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High-power, short-pulse laser-driven fast electrons can rapidly heat and ionize a high-density target before it hydrodynamically expands. The transport of such electrons within a solid target has been studied using two-dimensional (2D) imaging of electron-induced Kα radiation. However, it is currently limited to no or picosecond scale temporal resolutions. Here, we demonstrate femtosecond time-resolved 2D imaging of fast electron transport in a solid copper foil using the SACLA x-ray free electron laser (XFEL). An unfocused collimated x-ray beam produced transmission images with sub-micron and â¼10 fs resolutions. The XFEL beam, tuned to its photon energy slightly above the Cu K-edge, enabled 2D imaging of transmission changes induced by electron isochoric heating. Time-resolved measurements obtained by varying the time delay between the x-ray probe and the optical laser show that the signature of the electron-heated region expands at â¼25% of the speed of light in a picosecond duration. Time-integrated Cu Kα images support the electron energy and propagation distance observed with the transmission imaging. The x-ray near-edge transmission imaging with a tunable XFEL beam could be broadly applicable for imaging isochorically heated targets by laser-driven relativistic electrons, energetic protons, or an intense x-ray beam.
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This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.015703.
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In situ femtosecond x-ray diffraction measurements and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations were performed to study the liquid structure of tantalum shock released from several hundred gigapascals (GPa) on the nanosecond timescale. The results show that the internal negative pressure applied to the liquid tantalum reached -5.6 (0.8) GPa, suggesting the existence of a liquid-gas mixing state due to cavitation. This is the first direct evidence to prove the classical nucleation theory which predicts that liquids with high surface tension can support GPa regime tensile stress.
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Turbulence is ubiquitous in the universe and in fluid dynamics. It influences a wide range of high energy density systems, from inertial confinement fusion to astrophysical-object evolution. Understanding this phenomenon is crucial, however, due to limitations in experimental and numerical methods in plasma systems, a complete description of the turbulent spectrum is still lacking. Here, we present the measurement of a turbulent spectrum down to micron scale in a laser-plasma experiment. We use an experimental platform, which couples a high power optical laser, an x-ray free-electron laser and a lithium fluoride crystal, to study the dynamics of a plasma flow with micrometric resolution (~1µm) over a large field of view (>1 mm2). After the evolution of a Rayleigh-Taylor unstable system, we obtain spectra, which are overall consistent with existing turbulent theory, but present unexpected features. This work paves the way towards a better understanding of numerous systems, as it allows the direct comparison of experimental results, theory and numerical simulations.
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We present results from the SPring-8 Angstrom Compact free electron LAser facility, where we used a high intensity (â¼10^{20} W/cm^{2}) x-ray pump x-ray probe scheme to observe changes in the ionic structure of silicon induced by x-ray heating of the electrons. By avoiding Laue spots in the scattering signal from a single crystalline sample, we observe a rapid rise in diffuse scattering and a transition to a disordered, liquidlike state with a structure significantly different from liquid silicon. The disordering occurs within 100 fs of irradiation, a timescale that agrees well with first principles simulations, and is faster than that predicted by purely inertial behavior, suggesting that both the phase change and disordered state reached are dominated by Coulomb forces. This method is capable of observing liquid scattering without masking signal from the ambient solid, allowing the liquid structure to be measured throughout and beyond the phase change.
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The rapid heating of a thin titanium foil by a high intensity, subpicosecond laser is studied by using a 2D narrow-band x-ray imaging and x-ray spectroscopy. A novel monochromatic imaging diagnostic tuned to 4.51 keV Ti Kα was used to successfully visualize a significantly ionized area (⟨Z⟩>17±1) of the solid density plasma to be within a â¼35 µm diameter spot in the transverse direction and 2 µm in depth. The measurements and a 2D collisional particle-in-cell simulation reveal that, in the fast isochoric heating of solid foil by an intense laser light, such a high ionization state in solid titanium is achieved by thermal diffusion from the hot preplasma in a few picoseconds after the pulse ends. The shift of Kα and formation of a missing Kα cannot be explained with the present atomic physics model. The measured Kα image is reproduced only when a phenomenological model for the Kα shift with a threshold ionization of ⟨Z⟩=17 is included. This work reveals how the ionization state and electron temperature of the isochorically heated nonequilibrium plasma are independently increased.
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High resolution X-ray imaging is crucial for many high energy density physics (HEDP) experiments. Recently developed techniques to improve resolution have, however, come at the cost of a decreased field of view. In this paper, an innovative experimental detector for X-ray imaging in the context of HEDP experiments with high spatial resolution, as well as a large field of view, is presented. The platform is based on coupling an X-ray backligther source with a Lithium Fluoride detector, characterized by its large dynamic range. A spatial resolution of 2 µm over a field of view greater than 2 mm2 is reported. The platform was benchmarked with both an X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) and an X-ray source produced by a short pulse laser. First, using a non-coherent short pulse laser-produced backlighter, reduced penumbra blurring, as a result of the large size of the X-ray source, is shown. Secondly, we demonstrate phase contrast imaging with a fully coherent monochromatic XFEL beam. Modeling of the absorption and phase contrast transmission of X-ray radiation passing through various targets is presented.
