Implementation of ultrafast X‐ray diffraction at the 1W2B wiggler beamline of Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility

The implementation of a laser pump/X‐ray probe scheme for performing picosecond‐resolution X‐ray diffraction at the 1W2B wiggler beamline at Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility is reported. With the hybrid fill pattern in top‐up mode, a pixel array X‐ray detector was optimized to gate out the signal from the singlet bunch with interval 85 ns from the bunch train. The singlet pulse intensity is ～2.5 × 10⁶ photons pulse^?1 at 10 keV. The laser pulse is synchronized to this singlet bunch at a 1 kHz repetition rate. A polycapillary X‐ray lens was used for secondary focusing to obtain a 72 µm (FWHM) X‐ray spot. Transient photo‐induced strain in BiFeO₃ film was observed at a ～150 ps time resolution for demonstration.     

Neutron generation in dense femtosecond laser plasma of a structured solid target

We report neutron production by the ²H(d, n)³He reaction induced upon the illumination of a solid nanostructured target by femtosecond laser pulses of intensity 20 PW/cm² (1 PW = 10¹⁵ W). The target was structured through the preliminary illumination by a laser pulse of the same intensity.     

Laser-driven generation of fast particles

The great progress in high-peak-power laser technology has resulted recently in the production of ps and subps laser pulses of PW powers and relativistic intensities (up to 10²¹ W/cm²) and has laid the basis for the construction of multi-PW lasers generating ultrarelativistic laser intensities (above 10²³ W/cm²). The laser pulses of such extreme parameters make it possible to produce highly collimated beams of electrons or ions of MeV to GeV energies, of short time durations (down to subps) and of enormous currents and current densities, unattainable with conventional accelerators. Such particle beams have a potential to be applied in numerous fields of scientific research as well as in medicine and technology development. This paper is focused on laser-driven generation of fast ion beams and reviews recent progress in this field. The basic concepts and achievements in the generation of intense beams of protons, light ions, and multiply charged heavy ions are presented. Prospects for applications of laser-driven ion beams are briefly discussed.     

Ultraintense lasers: relativistic nonlinear optics and applications

Traditional optics and nonlinear optics are related to laser–matter interaction with eV characteristic energy. Recent progresses in ultrahigh intensity makes it possible to drive electrons with relativistic energy opening up the field of relativistic nonlinear optics. In the last decade, lasers have undergone orders-of-magnitude jumps in peak power, with the invention of the technique of chirped pulse amplification (CPA) and the refinements of femtosecond techniques. Modern CPA lasers can produce intensities greater than 10²¹ W/cm², one million times greater than previously possible. These ultraintense lasers give researchers a tool to produce unprecedented pressures (terabars), magnetic fields (gigagauss), temperatures (10¹⁰ K), and accelerations (10²⁵ g) with applications in fusion energy, nuclear physics (fast ignition), high-energy physics, astrophysics, and cosmology. They promote the optics field from the eV to the GeV.     

Near‐3‐MeV protons from target‐normal‐sheath‐acceleration femtosecond laser irradiating advanced targets

Advanced targets based on graphene oxide and gold thin film were irradiated at high laser intensity (10¹⁸–10¹⁹ W/cm²) with 50‐fs laser pulses and high contrast (10⁸) to investigate ion acceleration in the target‐normal‐sheath‐acceleration regime. Time‐of‐flight technique was employed with SiC semiconductor detectors and ion collectors in order to measure the ion kinetic energy and to control the properties of the generated plasma. It was found that, at the optimized laser focus position with respect to the target, maximum proton acceleration up to about 3 MeV energy and low angular divergence could be generated. The high proton energy is explained as due to the high electrical and thermal conductivity of the reduced graphene oxide structure. Dependence of the maximum proton energy on the target focal position and thickness is presented and discussed.     

飞秒超强激光多通预放大过程中的脉冲信噪比研究

从啁啾脉冲放大的基本理论出发,详细计算了啁啾脉冲在多通预放大中各个时间点的增益情况,并设计了一个十通预放大器进行了实验研究. 结果显示,在抽运通量为1.6 J/cm²的非饱和放大情况下,种子脉冲经过十通预放大之后信噪比由10^-5提高到10^-7. 这表明在非饱和抽运通量下,多通预放大器可以有效提高激光脉冲的信噪比. 关键词： 多通预放大 信噪比 飞秒钛宝石激光器     

Muon Motion Induced by a Superintense Laser in Muon‐Catalyzed Fusion

Considering the mixture after muon‐catalyzed fusion (μ CF) reaction as overdense plasma, we study muon motion in the plasma produced by a superintense linearly polarized femtosecond laser pulse. Muon drift along the propagation of laser radiation remains after the end of the laser pulse. At the peak laser intensity of 10²¹W/cm², muon goes from the skin layer into field‐free matter at short time which is much less than the pulse duration, before the laser pulse reaches its maximum. Besides, the influence of the laser on other particles in the plasma is less. Hence, this work can avoid muon sticking to alpha (α) effectively and reduce muon‐loss probability in μ CF. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

超短脉冲强激光与固体靶相互作用中Kα射线的实验研究

在相对论激光强度下，对p偏振30 fs激光与固体Cu靶相互作用中产生的Kα射线进行了实验研究.采用刀边成像技术和单光子计数X射线CCD相结合的探测装置，在单发激光脉冲打靶时同时得到X射线源的尺寸、能谱以及Kα光子的转换效率等多种信息.实验结果与Reich等人的理论计算结果有明显的差异，Kα光子的能量转换效率在激光功率密度为1.6×10¹⁸W/cm²的条件下达到最大值7.08×10^-6/sr.根据这一结果并结合蒙特卡罗程序，推断出在这一聚焦光强下激光能量转换为前向超热电子的效率约为10%.     

Partial crystallization of silicon by high intensity laser irradiation

Commercial single crystal silicon wafers and amorphous silicon films piled on single crystal silicon wafers were irradiated with a femtosecond pulsed laser and a nanosecond pulsed laser at irradiation intensities between 10¹⁷ W/cm² and 10⁹ W/cm². In the single crystal silicon substrate, the irradiated area was changed to polycrystalline silicon and the piled silicon around the irradiated area has spindly column structures constructed of polycrystalline and amorphous silicon. In particular, in the case of the higher irradiation intensity of 10¹⁶ W/cm², the irradiated area was oriented to the same crystal direction as the substrate. In the case of the lower irradiation intensity of 10⁸ W/cm², only amorphous silicon was observed around the irradiated area, even when the target was single crystal silicon. In contrast, only amorphous silicon particles were found to be piled on the amorphous silicon film, irrespective of the intensity and pulse duration.Three-dimensional thermal diffusion equation for the piled particles on the substrate was solved by using the finite difference methods. The results of our heat-flow simulation of the piled particles almost agree with the experimental results.     

X-ray emission from aluminium under intense, ultrashort irradiation

We present studies of X-ray emission from aluminium under picosecond and femtosecond irradiation in the intensity range 10¹²-10¹⁵ W cm^-2. We use a new and simple method to measure spectrally resolved absolute X-ray yields. It is shown that the X-ray yields can be obtained for arbitrary levels of X-ray flux. We present details of the variation of the absolute yields as a function of wavelength, intensity, polarization and pulse duration of the incident laser radiation. Electron temperatures in the keV range are observed at 10¹⁵ W cm^-2 with femtosecond laser pulses. Received 12 August 1999 and Received in final form 29 November 1999     

Study on the interaction of intense femtosecond laser pulses with nanometre-sized hydrogen clusters

The interaction of intense femtosecond laser pulses with hydrogen clusters has been experimentally studied. The hydrogen clusters were produced from expansion of high-pressure hydrogen gas (backed up to 8\tm10⁶Pa) into vacuum through a conical nozzle cryogenically cooled by liquid nitrogen. The average size of hydrogen clusters was estimated by Rayleigh scattering measurement and the maximum proton energy of up to 4.2keV has been obtained from the Coulomb explosion of hydrogen clusters under 2×10¹⁶ W/cm² laser irradiation. Dependence of the maximum proton energy on cluster size and laser intensity was investigated, indicating the correlation between the laser intensity and the cluster size. The maximum proton energy is found to be directly proportional to the laser intensity, which is consistent with the theoretical prediction.     

Ion acceleration from aluminium plasma generated by a femtosecond laser in different conditions

Non-equilibrium plasma was obtained by irradiating Al foils in vacuum with a femtosecond (fs) laser at intensities of the order of 10¹⁸ W/cm². Protons and other light ions were accelerated in the forward direction by using the target-normal-sheath acceleration regime. Time-of-flight technique was employed to measure the ions' kinetic energy using SiC detectors placed at known distances and angles. The ion acceleration was monitored under different conditions of laser focal position, laser pulse energy, and laser contrast. The target was irradiated using different thicknesses and anti-reflecting graphene films. By optimizing the laser parameters, irradiation conditions, and target properties, it was possible to accelerate up to 2.3 MeV per charge state, as will be presented and discussed.     

Energetic ion generation by Coulomb explosion in cluster gas and a low-density plastic foam with an intense femtosecond laser

The energy distributions of protons emitted from the Coulomb explosion of hydrogen clusters by an intense femtosecond laser have been experimentally obtained. Ten thousand hydrogen clusters were exploded, emitting 8.1-keV protons under laser irradiation of intensity 6 × 10¹⁶W/cm². The energy distributions are interpreted well by a spherical uniform cluster analytical model. The maximum energy of the emitted protons can be characterized by cluster size and laser intensity. The laser intensity scale for the maximum proton energy, given by a spherical cluster Coulomb explosion model, is in fairly good agreement with the experimental results obtained at a laser intensity of 10¹⁶–10¹⁷ W/cm² and also when extrapolated with the results of three-dimensional particle simulations at 10²⁰–10²¹ W/cm². Energetic proton generation in low-density plastic (C₅H₁₀) foam by intense femtosecond laser pulse irradiation has been studied experimentally and numerically. Plastic foam was successfully produced by a sol-gel method, achieving an average density of 10 mg/cm³. The foam target was irradiated by 100-fs pulses of a laser with intensity 1 × 10¹⁸ W/cm². A plateau structure extending up to 200 keV was observed in the energy distribution of protons generated from the foam target, with the plateau shape explained well by Coulomb explosion of lamella in the foam. The laser-foam interaction and ion generation were studied qualitatively by two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, which indicated that energetic protons are mainly generated by the Coulomb explosion. From the results, the efficiency of energetic ion generation in a low-density foam target by Coulomb explosion is expected to be higher than in a gas-cluster target.     

相对论效应对激光在等离子体中的共振吸收的影响

采用一维粒子模拟(PIC)方法，研究了相对论效应对P偏振激光斜入射非均匀等离子体时产生的共振吸收的影响. 计算表明，弱相对论情况下，在临界面附近产生的电子等离子体波的相对论非线性效应占主要作用；随着入射光场的逐渐增大，吸收率逐渐降低. 当入射光强超过3.7×10¹⁷W/cm²时，由于超短激光脉冲本身在等离子体中产生相对论效应、等离子体波破裂效应，以及参量不稳定过程激发等，吸收系数随着激光强度又开始增加. 固定等离子体密度标长，取不同的激光入射角、电子初始温度，相对论效应对吸收系数的影响是一致的. 关键词： 激光等离子体 相对论效应 共振吸收 粒子模拟     

Photodissociation effects on pulsed laser deposited silver oxide thin films: surface‐enhanced resonance Raman scattering

Temporal Raman scattering measurements with 488, 532 and 632 nm excitation wavelengths and normal Raman studies by varying the power (from 30 W/cm² to 2 MW/cm²) at 488 nm were performed on silver oxide thin films prepared by pulsed‐laser deposition. Initially, silver oxide Raman spectra were observed with all three excitation wavelengths. With further increase in time and power, silver oxide photodissociated into silver nanostructures. High‐intensity spectral lines were observed at 1336 ± 25 and 1596 ± 10 cm⁻¹ with 488 nm excitation. No spectral features were observed with 633 nm excitation. Surface‐enhanced resonance Raman scattering theory is used to explain the complex behavior in the intensity of the 1336/1596 cm⁻¹ lines with varying power of 488 nm excitation. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of the 10 TW ‘ATTILA’ Nd laser system

A high power laser system called ‘ATTILA’ (Almost-Table Top Terawatt Intense Laser) (10 TW) is under development at the University of Milano, Bicocca. Once fully functional ATTILA will produce 10 J, 1 picosecond pulses, reaching the power of 10 TW. The system is based on the chirped pulsed amplification technique and uses Nd:glass single-pass amplification.

The amplifier chain can be injected with two different oscillators: a Nd:YLF oscillator by Quantronix, stretched by an optical fiber, and a Nd:glass femtosecond oscillator by TimeBandwidth (Zurich), stretched by diffraction gratings, both delivering nanojoules pulses. A regenerative amplifier increasing the energy up to 1 mJ follows these.

Recently, we have implemented an automatic control system for the stabilization of mode-locking in the Quantronix oscillator. This is based on the active control of cavity length and on accurate stabilization of mode-locker temperature. A PC using LabView software drives the system. We are now beginning the installation of an adaptive optics system with a deformable mirror in order to optimize the optical quality and focusability of the beam.

Our final goal is to obtain an intensity of 10¹⁸ W/cm² on target. This will allow the production of relativistic electrons and energetic protons, and the study of relativistic plasma physics and of matter in extreme conditions.     

Intensity clamping during laser filamentation by TW level femtosecond laser in air and argon

A systematic research on intensity clamping phenomenon was conducted both in air and argon by using a TW level femtosecond laser. Though the laser peak power was increased from 0.1 up to 1.5 TW in the experiment, highly stabilized peak intensity inside the filament was observed in both gases. The peak intensities inside filaments were experimentally determined to be about 6.4 × 10¹³ W/cm² (f = 20 cm) in air and 1.2, 1.3, and 1.7 × 10¹⁴ W/cm² when different focal lenses (f = 100, 60, and 20 cm) were used in argon, respectively.     

μ-子催化核聚变中强脉冲激光对介原子μ3He的电离

数值求解了一维含时的Schr?dinger方程，研究了μ子催化核聚变反应中激光强度和波长对介原子μ³He电离的影响.发现当激光强度为10¹⁹—10²³W/cm²量级时，介原子μ³He有2.7%左右的电离率；当激光强度达到6.0×10²⁴W/cm²时，对介原子μ³He 有显著的电离，并且电离率随着激光的强度、波长而递增，进而会有效提高μ子的催化效率. 关键词： μ子 核聚变 激光 电离     

Absorption and second harmonic emission from interaction of femtosecond laser pulses with microspherical droplets

In this paper, the interaction of femtosecond laser pulses with droplets microplasma at the intensity of 10¹⁶ W/cm² is theoretically studied. Laser absorption, suprathermal electron generation, and second harmonic generation are discussed. Using an analytical model and a 2D particle-in-cell code, we find that the dominated mechanism is resonant absorption in the interaction of femtosecond laser pulses with droplets for the misrospherical geometry.     

Analyzing the transition rates of the ionization of atoms by strong fields of a CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> laser including nonzero initial momenta

Here, the method of including nonzero initial momenta for ejected electrons in strong infrared laser fields is further developed [8]. It has been shown that, apart from being natural, including the nonzero initial momenta enables one to go into a deeper analysis of the process of tunnel ionization of atoms in strong laser fields (intensity up to 10¹⁶ W/cm²). This is due to looking closely at Fig. 2, which indicates that all electrons that could be ejected, under the circumstances, are ejected at a field intensity ～10¹³ W/cm², and that the effect of ionization after that is strongly diminished, which can be seen from the slope of the plates on Figs. 2 and 4. This also explains the saturation effect for fields up to 10¹⁶ W/cm² [1, 4, 5, 7], and probably this saturation goes on until the fields raising relativistic effects ～10¹⁸ W/cm² [7]. Opposite to what was believed earlier [7], the atomic field intensities could be increased to values over 10¹⁷ W/cm² only when more than 10 electrons are ejected from the atom, it is shown that the properly calculated ionization of 9 electrons increases the atomic field intensity to ～10¹⁸ W/cm².