The influence of the space charge in an electron beam accelerated in a constant electrostatic field up to energies of several MeV

Summary To realize a pulsed electron beam of high energy (2.5 MeV) and great intensity (ca 1 A) the influence of space charge has to be taken into account. A calculation in this article shows that at an average field strength in the acceleration tube of 10⁶ V/m the influence of the space charge begins to play a dominating part at a current density of 2A/cm².     

Interionic potentials and force constant models for rocksalt structure crystals

It is suggested that the observed departure from the Cauchy relation in alkali halide structure crystals is due to ionic deformations. Interionic forces may then be taken to be central and a comparison between lattice dynamical models and interionic potential models becomes possible. In this paper attention is restricted to MgO, NaCl, LiF and KI for all of which (i) an isotropic (breathing) deformation can account for the difference C₄₄–C₁₂ and (ii) only the negative ion need be considered deformable. The interionic potential is assumed to consist of Coulombic and van der Waals terms, which are taken as known, and short range repulsive terms with an exponential dependence on separation. The constants in these repulsive terms are determined from the force constants of the lattice dynamical models. Satisfactory agreement with measured cohesive energies can be achieved only if the charge on the ions is very close to the electronic charge (2e in the case of MgO). This leads to a sacrifice in accuracy of the lattice dynamical models but this is shown to be small so that reasonable compatibility between the two sets of models is thus demonstrated. The interionic potentials are compared with those of other workers.     

Measuring implosion dynamics through rhoR evolution in inertial-confinement fusion experiments

The areal density (rhoR) of D3He filled plastic capsules imploded at OMEGA has been measured at shock coalescence (1.7 ns) and, 400 ps later, during compressive burn, through the energy downshift of 14.7-MeV D3He protons. In this time interval, the azimuthally averaged rhoR changes from 13+/-2.5 to 70+/-8 mg/cm(2). The experiments demonstrate that fuel-shell mix is absent in the central regions at shock coalescence, and that the shell has no holes during compressive burn. We conjecture that rhoR asymmetries measured during compressive burn may be seeded by the time of shock coalescence.     

Pulsed radiolysis of perrhenate in neutral aqueous solution: Comparison with pertechnetate

Reaction of perrhenate with the aquated electron in neutral aqueous solution yields ReO₄^2? (k_f 1.3 × 10¹⁰ M^?1 s^?1), with an absorption maximum at 290 nm (ε 1700). This decays by a second-order path (k_d 1.5 × 10⁹ M^?1 s^?1) at a rate ～ 100-fold faster than the decay of TcO₄^2? under similar conditions.     

High-rhoR implosions for fast-ignition fuel assembly

Thick, 40 microm plastic shells filled with 25-35 atm of D2 or D3He were imploded on a low-adiabat (alpha approximately 1.3) and with a low-implosion velocity ( approximately 2 x 10(70 cm/s) on the OMEGA laser to generate massive cores of compressed plasma with high areal densities optimal for fast ignition. The targets are driven by 20-kJ relaxation adiabat-shaping laser pulses to keep the inner portion of the shell nearly Fermi degenerate. The measured kinetic energy downshift of proton spectra is in good agreement with the theoretical predictions yielding burn-averaged areal densities of 0.130+/-0.017 g/cm2 and peak rhoR during the burn of about 0.24+/-0.018 g/cm2, the largest rhoR measured on OMEGA to date. The same implosions with empty plastic shells are expected to reach 1.3 g/cm2 across the core (i.e., 2rhoR) enough to stop fast electrons with energies up to 4.5 MeV typical of fast ignition scenarios.     

Measuring E and B fields in laser-produced plasmas with monoenergetic proton radiography

Electromagnetic (E/B) fields generated by the interaction with plasmas of long-pulse, low-intensity laser beams relevant to inertial confinement fusion have been measured for the first time using novel monoenergetic proton radiography methods. High-resolution, time-gated radiography images of a plastic foil driven by a 10(14) W/cm(2) laser implied B fields of approximately 0.5 MG and E fields of approximately 1.5 x 10(8) V/m. Simulations of these experiments with LASNEX+LSP have been performed and are in overall (though not exact) agreement with the data both for field strengths and for spatial distributions; this is the first direct experimental test of the laser-generated B-field package in LASNEX. The experiments also demonstrated that laser phase plates substantially reduce medium-scale chaotic field structure.     

Scaling hot-electron generation to high-power, kilojoule-class laser-solid interactions

Thin-foil targets were irradiated with high-power (1 ≤ P(L) ≤ 210 TW), 10-ps pulses focused to intensities of I>10(18) W/cm(2) and studied with K-photon spectroscopy. Comparing the energy emitted in K photons to target-heating calculations shows a laser-energy-coupling efficiency to hot electrons of η(L-e) = 20 ± 10%. Time-resolved x-ray emission measurements suggest that laser energy is coupled to hot electrons over the entire duration of the incident laser drive. Comparison of the K-photon emission data to previous data at similar laser intensities shows that η(L-e) is independent of laser-pulse duration from 1 ≤ τ(p) ≤ 10 ps.     

Vapor pressures of aqueous solutions of (Ag,Tl, Cs)NO3 at 98.5°C

Vapor pressure measurements have been made by the static method on the system (Ag, Tl, Cs)NO₃+H₂O in the water-poor region at 98.5°C. The Ag/Tl ratio was maintained at 1.06, and the cesium content of the melt was varied between 2.5 and 10 mole %. The water activity data for each series conformed to a form of the B.E.T. equation adapted to electrolyte solutions. The B.E.T. constants changed in a regular manner as Cs replaced Ag/Tl in the melt, and also conformed to the simple additivity rules previously found to hold in similar systems [(Ag, Tl, M)NO₃+H₂O (M=Ca or Cd)]. The relative capacity for hydration of CsNO₃ and other salts is discussed briefly with reference to the B.E.T. constants and Henry's law constants for water dissolved in molten salt.To whom correspondence should be addressed.