Interaction of high Mach-number shocks in laser-produced plasmas

We report the laboratory experiment for high Mach-number collisionless shock formation and for studying the interaction of them. These shocks are formed in high-velocity counterstreaming plasmas produced by ablating a double-foil plastic target with a high-power laser. The laser-produced plasmas are diagnosed with space and time-resolved optical pyrometry and shadowgraphy. Multiple shocks are formed and interact with each other, resulting in the increase of plasma temperature and density.     

Searching for efficient X-ray radiators for wire array Z-pinch plasmas using mid-atomic-number single planar wire arrays on Zebra at UNR

We continue to search for more efficient X-ray radiators from wire array Z-pinch plasmas. The results of recent experiments with single planar wire array (SPWA) loads made from mid-atomic-number material wires such as Alumel, Cu, Mo, and Ag are presented and compared. In particular, two new efficient X-ray radiators, Alumel (95% Ni, 2% Al, and 2% Si) and Ag, are introduced, and their radiative properties are discussed in detail. The experiments were performed on the 1 MA Zebra generator at UNR. The X-ray yields from such mid-atomic-number SPWAs exceed twice those from low-atomic-number SPWAs, such as Al, and increase with the atomic number to reach more than 27–29 kJ for Ag. To consider the main contributions to the total radiation, we divided the time interval of the Z-pinch dynamic where wire ablation and implosion, stagnation, and plasma expansion occur in corresponding phases and studied the radiative and implosion characteristics within them. Theoretical tools such as non-LTE kinetics and wire ablation dynamic models were applied in the data analysis. These results and the models developed have much broader applications, not only for SPWAs on Zebra, but for other HED plasmas with mid-atomic-number ions.     

Radiative properties of mixed nested cylindrical wire arrays on Zebra at UNR

The dynamics of mixed nested cylindrical wire arrays were studied at the UNR Zebra generator with our existing theoretical and experimental tools to better understand the contributions of each array to the emitted radiation. In particular, experimental results of mixed brass (70% Cu, 30% Zn) and Al (5056, 5% Mg) nested cylindrical wire arrays are analyzed and compared. The loads used brass in the inner array and Al in the outer array, or alternately, Al in the inner array and brass in the outer array, with a mass ratio of 1:1 (outer to inner). Consequently, radiative properties of K-shell Al and Mg ions and L-shell Cu and Zn ions are compared as functions of the placements of the brass and Al wires on the inner and outer arrays. Results show that the placement of brass and Al, whether on the inner or outer array, dramatically affects the intensity of the X-ray emission. Specifically, the ratio of Cu L-shell to Al K-shell emissions changed from 4 when Al is in the outer array to 40 when brass is in the outer array, and the total radiated yield was highest when the brass was on the outer array (18 kJ, versus 15 kJ when brass is on the inner array). Each load was fielded twice to vary the timing of the time-gated imaging and spectral diagnostics. This provides a more complete understanding of the evolution of the plasma parameters over the X-ray pulse and highlights the importance of the time-gated diagnostics.     

Theoretical interpretation of X-rays photo-absorption in medium-Z elements plasmas measured at LULI2000 facility

We analyzed the spectra of X-ray transmission through radiatively heated medium-Z plasma (Fe, Ni, Cu and Ge) measured at LULI2000 facility in the wavelength range of 2p–nd transitions. The analysis was performed using the statistical superconfiguration code SCO, two line-by-line opacity codes based on the HULLAC and FAC packages and a new hybrid statistical-detailed code SCORCG. The temperature and mass density of the samples were estimated from hydrodynamic simulations based on the cavity radiative temperature measurements. The theory–experiment agreement is relatively good in the wavelength range corresponding to the 2p–3d transitions except in the germanium case. In the wavelength range of the 2p–2d, n > 3 transitions a relatively good theory–experiment agreement was found in the copper case. As predicted by calculations the separation of the characteristic spin-orbit-split 2p–3d structures, absent in the iron measured spectrum, appears in the nickel spectrum and is visible in the copper and germanium spectra. Comparisons of the experimental transmission with calculations confirm the importance of the relativistic configuration interaction. The absorption strength of the measured germanium 2p–3d transition is much larger than that obtained from the codes. Spatial temperature and density gradients, relatively high in the germanium sample, may be at the origin of this discrepancy.     

