Generation of intense proton beams from plastic targets irradiated by an ultraintense laser pulse.

Proton beams generated from thin aluminum and Mylar foil targets that are irradiated by a 30fs Ti:sapphire laser pulse with an intensity of 2.2x10;{18}Wcm;{2} were investigated. Protons from the Mylar targets were observed to have an energy higher by a factor of 2 and were higher in number by an order of magnitude as compared with those generated from the aluminum targets. The maximum proton energy of 1.3+/-0.12MeV obtained from the Mylar target was found to be similar with previous observations that used laser pulses with different intensities. To address the anomalous behavior of the maximum proton energy for plastic targets, an acceleration model is proposed. In this model, the protons are accelerated by a resistively induced electric field in the front of the target, which can account for the experimental observations.

Silver-mirror-based multipass preamplifier for a broadband terawatt Ti:sapphire laser.

We have developed a silver-mirror-based multipass preamplifier for a broadband amplification in a terawatt Ti:sapphire laser. With the extremely broad bandwidth of the silver mirrors, a very broad amplified spectrum can be generated at an amplified energy of 4 mJ; the amplified spectral width is 65 nm at half maximum and 160 nm at -25 dB without any spectral shaping technique. Such a broad amplification can be explained well by the simulation that includes gain narrowing and gain saturation. Even after a further amplification to an energy of 600 mJ, the amplified spectrum is broad enough to support an approximately 20 fs transform-limited pulse duration.

Synthesis of nickel sulfides in aqueous solutions using sodium dithionite.

Reaction of nickel chloride with sodium dithionite in aqueous solutions at ambient temperature has been investigated systematically to obtain nickel sulfides. The products are characterized by X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, and electrical resistivity and magnetic susceptibility measurements. It is found that the compositions and structures of the products are controlled by the reaction pH and the amount of the reactants. While reactions under highly acidic (pH < or = 2) and basic (pH > or = 7) conditions yield crystalline sulfur and amorphous or poorly crystalline NiySx, respectively, those at intermediate 3 < or = pH < or = 6 give crystalline NiySx. Both crystalline Ni3S2 (heazlewoodite structure) and Ni3S4 (spinel structure) have been obtained at room temperature. Additionally, NiS (millerite structure) is obtained by carefully heating Ni3S4 at 200 degrees C in a mixture of 90% Ar and 10% H2. Ni3S4 is found to be metastable, and it begins to disproportionate above 100 degrees C. Both Ni3S2 and Ni3S4 show metallic behavior. While Ni3S2 exhibits temperature-independent magnetic susceptibility, Ni3S4 shows ferrimagnetic ordering below 20 K.