Oxford Centre for High Energy Density Science (OxCHEDS)

Abstract:

Laser wakefield accelerators can produce electric fields of order 10-100 GV/m, suitable for acceleration of electrons to relativistic energies. The wakefields are excited by a relativistically intense laser pulse propagating through a plasma and have a phase velocity determined by the group velocity of the light pulse. Two important effects that can limit the acceleration distance and hence the net energy gain obtained by an electron are diffraction of the drive laser pulse and particle-wake dephasing. Diffraction of a focused ultrashort laser pulse can be overcome by using preformed plasma channels. The dephasing limit can be increased by operating at a lower plasma density, since this results in an increase in the laser group velocity. Here we present detailed results on the generation of GeV-class electron beams using an intense femtosecond laser beam and a 3.3 cm long preformed discharge-based plasma channel [W. P. Leemans et al., Nature Physics 2, 696 (2006)]. The use of a discharge-based waveguide permitted operation at an order of magnitude lower density and 15 times longer distance than in previous experiments that relied on laser preformed plasma channels. Laser pulses with peak power ranging from 10-40 TW were guided over more than 20 Rayleigh ranges and high quality electron beams with energy up to 1 GeV were obtained by channeling a 40 TW peak power laser pulse. The dependence of the electron beam characteristics on capillary properties, plasma density, and laser parameters are discussed. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.

Abstract:

The propagation of shock waves through polycrystalline iron is explored by large-scale atomistic simulations. For large enough shock strengths the passage of the wave causes the body-centered-cubic phase to transform into a close-packed phase with most structure being isotropic hexagonal-close-packed (hcp) and, depending on shock strength and grain orientation, some fraction of face-centered-cubic (fcc) structure. The simulated shock Hugoniot is compared to experiments. By calculating the extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) directly from the atomic configurations, a comparison to experimental EXAFS measurements of nanosecond-laser shocks shows that the experimental data is consistent with such a phase transformation. However, the atomistically simulated EXAFS spectra also show that an experimental distinction between the hcp or fcc phase is not possible based on the spectra alone. © 2007 The American Physical Society.

Abstract:

Kα 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 75μm for intensities up to 5×1020Wcm-2. The Kα emission and shadowgrams both indicate a larger divergence angle than that reported in the literature at lower intensities. Foils 5μm 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. © 2007 The American Physical Society.

Abstract:

Slow pulsed capillary discharges in round capillaries are currently under investigation for use as plasma channel laser waveguides in laser-wakefield acceleration, x-ray lasers, and higher-harmonic generation. In this study, a capillary discharge with a square cross section is presented. The electron density, which determines the laser guiding properties, can be measured by means of transverse interferometry in this device. Using a numerical model of the plasma and the capillary wall, an analysis of the discharge is made. The results predict that the square channel is capable of guiding circular laser pulses. The guiding properties are quite similar to those of a round channel with nearly the same diameter as the channel width. This suggests the results obtained by measuring the square capillary discharge are applicable for round channels as well. It was found that the wall heating was inhomogeneous, which makes the wall more susceptible to ablation. The heating of the wall changes the transverse optical pathlength in the interferometry experiments. © 2007 American Institute of Physics.