Modeling of K-shell Al and Mg radiation from compact single, double planar and cylindrical alloyed Al wire array plasmas produced on the 1 MA Zebra generator at UNR

Radiative emission from alloyed Al single, double and compact cylindrical wire arrays have been studied using the 1 MA Zebra UNR generator. Single planar wire arrays using ten wires and double planar wire arrays and compact cylindrical wire arrays (CCWA) that both had sixteen wires were utilized. The wire composition is Al-5056 (95% of Al and 5% of Mg). We have observed that implosion of these alloyed Al wire loads generated optically thick Al plasmas that can be diagnosed using K-shell Mg lines. In particular, among the considered loads, the K-shell lines of Al from implosions of the double planar wire arrays have the highest optical depth for He-like Al resonance transitions, which occurred near the stagnation phase. X-ray time-gated and time-integrated spectra and pinhole images as well as photoconductive detectors signals were analyzed to provide information on the plasma parameters; electron temperatures and densities, implosion dynamics features and power and yields of the X-ray radiation. Previously developed non-LTE models were applied to model axially-resolved time-integrated, as well as time-gated spatially-integrated, K-shell spectra from Al and Mg. The derived time-dependent electron temperature, density and axial opacity were studied and compared. In addition, the wire ablation dynamics model (WADM) was used to calculate the kinetic energy of the plasma, which with the aid of a Local Thermal Equilibrium (LTE) magneto-hydrodynamics (MHD) simulation, allowed to estimate the precursor and stagnated z-pinch plasma electron temperatures from implosions of wire array loads.     

X-ray spectral measurements and collisional-radiative modeling of hot,gold plasmas at the omega laser

M-Band and L-Band Gold spectra between 3 and 5 keV and 8 and 13 keV, respectively, have been recorded by a photometrically calibrated crystal spectrometer. The spectra were emitted from the plasma in the laser deposition region of a ‘hot hohlraum’. This is a reduced-scale hohlraum heated with ≈9 kJ of 351 nm light in a 1 ns square pulse at the OMEGA laser. The space- and time-integrated spectra included L-Band line emission from Co-like to Ne-like gold. The three L-Band line features were identified to be the 3s → 2p, 3d_5/2 → 2p_3/2 and 3d_3/2 → 2p_1/2 transitions at ≈9 keV, ≈10 keV and ≈13 keV, respectively. M-Band 5f → 3d, 4d → 3p, and 4p → 3s transition features from Fe-like to P-like gold were also recorded between 3 and 5 keV. Modeling from the radiation–hydrodynamics code LASNEX, the collisional-radiative codes FLYCHK and SCRAM, and the atomic structure code FAC were used to model the plasma and generate simulated spectra for comparison with the recorded spectra. Through these comparisons, we have determined the average electron temperature of the emitting plasma to be between 6.0 and 6.5 keV. The electron temperatures predicted by LASNEX appear to be too large by a factor of about 1.5.     

Long time evolution of collisionless shocks in laser produced counterstreaming plasmas

Long time evolution of collisionless shocks in laser-produced plasmas is discussed. By irradiating a double plane target a high Mach number collisionless shock has been observed in laser produced counterstreaming plasmas [Kuramitsu et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 106, 175002 (2011)]. While in early time we observe the shock in front of one plane, which is irradiated with the laser, we observe another shock in front of the other plane in much later time than the first shock formation. These two shocks coexist and collide or merge with each other as time passes. This means that the upstream plasmas for the first and second shocks have to be provided from the second and first shock sides, respectively, i.e., both the first and second shock have to be collisionless. There are two major candidates to account for the long time evolution of the collisionless shocks. One is that the secondary plasmas at the planes can be continuously created by the plasmas from the other planes. Another is that the actual shock thickness is much thiner than the detection limit, as indicated by numerical simulations.     

Toward an accurate numerical simulation of radiation hydrodynamics in laser ablation plasmas

A radiation hydrodynamics code has been developed for more accurate prediction of laser-produced low-density ablation plasmas with appropriately describing anisotropic radiation field by using Monte-Carlo technique for variable Eddington tensor with reasonable computational loads. The Eddington tensor estimated by thousand of sample particles per single fluid step can reproduce the anisotropic radiation field in the low-density region and will not result in large computational consumption. Prediction of the emitted light from ablation plasma can be corrected by the proposed method. Ablation structure sustained by a compact radiation source, which is sometimes found in experiments of collisionless shock relevant to laboratory astrophysics, may also be changed by anisotropic transfer computation in optically thin region.     

