Application of multi-pulse optical imaging to measure evolution of laser-produced counter-streaming flows

A counter-streaming flow system is a test-bed to investigate the astrophysical collisionless shock(CS) formation in the laboratory. Electrostatic/electromagnetic instabilities, competitively growing in the system and exciting the CS formation, are sensitive to the flows parameters. One of the most important parameters is the velocity, determining what kind of instability contributes to the shock formation. Here we successfully measure the evolution of the counter-streaming flows within one shot using a multi-pulses imaging diagnostic technique. With the technique, the average velocity of the high-density-part(ne ≥ 8–9 × 10~(19)cm~(-3)) of the flow is directly measured to be of ～ 10~6cm/s between 7 ns and 17 ns.Meanwhile, the average velocity of the low-density-part(ne ≤ 2 × 10~(19)cm~(-3)) can be estimated as ～ 10~7cm/s. The experimental results show that a collisionless shock is formed during the low-density-part of the flow interacting with each other.     

Bow shocks formed by a high-speed laser-driven plasma cloud interacting with a cylinder obstacle

A bow shock is formed in the interaction of a high-speed laser-driven plasma cloud with a cylinder obstacle. Its temporal and spatial structures are observed by shadowgraphy and interferometry. The width of the shock transition region is ～ 50 μm, comparable to the ion–ion collision mean free path, which indicates that collision is dominated in the shock probably. The Mach-number of the ablating plasma cloud is ～ 15 at first, and decreases with time resulting in a changing shock structure. A two-dimension hydrodynamics code, USim, is used to simulate the interaction process. The simulated shocks can well reproduce the observed.     

强激光产生的强磁场及其对弓激波的影响

强激光照射金属线圈后,会在打靶点附近的背景等离子体中诱发冷电子的回流,在金属丝内形成强电流源,从而产生强磁场.本文利用神光II高功率激光器产生的强激光照射金属丝靶,产生了围绕金属丝的环形强磁场.利用B-dot对局域磁感应强度进行了测量,根据测量结果,结合三维模拟程序,反演得到磁场的空间分布.再利用强激光与CH平面靶相互作用产生的超音速等离子体撞击该金属丝,产生了弓激波.通过光学成像手段研究了磁场对冲击波的影响,发现磁场使得弓激波的轮廓变得不明显并且张角变大.同时,通过实验室天体物理定标率,将金属丝表面等离子参数变换到相应的天体参数中,结果证明利用该实验方法可以在实验室中产生类似太阳风的磁化等离子体.     

利用气泡探测器测量激光快中子

在利用超强激光驱动中子源的研究和应用研究中,中子源的产额及其角分布至关重要.我们在星光Ⅲ号激光装置上采用气泡探测器对强激光驱动的中子源的产额及其角分布进行了测量.利用超强皮秒激光与碳氘薄膜靶相互作用产生高能氘离子束撞击次级碳氘靶,通过氘-氘核反应产生准单能快中子.实验发现中子束的发射具有一定的方向性,在入射氘离子的传输方向上中子束具有更高的强度,测量得到的中子束最大强度为5.13×10⁷ n/sr.利用实验测量的氘离子能谱和角分布对中子束角分布进行了理论计算,结果与实验测量基本一致.     

纳秒激光等离子体相互作用过程中激光强度对微波辐射影响的研究

在强激光与等离子体的相互作用中,通常能够产生时间尺度长达百纳秒量级的微波辐射,形成的复杂电磁环境会干扰或损坏机械电子设备,并给物理过程的准确认识与表征带来困难.然而,目前对于微波辐射的产生机制的研究还不够系统和完善.本文通过系统地改变纳秒激光与等离子体作用过程中入射的激光能量以改变入射激光强度,发现微波辐射强度随激光强度非单调变化.在较低的激光强度下,辐射强度随激光强度的增加先增加后减小,辐射场时间波形呈现连续振荡的特征,辐射频谱包含低于和高于0.3 GHz两部分分量;在较高的激光强度下,辐射强度随激光强度的增加而增加,辐射场时间波形表现为数十纳秒的单极性辐射,辐射频谱主要包括0.3 GHz以下的分量.分析表明,导致微波波形和频谱差别的原因是辐射机制发生了变化.在较低的激光强度下,微波辐射由偶极辐射和靶上电子束向真空出射共同作用产生,其中偶极辐射占主导;在较高的激光强度下,微波辐射主要由靶上电子束向真空出射产生.研究结果对于理解纳秒激光与等离子体相互作用过程中的微波辐射机制具有比较重要的意义,同时也为借助微波辐射诊断激光与等离子体相互作用过程中的逃逸电子、靶面鞘层场等问题提供了参考.