RESUMEN
Diagnostics in high energy density physics, shock physics, and related fields are primarily driven by a need to record rapidly time-evolving signals in single-shot events. These measurements are often limited by channel count and signal degradation issues on cable links between the detector and digitizer. We present the Ultrafast Pixel Array Camera (UPAC), a compact and flexible detector readout system with 32 waveform-recording channels at up to 10 Gsample/s and 1.8 GHz analog bandwidth. The compact footprint allows the UPAC to be directly embedded in the detector environment. A key enabling technology is the PSEC4A chip, an eight-channel switch-capacitor array sampling device with up to 1056 samples/channel. The UPAC system includes a high-density input connector that can plug directly into an application-specific detector board, programmable control, and serial readout, with less than 5 W of power consumption in full operation. We present the UPAC design and characterization, including a measured timing resolution of â¼20 ps or better on acquisitions of sub-nanosecond pulses with minimal system calibrations. Example applications of the UPAC are also shown to demonstrate operation of a solid-state streak camera, an ultrafast imaging array, and a neutron time-of-flight spectrometer.
RESUMEN
A model for nonlinear optical propagation is cast into a split-step numerical framework via a variable stencil-size Crank-Nicolson finite-difference method for the linear step and a choice of two different nonlinear integration schemes for the nonlinear step. The model includes Kerr, Raman scattering, and ionization effects (as well as linear and nonlinear shock, diffraction, and dispersion). We demonstrate the practical importance of numerical effects when interpreting computational studies of high-intensity optical pulse propagation in physical materials. Examples demonstrate the significant error that can arise in discrete, limited precision implementations as one attempts to improve practical operator accuracy through increased operator support size and sampling frequency. We also demonstrate the effect of the method used to obtain the finite-difference operator coefficients defining the equations ultimately used in the discrete model. Smooth, plausible, but incorrect solutions may result from these numerical effects. This implies the necessity of a complete, precise description of all numerical methods when reporting results of computational physics investigations in order to ensure proper interpretation and reproducibility.
RESUMEN
Experiments dedicated to the characterization of plasma mirrors with a high energy, single shot short-pulse laser were performed at the 100 TW target area of the Z-Backlighter Facility at Sandia National Laboratories. A suite of beam diagnostics was used to characterize a high energy laser pulse with a large aperture through focus imaging setup. By varying the fluence on the plasma mirror around the plasma ignition threshold, critical performance parameters were determined and a more detailed understanding of the way in which a plasma mirror works could be deduced. It was found, that very subtle variations in the laser near field profile will have strong effects on the reflected pulse if the maximum fluence on the plasma mirror approaches the plasma ignition threshold.
RESUMEN
A large-aperture (30-cm) kilojoule-class Nd:glass laser system known as Z-Beamlet has been constructed to perform x-ray radiography of high-energy-density science experiments conducted on the Z facility at Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico. The laser, operating with typical pulse durations from 0.3 to 1.5 ns, employs a sequence of successively larger multipass amplifiers to achieve up to 3-kJ energy at 1054 nm. Large-aperture frequency conversion and long-distance beam transport can provide on-target energies of up to 1.5 kJ at 527 nm.