Modeling of the oscillating field effects on the Heβ line emission in short pulse laser-produced plasmas

Strong oscillating fields may induce strong modifications of the emission spectra of ions. We discuss here the possibility of observing such effects in actual laser experiments where space- and time-integration effects can easily mask their existence. Focusing on the Al He_β transition, we first discuss the calculation of its spectral broadening in the presence of a strong laser field. Then, starting from 1D hydro-simulations of short, intense, laser pulse-produced plasmas that provide the density, temperature and laser intensity profiles as a function of time, full integrated collisional-radiative calculations of the laser field-dependent emissivity of the Al He_β line, are presented.     

Bayesian inference of inaccuracies in radiation transport physics from inertial confinement fusion experiments

First principles microphysics models are essential to the design and analysis of high energy density physics experiments. Using experimental data to investigate the underlying physics is also essential, particularly when simulations and experiments are not consistent with each other. This is a difficult task, due to the large number of physical models that play a role, and due to the complex and noisy nature of the experiments. This results in a large number of parameters that make any inference a daunting task; it is also very important to consistently treat both experimental and prior understanding of the problem. In this paper we present a Bayesian method that includes both these effects, and allows the inference of a set of modifiers that have been constructed to give information about microphysics models from experimental data. We pay particular attention to radiation transport models. The inference takes into account a large set of experimental parameters and an estimate of the prior knowledge through a modified χ² function, which is minimised using an efficient genetic algorithm. Both factors play an essential role in our analysis. We find that although there is evidence of inaccuracies in off-line calculations of X-ray drive intensity and Ge L shell absorption, modifications to radiation transport are unable to reconcile differences between 1D HYDRA simulations and the experiment.     

激光光通量位移计在Hopkinson杆中的应用

简要介绍了激光位移测试技术的基本原理及实现方案,准静态和动态标定结果表明该系统可以用 于动态测试。给出了激光光通量位移计在Hopkinson杆实验中的3种应用:(1)用激光光通量位移计可以监 测试样的横向变形,从而得出试样的动态泊松比;(2)在动态断裂实验中,激光光通量位移计可以监测裂尖张 开位移,结合应变片的信息可以得出试样的动态断裂能;(3)将激光光通量位移计和石英晶体应力计相结合可 以直接在试样两端得到应力应变信息,用来测量超软材料在中应变率下的力学响应。     

The effect of a radiation field on excitation and ionisation in non-LTE high energy density plasmas

In this paper we consider the direct effect of an ambient radiation field on the state of excitation and ionisation in a non-LTE high energy density plasma. We review both narrow-band and broad-band pumping and look at the theory that has been developed and the experiments performed using high-power lasers and pulsed-power devices and (potentially) X-ray free-electron lasers to investigate this effect.     

Simulation of large amplitude waves in a slug tracking scheme compared to roll wave experiments at high pressure

Due to the similarities between large amplitude roll waves and slug flow in two-phase gas–liquid pipe flow, a slug tracking scheme is presented with the addition of a simplified model for roll waves. The waves are treated in a similar way to slugs, modelled as objects moving at the wave velocity and with a pressure variation across them. The two-fluid model is solved on a stationary staggered grid in stratified sections between moving waves and slugs. The model is dynamic meaning that the growth and decay of waves and slugs can be simulated. The wave model implementation within the tracking scheme is discussed and demonstrated in comparison to existing experimental data on wave velocities and averaged pressure drops. The results from the tracking scheme compared well to the experiments when waves were initiated with the experimental frequency. Wave initiation remains as a modelling challenge.     

Non-parametric identification of the non-homogeneous stress in high strain-rate uni-axial experiments

Stress and strain homogeneity, in tested samples, is a crucial assumption during a dynamic test. Whenever this assumption is true, the conventional recovery of the mean strain and stress is valid. However, when the stress and strain fields in the sample are not homogeneous, more sophisticated treatment must be considered. Inverse problem techniques are then proposed. Nevertheless, they may yield a non-physical result. In this paper, a non-parametric solution to the problem of non-homogeneity in dynamic tests is presented. The stress field is deduced from the displacement field measured via a Digital Speckle Photography (DSP) technique and a force boundary condition.     

Numerical experiments on convective heat transfer in water-saturated porous media at near-critical conditions

Fluid and heat flow at temperatures approaching or exceeding that at the critical point (374 °C for pure water, higher for saline fluids) may be encountered in deep zones of geothermal systems and above cooling intrusives. In the vicinity of the critical point the density and internal energy of fluids show very strong variations for small temperature and pressure changes. This suggests that convective heat transfer from thermal buoyancy flow would be strongly enhanced at near-critical conditions. This has been confirmed in laboratory experiments. We have developed special numerical techniques for modeling porous flow at near-critical conditions, which can handle the extreme nonlinearities in water properties near the critical point. Our numerical simulations show strong enhancements of convective heat transfer at near-critical conditions; however, the heat transfer rates obtained in the simulations are considerably smaller than data reported from laboratory experiments by Dunn and Hardee. We discuss possible reasons for this discrepancy and develop suggestions for additional laboratory experiments.     

