Effect of Cluster Coulomb Fields on Electron Acceleration in Laser-Cluster Interaction

Single particle simulations are used to investigate electron acceleration in the laser-cluster interaction, taking into account the Coulomb fields around individual clusters. These Coulomb fields are induced from the cluster cores with positive charge when electrons escape from the cluster cores through ponderomotive push from the laser field. These Coulomb fields enable some stripped electrons to be stochastically in phases with the laser fields so that they can gain net energy from the laser efficiently. In this heating mechanism, circularly polarized lasers, larger cluster size and higher cluster densities make the acceleration more efficient.     

氢团簇在飞秒强激光场中的动力学行为

利用分子动力学方法研究了氢团簇在飞秒强激光场中的动力学行为. 与库仑爆炸模型所预言的不同, 团簇的膨胀是各向异性的, 质子平均动能沿激光场极化方向上的分量要明显大于垂直于激光场极化方向上的分量. 讨论了团簇各向异性膨胀产生的原因, 分析了激光和团簇参数对各向异性程度的影响.     

Influence of Coulomb force between two electrons on double ionization of He-like atoms

In strong-field double ionization,two electrons are ionized by intense laser field.These two electrons move in the laser field and the state is described by a Coulomb-Volkov state,where the repulsive Coulomb state describes the relative motion of the two electrons and the Volkov state describes the center-of-mass motion of the two electrons in the laser field.In the frame of scattering theory,we derive a simple analytical formula of the double ionization of He-like atoms.The effect of the Coulomb force between two electrons on the double ionization process is discussed.Numerical studies disclose that the Coulomb force enhances the ionization rate of high-energy electrons but suppresses the ionization rate of the lowest-energy electrons.     

Thermal analysis of intense femtosecond laser ablation of aluminum

This paper numerically simulates the process of ablation of an aluminum target by an intense femtosecond laser with a fluence of 40 J/cm 2 based on the two-temperature equation,and obtains the evolution of the free electron temperature and lattice temperature over a large temporal and depth range,for the first time. By investigating the temporal evolution curves of the free electron temperature and lattice temperature at three representative depths of 0,100 nm and 500 nm,it reveals different characteristics and mechanisms of the free electron temperature evolution at different depths. The results show that,in the intense femtosecond laser ablation of aluminum,the material ablation is mainly induced by the thermal conduction of free electrons,instead of the direct absorption of the laser energy; in addition,the thermal conduction of free electrons and the coupling effect between electrons and lattice will induce the temperature of free electrons deep inside the target to experience a process from increase to decrease and finally to increase again.     

Ultrafast solid–liquid–vapor phase change of a gold film induced by pico- to femtosecond lasers

Melting, vaporization and resolidification processes of thin gold film irradiated by a femtosecond pulse laser are studied numerically. The nonequilibrium heat transfer in electrons and lattice is described using a two-temperature model. The solid–liquid interfacial velocity, as well as elevated melting temperature and depressed solidification temperature, is obtained by considering the interfacial energy balance and nucleation dynamics. An iterative procedure based on energy balance and gas kinetics law to track the location of liquid–vapor interface is utilized to obtain the material removal by vaporization. The effect of surface heat loss by thermal radiation was discussed. The influences of laser fluence and duration on the evaporation process are studied. Results show that higher laser fluence and shorter laser pulse width lead to higher interfacial temperature, deeper melting and ablation depths.     

Concentrations and velocity distributions of positive ions in laser ablation of copper

It is shown that the generation of secondary electrons by excited neutrals hitting a surface makes the so-called probe method unsuited for measuring the positive ion fraction in laser ablation plumes. Experiments have been performed in a modified set-up, in which the disturbance by secondary electrons is avoided. For a typical case of Cu irradiated in ultra-high vacuum by nanosecond excimer laser pulses of 3 J cm^–2 the ionized fraction is about 10^–8 at a distance of 60 cm. This number is in fair agreement with Saha-Langmuir predictions based on the assumption of local thermal equilibrium at an estimated temperature of about 3000K. Angular-resolved time-of-flight measurements show that there are three different ion velocity distributions. A slow contribution (kinetic energy 2eV) with an angular distribution peaked along the normal, and two fast, isotropic contributions (kinetic energy 20–50 eV). The fast contributions are attributed to ions involved in a Coulomb explosion.     

