A thorough analysis of the electromagnetic instabilities encountered in the beam plasma interaction physics shows that the most unstable modes are not the ones which are usually studies. We characterize these most unstable modes and determine the patterns they create.

A density-matrix theoretical model to calculate spectral line profiles of general multielectron ions in plasmas is described. The line-profile calculation involves electron collisional and radiative relaxation of ionic states, the emitter's motion (Doppler effect) and its interaction with a quasi-static ion microfield. Using the LineDM computer package implementing this model, line-profile calculations of the K- and L-shell transitions in Al XII, Ar XVII, Ar XVI, Cu XX, and Xe XLV ions have been performed in the context of plasma diagnostic issues of recent laboratory experiments. Comparisons of the calculated line profiles with experimental and other theoretical data show the applicability of the model and package for the detailed computational analysis of line radiation spectra from multielectron emitters in hot dense plasmas.

We present a new simulation method to predict the maximum possible yield of X-rays produced by electron beams accelerated by petawatt lasers irradiating thick solid targets. The novelty of the method lies in the simulation of the electron refiluxing inside the target implemented with the Monte Carlo code Fluka. The mechanism uses initial theoretical electron spectra, cold targets and refiluxing electrons forced to re-enter the target iteratively. Collective beam plasma effects are not implemented in the simulation. Considering the maximum X-ray yield obtained for a given target thickness and material, the relationship between the irradiated target mass thickness and the initial electron temperature is determined, as well as the effect of the refiluxing on X-ray yield. The presented study helps to understand which electron temperature should be produced in order to generate a particular X-ray beam. Several applications, including medical and security imaging, could benefit from laser generated X-ray beams, so an understanding of the material and the thickness maximizing the yields or producing particular spectral characteristics is necessary. On the other more immediate hand, if this study is experimentally reproduced at the beginning of an experiment in which there is an interest in laser-driven electron and/or photon beams, it can be used to check that the electron temperature is as expected according to the laser parameters.

The dynamics of fast laser-induced vacuum discharge, with a rather small value of amplitude of current (≤ 10 kA), as well as the voltage and energy of the capacitor bank (≤ 20 kV and 20 J, respectively), have been investigated. It has been experimentally demonstrated that the initiations conditions determined by the energy and duration of the laser radiation, fundamentally determine the dynamics of the discharge. Two types of space and time separated plasma instabilities are revealed. It was found that the first of instabilities occurs at the initial stage of the discharge and is caused by a pinch structure, which takes place in front of a cathode jet extending in vacuum. The second type of instabilities arises at the top or recession of the current and is accompanied by the generation of hard (energy ≥100 keV) bremsstrahlung X-ray radiation from the anode area. The excess energy of the hard components of radiation over the potential of the current source is associated with the effects of plasma-erosive breaking.

In the laser–plasma interaction experiments, self-focusing and filamentation affect quite a large number of other parametric processes including stimulated scattering processes. Nonlinearity considered in the present problem is the collisional type. The coupling between the main beam, ripple, and excited electron plasma wave is strong. Authors have investigated the growing interaction of a rippled laser beam with an electron plasma wave leading to enhanced Raman scattering. An expression for scattered power is derived and the effect of the externally applied magnetic field on the enhancement of scattered power is observed. From computational results, it is observed that the effect of increased intensity of the main beam leads to suppression of power associated with the Raman scattered wave.

The dependence of calcium ion subshell populations on the target density during the ion stopping process was analyzed using a five charge-state collisional-radiative model. The model, which consists of the ground and three excited states for every ion charge, was successfully compared with the experiment. The gas-solid difference of calcium ion charge state distribution has been numerically demonstrated. For Ca projectiles with energies of 4–11 MeV/u, the increase of the mean ion charge in solid target is explained by the increase of the total ionization rate and by suppression of the bound electron capture process at high densities of the stopping medium.