Preliminary drop-tower experiments on liquid-interface geometry in partially filled containers at zero gravity

Plexiglass containers with rounded trapezoidal cross sections were designed and built to test the validity of Concus and Finn's existence theorem (1974, 1983) for a bounded free liquid surface at zero gravity. Experiments were carried out at the NASA Lewis two-second drop tower. Dyed ethanol-water solutions and three immiscible liquid pairs, with one liquid dyed, were tested. High-speed movies were used to record the liquid motion. Liquid rose to the top of the smaller end of the containers when the contact angle was small enough, in agreement with the theory. Liquid interface motion demonstrated a strong dependence on physical properties, including surface roughness and contamination.     

Measurements of emission spectra from hot,dense germanium plasma in short pulse laser experiments

Heating of thin foil targets by an high power laser at intensities of 10¹⁷–10¹⁹ W/cm² has been studied as a method for producing high temperature, high density samples to investigate X-ray opacity and equation of state. The targets were plastic (parylene-N) foils with a microdot made of a mixture of germanium and titanium buried at depth of 1.5 μm. The L-shell spectra from the germanium and the K-shell spectra from the titanium were taken using crystal spectrometers recording onto film and an ultra fast X-ray streak camera coupled to a conical focussing crystal with a time resolution of 1 ps. The conditions in the microdot were inferred by comparing the measured spectra to synthetic spectra produced by the time-dependent collisional–radiative (CR) models FLY and FLYCHK. The data were also compared to simulated spectra from a number of opacity codes assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE). Temperature and density gradients were taken into account in the comparisons. The sample conditions were inferred from the CR modelling using FLYCHK to be 800 ± 100 eV and 1.5 ± 0.5 g/cc. The best fit to the LTE models was at a temperature 20% lower than with the CR model. Though the sample departs from LTE significantly useful spectral comparisons can still be made. The results and comparisons are discussed along with improvements to the experimental technique to achieve conditions closer to LTE.     

Research on viscosity of metal at high pressure

A new experimental technique, the flyer-impact method, is proposed in this article to investigate the viscosity coefficient of shocked metals. In this technique, a shock wave with a sinusoidal perturbation on the front is induced by the sinusoidal profile of the impact surface of the sample by use of a two-stage light-gas gun, and the oscillatory damping process of the perturbation amplitude is monitored by electric pins. The damping processes of aluminum at 78 and 101 GPa and iron at 159 and 103 GPa are obtained by this technique, which supplement the existing data by measuring the viscosity coefficient via a dynamic high-pressure method. Applying the formula of Miller and Ahrens to fit the experimental data, the shear viscosity coefficients of aluminum at 78 and 101 GPa are \(1350\,\pm \,500\) and \(1200\,\pm \,500~\hbox {Pa}\,\hbox {s}\), respectively, and those of iron at 159 and 103 GPa are \(1150\,\pm \,1000\) and \(4800\,\pm \,1000~\hbox {Pa}\,\hbox {s}\), respectively. The values measured by the flyer-impact method, approximately \(10^{3}~\hbox {Pa}\, \hbox {s}\), are consistent with those measured by Sakharov’s method, while still greatly differing from those measured by static high-pressure methods. In dynamic high-pressure experiments, the shear viscosity is related to dislocation motion in the solid material, while that in static high-pressure experiments is related to the diffusion motion of atoms or molecules in liquids. Therefore, there are different physical meanings of shear viscosity in dynamic and static high-pressure experiments, and there is no comparability among these results.     

Measurement of the charge composition of ions in experiments on interaction of a laser plasma flow with a pulsed gas jet

The ion composition of a plasma flow obtained by intense irradiation of a solid target is determined by methods of probing diagnostics and measuring the secondary emission rate. As the ions fly through a dense gas jet, C ⁵⁺ ions are found to recharge to C ⁴⁺ ions and then to C ³⁺ ions. The fraction of high-charge ions in the initial plasma flow and their concentration in the region of interaction with the jet are calculated. The concentration of atoms in the gas jet is estimated on the basis of the integral change in the charge value. Results necessary for analyzing the conditions of experiments on effective charge-transfer pumping and laser generation in the far ultraviolet spectral range are obtained. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 50, No. 3, pp. 36–43, May–June, 2009.