Laser ion-acceleration scaling laws seen in multiparametric particle-in-cell simulations

The ion acceleration driven by a laser pulse at intensity I= 10(20)-10(22) W/cm(2) x (microm/lambda)(2) from a double layer target is investigated with multiparametric particle-in-cell simulations. For targets with a wide range of thickness l and density n(e), at a given intensity, the highest ion energy gain occurs at certain electron areal density of the target sigma = n(e)l, which is proportional to the square root of intensity. In the case of thin targets and optimal laser pulse duration, the ion maximum energy scales as the square root of the laser pulse power. When the radiation pressure of the laser field becomes dominant, the ion maximum energy becomes proportional to the laser pulse energy.     

H$lt;sub$gt;2$lt;/sub$gt;$lt;sup$gt;+$lt;/sup$gt;在强激光场中的解离及其量子调控的理论研究

利用非波恩-奥本海默近似的三维含时量子波包法,理论研究了氢分子离子在强激光场中的解离动力学.通过分析H₂⁺在不同的初始振动态（ν=0–9）和激光场强度下的解离核动能谱,得到了H₂⁺的光解离机理及其随激光场的变化规律.研究结果表明：当激光场的强度I₁=5.0×10¹³ W/cm²时,分子的解离来源于高振动态ν=5–9,其解离机理主要是通过键软化、键硬化和阈下解离过程.当激光场的强度I₂=1.0×10¹⁴ W/cm² 时,H₂⁺在低振动态ν=3–4上的阈上解离起主导作用,而高振动态的键软化、键硬化和阈下解离所占的比重明显地下降了.研究结果为后续的量子调控的实验研究提供了科学的理论预测和指导. 关键词： 光解离 氢分子离子 含时波包法 核动能谱     

Molecular ionization of cyclohexanone in femtosecond laser fields: An application of ADK theory

The mechanisms of ionization and dissociation of cyclohexanone (C₆H₁₀O) in a 90 fs, 788 nm linearly polarized laser field ranging from 10¹³ to 10¹⁴ W/cm² by a time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOF-MS) have been investigated. The ion yields as a function of laser intensity have been measured experimentally. By comparison with the Ammosov-Delone-Krainov (ADK) theory based on a hydrogen-like model, the ionization mechanism of cyclohexanone in this intense femtosecond laser field has been understood. Considering the importance of molecular nuclear motions, we propose that the Franck-Condon (F-C) factor can provide the excess vibrational energy in the molecular ion. This energy is required for the decomposition of the molecular ion which finally results in the observed mass spectrum.     

Quasimonoenergetic deuteron bursts produced by ultraintense laser pulses

We report on the generation and laser acceleration of bunches of energetic deuterons with a small energy spread at about 2 MeV. This quasimonoenergetic peak within the ion energy spectrum was observed when heavy-water microdroplets were irradiated with ultrashort laser pulses of about 40 fs duration and high (10(-8)) temporal contrast, at an intensity of 10(19) W/cm(2). The results can be explained by a simple physical model related to spatial separation of two ion species within a finite-volume target. The production of quasimonoenergetic ions is a long-standing goal in laser-particle acceleration; it could have diverse applications such as in medicine or in the development of future compact ion accelerators.     

Dynamics and control of shock shells in the coulomb explosion of very large deuterium clusters

The explosion dynamics of very large (approximately 10(6)-10(7) atoms) deuterium clusters irradiated by ultraintense laser pulses (I approximately 10(18) W/cm(2)) is analyzed self-consistently with one-to-one three-dimensional and two-dimensional fully relativistic particle-in-cell simulations. Small-scale shock shells in the expanding ion cloud are observed. A technique to induce the formation of large shock shells inside a single cluster, increasing the probability of intracluster nuclear reactions, is proposed and demonstrated.     

Controlling HD+ and H+2 dissociation with the carrier-envelope phase difference of an intense ultrashort laser pulse

Carrier-envelope phase difference effects in the dissociation of the HD+ molecular ion in the field of an intense, linearly polarized, ultrashort laser pulse are studied in the framework of the time-dependent Schr?dinger equation. We consider a reduced-dimensionality model in which the nuclei are free to vibrate along the field polarization and the electrons move in two dimensions. The laser has a central wavelength of 790 nm and a pulse length of 10 fs with intensities in the range 6x10(14) to 9x10(14) W/cm(2). We find that the angular distribution of dissociation to p+D and H+d can be controlled by varying the phase difference, generating differences between the dissociation channels of more than a factor of 2. Moreover, the asymmetry is nearly as large for H+2 dissociation.     

