Plasma was generated by focusing 10 ns Nd:YAG (λ = 1064 nm) laser pulse on the thick tungsten target. The laser fluence at the target was varied in the range of 3.57–10.97 J/cm2. The ion emission from the expanding tungsten plasma was analyzed with the help of an ion collector and time-of-flight electrostatic ion energy analyzer. About 44 times rise in the ion charge per laser shot was observed in the investigated laser fluence range. The measured threshold fluence for onset of the tungsten plasma was 3.27 J/cm2. The estimated plume expansion coefficient Zinf/Xinf = 2.5 ± 0.2 was in agreement with the previous experimental studies and the predictions of self-similar plume expansion model. The electrostatic ion energy analyzer study showed that charge state of the W ions increases with the laser fluence and maximum ion charge state was 5+. It was observed that threshold fluence for appearance of a specific charge state can be measured. A clear correlation between the relative abundances of W(n−1)+, Wn+, and W(n+1)+ indicates that higher order charge states are most probably produced by stepwise ionization process.

Experiments in the laboratory and in situ measurements in space represent an essential, but often overlooked, key to reliable understanding of our plasma universe. This will be illustrated by discussing several fundamental aspects of matter in the plasma state. They include (1) conduction of electric current, (2) magnetic-field aligned electric fields, (3) acceleration of charged particles to high energy, (4) coupling between magnetic fields and the motion of matter, (5) rapid release of magnetically stored energy, (6) chemical separation, and (7) critical-velocity interaction between plasma and neutral gas.

While the action of electrostatic double layers in the periphery of an expanding laser produced plasma has been discussed and treated many years ago, some new aspects pioneered recently by Alfvén in the theory of cosmic plasmas, indicate the possibility of a new treatment. The thermally produced electrostatic double layer which has been re-derived for a homogeneous plasma shows that a strong upshift of ion energies (by the mass ratio) is possible, in agreement with experiments. The number of accelerated ions is many orders of magnitude smaller than observed at keV and MeV energies. The nonlinear force acceleration could explain the number and energy of the observed fast ions. It is shown, however, that electrostatic double layers can be generated which should produce super-fast ions. This paper presents a derivation of the spread double layers in the case of inhomogeneous plasmas. It is concluded that the hydrodynamically expected multi GeV heavy ions for 10TW laser pulses (generated by relativistic self-focussing and nonlinear forces) should produce super-fast ions up to the TeV range. Further conclusions are drawn from the electrostatically measured upshifted (by 300 keV) DT fusion alphas from laser compressed plasma. An analysis of alpha spectra attempts to distinguish between different models of the stopping power in the plasmas. The analysis preliminarily arrives at a preference for the collective model.

This article presents analytical and simulation studies of intense heavy ion beam propagation, including the injection, acceleration, transport and compression phases, and beam transport and focusing in background plasma in the target chamber. Analytical theory and simulations that support the High Current Experiment (HCX), the Neutralized Transport Experiment (NTX), and the advanced injector development program, are being used to provide a basic understanding of the nonlinear beam dynamics and collective processes, and to develop design concepts for the next-step Integrated Beam Experiment (IBX), an Integrated Research Experiment (IRE), and a heavy ion fusion driver. Three-dimensional nonlinear perturbative simulations have been applied to collective instabilities driven by beam temperature anisotropy, and to two-stream interactions between the beam ions and any unwanted background electrons; three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of the 2-MV electrostatic quadrupole (ESQ) injector have clarified the influence of pulse rise time; analytical studies and simulations of the drift compression process have been carried out; syntheses of a four-dimensional particle distribution function from phase-space projections have been developed; and studies of the generation and trapping of stray electrons in the beam self-fields have been performed. Particle-in-cell simulations, involving preformed plasma, are being used to study the influence of charge and current neutralization on the focusing of the ion beam in NTX and in a fusion chamber.

The ultra-fast ablation of a graphite target using high repetition rate Nd:YAG lasers allows us to deposit two distinctly different carbonaceous structures, depending on the ambient Ar pressure: a diamond-like carbon film with the surface finish down to atomic level at a pressure below 0.1 Torr, and a fractal C nanofoam with air-like density and diamond-like resistivity at higher pressure. The experimental characterization of vapors and carbonaceous materials produced is presented and compared to the theoretical predictions. The analysis of the formation conditions leads to the qualitative understanding of the formation mechanism for both C structures.

