146 research outputs found
5.5-7.5 MeV Proton generation by a moderate intensity ultra-short laser interaction with H2O nano-wire targets
We report on the first generation of 5.5-7.5 MeV protons by a moderate
intensity short-pulse laser (4.5 \times 1017 W/cm^2, 50 fsec) interacting with
H2O nano-wires (snow) deposited on a Sapphire substrate. In this setup, the
laser intensity is locally enhanced by the tip of the snow nano-wire, leading
to high spatial gradients. Accordingly, the plasma near the tip is subject to
enhanced ponderomotive potential, and confined charge separation is obtained.
Electrostatic fields of extremely high intensities are produced over the short
scale length, and protons are accelerated to MeV-level energies.Comment: submitted to PRL, under press embargo. 6 figure
Spallative ablation of dielectrics by X-ray laser
Short laser pulse in wide range of wavelengths, from infrared to X-ray,
disturbs electron-ion equilibrium and rises pressure in a heated layer. The
case where pulse duration is shorter than acoustic relaxation time
is considered in the paper. It is shown that this short pulse may cause
thermomechanical phenomena such as spallative ablation regardless to
wavelength. While the physics of electron-ion relaxation on wavelength and
various electron spectra of substances: there are spectra with an energy gap in
semiconductors and dielectrics opposed to gapless continuous spectra in metals.
The paper describes entire sequence of thermomechanical processes from
expansion, nucleation, foaming, and nanostructuring to spallation with
particular attention to spallation by X-ray pulse
Hydrodynamic instabilities in a highly radiative environment
In this paper, we present the effects of a radiative shock (RS) on the morphology of jet-like objects subjected to hydrodynamic instabilities. To this end, we used an experimental platform developed to create RSs on high energy laser facilities such as LULI2000 and GEKKO XII. Here, we employed modulated targets to initiate Richtmyer–Meshkov and Rayleigh–Taylor instability (RTI) growth in the presence of an RS. The RS is obtained by generating a strong shock in a dense pusher that expands into a low-density xenon gas. With our design, only a limited RTI growth occurs in the absence of radiative effects. A strongly radiative shock has opposite effects on RTI growth. While its deceleration enhances the instability growth, the produced radiations tend to stabilize the interfaces. Our indirect experimental observations suggest a lower instability growth despite the interface deceleration. In addition, the jets, produced during the experiment, are relevant to astrophysical structures such as Herbig–Haro objects or other radiatively cooling jets
Soft X-ray harmonic comb from relativistic electron spikes
We demonstrate a new high-order harmonic generation mechanism reaching the
`water window' spectral region in experiments with multi-terawatt femtosecond
lasers irradiating gas jets. A few hundred harmonic orders are resolved, giving
uJ/sr pulses. Harmonics are collectively emitted by an oscillating electron
spike formed at the joint of the boundaries of a cavity and bow wave created by
a relativistically self-focusing laser in underdense plasma. The spike
sharpness and stability are explained by catastrophe theory. The mechanism is
corroborated by particle-in-cell simulations
Thomson scattering measurement of a collimated plasma jet generated by a high-power laser system
One of the important and interesting problems in astrophysics and plasma physics is collimation of plasma jets. The collimation mechanism, which causes a plasma flow to propagate a long distance, has not been understood in detail. We have been investigating a model experiment to simulate astrophysical plasma jets with an external magnetic field [Nishio et al., EPJ. Web of Conferences 59, 15005 (2013)]. The experiment was performed by using Gekko XII HIPER laser system at Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University. We shot CH plane targets (3 mm × 3 mm × 10 μm) and observed rear-side plasma flows. A collimated plasma flow or plasma jet was generated by separating focal spots of laser beams. In this report, we measured plasma jet structure without an external magnetic field with shadowgraphy, and simultaneously measured the local parameters of the plasma jet, i.e., electron density, electron and ion temperatures, charge state, and drift velocity, with collective Thomson scattering
High-order alloharmonics produced by nonperiodic drivers
High-order harmonics are ubiquitous in nature and present in electromagnetic,
acoustic, and gravitational waves. They are generated by periodic nonlinear
processes or periodic high-frequency pulses. However, this periodicity is often
inexact, such as that in chirped (frequency-swept) optical waveforms or
interactions with nonstationary matter -- for instance, reflection from
accelerating mirrors. Spectra observed in such cases contain complicated sets
of harmonic-like fringes. We encountered such fringes in our experiment on
coherent extreme ultraviolet generation via BISER, and could not interpret them
using currently available knowledge. Here, we present a comprehensive theory
based on interference of harmonics with different orders fully explaining the
formation of these fringes, which we call alloharmonics. Like atomic spectra,
the complex alloharmonic spectra depend on several integer numbers and bear a
unique imprint of the emission process, which the theory can decipher, avoiding
confusion or misinterpretation. We also demonstrate the alloharmonics in
simulations of gravitational waves emitted by binary black hole mergers.
Further, we predict the presence of alloharmonics in the radio spectra of
pulsars and in optical frequency combs, and propose their use for measurement
of extremely small accelerations necessary for testing gravity theories. The
alloharmonics phenomenon generalizes classical harmonics and is critical in
research fields such as laser mode locking, frequency comb generation,
attosecond pulse generation, pulsar studies, and future gravitational wave
spectroscopy.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures, 3 table
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
Recommended from our members
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
Recommended from our members
Short Pulse Laser Absorption and Energy Partition at Relativistic Laser Intensities
We have performed experiments at the COMET and Calisto short pulse laser facilities to make the first comprehensive measurements of the laser absorption and energy partition in solid targets heated with an ultrashort laser pulse focused to relativistic laser intensities (>10 10{sup 17} W/cm{sup 2}). The measurements show an exceedingly high absorption for P polarized laser-target interactions above 10{sup 19} W/cm{sup 2}. Additionally, the hot electron population is observed to markedly increase at the same intensity range. An investigation of the relaxation process was initiated u using time sing time-resolved K{sub {alpha}} spectroscopy. Measurements of the time time-resolved K{sub {alpha}} radiation suggest a 10-20 ps relativistic electron relaxation time. However modeling difficulties of these data are apparent and a more detailed investigation on this subject matter is warranted
- …