This paper presents theoretical results for the influence of plasma electron-electron collisions in correlated proton stopping forces. First calculations of the effects of these collisions on the vicinage forces for plasma matter are shown. In particular, these effects are studied in a Te = 10 eV and n = 1023 cm−3 plasma yielding a self-retarding proton force increased more than 11% at maximum value. Also vicinage forces enhances more than 15% in the analyzed cases. All this implies that plasma electron-electron collisions play an important role both in non and correlated ion stopping and must be considered for any application of ion energy deposition in plasma matter.

Pulsed-power-driven z-pinch plasmas are an intense source of soft X-ray radiation producing, on the Z facility, about 2 MJ of total radiation for a number of tungsten loads and in the case of a multiwire titanium array over 1 MJ total radiation and about 100 kJ from the titanium K-shell. The production and transport of radiation in these non-LTE plasmas are often modeled assuming some variation of Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium (LTE) in conjunction with radiation diffusion. Since these plasmas are neither in LTE or entirely opaque or transparent these models do not properly predict the emitted radiation spectra and yield. Also, application of these models overestimates the radiation cooling to the extent that the evolving hydrodynamic profiles are significantly different from those that would obtain using the appropriate non-LTE model with a more realistic treatment of the radiation transport. In this investigation, we discuss the production and transport of radiation from the viewpoint of the microscopic collisional and radiative processes and then apply it to z-pinch plasmas. Through the use of examples and illustrations, it is shown that for identical initial load conditions, atomic level structure, and rate coefficients, the models predict different results that affect the dynamic evolution and hydrodynamic history of the plasma. As an example, the emission spectrum is generated using a 1-D radiation MHD model self-consistently coupled to a circuit representing the Sandia Z facility. A comparison is then made between several standard models of ionization dynamics for a multiwire titanium array. Finally, we address some of the issues regarding how the dense plasma environment influences isolated atom structure and processes. These include, for example, atomic level shifts, ionization lowering, collision cross sections, and collision widths. Transition from the isolated-atom to the dressed-particle picture can modify the ionization physics and emission spectra to such an extent that it may challenge our precepts on how best to design loads for the next generation machine.

We present one-dimensional simulations performed using the multi group radiation hydro code MULTI with the goal of analyzing the target preheating effect under conditions similar to those of recent experiments aimed at studying the Equation of State (EOS) of various materials. In such experiments, aluminum is often used as reference material; therefore its behavior under strong shock compression and high-intensity laser irradiation (1013–1014 W/cm2) should be studied in detail. Our results reveal that at high laser irradiance, the laser energy available to induce shock pressure is reduced due to high X-rays generation. Simultaneously X-rays preheat the bulk of the reference material causing significant heating prior to shock propagation. Such effects induce deviations in shock propagation with respect to cold aluminum.

A high-current electron-beam accelerator for pumping of a Xe2 lamp was developed. It is intended for injection of an electron beam into cylindrical gas cavity (diameter of 400 mm, length of 1600 mm, and the absolute pressure up to 3 bars). Two electron diodes in parallel are used in the accelerator. Each diode is connected to a linear transformer driver with vacuum insulation of a secondary turn. The next parameters of the accelerator have been obtained: diode voltage — 550–600 kV, diode current — 276–230 kA, current rise time — 160 ns, maximum power of the electron beam — 130 GW, pulse width on half maximum — 160 ns, electron beam energy at power level not less than half of maximum value — 20 kJ. The total energy of electrons, which pass through a 40 µm Ti foil into the Xe cell, is 8–9 kJ in the 150–160 ns pulse (full width at half maximum) mean specific power of energy input into gas cavity is about 330 kW/cm3. Design of the accelerator and test results are presented and discussed in this paper.

