Prof Peter Norreys FInstP;

Abstract:

Significant reduction of inherent large divergence of the laser driven MeV proton beams is achieved by strong (of the order of 109V/m) electrostatic focussing field generated in the confined region of a suitably shaped structure attached to the proton generating foil. The scheme exploits the positively charging of the target following an intense laser interaction. Reduction in the proton beam divergence, and commensurate increase in proton flux is observed while preserving the beam laminarity. The underlying mechanism has been established by the help of particle tracing simulations. Dynamic focussing power of the lens, mainly due to the target discharging, can also be exploited in order to bring up the desired chromaticity of the lens for the proton beams of broad energy range. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Abstract:

The production of monoenergetic electron beams by two copropagating ultrashort laser pulses is investigated both by experiment and using particle-in-cell simulations. By proper timing between guiding and driver pulses, a high-amplitude plasma wave is generated and sustained for longer than is possible with either of the laser pulses individually, due to plasma waveguiding of the driver by the guiding pulse. The growth of the plasma wave is inferred by the measurement of monoenergetic electron beams with low divergence that are not measured by using either of the pulses individually. This scheme can be easily implemented and may allow more control of the interaction than is available to the single pulse scheme. © 2008 The American Physical Society.

Abstract:

Collisionless electron beam-plasma instabilities are expected to play an important role in fast ignition. Such beams are produced by the short high power ignition laser interacting with long scale length plasmas. Here we present results from a one-dimensional Vlasov-Poisson code used to investigate different electron beam temperatures and background plasma conditions. The simulations demonstrate that the beam-plasma instabilities drive large amplitude electrostatic waves that undergo the parametric decay instability driving backwards propagating electrostatic waves and much lower frequency ion acoustic waves. Saturation of the beam-plasma instability creates a plateau in the electron distribution function consistent with quasi-linear theory. We observe the creation of high energy tails in the electron and ion distribution functions, formed by the trapping of particles in the waves formed during the collapse of the beam. The high energy tails of the ion distribution are found to account for up to one-half of the energy gained by the ion population from the beam collapse. Furthermore, at the highest electron beam temperatures we observe the formation of long-lived coherent phase-space structures. These phase-space structures are a direct consequence of the cascade nature of the parametric instability driving up lower wavenumber modes that have higher phase velocities that can in turn accelerate electrons to energies in excess of the initial beam energy. A quasi-linear treatment also shows similar effects but the simulations are clearly beyond a simple quasi-linear treatment and demonstrate the transfer of energy from an incident beam to the ion population via collisionless effects. The implications of these mechanisms for the fast ignition scheme will be discussed. © 2008 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Abstract:

The currents induced by arbitrarily strong dc electric fields in plasma and the evolution of electron distributions have been studied by Fokker-Planck simulations. We find that the electron distributions evolve distinctly under different fields; especially, the electron distribution is well represented by the sum of a stationary and drifting Maxwellian at the moderate field. A set of hydrodynamiclike equations, similar to Spitzer's but without the weak-field limit, is given for calculating the current. It is more suitable for application in hybrid particle-in-cell simulations and may extend plasma transport theory in models that do not employ a kinetic description of the electrons. © 2008 The American Physical Society.