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Direct metrology of coherent short-wavelength beamlines is important for obtaining operational beam characteristics at the experimental site. However, since beam-time limitation imposes fast metrology procedures, a multi-parametric metrology from as low as a single shot is desirable. Here a two-dimensional (2D) procedure based on high-resolution Fresnel diffraction analysis is discussed and applied, which allowed an efficient and detailed beamline characterization at the SACLA XFEL. So far, the potential of Fresnel diffraction for beamline metrology has not been fully exploited because its high-frequency fringes could be only partly resolved with ordinary pixel-limited detectors. Using the high-spatial-frequency imaging capability of an irradiated LiF crystal, 2D information of the coherence degree, beam divergence and beam quality factor M2 were retrieved from simple diffraction patterns. The developed beam metrology was validated with a laboratory reference laser, and then successfully applied at a beamline facility, in agreement with the source specifications.
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We use one- and two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations to demonstrate that the propagation of an ultraintense laser (I=10(19)W/cm(2)) in critical density plasma can be interfered with by a high density plasma wall region generated at the propagation front. When the electron flow speed of the wall region exceeds a certain relativistic threshold, the region behaves as an overdense plasma due to a decrease of the effective critical density. The region forms then very small overdense plasma islands. The islands impede the propagation intermittently and slow down the propagation speed significantly.
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Refluxing of fast electrons generated by high-intensity, short-pulse lasers was investigated by measuring electron-induced Kα x rays from a buried tracer layer. Using planar foils of Au/Cu/CH, the 150-J, 0.7-ps TITAN short-pulse laser was focused on the gold foil to generate fast electrons and the 3-ns, 300-J long pulse beam irradiated on the CH side to create expanding plasma as a conducting medium. By delaying the short-pulse beam timing from the long pulse laser irradiation, the plasma size was varied to change electron refluxing in the target rear. The total yields and two-dimensional images of 8.05-keV Cu-Kα x ray were recorded with an x-ray spectrometer and two monochromatic crystal imagers. The measurements show that the integrated yields decrease by a factor of 10 from refluxing to the nonrefluxing limit. Similar radial profiles of the Kα images in the rear were observed at all delays. Hybrid-particle-in-cell simulations using plasma profiles calculated by a radiation-hydrodynamic code HYDRA agree well with the measured Kα yields. The simulations suggest that conducting plasma with the size of â¼300 µm in the laser direction and â¼600 µm in the lateral direction at the density of 2 × 1020 1/cm3 is sufficiently large to prevent electrons from refluxing in the target. The parameters found in this study can be useful in designing experiments utilizing a Kα x-ray source in refluxing regime or a tracer layer in nonrefluxing regime.
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Emission of energetic protons (maximum energy â¼18 MeV) from the interaction of relativistic intensity laser with a cone-wire target is experimentally measured and numerically simulated with hybrid particle-in-cell code, lsp [D. R. Welch et al., Phys. Plasmas 13, 063105 (2006)]. The protons originate from the wire attached to the cone after the OMEGA EP laser (670 J, 10 ps, 5 × 10^{18} W/cm^{2}) deposits its energy inside the cone. These protons are accelerated from the contaminant layer on the wire surface, and are measured in the radial direction, i.e., in a direction transverse to the wire length. Simulations show that the radial electric field, responsible for the proton acceleration, is excited by three factors, viz., (i) transverse momentum of the relativistic fast electrons beam entering into the wire, (ii) scattering of electrons inside the wire, and (iii) refluxing of escaped electrons by "fountain effect" at the end of the wire. The underlying physics of radial electric field and acceleration of protons is discussed.
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Transferencia de Energía , Rayos Láser , Modelos Teóricos , Protones , Simulación por Computador , Teoría Cuántica , Dispersión de RadiaciónRESUMEN
Fast electron generation in the presence of coronal plasma in front of a solid target (typically referred to as preformed plasma) in laser-matter interaction in the intensity range of 10(19)-10(21) W/cm(2) is studied in a one-dimensional slab approximation with particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. Three different preformed plasma density scale lengths of 1, 5, and 15 µm are considered. We report an increase in both mean and maximum energy of generated fast electrons with an increase in the preformed plasma scale length (in the range 1-15 µm). The heating of plasma electrons is predominantly due to their stochastic motion in counterpropagating electromagnetic (EM) waves (incident and reflected waves) and the presence of a longitudinal electric field produced self-consistently inside the preformed plasma. The synergetic effects of this longitudinal electric field and EM waves responsible for the efficient preformed plasma electrons heating are discussed.