Femtosecond laser pulses are capable of producing very high light intensities at moderate pulse energies. We study the laser light absorption at flux densities of 1017 W/cm2 and higher during the plasma formation and the plasma heating process. In the first stage multiphoton and collisional ionization dominate. Modification of the inverse bremsstrahlung absorption occur owing to ionization dephasing. In the second stage beam energy conversion is mainly by collisional absorption at normal incidence, and by resonance absorption at oblique illumination. Simultaneously strong electron heat conduction provides for plasma formation and heating in deeper layers of the solid not accessible to the laser light. The penetration depth of the laser beam is modified by the anomalous skin effect. The electron-ion collision frequency at the high laser intensities under consideration is determined by the oscillation energy of the electrons rather than by their thermal motion. Although it reaches high values (1014-1016 S-1), all kinds of solid targets become strongly reflecting (>60%) owing to the formation of electron densities largely exceeding those of solid-state plasmas. Effects modifying the degree of absorption are briefly discussed.

Comparative study of CO2 laser-produced tin-droplet plasma with and without pre-pulse laser has been presented. A pre-pulse laser and the CO2 laser was combined and focused to tin-droplet with a diameter of 180 µm. The emitted Sn ions were detected by several Faraday cups to obtain angular distribution of ions in the laser-produced tin-droplet plasma. The influence of pre-pulse laser energy and delay time between pumping laser and pre-pulse laser on the ion characteristics was investigated. It is illustrated that ion average kinetic energy from CO2 laser-produced plasma (LPP) can be reduced when the tin-droplet target has been replaced by the preformed Sn plasma. The obtained optimal delay time with the lowest ion average kinetic energy is about hundreds of nanoseconds. The ion time-of-flight spectra show a twin peak structure in laser-irradiating preformed Sn plasma. And a superimposed Maxwell–Boltzmann (MB) distribution is proposed to describe this twin peak ion time-of-flight spectra. The fitting results quite agree with the raw ion time-of-flight spectra in current experiment. Then, the fitted plasma temperatures and mass-center velocities with various delay times in laser-irradiating preformed plasma are obtained, and the fitted plasma temperatures can be comparable with ion average kinetic energy in double-pulse LPP, which justified the rationality using this superimposed MB distribution.

In order to identify the density and material type, high energy protons, electrons, and heavy ions are used to radiograph dense objects. The particles pass through the object, undergo multiple coulomb scattering, and are focused onto an image plane by a magnetic lens system. A modified beam line at the Institute of Modern Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has been developed for heavy-ion radiography. It can radiograph a static object with a spatial resolution of about 65 µm (1 σ). This paper presents the heavy-ion radiography facility at the Institute of Modern Physics, including the beam optics, the simulation of radiography by Monte Carlo code and the experimental result with 600 MeV/u carbon ions. In addition, dedicated beam lines for proton radiography which are planned are also introduced.

This paper, based on a relativistic electron-beam accelerator with inductive energy accumulation, investigates the layer structure, plasma jet, and thermal dynamics of Cu target under the irradiation of pulsed electron beam (~350 kV, ~4 kA, ~300 ns). A description of a relativistic electron beam source with a carbon fiber cathode is presented. After the electron-beam irradiation at ~13 J/cm2 energy density, microcraters with 0.5–1 µm diameter appeared on the target surface, and the target cross section is characterized by multilayer structures with a ~20 µm thickness melting layer and a cellular layer. Further, it was found that the carbon content increased significantly not only on the target surface but also on the cross section. The gas liberation per pulse induced by electron beam is analyzed. A good agreement between the experimental and calculated perveances was observed, with the exception at the end of the accelerating pulse possibly due to the participation of ion flow from the anode target. In the pulsed emission, there existed material transfer from anode to cathode, which is observed by the identification of elemental compositions on cathode surface. As the beam energy is deposited on target surface, the anode plasma jet is generated, and expands toward the cathode at a velocity of ~3 cm/μs. By solving the one-dimensional heat equation, 109 K/s heating rate and 107 K/m temperature gradient can be obtained. After the heating of pulsed electron beam, the thermal conduction is dominant, with a cooling rate on the order of 107 K/s. The relativistic electron beam sources may provide a potential development for target experiments and high energy density physics.

