[en] To study the laser plasma interaction and the generation of fast electrons we use a relativistic electromagnetic PIC (particle-in-cell) code. This code takes into account variable plasma ionization in a Monte-Carlo probabilistic way. Fast electrons resulting from PIC simulations are post-processed by our 3-dimensional Monte-Carlo code to obtain K-α yields and emission spot sizes. It has been demonstrated that a subcritical weekly ionized part of the plasma density profile, which may develop during the irradiation with ASE preceding the main laser pulse, may significantly influence fast electron acceleration so far as the subcritical plasma may become overcritical during the laser plasma interaction due to field ionization. By using the initial plasma density profile calculated by the EHYBRID code for the ASE prepulse irradiation of the target, we have found good agreement with the experiment, much better than with the exponential density

[en] Propagation of high-current relativistic electron beam in a gas has been studied experimentally in [1] in connection with the fast ignition concept of the inertial confinement fusion. In this paper, our numerical code based on the Particle-in-Cell method is utilized to simulate the electron beam propagation under the conditions similar to those of the experiment [1]. Our results demonstrate generation of a strong electrostatic field at the surface of the target from which the beam enters into the gas. The strength of this field depends in particular on the density of the gas and the field may reflect a significant part of the beam back into the target and decelerate the propagating beam. Ionization of the gas is provided by the electric field created by a dense bunch of runaway electrons and the ionization front may propagate with the velocity close to the velocity of light until the runaway bunch is depleted

[en] Complete test of publication follows. A relativistic electron beam with very high current density may be produced during the interaction of a short high intensity laser pulse with a solid target. In Fast Ignition approach to Inertial Confinement Fusion, such beam is supposed to heat a part of the precompressed DT fuel pellet to the conditions of an efficient ignition. For successful implementation of Fast Ignition understanding the propagation and energy deposition of the beam is crucial. A number of processes, mostly associated with the return current, are dissipating the energy of the beam or inhibiting its collimated transport, namely the filamentation. Weibel, two-stream or the recently proposed ionization instability. Ionization instability may develop in a solid dielectric target due to the dependence of the propagation velocity of the beam on the beam density. To study the propagation of high current electron beam in dielectric target, we use a one-dimensional relativistic electrostatic simulation code based on the Particle in Cell method. The code includes ionization processes in dielectric material and collisions of newly generated cold electrons. The current density of the relativistic electron beam used in this work is in the range 3-300 GA/cm², while its length roughly corresponds to the beam, produced by a 40 fs laser pulse. Propagation of the beam in the polyethylene target is studied. The code is complemented by an analytical model, which is applicable og a wider range of beam parameters that are currently beyond our computational possibilities. When the head of the beam enters the plastic target, electric field grows rapidly in consequence of the charge separation and it starts to ionize atoms. In the maximum of the field, which is less than 10% of the atomic field, the density of new free electrons is two orders of magnitude higher than the beam density, which is enough for the current neutralization. Cold electrons are accelerated by the field, until they acquire enough energy for efficient collisional ionization. Then, the avalanche ionization starts and the further increase of cold electron density reduces plasma resistivity. The current of the rest of the electron beam is neutralized relatively easily. The electric field inside the beam is order of magnitude lower than in the ionization front and it drops to zero behind the beam. The evolution of the beam distribution along its propagation and the plasma produced inside the plastic target are studied. The propagation velocity of the ionization front is faster for higher beam densities in agreement with analytical model. The energy loss of the beam due to Ohmic heating influences its propagation significantly on the distance of order of tens of em. The losses are stronger for lower density beams and the average energy lost per beam electron is significantly higher than the collisional losses. For the higher beam density, the two-stream instability may develop behind the ionization front. This work was partly funded by the Czech Ministry of Education. Youth and Sports project LC528. The support by the COST Office under project COST-STSM-P14-01494 is gratefully acknowledged.

