Generation of fast ions in femto-and picosecond laser plasmas at low intensities of the heating radiation

X-ray spectra from Teflon targets irradiated by laser pulses with a duration of 60 fs to 1 ps have been investigated experimentally. It is shown that, when the contrast of the laser pulse is sufficiently low, the effect of self-focusing of the main laser pulse in the plasma produced by the prepulse can significantly enhance the generation efficiency of fast particles. In this case, ions with energies as high as ～1 MeV are observed at relatively low laser intensities, q _las ≈ (4–6) × 10¹⁶ W/cm².     

Excitation of promising nuclear fusion reactions in picosecond laser plasmas

The results of experiments devoted to studying the excitation of the promising nuclear fusion reactions ⁶Li(d, α)⁴He, ³He(d, p)⁴He, ¹¹B(p, 3α), and ⁷Li(p, α)⁴He, along with the standard reaction D(d, n)³He, in picosecond laser plasmas are presented. For the first time, it was shown that these reactions may proceed at a moderate laser-radiation intensity of 2 × 10¹⁸ W/cm², the respective yield being 2 × 10³ to 10⁵ per laser pulse. A brief survey of the main processes responsible for the generation of fast electrons and fast ions (protons) at the front surface of the target and for the excitation of nuclear fusion reactions is given. The calculated and experimental results on the yield from nuclear fusion reactions in picosecond laser plasmas are compared. The possibilities for optimizing the yield from the promising fusion reactions excited in femto- and picosecond laser plasmas are discussed.     

Holographic interferometry of laser produced plasmas using picosecond pulses

Interferograms have been obtained using a holographic system illuminated by picosecond pulses. The technique has been applied to a picosecond laser produced plasma, and the total number of electrons present in the plasma has been measured to be at least 5 × 10¹⁴for a laser energy of 0.1 joule.     

Generation of rayleigh waves by picosecond laser pulses

In this paper we present the fundamental mechanism which we hold responsible for generation of high frequency Rayleigh waves by picosecond laser pulses on a single crystal surface of Silicon. These Rayleigh waves have been recorded as ripples frozen out on the surface of the crystal upon irradiation with a focused cw mode-locked laser.     

X-ray-line plasma satellites of ions in solid target plasmas produced by picosecond laser pulse

The X-ray lines of ions in a solid target interacting with picosecond laser pulses of moderate intensity (2×10¹⁷ W/cm²) were measured on the “Neodim” laser facility. X-ray Ly _α emission spectra of hydrogen-like fluorine ions were observed. Satellite lines were also observed, evidencing the presence of intense plasma oscillations. The positions and separation between the satellites allow their assignment to the intense electrostatic oscillations with an amplitude larger than 10⁸ V/cm and a frequency of about 7× 10¹⁴ s^?1 that is noticeably lower than the laser frequency ω_las～1.8×10¹⁵ s^?1. It is suggested that these oscillations may be due to strong plasma turbulence caused by the development of plasma oscillations of the Bernstein-mode type under the action of a strong magnetic field generated in plasma. The experimental results are compared with the calculated spectra of multicharged ions.     

Generation of synchronized femtosecond and picosecond laser pulses in a two-beam-pumped Ti:sapphire laser

<正>Two operating modes,independent self-mode-locking and cross-mode-locking,are presented in a two-beampumped double-cavity dual-wavelength femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser.Synchronization of femtosecond and picosecond laser pulses is achieved by properly adjusting the cavity length matching and distributing the pump laser powers in the two laser cavities,and moreover,a timing jitter of 517 fs between femtosecond and picosecond pulses is obtained,with wavelength tuning ranges around 36 and 22 nm in the femtosecond and picosecond cavities,respectively.     

Generation and characterization of a bright X-ray source using picosecond laser

High-resolution soft X-ray spectra of H-like and He-like ions were produced from laser irradiated silicon and aluminum targets. Plasma size was about 100 μm. X-ray spectra were analyzed to determine plasma parameters. We compared the line shape of resonance transitions and their intensity ratios to corresponding dielectronic satellites and the intensities of the inter combination lines of He-like ions, with the results of model calculations. Such comparison gave average values of the electron density N _e=(1?1.9)×10²¹ cm^?3 and the electron temperature T _e=460–560 eV for Si plasmas and about 560 eV for Al plasmas produced by the first and the second laser harmonics. According to our estimations, more than 10¹² photons were produced within the resonance line spectral width and in the solid angle 2π steredian during the total decay period.     

Dechanneling of MeV protons in tungsten

Abstract

A systematic investigation of the dechanneling of protons in tungsten has been completed for the <111> axial direction and also for the (110) plane. Measurements at room temperature have been made at energies of 0.5, 2.0, 3.5, 8.0 and 12.0 MeV; at 2.0 MeV, the effect of target temperature has been investigated over the range 77–873°K. In the axial case, the dechanneling rate increases strongly with the vibrational amplitude _ρ, but not as strongly as the ρ² dependence reported by the Catania group (Refs. 4–7) for silicon and germanium. Also, unlike silicon and germanium, the tungsten axial data exhibit practically no energy dependence and so cannot be fitted by the zρ²/E scaling parameter suggested by the Catania group. On the other hand, the planar dechanneling data in tungsten exhibit the predicted (E ^?1)dependence and relatively littie temperature dependence, in good agreement with previous work.     

