and odd harmonic orders reaching the photon energy of 360 eV, including the 'water window' spectral range. Harmonics are generated by either linearly or circularly polarized pulses from the J-KAREN (KPSI, JAEA) and Astra Gemini (CLF, RAL, UK) lasers. The photon number scalability has been demonstrated with a 120 TW laser producing 40 μJ/sr per harmonic at 120 eV. The experimental results are explained using particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations and catastrophe theory. A new mechanism of harmonic generation by sharp, structurally stable, oscillating electron spikes at the joint of boundaries of wake and bow waves excited by a laser pulse is introduced. In this paper detailed descriptions of the experiments, simulations and model are provided and new features are shown, including data obtained with a two-channel spectrograph, harmonic generation by circularly polarized laser pulses and angular distribution

Blood Content of Markers of Inflammation and Cytokines in Patients With Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy and Ischemic Heart Disease at Various Stages of Heart Failure

We conducted a comparative study of content proinflammatory cytokines, biomarkers of inflammatory process, biochemical indicators of congestive heart failure (CHF) and hemodynamic parameters in patients with alcoholic cardiomyopathy (ACMP) and ischemic heart disease (IHD) with various NYHA classes. We examined 62 men with ACMP (n = 45) and IHD (n = 17) and NYHA class III-IV CHF. Patients of both groups had lowered ejection fraction (EF), dilated cardiac chambers, and increased left ventricular (LV) myocardial mass index (MMI). Relative LV wall thickness was within normal limits but in the ACMP group it was significantly lower than in IHD group what corresponded to the eccentric type of myocardial hypertrophy. Higher NYHA class was associated with lower EF and larger end diastolic and end systolic LV dimensions. In ACMP it was also associated with larger dimension of the right ventricle while in IHD with substantially larger (by 30%) dimension of atria. Substantial amount of endotoxin found in blood plasma of patients with IHD corresponded to the conception of increased intestinal permeability of in CHF. Alcohol abuse was an aggravating factor of endotoxin transmission and its concentration in patients with ACMP was 3 times higher than in patients with IHD. Patients with ACMP had substantially elevated blood concentrations of interleukins (IL) 6, 8, 12, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), and its soluble receptor s-TNF-R; they also had twofold elevation of C-reactive protein concentration. ACMP was associated with manifold rise of blood content of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP). Patients with IHD also had elevated blood concentrations of IL 6, 8 and 12 but their values were 1.5-2 times lower than ACMP group. Blood content of TNF-alpha and s-TNF-R in IHD group was within normal limits. Higher NYHA class in ACMP patients was associated with higher concentrations of IL 6 and 8, TNF-alpha, and BNP. In both groups of patients contents of IL-12, s-TNF-R, TGF-1 beta and factors of acute phase of inflammation did not reflect severity of CHF. Functional insufficiency of myocardium in IHD patients was best characterized by blood content of IL-6 while in ACMP patients of BNP