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In order to obtain the angular dependent electron energy distributions, we developed a multichannel electron spectrometer (MCESM) with high energy and angular resolutions. The MCESM consists of seven small electron spectrometers set in every 5° on the basement, each of which detection range is up to 25 MeV. In the experiment, we successfully obtained electron spectra from imploded cone-shell target as well as gold plane target irradiated by ultraintense (300 J/5 ps) laser beam.
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The energy transport in cone-guided low- Z targets has been studied for laser intensities on target of 2.5x10(20) W cm(-2). Extreme ultraviolet (XUV) imaging and transverse optical shadowgraphy of the rear surfaces of slab and cone-slab targets show that the cone geometry strongly influences the observed transport patterns. The XUV intensity showed an average spot size of 65+/-10 microm for slab targets. The cone slabs showed a reduced spot size of 44+/-10 microm. The shadowgraphy for the aforementioned shots demonstrate the same behavior. The transverse size of the expansion pattern was 357+/-32 microm for the slabs and reduced to 210+/-30 microm. A transport model was constructed which showed that the change in transport pattern is due to suppression of refluxing electrons in the material surrounding the cone.
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Transferencia de Energía/efectos de la radiación , Gases/química , Gases/efectos de la radiación , Calor , Rayos Láser , Modelos Químicos , Simulación por ComputadorRESUMEN
Interactions between a relativistic-intensity laser pulse and a cone-wire target are studied by changing the focusing point of the pulse. The pulse, when focused on the sidewall of the cone, produced superthermal electrons with an energy >10 MeV, whereas less energetic electrons approximately 1 MeV were produced by the pulse when focused on the cone tip. Efficient heating of the wire was indicated by significant neutron signals observed when the pulse was focused on the tip. Particle-in-cell simulation results show reduced heating of the wire due to energetic electrons produced by specularly reflected light at the sidewall.
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An imaging plate has been used as a useful detector of energetic electrons in laser electron acceleration and laser fusion studies. The absolute sensitivity of an imaging plate was calibrated at 1 GeV electron energy using the injector Linac of SPring-8. The sensitivity curve obtained up to 100 MeV in a previous study was extended successfully to GeV range.
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We produced cylindrically imploded plasmas, which have the same density-radius product of the imploded plasma rhoR with the compressed core in the fast ignition experiment and demonstrated efficient fast heating of cylindrically imploded plasmas with an ultraintense laser light. The coupling efficiency from the laser to the imploded column was 14%-21%, implying strong collimation of energetic electrons over a distance of 300 microm of the plasma. Particle-in-cell simulation shows confinement of the energetic electrons by self-generated magnetic and electrostatic fields excited along the imploded plasmas, and the efficient fast heating in the compressed region.
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Kalpha x-ray emission, extreme ultraviolet emission, and plasma imaging techniques have been used to diagnose energy transport patterns in copper foils ranging in thickness from 5 to 75 microm for intensities up to 5x10(20) W cm-2. The Kalpha emission and shadowgrams both indicate a larger divergence angle than that reported in the literature at lower intensities [R. Stephens, Phys. Rev. E 69, 066414 (2004)]. Foils 5 microm thick show triple-humped plasma expansion patterns at the back and front surfaces. Hybrid code modeling shows that this can be attributed to an increase in the mean energy of the fast electrons emitted at large radii, which only have sufficient energy to form a plasma in such thin targets.
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We report an experimental observation suggesting plasma channel formation by focusing a relativistic laser pulse into a long-scale-length preformed plasma. The channel direction coincides with the laser axis. Laser light transmittance measurement indicates laser channeling into the high-density plasma with relativistic self-focusing. A three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation reproduces the plasma channel and reveals that the collimated hot-electron beam is generated along the laser axis in the laser channeling. These findings hold the promising possibility of fast heating a dense fuel plasma with a relativistic laser pulse.
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We report an observation of surface acceleration of fast electrons in intense laser-plasma interactions. When a preformed plasma is presented in front of a solid target with a higher laser intensity, the emission direction of fast electrons is changed to the target surface direction from the laser and specular directions. This feature could be caused by the formation of a strong static magnetic field along the target surface which traps and holds fast electrons on the surface. In our experiment, the increase in the laser intensity due to relativistic self-focusing in plasma plays an important role for the formation. The strength of the magnetic field is calculated from the bent angle of the electrons, resulting in tens of percent of laser magnetic field, which agrees well with a two-dimensional particle-in-cell calculation. The strong surface current explains the high conversion efficiency on the cone-guided fast ignitor experiments.