This paper reports the formation of low-energy low-divergence pulsed indium atomic beam via ablation of thin film by illumination from the rear side with second harmonic of Q-switched Nd:YAG laser under high vacuum (∼10−5 Torr). Angular divergence of ablated indium atomic, reflectivity modulation of thin film due to ablation, and longitudinal atomic velocity of ablated beam were studied as a function of laser fluence. Atomic force microscope scans of the deposited multiple shots of pulsed atomic beams show the formation of “nano-hills.”

Relativistic self distortion of a Gaussian laser pulse in inhomogeneous plasma in one dimension is investigated. The relativistic mass effect causes different portions of the pulse to travel with different group velocities leading to the steepening of the pulse front and broadening of the rear. This asymmetry created in the pulse shape gives rise to stronger ponderomotive force on electrons at the front and weaker at the rear. The fast moving electrons under this force are shown to have very significant net energy gain. The energy gain increases with the density scale-length and then saturates.

The interaction process between fast heavy ions and dense plasma was experimentally investigated. We injected 4.3-MeV/u or 6.0-MeV/u iron ions into a z-pinch-discharge helium plasma and measured the energy loss of the ions by the time of flight method. The energy loss of 4.3-MeV/u ions fairly agreed with theoretical prediction when the electron density of the target was on the order of 1018 cm−3. With increasing electron density beyond 1019 cm−3, the difference between the experiment and the theory became remarkable; the experimental energy loss was 15% larger than the theoretical value at the peak density. For 6.0-MeV/u ions, the deviation from the theory appeared even at densities below 1019 cm−3. These discrepancies indicated that density effects such as ladderlike ionization caused the enhancement of the projectile mean charge in the target.

In this paper, we present a novel kind of electron acceleration mechanism when the trapped electrons are in a wake of plasma with adiabatically attenuating density. Accompanied with the increase of phase velocity βp of the wake owing to the plasma density attenuating adiabatically, the trapped electrons synchronized with the wake will get an additional acceleration besides the synchrotron oscillating acceleration just like in an accelerating elevator. The additional energy gain of the trapped electrons is determined by the value of the relativistic factor γpf = ω/ωp(zf) at the exit zf of the plasma wake. Moreover, the acceleration length is not limited by the dephasing deterministically any more, instead, it is mainly determined by the survivability of the wake. In other words, it is dependent upon the wake instability and its involving energy from driving source.

Cylindrical cryogenic targets are required to carry out the Laboratory Planetary Science scheme of the experiments of the High Energy Density matter Generated by Heavy Ion Beams collaboration at FAIR. In this paper, for the first time a thorough analysis of the problem of such targets' fabrication, delivery and positioning in the center of the experimental chamber has been made. Particular attention is paid to the issue of a specialized cryogenic system creation intended for rep-rate supply of the High Energy Density matter Generated by Heavy Ion Beams experiments with the cylindrical cryogenic targets.

A model is presented for the resonant third harmonic generation of short pulse lasers in cluster plasma in the presence of density ripple. Because of ripple in cluster density and plasma electron density outside the cluster, the phase-matching condition for the third harmonic process is satisfied, leading to resonant enhancement of harmonic generation. We explore the impact of laser intensity, cluster size, and collisional frequency of electrons on the efficiency of third harmonic generation. Moreover, since the group velocity of the third harmonic wave is greater than that of the fundamental wave, it causes the slippage of the generated harmonic pulse out of the fundamental laser pulse and its amplitude increases with time.

Intense Compton-scattering γ-ray radiation driven by laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) and generation of ultrashort positron beams are investigated by Monte Carlo simulation. Using an LWFA driven GeV electron bunch and a 45 femtosecond, 90 mJ/pulse, and 10 Hz Ti:Sapphire laser for driving the Compton scattering, fs γ-ray pulses were generated. The latter have a flux of ≥108/s, peak brightness of ≥1020 photons/(s mm2 mrad2 0.1% bandwidth), and photon energy of 5.9 to 23.2 MeV. The γ-ray pulses then impinge on a thin high-Z target. More than 107 positrons/s in the form of sub-100 fs pulses at several MeV can be produced. Such ultrashort positron pulses can be useful as the pump-probe type positron annihilation spectroscopy as well as in other applications.

The strong azimuthal magnetic fields, observed in many laser plasma experiments, are shown to be a potential source of second harmonic generation. The laser imparts oscillatory velocity to electrons and exerts a longitudinal pondromotive force on them. This force in conjunction with the azimuthal magnetic field and density ripple produces a second harmonic current with significant transverse component. The latter produces resonant second harmonic radiation.

