Laser-induced electron emission from a tungsten nanotip: identifying above threshold photoemission using energy-resolved laser power dependencies

We present an experiment studying the interaction of a strongly focused 25 fs laser pulse with a tungsten nanotip, investigating the different regimes of laser-induced electron emission. We study the dependence of the electron yield with respect to the static electric field applied to the tip. Photoelectron spectra are recorded using a retarding field spectrometer and peaks separated by the photon energy are observed with a 45 % contrast. They are a clear signature of above threshold photoemission (ATP), and are confirmed by extensive spectrally resolved studies of the laser power dependence. Understanding these mechanisms opens the route to control experiment in the strong-field regime on nanoscale objects.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure

A Transmissive Optics Approach for Time-Slicing the LCLS X-Ray Pulse

This paper investigates the use of off-axis zone plate optical systems to deliver time-sliced LCLS FEL pulses to users under the 3 energy chirp scenarios elucidated by P. Emma. We present formulas for designing off-axis zone plate optical systems that achieve a given time-slice duration and intensity. The results show that it is feasible to fabricate zone-plate systems capable of providing intense spots of time-sliced 8.275 KeV photons under the scenario of a 2.0% chirp, but that it is beyond current and envisioned fabrication capabilities to create zone-plate systems of similar performance under the scenarios offering energy chirps of < 0.25%. Finally we present results of numerical calculations of the electric fields delivered to the user by an off-axis zone plate optical system producing time-slices of {le} 50 {center_dot} fs with photon densities of 200 photons/{angstrom}{sup 2} under the 2% energy chirp scenario

A study of atmospheric neutrinos with the IMB detector

A sample of 401 contained neutrino interactions collected in the 3300 metric ton fiducial mass IMB detector was used to study neutrino oscillations, geomagnetic modulation of the flux and to search for point sources. The majority of these events are attributed to neutrino interactions. For the most part, these neutrinos are believed to originate as tertiary products of cosmic ray interactions in the atmosphere. The neutrinos are a mixture of v sub e and v sub micron

Transmission Grating Measurements of Undulator K

This study was undertaken to understand the practicalities of determine K differences in the undulator modules by measuring single-shot x-ray spectra of the spontaneous radiation with a transmissive grating spectrometer under development to measure FEL spectra. Since the quality of the FEL is dependent on a uniform K value in all the undulator modules, being able to measure the relative undulator K values is important. Preliminary results were presented in a presentation, ''Use of FEL Off-Axis Zone Plate Spectrometer to Measure Relative K by the Pinhole/Centroid Method'', at the ''LCLS Beam-Based Undulator K Measurements Workshop'' on November 14, 2005 (UCRL-PRES-217281). This study applies equally well to reflective gratings of the appropriate period and inclinations

Bounds on Dark Matter from the ``Atmospheric Neutrino Anomaly''

Bounds are derived on the cross section, flux and energy density of new particles that may be responsible for the atmospheric neutrino anomaly. $4.6 \times 10^{-45} cm^2 < \sigma <2.4 \times 10^{-34} cm^2$ Decay of primordial homogeneous dark matter can be excluded.Comment: 10 pages, TeX (revtex

Interaction of VUV-FEL radiation with B4C and SiC at 32nm wavelength

The output fluence and pulse duration of XFELs such as LCLS and TESLA will pose significant challenges to the optical components which may be damaged by the XFEL beam [1]. It is expected that low-atomic-number materials such as SiC, B{sub 4}C, and diamond exhibit weak absorption and therefore are damaged least. It has been suggested that the fundamental damage mechanism that determines the fluence damage threshold for single-shot exposures is thermal melting of the materials [2]. For multiple-shot exposures, the damage threshold is potentially lower than the melt threshold due to fatigue effects associated with mechanical stresses during to thermal cycling [3]

Space-Charge Effects in the Gas Detector

Discussion of space-charge effects in a photoluminescence cell that will be used as a non-disruptive total energy monitor at the LCLS facility is presented. Regimes where primary photoelectrons will be confined within the X-ray beam aperture are identified. Effects of the space-charge on the further evolution of the electron and ion populations are discussed. Parameters of the afterglow plasma are evaluated. Conditions under which the detector output will be proportional to the pulse energy are defined

LOTIS Upper Limits and the Prompt OT from GRB 990123

GRB 990123 established the existence of prompt optical emission from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). The Livermore Optical Transient Imaging System (LOTIS) has been conducting a fully automated search for this kind of simultaneous low energy emission from GRBs since October 1996. Although LOTIS has obtained simultaneous, or near simultaneous, coverage of the error boxes obtained with BATSE, IPN, XTE, and BeppoSAX for several GRBs, image analysis resulted in only upper limits. The unique gamma-ray properties of GRB 990123, such as very large fluence (top 0.4%) and hard spectrum, complicate comparisons with more typical bursts. We scale and compare gamma-ray properties, and in some cases afterglow properties, from the best LOTIS events to those of GRB 990123 in an attempt to determine whether the prompt optical emission of this event is representative of all GRBs. Furthermore, using LOTIS upper limits in conjunction with the relativistic blast wave model, we weakly constrain the GRB and afterglow parameters such as density of the circumburster medium and bulk Lorentz factor of the ejecta.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, To appear in Proceedings of the 5th Huntsville Gamma-Ray Burst Symposiu

Uncovering Extreme Nonlinear Dynamics in Solids Through Time-Domain Field Analysis

Time-domain analysis of harmonic fields with sub-cycle resolution is now experimentally viable due to the emergence of sensitive, on-chip techniques for petahertz-scale optical-field sampling. We demonstrate how such a time-domain, field-resolved analysis uncovers the extreme nonlinear electron dynamics responsible for high-harmonic generation within solids. Time-dependent density functional theory was used to simulate harmonic generation from a solid-state band-gap system driven by near- to mid-infrared waveforms. Particular attention was paid to regimes where both intraband and interband emission mechanisms play a critical role in shaping the nonlinear response. We show that a time-domain analysis of the harmonic radiation fields identifies the interplay between intra- and interband dynamical processes underlying the nonlinear light generation. With further analysis, we show that changes to the dominant emission regime can occur after only slight changes to the peak driving intensity and central driving wavelength. Time-domain analysis of harmonic fields also reveals, for the first time, the possibility of rapid changes in the dominant emission mechanism within the temporal window of the driving pulse envelope. Finally, we examine the experimental viability of performing time-domain analysis of harmonic fields with sub-cycle resolution using realistic parameters