Transient collisionally excited X-ray laser in nickel-like zirconium pumped with the PHELIX laser facility

A transient collisionally excited X-ray laser has been put into operation using the front end of the PHELIX laser system as a pump laser. Strong lasing at 22 nm has been observed in nickel-like zirconium. PACS 42.60.-v; 42.55.Vc; 42.62.Fi     

Commissioning of the pion beam facility at SIS-GSF

A secondary pion beam facility has recently been installed and commissioned at the SIS-GSI (Darmstadt) 18Tm synchrotron. Pions are produced in the collision of light heavy-ion beams from the SIS onto a thick production target and transported to HADES experimental area. A system of three time-of-flight hodoscopes has been constructed and installed in the beam line to separate pions from other secondary particles. The main results of the commissioning experiment are presented.     

Temporal contrast control at the PHELIX petawatt laser facility by means of tunable sub-picosecond optical parametric amplification

We report on the development of a preamplifier module for temporal contrast enhancement and control at petawatt-class lasers. The module is based on an ultrafast optical parametric amplifier (uOPA), which produces temporally clean pulses at the 60 μJ level for seeding a chirped pulse amplification (CPA) system, namely the petawatt facility PHELIX. The amplifier module allows for gain reduction in the following amplifiers, resulting in an attenuation of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) by more than 4 orders of magnitude. Since the ASE of a CPA system linearly depends on the seeding energy, we were able to demonstrate a continuous variation of the temporal contrast by tuning the gain of the uOPA.     

PHELIX – Status and First Experiments

The high-energy high-power laser system PHELIX (Petawatt High Energy Laser for heavy Ion eXperiments) [1] is currently under construction at the Gesellschaft fuer Schwerionenforschung mbH (GSI) Darmstadt. With PHELIX GSI will offer the unique combination of a high-current, high-energy (GeV/u) heavy-ion beam with an intense laser beam. This will open the door to a variety of fundamental science issues in the field of atomic physics, plasma physics and nuclear physics. The project will gain further interest in the near future by the dramatic increase of the accelerator performance with the starting FAIR project at GSI [2]. This paper reports the current status of the project as well as the laser architecture. The proposed physics program and a first experiment carried out with PHELIX, the realization of a transient collisionally excited x-ray laser [3], will also be reviewed briefly.     

Commissioning of a multi‐beamline femtoslicing facility at SOLEIL

The investigation of ultrafast dynamics, taking place on the few to sub‐picosecond time scale, is today a very active research area pursued in a variety of scientific domains. With the recent advent of X‐ray free‐electron lasers (XFELs), providing very intense X‐ray pulses of duration as short as a few femtoseconds, this research field has gained further momentum. As a consequence, the demand for access strongly exceeds the capacity of the very few XFEL facilities existing worldwide. This situation motivates the development of alternative sub‐picosecond pulsed X‐ray sources among which femtoslicing facilities at synchrotron radiation storage rings are standing out due to their tunability over an extended photon energy range and their high stability. Following the success of the femtoslicing installations at ALS, BESSY‐II, SLS and UVSOR, SOLEIL decided to implement a femtoslicing facility. Several challenges were faced, including operation at the highest electron beam energy ever, and achievement of slice separation exclusively with the natural dispersion function of the storage ring. SOLEIL's setup also enables, for the first time, delivering sub‐picosecond pulses simultaneously to several beamlines. This last feature enlarges the experimental capabilities of the facility, which covers the soft and hard X‐ray photon energy range. In this paper, the commissioning of this original femtoslicing facility is reported. Furthermore, it is shown that the slicing‐induced THz signal can be used to derive a quantitative estimate for the degree of energy exchange between the femtosecond infrared laser pulse and the circulating electron bunch.     

10 MA多支路汇流装置上钽的强度实验研究

磁驱动准等熵加载技术通过电流产生的磁压力加载材料,加载路径由负载电流波形和负载结构决定。作为应变率介于静高压加载和冲击加载之间的新型实验技术,熵增小、温升低。10 MA装置是典型的多支路汇流装置,包括24个电流支路,可在较大范围内控制负载电流波形,实现mm厚、cm直径样品在不同应变率下的准等熵加载。基于10 MA装置,通过调节负载电流波形实现样品加载路径控制,在一定压力-应变率范围,开展金属钽的强度实验研究,获取了不同厚度金属钽样品的加-卸载波剖面速度历史,分析获得了钽在系列峰值压力下的强度数据,比较了多个加载平台不同加载路径下的强度数据,实验结果与美国圣地亚国家实验室的磁驱动准等熵结果接近（平均应变率都约为10⁵ s⁻¹）,明显高于冲击加载的流动强度,低于准静态加载获取的流动强度,与应变率增高强度会有所下降的理论预测一致。基于多支路汇流装置,未来将可开展更为丰富的材料动力学特性实验研究。

