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

Theory of laser ion acceleration from a foil target of nanometers

A theory for laser ion acceleration is presented to evaluate the maximum ion energy in the interaction of ultrahigh contrast (UHC) intense laser with a nanometer-scale foil. In this regime the energy of ions may be directly related to the laser intensity and subsequent electron dynamics. This leads to a simple analytical expression for the ion energy gain under the laser irradiation of thin targets. Significantly, higher energies for thin targets than for thicker targets are predicted. Theory is concretized to the details of recent experiments which may find its way to compare with these results.Comment: 22 pages 7 figures. will be submitted to NJ

Mathematical and experimental simulation of a cylindrical plasma target trap with inverse magnetic mirrors

A plasma target for highly efficient neutralization of powerful negative ion beams is considered. The plasma is confined within a magnetic trap with multipole magnetic walls. It is proposed to use inverse magnetic mirrors to limit plasma outflow through the inlet and outlet holes in the trap. Using the particle-in-cell method, mathematical simulation of plasma dynamics in the trap has been performed. The estimates of plasma distribution and particle confinement efficiency in the region of the magnetic mirrors has been obtained. Simulation results were compared with experimental data

Heat dissipation and acoustic emission features of titanium alloys in cyclic deformation mode

The present work unveils the features of heat dissipation and acoustic emission accompanying the fatigue crack growth in a titanium alloy (Ti-0.8Al-0.8Mn and Ti Grade 2) using the compact tension and Charpy V-notch specimens. The quantitative measurements of the heat dissipation rate were carried out by an original heat flux sensor. The obtained results reveal that there exist two appreciably different stages of the crack propagation within the stable Paris regime. Relationships between the crack growth rate and the heat dissipation rate are proposed for both stages. The application of the non-supervised clustering algorithm to the continuously recorded acoustic emission signal helped to identify two dominant mechanisms of stress relaxation that occur ahead of the crack tip—mechanical twinning and crack opening. The correlation between the acoustic emission energy and heat dissipation was found to be a harbinger of the approaching transition from stable to unstable crack growth

Relativistic electromagnetic solitons produced by ultrastrong laser pulses in plasmas

Low frequency, relativistic sub-cycle localised (soliton-like) concentrations of the electromagnetic (em) energy are found in two-dimensional (213) and in three-dimensional (313) Particle in Cell simulations of the interaction of ultra-short, high-intensity laser pulses with homogeneous and inhomogeneous plasmas. These solitons consist of electron and ion density depressions and intense em field concentrations with a frequency definitely lower than that of the laser pulse. The downshift of the pulse frequency, due to the depletion of the pulse energy, causes a significant portion of the pulse em energy to become trapped as solitons, slowly propagating inside the plasma. In an earlier phase solitons are formed due to the trapping of the em radiation inside an electron cavity, while ions can be assumed to remain at rest. Later on, after (m(i)/m(e))(1/2) times the laser period, ions start to move and the ion depletion occurs producing a slowly growing hole in the plasma density. In inhomogeneous plasmas the solitons are accelerated toward the plasma vacuum interface where they radiate away their energy in the form of bursts of low frequency ern radiation. In the frame of a ID cold hydrodynamic model for an electron-ion plasma, the existence of multipeaked em solitons has been investigated both analytically and numerically. The analytical expression for a sub-cycle relativistic solitons has been derived for circularly polarized pulses in a cold isotropic plasma, and in the presence of an externally applied magnetic field. Recently, em relativistic solitons in a hot multi-component plasma have been investigated in the frame of an hydrodynamic (adiabatic) model and of a kinetic (isothermal) model. An overview of the most recent analytical and numerical results on the soliton dynamics is given