Optical field ionization is the earliest and fastest plasma-generating process during the interaction of intense laser light with matter. By using short and rapidly rising laser pulses, the free electron density may turn from being transparent for an incoming laser pulse to reflective in less than half a laser cycle, that is, on a subfemtosecond timescale. Extremely nonlinear optical effects arise as a consequence of this. In this article, the basics of optical field ionization that are relevant in analytical or numerical studies of intense laser–matter interactions are reviewed. Several macroscopic effects of field ionization in the interaction of intense laser pulses with solid targets are briefly surveyed.

Direct-drive target designs below self-ignition threshold are proposed for the laser megajoule in the context of shock-ignition. Two distinct initial aspect ratios are considered and laser pulses are shaped following a classical Kidder's law in order to achieve an implosion velocity of 300 km/s, an in-fight adiabat close to unity and to maximize the peak areal density. The pulse shapes are adjusted to arrange shock timing at the inner side of the DT fuel. The robustness of the laser pulse is addressed by the means of random variations around the initial Kidder's laws. Correlation matrices show no significant correlations between laser parameters. An admissible envelope of laser pulse is given for both designs in order to warrant more than 80% of the best peak areal density. Variations of laser drive power produce variations of implosion velocities in the range 250–370 km/s. Self-ignition threshold is achieved and thermonuclear energy are produced in the range 3 kJ–27 MJ. Finally, the random procedure shows that it is possible to improve the first deterministic optimization and the laser pulses are given.

In the present paper, we have investigated self-focusing of the quadruple Gaussian laser beam in underdense cold quantum plasma. The non-linearity chosen is associated with the relativistic mass effect that arises due to quiver motion of electron and electron density perturbation caused by ponderomotive force. The non-linearity modifies the plasma frequency in the dielectric function and hence the refractive index of the medium. The focusing/defocusing of the quadruple laser depends on the refractive index of the medium. We have set up non-linear differential equation that controls the beam width parameter by using well-known paraxial ray approximation and Wentzel–Krammers–Brillouin approximation. The effect of intensity parameter and electron temperature is observed on laser beam self-focusing in the presence of cold quantum plasma. From the results, it is revealed that electron temperature and the initial intensity of the laser beam control the profile dynamics of the laser beam.

We present some results of our opacity calculations for lead and gold at temperatures and densities relevant to ICF conditions. We use an average atom model based on the temperature dependent Thomas-Fermi shell approach. The absorption bands (broadening of lines) are accounted for with a simple T.F. fluctuation formula. The independent particle bound-bound, bound-free, and free-free photon cross-sections are taken without further approximations.

We study the generation of high-order harmonics from plasma plume, by using the 20 TW, 10 Hz laser of the Advanced Laser Light Source (ALLS). We perform detailed studies on enhancement of single high-order harmonics generated in laser plasma using the fundamental and second harmonic of the ALLS beam line. Quasi-monochromatic harmonics are observed for Mn, Cr, Sb, Sn, and In plasmas. We identify most of the ionic/neutral transitions responsible for the enhancement, which all have strong oscillator strengths. Intensity enhancements of the 13th, 17th, 21st, 29th, and 33rd harmonics from these targets are demonstrated using the 800 nm pump laser and varying its chirp. We also observed harmonic enhancement from some targets for 400 nm pump laser. Using Mn plume, we demonstrated the highest harmonic photon energy (52.9 eV) at which enhancement has been observed (17th order, λ = 23.5 nm).

This article presents the tendency of the changes of Nd-laser plasma parameters in dependence upon increasing target atomic numbers. In the experiment, the following targets — (C8H8)n, SiO2, Al, Cu, Ta, and Au — were investigated. For targets with Z higher than 13, the two-temperature plasma is observed with temperatures Te =500–600 eV and Te≅ 100 eV. Energy carried by ions from the low-temperature plasma can be higher than half the total energy carried by ions. The number of ions from low-temperature, X-ray-heated plasma can be by an order of magnitude higher than the number of ions from thermal plasma (Te = 500–600 eV).

The precise measurements of the spectral line profiles near the short-wavelength limit of the Lyman series of Al are reported. The spatially resolved narrow-band spectra were attributed to macroscopic plasma parameters by using the results of 1D and 2D hydrodynamic plasma modeling. The gradual merging and broadening of the spectral lines Al Lyε–θ was compared to the synthetic spectra produced by atomic physics codes. The discrepancies between the experimental and theoretical data indicate the limits for applicability of standard theoretical models.