     

Utilization of the BARC critical facility for ADS related experiments

The paper discusses the basic design of the critical facility, whose main purpose is the physics validation of AHWR. Apart from moderator level control, the facility will have shutdown systems based on shutoff rods and multiple ranges of neutron detection systems. In addition, it will have a flux mapping system based on 25 fission chambers, distributed in the core. We are planning to use this reactor for experiments with a suitable source to simulate an ADS system. Any desired sub-criticality can be achieved by adjusting the moderator level. Apart from perfecting our experimental techniques, in simple configurations, we intend to study the one-way coupled core in this facility. Preliminary calculations, employing a Monte Carlo code TRIPOLI, are presented.      

Laser-driven flier impact experiments at the SG-III prototype laser facility

Laser-driven flier impact experiments have been designed and performed at the SG-III prototype laser facility. The continuum phase plate(CPP) technique is used for the 3 ns quadrate laser pulse to produce a relatively uniform irradiated spot of 2 mm. The peak laser intensity is 2.7×1013W/cm2 and it accelerates the aluminum flier with a density gradient configuration to a high average speed of 21.3 km/s, as determined by the flight-of-time method with line VISAR. The flier decelerates on impact with a transparent silica window, providing a measure of the flatness of the flier after one hundred microns of flight. The subsequent shock wave acceleration, pursuing, and decay in the silica window are interpreted by hydrodynamic simulation. This method provides a promising method to create unique conditions for the study of a material's properties.     

Radio-frequency μSR experiments at the ISIS pulsed muon facility

This paper explores the use of pulsed radio-frequency (RF) techniques to remove the frequency limitations imposed on conventional transverse muon spin rotation (μSR) experiments at a pulsed muon source by the finite muon pulse width. The implementation of the 90° pulse technique is demonstrated by observing the free precession signal of diamagnetic muons implanted in polythene, the change in signal amplitude as a function of RF pulse length is plotted and the precise condition for a 90° pulse determined. The technique is evaluated by comparing measurements made using conventional spin rotation experiments to those employing pulsed RF methods. The potential for applying standard NMR multiple-pulse methods to the μSR experiment is considered and the use of two-pulse RF sequences (90° _x ?τ?90° _x and 90° _x ?τ?180° _x ) to form a muon spin echo demonstrated.     

Upgrading the genome facility for radiobiological experiments with heavy-ion beams

The Genome-M facility for the automatic fast irradiation of thin biological samples with accelerated heavy ions at the U-400M cyclotron of the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, is described. It allows a great deal of various samples to be irradiated within a few hours using radiation with preset and controlled characteristics. Methods for monitoring beam quality and calibrating the ionization chamber in absorbed dose units and the facility control software are also described.     

Foam target experiments with the PF-1000 plasma focus facility

This paper describes experiments on foam liners performed with the PF-1000 plasma focus facility. A streak camera has been used to observe interaction of a hydrogen plasma current sheath with a cylindrical foam target. It is shown that a thin foam liner can be uniformly imploded by a plasma focus current sheath. Received: 11 February 1999 / Received in final form: 30 March 1999     

Present and future experiments with stored exotic nuclei at the FRS-ESR facility

High accuracy mass and lifetime measurements are performed with the combination of the in-flight separator FRS and the cooler-storage ring ESR at GSI. Exotic nuclei are produced via projectile fragmentation and fission at (400–900) MeV/u. This energy range is the basis for unique experimental conditions with bare and few-electron fragments and allows for the first time investigations for decay channels which are rare or strictly forbidden in neutral atoms. New experimental developments and data including the discovery of new isotopes are presented. The comparison of the experimental results with theoretical predictions indicates the potential for improvements of nuclear models. A new generation of experiments will be possible with the advent of the proposed international Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR).     

