Ionization states for the multipetawatt laser-QED regime
Physical Review E American Physical Society 106:1 (2022) 015205
Abstract:
A paradigm shift in the physics of laser-plasma interactions is approaching with the commissioning of multipetawatt laser facilities worldwide. Radiation reaction processes will result in the onset of electron-positron pair cascades and, with that, the absorption and partitioning of the incident laser energy, as well as the energy transport throughout the irradiated targets. To accurately quantify these effects, one must know the focused intensity on target in situ. In this work, a way of measuring the focused intensity on target is proposed based upon the ionization of xenon gas at low ambient pressure. The field ionization rates from two works [Phys. Rev. A 59, 569 (1999) and Phys. Rev. A 98, 043407 (2018)], where the latter rate has been derived using quantum mechanics, have been implemented in the particle-in-cell code SMILEI [Comput. Phys. Commun. 222, 351 (2018)]. A series of one- and two-dimensional simulations are compared and shown to reproduce the charge states without presenting visible differences when increasing the simulation dimensionality. They provide a way to accurately verify the intensity on target using in situ measurements.Atomistic investigation of cavitation and ablation in tantalum foils under irradiation with x-rays approaching 5 keV
Physical Review B American Physical Society 106 (2022) 024107
Abstract:
The rapid irradiation and heating of matter can lead to material removal via a process known as ablation. While previous investigations have focused on ablation with optical and soft x-ray pulses, the process is not well understood for the high-energy x-rays delivered at current x-ray free electron laser facilities. In this paper, we use hybrid two-temperature model molecular dynamics simulations to determine the damage threshold and dynamics for tantalum foils under irradiation with x-rays in the range 1–5 keV. We report that damage occurs for foils with thickness 300 nm when heated to around 1.25 eV/atom. This damage results from the combined processes of melting and cavitation, finally resulting in the removal of material layers. The predictions of this study, in terms of the cavitation threshold and underlying dynamics, could guide interpretation of experiments as well as applications including development of beamline optics for free-electron lasers. We report consistency between cavitation and ablation behavior in isochoric heating experiments and spall processes in hydrodynamic compression and release experiments, confirming the primary modes of damage are mechanical in nature for the x-ray energies investigated.A case study of using X-ray Thomson Scattering to diagnose the in-flight plasma conditions of DT cryogenic implosions
Physics of Plasmas AIP Publishing 29 (2022) 072703
Abstract:
The design of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) ignition targets requires radiation-hydrodynamics simulations with accurate models of the fundamental material properties (i.e., equation of state, opacity, and conductivity). Validation of these models are required via experimentation. A feasibility study of using spatially-integrated, spectrally-resolved, X-ray Thomson scattering (XRTS) measurements to diagnose the temperature, density, and ionization of the compressed DT shell of a cryogenic DT implosion at two-thirds convergence was conducted. Synthetic scattering spectra were generated using 1-D implosion simulations from the LILAC code that were post processed with the X-ray Scattering (XRS) model which is incorporated within SPECT3D. Analysis of two extreme adiabat capsule conditions showed that the plasma conditions for both compressed DT shells could be resolved.
A case study of using x-ray Thomson scattering to diagnose the in-flight plasma conditions of DT cryogenic implosions
Physics of Plasmas 29, 072703 (2022)
Abstract:
The design of inertial confinement fusion ignition targets requires radiation-hydrodynamics simulations with accurate models of the fundamental material properties (i.e., equation of state, opacity, and conductivity). Validation of these models is required via experimentation. A feasibility study of using spatially integrated, spectrally resolved, x-ray Thomson scattering measurements to diagnose the temperature, density, and ionization of the compressed DT shell of a cryogenic DT implosion at two-thirds convergence was conducted. Synthetic scattering spectra were generated using 1D implosion simulations from the LILAC code that were post processed with the x-ray scattering model, which is incorporated within SPECT3D. Analysis of two extreme adiabat capsule conditions showed that the plasma conditions for both compressed DT shells could be resolved.
Insensitivity of a turbulent laser-plasma dynamo to initial conditions
Matter and Radiation at Extremes AIP Publishing 7:4 (2022) 046901