Tabletop nucleosynthesis driven by cluster Coulomb explosion

Coulomb explosion of completely ionized (CH4)n, (NH3)n, and (H2O)n clusters will drive tabletop nuclear reactions of protons with 12C6+, 14N7+, and 16O8+ nuclei, extending the realm of nuclear reactions driven by ultraintense laser-heterocluster interaction. The realization for nucleosynthesis in exploding cluster beams requires complete electron stripping from the clusters (at laser intensities I(M) > or = 10(19) W cm(-2)), the utilization of nanodroplets of radius 300-700 A for vertical ionization, and the attainment of the highest energies for the nuclei (i.e., approximately 30 MeV for heavy nuclei and approximately 3 MeV for protons).     

The onset of coulomb explosions in polyatomic molecules

With the development of high intensity femtosecond lasers, the ionisation and dissociation dynamics of molecules has become an area of considerable interest. Using the technique of femtosecond laser mass spectrometry (FLMS), the molecules carbon disulphide, pyrimidine, toluene, cyclohexanone and benzaldehyde are studied with pulse widths of 50 fs in the near infrared (IR) wavelength region (790 nm). Results are presented and contrasted for laser beam intensities around 10(15) and 10(16) W cm(-2). For the lower intensities, the mass spectra yield dominant singly charged parent ions. Additionally, the appearance of doubly charged parent ions is evident for carbon disulphide, toluene and benzaldehyde with envelopes of doubly charged satellite species existing in these local regions. Carbon disulphide also reveals a small triply charged component. Such atomic-like features are thought to be a strong fingerprint of FLMS at these intensities. However, upon increasing the laser intensity to approximately 10(16) W cm(-2), parent ion dominance decreases and the appearance of multiply charged atomic species occurs, particularly carbon. This phenomenon has been attributed to Coulomb explosions in which the fast absorption of many photons may produce transient highly ionised parent species which can subsequently blow apart. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Studies of plastic-ablator compressibility for direct-drive inertial confinement fusion on OMEGA

The compression of planar plastic targets was studied with x-ray radiography in the range of laser intensities of I approximately 0.5 to 1.5x10(15) W/cm2 using square (low-compression) and shaped (high-compression) pulses. Two-dimensional simulations with the radiative hydrocode DRACO show good agreement with measurements at laser intensities up to I approximately 10(15) W/cm2. These results provide the first experimental evidence for low-entropy, adiabatic compression of plastic shells in the laser intensity regime relevant to direct-drive inertial confinement fusion. A density reduction near the end of the drive at a high intensity of I approximately 1.5x10(15) W/cm2 has been correlated with the hard x-ray signal caused by hot electrons from two-plasmon-decay instability.     

Strong-field above-threshold photoemission from sharp metal tips

We present energy-resolved measurements of electron emission from sharp metal tips driven with low energy pulses from a few-cycle laser oscillator. We observe above-threshold photoemission with a photon order of up to 9. At a laser intensity of ～ 2 × 10(11) W/cm2 the suppression of the lowest order peak occurs, indicating the onset of strong-field effects. We also observe peak shifting linearly with intensity, with a slope of around -1.0 eV/(10(12) W/cm2). We attribute the magnitude of the laser field effects to field enhancement taking place at the tip's surface.     

Photofragmentation of Na2+ in intense femtosecond laser fields: from photodissociation on light-induced potentials to field ionization.

Photofragmentation of Na2 + molecules in well prepared vibrational levels has been studied employing intense ( 10(11)-10(14) W/cm2) and ultrashort (80 fs) 790 nm laser fields. Four fragmentation channels with different released kinetic energies are observed. Depending on the applied laser intensity, the fragmentation of Na2 + is governed by photodissociation on light-induced potentials and field ionization followed by Coulomb explosion. Below 1x10(12) W/cm2, only photodissociation on light-induced potentials is seen. For intermediate laser intensities, field ionization at large internuclear distances competes with photodissociation, thus preventing the observation of above threshold dissociation. Field ionization at small internuclear distances dominates for the highest laser intensities used.     

Coherent focusing of high harmonics: a new way towards the extreme intensities

We demonstrate analytically and numerically that focusing of high harmonics produced by the reflection of a few-femtosecond laser pulse from a concave plasma surface opens a new way to unprecedentally high intensities. The key features allowing the boosting of the focal intensity are the harmonics coherency and the small exponent of the power-law decay of the harmonics spectrum. Using similarity theory and direct particle-in-cell simulations, we find that the intensity at the focus scales as I(CHF) alpha a(3)(0)I(0), where a(0) and I(0) alpha a(2)(0) are the dimensionless relativistic amplitude and the intensity of the incident laser pulse. The scaling suggests that due to the coherent harmonic focusing (CHF), the Schwinger intensity limit can be reached using lasers with I(0) approximately 10(22) W/cm(2). The pulse duration at the focus scales as tau(CHF) alpha 1/a(2)(0) and reaches the subattosecond range.     

The dissociative ionization and Coulomb explosion of ethane by a femtosecond laser field

Femtosecond laser-induced dissociation and Coulomb explosion of polyatomic molecule C_2H_6 were systematically investigated using a time-of-flight mass spectrometer and a chirped pulse amplifier laser. With the laser intensity varying from 2.4×10^{15}W/cm^{2} to 1.2×10^{16}W/cm^2, strong molecular ions C_2H_n^+ (n=0－6) and atomic ions C^{m+} (m=1－3) signals were observed. The double-peak structure of atomic ions indicated the occurrence of Coulomb explosion. Compared with the nearly isotropic distribution of C^{+}, highly charged ions C^{m+} (m=2－3) exhibited a sharply anisotropic angular distribution, which was attributed to the geometric alignment.     

Instability-free ion acceleration by two laser pulses

We demonstrate the instability-free ion acceleration regime by introducing laser control with two parallel circularly polarized laser pulses at an intensity of I = 6.8 × 10²¹?W/cm², normally incident on a hydrogen foil. The special structure of the equivalent wave front of those two pulses, which contains Gaussian peaks in both sides and a concavity in the centre (2D), can suppress the transverse instabilities and hole boring effects to constrain a high density ion clump in the centre of the foil, leading to an acceleration over a long distance and gain above 1GeV/u for the ion bunches.     

Mev X rays and photoneutrons from femtosecond laser-produced plasmas

We demonstrate a novel method to monitor the total angular distribution of the spectrum of hard x-ray emission from a plasma generated with femtosecond laser pulses with an intensity of 5 x 10(18) W/cm2 on a solid target. Measured and calculated angular distributions of x rays show a pronounced anisotropy for MeV photon energies. We complemented the spectral information by demonstrating a (gamma,n) nuclear reaction with a tabletop laser system.     

Electron emission from metal surfaces by ultrashort pulses: determination of the carrier-envelope phase

The phase varphi of the field oscillations with respect to the peak of a laser pulse influences the light field evolution as the pulse length becomes comparable to the wave cycle and, hence, affects the interaction of intense few-cycle pulses with matter. We theoretically investigate photoelectron emission induced by an intense, few-cycle laser pulse from a metal surface (jellium) within the framework of time-dependent density functional theory and find a pronounced varphi dependence of the photocurrent. Our results reveal a promising route to measuring varphi of few-cycle light pulses (tau<6 fs at lambda=0.8 microm) at moderate intensity levels (I(p) approximately 10(12) W/cm(2)) using a solid-state device.     

Acceleration of Electron-Positron Plasmas to High Energies

It is suggested that electron-positron (e+ e-) plasma can be accelerated using the concept of cyclotron autoresonance between the particles and a linearly polarized laser radiation propagating along an axial magnetic field (Bz). This scheme can also be applied for other plasmas with oppositely charged particles of equal ?q?/m (e.g., positive and negative ions). An e+ e- plasma can be accelerated to about 2 GeV in the first meter along a 100-kG guide magnetic field by using an Nd: glass laser (?0 = 1 ?m) with intensity I0 = 1018 W/cm2. The acceleration scales asymptotically as (Bz, I0 ?0 Z2)1/3, where z is the axial distance.     

Generation and characterization of the highest laser intensities (10(22) W/cm2)

We generated a record peak intensity of 0.7 x 10(22) W/cm2 by focusing a 45-TW laser beam with an f/0.6 off-axis paraboloid. The aberrations of the paraboloid and the low-energy reference laser beam were measured and corrected, and a focal spot size of 0.8 microm was achieved. It is shown that the peak intensity can be increased to 1.0 x 10(22) W/cm2 by correction of the wave front of a 45-TW beam relative to the reference beam. The phase and amplitude measurement provides for an efficient full characterization of the focal field.     

Probing nonequilibrium electron distributions in gold by use of second-harmonic generation

Second-harmonic radiation is generated at a gold surface by use of a laser pulse that is varied in duration from 14 to 29 fs and in intensity from 10(9) to 10(11)W/cm(2) . At laser intensities below 10(10)W/cm(2) , the second-harmonic signal has the expected quadratic dependence on pump-laser intensity; however, at higher intensities, the dependence is supraquadratic. This difference arises because the leading edge of the laser pulse interacts significantly with the gold electrons to create a nonequilibrium, photoexcited distribution. The second-harmonic generation process occurs before electron-electron or electron-phonon collisions can equilibrate the distribution and therefore serves as a probe of the nonequilibrium distribution.     

Lateral electron transport in high-intensity laser-irradiated foils diagnosed by ion emission

An experimental investigation of lateral electron transport in thin metallic foil targets irradiated by ultraintense (>or=10(19) W/cm2) laser pulses is reported. Two-dimensional spatially resolved ion emission measurements are used to quantify electric-field generation resulting from electron transport. The measurement of large electric fields ( approximately 0.1 TV/m) millimeters from the laser focus reveals that lateral energy transport continues long after the laser pulse has decayed. Numerical simulations confirm a very strong enhancement of electron density and electric field at the edges of the target.