Positive pion production from polarized protons by linearly polarized photons in the energy range 280–420 MeV

The method is described of measuring the polarization observables Σ, P and T for the reaction γp → nπ⁺ in a double polarization experiment (polarized target + polarized beam). The measured angular distribution of these observables are presented for the photon energy range 280–420 MeV at c.m. pion emission angles between 30° and 150°. The obtained experimental data are included in the energy-independent multipole analysis of the reactions γp → Nπ.     

Thomson-scattering diagnostics of Kr/Ne and Kr/He plasmas using a picosecond laser

Thomson scattering from plasmas in high-pressure discharges for rare-gas-halide excimer-laser pumping was observed using a frequency-doubled 300 ps Nd: YAG laser. A temporal resolution of 1 ns was realized for the Thomson-scattering measurement, and detailed temporal changes of the electron density and temperature were measured in Kr/Ne and Kr/He plasmas. Calculations using a computer simulation showed good agreement with the experimental results, implying that the plasma dynamics is properly treated in the simulation.     

Intense picosecond X-Ray pulses from laser plasmas by use of nanostructured "Velvet" targets

We describe the optical, radiative, and laser-plasma physics of a new type of nanostructured surface especially promising as a very high absorption target for high-peak-power subpicosecond laser-matter interaction. This oriented-nanowire material, irradiated by 1 ps pulses at intensities up to 10(17) W cm(-2), produces picosecond soft x-ray pulses 50x more efficiently than do solid targets. We compare this to "smoke" or metallic clusters, and solid nanogroove-grating surfaces; the "metal-velvet" targets combine the high yield of smoke targets with the brief emission of grating surfaces.     

Experimental study of the photoemission of protons off12C using tagged photons in the energy range 200–385 MeV

Data are presented for proton emission off¹²C using tagged photons in the energy range 200–385 MeV. The protons are detected in a magnetic spectrometer. In addition, charged or neutral particles can be measured with a scintillation counter setup. Contributions to the proton energy spectra from primary pion production and quasideuteron reactions are separated using the coincidence data. The total¹²C(γ, p)X cross section is derived as a function of the photon energy. The data are compared to the predictions of an intranuclear cascade calculation. Final state interactions have to be taken into account to describe the data.     

Generation of narrow-bandwidth paired photons: use of a single driving laser

We describe a generator of narrow-band paired photons. A single retroreflected Ti:sapphire laser is used to cool, render transparent, and parametrically pump a cloud of (87)Rb atoms. We attain a paired-photon generation rate into opposing fibers of 600 counts/s with an intensity correlation function that has a width of 5 ns, and violates the Cauchy-Schwartz criteria by a factor of 2000.     

Generation of synchronized femtosecond and picosecond pulses in a dual-wavelength femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser

We obtain synchronized 45-fs and 0.848-ps pulses by achieving cross-mode locking in a double-cavity dual-wavelength femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser. Autocorrelation and cross correlation show that the femtosecond and picosecond pulses are well synchronized, with a timing jitter of 41 fs. Cross-phase modulation dominates the processes of cross-mode locking and synchronization.     

X-ray bremsstrahlung and fast-ion measurements from picosecond laser-produced plasmas

Fast-ion and suprathermal electron energies have been measured from plasmas generated by 25 ps duration neodymium laser pulses focussed onto solid targets. The relationship between the fast-ion energy and the energy of the suprathermal electrons in the plasma has been demonstrated and these energies have been found to increase in proportion to I^0.35±0.05 for targets of aluminum and copper, with I the laser intensity.     

Generation of chirp-free picosecond pulses

The frequency spectrum of moderately chirped laser pulses depends upon the portion of the beam which is accepted by the spectrometer. Observation of the development of the chirp in a mode-locked pulse train allows to determine the small incipient chirp of early pulses. A product, bandwidth times pulse duration, of 0.47 ± 0.03 is consistently observed for single pulses switched from a passively mode-locked Nd-glass system.     

Polarization in the inelastic scattering of 185 MeV protons

The polarizations produced in the inelastic scattering of 185 MeV protons exciting the lowest octupole states in ¹²C and ²⁰⁸Pb are measured. The data together with earlier similar measurements for ⁴⁰Ca and ⁹⁰Zr are compared with existing theoretical models. The inclusion of a deformed spin-dependent interaction of the full Thomas form in the DWBA amplitude is found to considerably improve the theoretical fits to the data. For ¹²C, however, the DWBA fit is found to be inferior to that obtained using DWIA. The strong absorption model is found to give qualitatively good fits to the data for the heavier nuclei but again fails in the ¹²C case.     

Tomographic reconstruction of high-energy-density plasmas with picosecond temporal resolution

Three-dimensional reconstruction of the electron density in a plasma can be obtained by passing multiple beams at different field angles simultaneously through a plasma and performing a tomographic reconstruction of the measured field-dependent phase profiles. A relatively simple experimental setup is proposed and simulations are carried out to verify the technique. The plasma distribution is modeled as a discrete number of phase screens, and a Zernike polynomial representation of the phase screens is used to reconstruct the plasma profile.