Coulomb asymmetry in above-threshold ionization

A new method for including effects of the Coulomb potential in strong-field laser atom interaction is presented. The model is tested by comparing its results with experimental data of energy resolved angular distributions of photoelectrons. For elliptical polarization these exhibit a strong asymmetry. Our theory shows that this strong asymmetry for the low-energy electrons is induced by a small Coulomb force acting on the tunneling electron just after the exit of the tunnel. This is in contrast to the situation for high electron energies where the asymmetry arises via rescattering by the parent ion.     

一套用于研究原子团簇热力学的离子速度成像谱仪

原子团簇的激发温度可由反应产物（出射电子或碎片）的初始平动能这一可观测量间接获得,为了提高原子团簇激发温度的测量精度,设计并搭建了一套具有高动能分辨的离子速度成像谱仪。本谱仪的高动能分辨性能首先借助Simion8.0软件优化静电透镜和分子束限束装置的几何结构来实现,然后通过理论模拟证明本套谱仪具有预期好的动能分辨能力。设备搭建完成后,研究了C₆₀分子束在纳秒激光场中发生的延迟电离过程,获得了C₆₀+离子随延迟时间增加而逐渐变窄的二维时间切片图像。分析表明,激光脉冲产生的多个C₆₀+离子间的库仑耦合作用将会扩展二维切片图像的横向分布,提取库仑耦合作用对C₆₀+离子初始平动能的影响,并通过分析C₆₀+离子间的库仑耦合随延迟时间增加而逐渐变弱的定量依赖关系,证实了本套谱仪具有了设计预期的高动能分辨能力。这一工作为下一步基于离子速度成像技术细致研究分子热力学的相关课题提供技术参考。Excitation temperature of fragmenting atomic clusters can been extracted from the initial kinetic energies of ionic products. To improve the accuracy of the temperature measurements, we have designed an ionic velocity map imaging spectrometer with high kinetic energy resolution. Firstly, based on the simulations using Simion8.0 software, the high resolution is obtained by adjusting the structure of the electrostatic lenses and collimation of molecular beam. According to theoretical analysis, it is proved that the spectrometer has a well defined kinetic energy resolution. Then, we have studied the delay ionization processes of C60 induced by nanosecond laser. A series of narrowed two-dimensional time-sliced velocity images of the C60+ with increasing the delayed time were recorded. Analysis revealed that Coulomb force between C60+ clusters in same laser shots will broadening the transverse distribution of 2D image. Considering the influence of Coulomb force on initial kinetic energy of C60+ clusters, the high resolution has been proved by analysing the negative relationship between Coulomb force and delayed time. It indicates that the establishment of the spectrometer builds up a good basis for next experiments on the studies for molecular thermodynamics in atomic clusters.     

Mechanisms of ultra-short laser pulse ablation from ionic crystals

In ultra-short laser pulse ablation from dielectric crystals two different ablation regimes are observed: 1) At laser intensities well below the single shot damage threshold, Coulomb explosion upon multiphoton surface ionization is the dominant process, yielding electrons and fast positive ions. 2) At higher laser intensities, ablation exhibits signs of hyper-thermal emission (phase explosion) as a result of rapid hot electron thermalization. This regime is characterized by massive etching, mostly of neutral particles. The transition from regime one to two is associated with the appearance of an additional, slower group of positive ions, saturation in the positive ion yield, and the occurrence of negative ions. PACS 61.80.Ba; 61.82.Ms; 79.20.Ds     

Assessing the effect of the matrix in resonant infrared MAPLE

The ablation yield of polyethylene glycol is measured as a function of laser pulse energy and polymer molecular weight for both free running and Q-switched Er:YAG lasers. The results show that the deposition rate is dependent on the absorption coefficient in a way that is consistent with the blow-off ablation model but that the linear dependence of the efficiency on laser pulse energy is also consistent with a steady-state ablation model. The results for both lasers are remarkably similar given that the pulse durations are 350 μs and 85 ns, respectively. Furthermore, polystyrene thin films are deposited as well and it is found that the morphology depends on the THF/MeOH ratios in the matrices. The significance of these results is discussed as well as future directions for this research.     

The mechanism of the appearance of an electromotive force on heating of SmS single crystals

We analyze the experimental variation of the concentration of conduction electrons in semiconducting SmS single crystals with increasing temperature within a shallow-impurity model. It is shown that the appearance of an electromotive force is due to accumulation of the critical concentration of free electrons, which results in screening of the Coulomb potential of Sm²⁺ impurity ions that are responsible for the creation of donor levels with an activation energy of 0.045 eV in the band gap of SmS single crystals.     

