Erratum: Refractive Index of Silicon at γ Ray Energies [Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 184802 (2012)].

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.184802.

Refractive index of silicon at γ ray energies.

For x rays the real part of the refractive index, dominated by Rayleigh scattering, is negative and converges to zero for higher energies. For γ rays a positive component, related to Delbrück scattering, increases with energy and becomes dominating. The deflection of a monochromatic γ beam due to refraction was measured by placing a Si wedge into a flat double crystal spectrometer. Data were obtained in an energy range from 0.18 MeV to 2 MeV. The data are compared to theory, taking into account elastic and inelastic Delbrück scattering as well as recent results on the energy dependence of the pair creation cross section. Probably a new field of γ optics with many new applications opens up.

Monoenergetic ion beam generation by driving ion solitary waves with circularly polarized laser light.

Experimental data from the Trident Laser facility is presented showing quasimonoenergetic carbon ions from nm-scaled foil targets with an energy spread of as low as ±15% at 35 MeV. These results and high-resolution kinetic simulations show laser acceleration of quasimonoenergetic ion beams by the generation of ion solitons with circularly polarized laser pulses (500 fs, λ=1054 nm). The conversion efficiency into monoenergetic ions is increased by an order of magnitude compared with previous experimental results, representing an important step towards applications such as ion fast ignition.

Radiation-pressure acceleration of ion beams driven by circularly polarized laser pulses.

We present experimental studies on ion acceleration from ultrathin diamondlike carbon foils irradiated by ultrahigh contrast laser pulses of energy 0.7 J focused to peak intensities of 5x10(19) W/cm2. A reduction in electron heating is observed when the laser polarization is changed from linear to circular, leading to a pronounced peak in the fully ionized carbon spectrum at the optimum foil thickness of 5.3 nm. Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations reveal that those C6+ ions are for the first time dominantly accelerated in a phase-stable way by the laser radiation pressure.

Proton acceleration in the electrostatic sheaths of hot electrons governed by strongly relativistic laser-absorption processes.

Two different laser energy absorption mechanisms at the front side of a laser-irradiated foil have been found to occur, such that two distinct relativistic electron beams with different properties are produced. One beam arises from the ponderomotively driven electrons propagating in the laser propagation direction, and the other is the result of electrons driven by resonance absorption normal to the target surface. These properties become evident at the rear surface of the target, where they give rise to two spatially separated sources of ions with distinguishable characteristics when ultrashort (40fs) high-intensity laser pulses irradiate a foil at 45 degrees incidence. The laser pulse intensity and the contrast ratio are crucial. One can establish conditions such that one or the other of the laser energy absorption mechanisms is dominant, and thereby one can control the ion acceleration scenarios. The observations are confirmed by particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations.

Three-dimensional crystalline ion beams.

We report on the experimental realization of two- and three-dimensional crystalline ion beams in the rf quadrupole storage ring PALLAS (LMU, Munich). At a beam energy around 1 eV the phase transition to the Coulomb ordered state is identified by a sudden decrease of the spatial width and of the velocity spread of the beam. The focusing conditions required to attain crystalline beams up to structures of helices surrounding a string are systematically investigated and related to the situation in typical heavy ion storage rings.

Relativistic electron mirrors from nanoscale foils for coherent frequency upshift to the extreme ultraviolet.

Reflecting light from a mirror moving close to the speed of light has been envisioned as a route towards producing bright X-ray pulses since Einstein's seminal work on special relativity. For an ideal relativistic mirror, the peak power of the reflected radiation can substantially exceed that of the incident radiation due to the increase in photon energy and accompanying temporal compression. Here we demonstrate for the first time that dense relativistic electron mirrors can be created from the interaction of a high-intensity laser pulse with a freestanding, nanometre-scale thin foil. The mirror structures are shown to shift the frequency of a counter-propagating laser pulse coherently from the infrared to the extreme ultraviolet with an efficiency >10(4) times higher than in the case of incoherent scattering. Our results elucidate the reflection process of laser-generated electron mirrors and give clear guidance for future developments of a relativistic mirror structure.

Development of a high resolution and high dispersion Thomson parabola.

Here, we report on the development of a novel high resolution and high dispersion Thomson parabola for simultaneously resolving protons and low-Z ions of more than 100 MeV/nucleon necessary to explore novel laser ion acceleration schemes. High electric and magnetic fields enable energy resolutions of ΔE∕E < 5% at 100 MeV/nucleon and impede premature merging of different ion species at low energies on the detector plane. First results from laser driven ion acceleration experiments performed at the Trident Laser Facility demonstrate high resolution and superior species and charge state separation of this novel Thomson parabola for ion energies of more than 30 MeV/nucleon.

A novel high resolution ion wide angle spectrometer.

A novel ion wide angle spectrometer (iWASP) has been developed, which is capable of measuring angularly resolved energy distributions of protons and a second ion species, such as carbon C(6 +), simultaneously. The energy resolution for protons and carbon ions is better than 10% at ∼50 MeV/nucleon and thus suitable for the study of novel laser-ion acceleration schemes aiming for ultrahigh particle energies. A wedged magnet design enables an acceptance angle of 30°(∼524 mrad) and high angular accuracy in the µrad range. First, results obtained at the LANL Trident laser facility are presented demonstrating high energy and angular resolution of this novel iWASP.