Feasibility of low-energy radiative-capture experiments at the LUNA underground accelerator facility

The LUNA (Laboratory Underground for Nuclear Astrophysics) facility has been designed to study nuclear reactions of astrophysical interest. It is located deep underground in the Gran Sasso National Laboratory, Italy. Two electrostatic accelerators, with 50 and 400 kV maximum voltage, in combination with solid and gas target setups allowed to measure the total cross-sections of the radiative-capture reactions ^2H²H(p, )^3He³Heand ^14N¹⁴N(p, )^15O¹⁵Owithin their relevant Gamow peaks. We report on the gamma background in the Gran Sasso laboratory measured by germanium and bismuth germanate detectors, with and without an incident proton beam. A method to localize the sources of beam-induced background using the Doppler shift of emitted gamma rays is presented. The feasibility of radiative-capture studies at energies of astrophysical interest is discussed for several experimental scenarios.     

First polar direct-drive exploding-pusher target experiments on the ShenGuang laser facility

Low density and low convergence implosion occurs in the exploding-pusher target experiment, and generates neutrons isotropically to develop a high yield platform.In order to validate the performance of ShenGuang(SG) laser facility and test nuclear diagnostics, all 48-beam lasers with an on-target energy of 48 kJ were firstly used to drive room-temperature, DT gas-filled glass targets.The optimization has been carried out and optimal drive uniformity was obtained by the combination of beam repointing and target.The final irradiation uniformity of less than 5% on polar direct-drive capsules of 540 μm in diameter was achieved, and the highest thermonuclear yield of the polar direct-drive DT fuel implosion at the SG was 1.04 × 10~(13).The experiment results show neutron yields severely depend on the irradiation uniformity and laser timing,and decrease with the increase of the diameter and fuel pressure of the target.The thin CH ablator does not impact the implosion performance, but the laser drive uniformity is important.The simulated results validate that the cos γ distribution laser design is reasonable and can achieve a symmetric pressure distribution.Further optimization will focus on measuring the symmetry of the hot spot by self-emission imaging, increasing the diameter, and decreasing the fuel pressure.     

Analysis of direct-drive capsule compression experiments on the Iskra-5 laser facility

We have analyzed and numerically simulated our experiments on the compression of DT-gas-filled glass capsules under irradiation by a small number of beams on the Iskra-5 facility (12 beams) at the second harmonic of an iodine laser (λ = 0.66 μm) for a laser pulse energy of 2 kJ and duration of 0.5 ns in the case of asymmetric irradiation and compression. Our simulations include the construction of a target illumination map and a histogram of the target surface illumination distribution; 1D capsule compression simulations based on the DIANA code corresponding to various target surface regions; and 2D compression simulations based on the NUTCY code corresponding to the illumination conditions. We have succeeded in reproducing the shape of the compressed region at the time of maximum compression and the reduction in neutron yield (compared to the 1D simulations) to the experimentally observed values. For the Iskra-5 conditions, we have considered targets that can provide a more symmetric compression and a higher neutron yield.     

神光系列装置激光聚变实验与诊断技术研究进展

文章主要介绍了国内自2000年以来的激光惯性约束聚变(ICF)实验研究以及诊断技术研究的进展,主要内容为神光Ⅱ激光装置上的实验,也对刚建成不久的神光Ⅲ原型装置上的实验作简要介绍,此外,文章还介绍了神光Ⅱ和神光Ⅲ原型装置上近期发展的诊断技术和设备.文章作者在神光Ⅱ激光装置上开展了多项的物理实验研究,其中包括黑腔物理、内爆物理、流体动力学不稳定性、辐射不透明度以及辐射驱动冲击波等,并取得了重要的进展.在X射线单能成像、Thomson探针、无高级衍射的单级衍射光栅等新型关键诊断技术与尖端设备研制方面也取得了显著进展.     

神光系列装置激光聚变实验与诊断技术研究进展

文章主要介绍了国内自2000年以来的激光惯性约束聚变（ICF）实验研究以及诊断技术研究的进展,主要内容为神光II激光装置上的实验,也对刚建成不久的神光III原型装置上的实验作简要介绍,此外,文章还介绍了神光II和神光III原型装置上近期发展的诊断技术和设备.文章作者在神光II激光装置上开展了多项的物理实验研究,其中包括黑腔物理、内爆物理、流体动力学不稳定性、辐射不透明度以及辐射驱动冲击波等,并取得了重要的进展.在X射线单能成像、Thomson探针、无高级衍射的单级衍射光栅等新型关键诊断技术与尖端设备研制方面也取得了显著进展.     

Opportunities for parity violating electron scattering experiments at the planned MESA facility

We suggest to start an accelerator physics project called the Mainz Energy recovering Superconducting Accelerator (MESA) as an extension to our experimental facilities. MESA may allow to introduce an innovative internal target regime based on the ERL principle. A second mode of operation will be to use an external polarized electron beam for parity violating experiments.