Laboratory astroparticle physics

Abstract:

We present the first ultrafast temporally, spectrally, and angularly resolved x-ray scattering measurements from shock-compressed matter. The experimental spectra yield the absolute elastic and inelastic scattering intensities from the measured density of free electrons. Laser-compressed lithium-hydride samples are well characterized by inelastic Compton and plasmon scattering of a K-α x-ray probe providing independent measurements of temperature and density. The data show excellent agreement with the total intensity and structure when using the two-species form factor and accounting for the screening of ion-ion interactions. © 2009 The American Physical Society.

Abstract:

The temporal resolution of existing streak cameras are limited by electron transit time dispersion. Here we present a state-of-art design compensating this to achieve a breakthrough of 100fs time resolution. © 2009 Optical Society of America.

Abstract:

This paper describes a new positron source using ultraintense short pulse lasers. Although it has been theoretically studied since the 1970s, the use of lasers as a valuable new positron source was not demonstrated experimentally until recent years, when the petawatt-class short pulse lasers were developed. In 2008 and 2009, in a series of experiments performed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a large number of positrons were observed after shooting a millimeter thick solid gold target. Up to 2× 1010 positrons/s ejected at the back of approximately millimeter thick gold targets were detected. The targets were illuminated with short (∼1 ps) ultraintense (∼1× 1020 W/ cm2) laser pulses. These positrons are produced predominantly by the Bethe-Heitler process and have an effective temperature of 2-4 MeV, with the distribution peaking at 4-7 MeV. The angular distribution of the positrons is anisotropic. For a wide range of applications, this new laser-based positron source with its unique characteristics may complement the existing sources based on radioactive isotopes and accelerators. © 2009 American Institute of Physics.

Abstract:

We report on the x-ray absorption of Warm Dense Matter experiment at the FLASH Free Electron Laser (FEL) facility at DESY. The FEL beam is used to produce Warm Dense Matter with soft x-ray absorption as the probe of electronic structure. A multilayer-coated parabolic mirror focuses the FEL radiation, to spot sizes as small as 0.3μm in a ∼15fs pulse of containing >10 12 photons at 13.5 nm wavelength, onto a thin sample. Silicon photodiodes measure the transmitted and reflected beams, while spectroscopy provides detailed measurement of the temperature of the sample. The goal is to measure over a range of intensities approaching 10 18 W/cm 2. Experimental results will be presented along with theoretical calculations. A brief report on future FEL efforts will be given. © 2009 SPIE.

Abstract:

The acceleration of intense proton and ion beams by ultra-intense lasers has matured to a point where applications in basic research and technology are being developed. Crucial for harvesting the unmatched beam parameters driven by the relativistic electron sheath is the precise control of the beam. In this paper we report on recent experiments using the PHELIX laser at GSI, the VULCAN laser at RAL and the TRIDENT laser at LANL to control and use laser accelerated proton beams for applications in high energy density research. We demonstrate efficient collimation of the proton beam using high field pulsed solenoid magnets, a prerequisite to capture and transport the beam for applications. Furthermore, we report on two campaigns to use intense, short proton bunches to isochorically heat solid targets up to the warm dense matter state. The temporal profile of the proton beam allows for rapid heating of the target, much faster than the hydrodynamic response time thereby creating a strongly coupled plasma at solid density. The target parameters are then probed by x-ray Thomson scattering to reveal the density and temperature of the heated volume. This combination of two powerful techniques developed during the past few years allows for the generation and investigation of macroscopic samples of matter in states present in giant planets or the interior of the earth. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd.