Capabilities of Thomson parabola spectrometer in various laser-plasma- and laser-fusion-related experiments

The Thomson parabola spectrometer (TPS) [1] is a well-known, universal diagnostic tool that is widely used in laser plasma experiments to measure the parameters of accelerated ions. In contrast to other popular ion diagnostics, such as semiconductor detectors or ion collectors, the TPS is not greatly affected by electromagnetic pulses generated during high-power laser interaction with matter and can be tuned to acquire data in various energy ranges of accelerated ions, depending on the goal of the experiment. Despite the many advantages of this diagnostic device, processing the collected data is a difficult task and requires a lot of caution during interpretation of gathered results. In this work, we introduce the basic principles of operation and data analysis based on the numerical tool created specifically for the TPS designed at the Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion, present a range of data obtained during various recent experiments in which our TPS was used, and highlight the difficulties in data analysis depending on the purpose of the experiment and the experimental setup

Capabilities of Thomson parabola spectrometer in various laser-plasma- and laser-fusion-related experiments

The Thomson parabola spectrometer (TPS) [1] is a well-known, universal diagnostic tool that is widely used in laser plasma experiments to measure the parameters of accelerated ions. In contrast to other popular ion diagnostics, such as semiconductor detectors or ion collectors, the TPS is not greatly affected by electromagnetic pulses generated during high-power laser interaction with matter and can be tuned to acquire data in various energy ranges of accelerated ions, depending on the goal of the experiment. Despite the many advantages of this diagnostic device, processing the collected data is a diffi cult task and requires a lot of caution during interpretation of gathered results. In this work, we introduce the basic principles of operation and data analysis based on the numerical tool created specifi cally for the TPS designed at the Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion, present a range of data obtained during various recent experiments in which our TPS was used, and highlight the diffi culties in data analysis depending on the purpose of the experiment and the experimental setup

Plastic plasma as a compressor of aluminum plasma at the PALS experiment

abstractEN: In our earlier papers, we demonstrated that plasma pressure decreases with the growing atomic number of the target material. That experimentally confirmed fact brought about a question whether it would be possible to collimate the Al plasma outflow by using plastic plasma as a compressor. To prove that idea we used in our next experiments a plastic target with an Al cylindrical insert of 400 µm in diameter. The measurements were carried out at the Prague Asterix Laser System iodine laser facility. The laser provided a 250 ps (full width at half maximum (FWHM)) pulse with energy of 130 J at the third harmonic frequency (λ3 = 0.438 µm). The focal spot diameters (ΦL) 800, 1000, and 1200 µm ensured predominance of the plastic plasma amount high enough for the effective Al plasma compression. To study the Al plasma stream propagation and its interaction with plastic plasma a three-frame interferometric system and an X-ray camera were used. The experiment provided a proof that creation of the collimated Al plasma jet by action of outer plastic plasma is feasible. In order to discuss of the experimental results a thorough theoretical analysis was carried out.score: 35collation: 1-