Net acceleration of high-energy electrons by net inverse Bremsstrahlung of a laser wave in a uniform magnetic field and a transverse undulating magnetic field

The nonzero net dc force acting on relativistic beam electrons traveling in a uniform magnetic field, a laser wave, and transverse undulating magnetic field (magnetic wiggler) is calculated by using quantum-kinetics in accordance with the correspondence principle. It is found that the average of this force can be as strong as the Lorentz force of the laser wave in an electron energy region beyong energies for free electron lasing, and decreases linearly with the inverse of the electron energy far beyond this energy region.     

Coulomb exploded directional double ionization of N_2O molecules in multicycle femtosecond laser pulses

We experimentally investigate Coulomb exploded directional double ionization of N_2O molecules in elliptically polarized femtosecond laser pulses.The denitrogenation and deoxygenation channels are accessed via various pathways.It leads to distinct asymmetries in directional breaking of the doubly ionized N_2O molecules versus the instantaneous laser field vector, which is revealed by tracing the sum-momentum spectra of the ionic fragments as a recoil of the ejected electrons.Our results demonstrate that the accessibility of the Coulomb exploded double ionization channels of N_2O molecules are ruled by the detailed potential energy curves, and the directional emission of the fragments are governed by the joint effects of the electron localization-assisted enhanced ionization of the stretched molecules and the profiles of the molecular orbitals.     

不均匀场中氢分子离子高次谐波产生的理论研究

在非Born-Oppenheimer近似下,通过求解含时薛定谔方程的方法,对氢分子离子在不均匀场中高次谐波的产生进行了理论研究.计算结果显示,同均匀场相比,电离的电子在不均匀场中加速会获得更多的能量,从而更有利于得到宽频谱.此外,通过优化不均匀场中的空间不均匀度,长量子路径被明显的抑制,最终通过叠加110阶到150阶谐波,获得一个60as的孤立阿秒脉冲.同时,通过库仑势和激光场的相互作用势以及时频分布图解释了其中的物理机制.     

不均匀场中氢分子离子高次谐波产生的理论研究

在非Born-Oppenheimer近似下，通过求解含时薛定谔方程的方法，对氢分子离子在不均匀场中高次谐波的产生进行了理论研究.计算结果显示，同均匀场相比，电离的电子在不均匀场中加速会获得更多的能量，从而更有利于得到宽频谱.此外,通过优化不均匀场中的空间不均匀度，长量子路径被明显的抑制，最终通过叠加110阶到150阶谐波，获得一个60as的孤立阿秒脉冲.同时，通过库仑势和激光场的相互作用势以及时频分布图解释了其中的物理机制.     

Classical study of and collisions in intense laser fields

In this paper, ion-atom and ion-ion collisions in the presence of intense laser fields are qualitatively studied by Classical Trajectory Monte Carlo (CTMC) simulations. It is found that in contrast to the field-free collisions, the colliding ion and the target nucleus could absorb energy from the applied laser fields when the electrons escape from the collision system. This result is explained in terms of Coulomb explosion induced by the enhanced ionization at the so-called critical internuclear distance. Also, the corresponding energy gain cross-sections are evaluated. Received: 7 October 1998 / Received in final form: 28 January 1999     

Using Target Ablation for Ion Beam Quality Improvement

During the laser foil interaction,the output ion beam quality including the energy spread and beam divergence can be improved by the target ablation,due to the direct laser acceleration(DLA) electrons generated in the ablation plasma.The acceleration field established at the target rear by these electrons,which is highly directional and triangle-envelope,is helpful for the beam quality.With the help of the target ablation,both the beam divergence and energy spread will be reduced.If the ablation is more sufficient,the impact of DLA-electron-caused field will be strengthened,and the beam quality will be better,confirmed by the particle-in-cell simulation.     

Angular distribution of ejected electrons at the laser-cluster interactions

The histograms of deflection angles of electrons ejected from Xe clusters irradiated by femtosecond super-intense laser pulses are presented. The dependence of the angular distribution on the peak laser intensity, the pulse duration, and the cluster position is considered. A clear relationship between the final electron energy and the deflection angle is shown. The deflection angles are calculated by solving the relativistic equation of motion taking into account the Lorentz force and the Coulomb field of the ionized cluster. The ions in the cluster undergo sequential multiple ionization up to charge multiplicity Z = 26. The measurements of the electron angular distributions allow us to reproduce the imaging dynamics of outer ionization of the cluster at the leading edge of the relativistic femtosecond laser pulse.