In this paper, we report on a new laser facility called PALS (Prague Asterix Laser System), which is currently under construction, and which will house the high-power iodine laser Asterix IV. Upon its completion in late 1999, the PALS facility will be capable of providing single- or multiple-pulse irradiation with a variable pulse duration ranging from 100 to 500 ps. Wavelengths available will be 1.315 μm, 658 nm, and 438 nm. The system will provide one main beam with energy up to 1200 J and two smaller auxiliary beams with a combined energy of up to 100 J. A wide variety of geometries and variable pulse timings is available. We assess PALS' potential for investigating the physics of laser plasmas in inertial confinement fusion, the development and applications of X-ray lasers, X-ray spectroscopy, and radiation transport, using multiple-pulse and extended beam capability.

The properties of ion phase-space vortices are reviewed with particular attention to their role in the formation of small amplitude double-layers in current-carrying plasmas. In a one-dimensional analysis, many such double-layers simply add up to produce a large voltage drop. A laboratory experiment is carried out in order to investigate the properties of ion phase-space vortices in three dimensions. Their lifetime is significantly reduced as compared with similar results from one-dimensional numerical simulations of the problem.

The acceleration dynamics of electrons in a laser wakefield accelerator is discussed, in particular the coupling of longitudinal and transverse motion. This coupling effect is important for electrons injected with a velocity below the laser pulse group velocity. It is found that the electron bunch is adiabatically focused during the acceleration and that a finite bunch width contributes to bunch lengthening and growth of energy spread. These results indicate the importance of a small emittance for the injected electron bunch.

Activities of research and development on repetitive induction voltage modulators in the Tokyo Institute of Technology–High Energy Accelerator Research Organization group are presented along with a discussion of the magnetic response of ferro-magnetic materials to fast magnetization and a transient beam loading in the modulators. The modulator is composed of independently driven modules switched by field effect transistors. To make waveform control, the induced voltages are stacked and synthesized in the induction unit. A proof-of-principle experiment shows that the module elements are successfully operated up to megahertz levels with good reproducibility. For the evaluation of magnetic core response, magnetic characteristics are investigated over a wide range of parameters, and an empirical core loss scaling is derived at minor-hysteresis loops. Using the prototype induction module, we have also investigated the effect of beam loading. Results indicate that the effect depends not only on the impedance of the driving circuit but on nonlinearity of the magnetic-core response. This means that the response of the induction modulator depends on the time scale of domain motion and operating point in the B-H plane of magnetic materials. Based on the progress of the component technology in the induction accelerator and database of magnetic materials, a system design has been developed.

The efficient transfer of angular orbital momentum from circularly polarized laser pulses into ions of solid density targets is investigated with different geometries using particle-in-cell simulations. The detailed electron and ion dynamics presented focus upon the energy and momentum conversion efficiency. It is found that the momentum transfer is more efficient for spiral targets and the maximum value is obtained when the spiral step is equal to twice the laser wavelength. This study reveals that the angular momentum distribution of ions strongly depends up on the initial target shape and density.

Interaction of a linearly polarized Gaussian laser pulse (at relativistic intensity of 2.0 × 1020 Wcm−2) with a multi-layer foam (as a near critical density target) attached to a solid layer is investigated by using two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation. It is found that electrons with longitudinal momentum exceeding the free electrons limit of meca02/2 so-called super-hot electrons can be produced when the direct laser acceleration regime is fulfilled and benefited from self-focusing inside of the subcritical plasma. These electrons penetrate easily through the target and can enhance greatly the sheath field at the rear, resulting in a significant increase in the maximum energy of protons in target normal sheath acceleration regime. The results indicate that the maximum proton energy is enhanced by 2.7 times via using an assembled target arrangement compared to a bare solid target. Furthermore, by demonstration of this assembly, the maximum proton energy is improved beyond the optimum amount achieved by a two-layer target proposed by Sgattoni et al. (2012).