[en] Complete test of publication follows. Fast electrons are created at the target surface during the interaction of high intensity ultra short laser pulses with solids. Fast electrons penetrate deep into the target where they generate K-α and Bremsstrahlung radiation. Generated high brightness K-α pulses offer the prospect of creating a cheap and compact X-ray source, posing a promising alternative to synchrotron radiation, e.g. in medical application and in material science. With an increase in laser intensity, efficient X-ray emission in the multi-keV range with pulse duration shorter than few picoseconds is expected. This short incoherent but monochromatic X-ray emission synchronized with laser pulses may be used for time-resolved measurements. Acceleration of fast electrons, their transport and K-α photon generation and emission from the target surface in both forward and backward directions are studied here numerically. The results are compared to recent experiments studying K-α emission from the front and rear surface of copper foil targets of various thicknesses and for various parameters of the laser plasma interaction. One-dimensional PIC simulations coupled with 3D time-resolved Monte Carlo simulations show that account of ionization processes and of density profile formed by laser ASE emission is essential for reliable explanation of experimental data. While sub-relativistic intensities are optimum for laser energy transformation into K-α emission for medium-Z targets, relativistic laser intensities have to be used for hard X-ray generation in high-Z materials. The cross-section for K-α shell ionization of high-Z elements by electrons increases or remains approximately constant within a factor of two at relativistic electron energies up to electron energies in the 100-MeV range. Moreover, the splitting ratio of K-α photon emission to Auger electron emission is favorable for high-Z materials, and thus efficient K-α emission is possible. In our simulations and analytical estimates, laser energy conversion to hard K-α emission greater that 10^-4 has been found for laser intensities above 10¹⁹ W/cm². Possible ways to the conversion efficiency enhancement via laser and target optimization are depicted. This work was partly funded by the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports project LC528. The support by the Czech Science Foundation under project No. 202/06/0801 is gratefully acknowledged.

[en] A mechanism of high energy and high density positron beam creation is proposed in ultra-relativistic laser-plasma interaction. Longitudinal electron self-injection into a strong laser field occurs in order to maintain the balance between the ponderomotive potential and the electrostatic potential. The injected electrons are trapped and form a regular layer structure. The radiation reaction and photon emission provide an additional force to confine the electrons in the laser pulse. The threshold density to initiate the longitudinal electron self-injection is obtained from analytical model and agrees with the kinetic simulations. The injected electrons generate γ -photons which counter-propagate into the laser pulse. Via the Breit–Wheeler process, well collimated positron bunches in the GeV range are generated of the order of the critical plasma density and the total charge is about nano-Coulomb. The above mechanisms are demonstrated by particle-in-cell simulations and single electron dynamics. (paper)

[en] The sub-relativistic laser beam interaction with an underdense plasma is investigated via two-dimensional (2D) numerical simulations with respect to the laser polarization direction. Different parametric instabilities dominate the interaction depending on the propagation direction of the daughter waves in the simulation plane with respect to the laser field polarization and laser propagation direction. In the plane containing the laser electric field (p-polarization) the interaction is dominated by the two-plasmon decay instability and the beating of large amplitude electron plasma waves produces periodic ion density perturbations suppressing stimulated Raman scattering in the quarter critical density zone. A stronger absorption and heating of hot electrons is observed in the case where laser polarization is perpendicular to the simulation plane (s-polarization). Furthermore, by comparing a plane laser wave with a narrow beamlet, the effect of the initial transverse laser profile is proven to play an important role in exciting the filamentation instability, which competes with stimulated Brillouin scattering and affects the laser absorption and hot electron generation. A dedicated three-dimensional simulation indicates that a 2D simulation with p-polarization produces a more reliable results while the case of s-polarization overestimates the laser absorption and hot electron generation. (paper)

[en] Here we investigate the generation of ultra-short hard X-ray bursts of K_α radiation by interaction of femtosecond laser pulses with metal foils and present our results for a novel source setup, which combines the key parameters for optimal use in ultrafast science. We demonstrate the feasibility of a sub-picosecond 1-kHz femtosecond X-ray source with a well accessible quasi-point size (10 μm diameter) providing Cu, Ni and Ti K_α emission with a maximum flux up to 7.0*10⁶ photons/sr/pulse in continuous operation. A new geometry, which essentially facilitates the adjustment of time-resolved measurements and diminishes the temporal jitter between the X-ray probe and the laser pump pulse is implemented. An upper limit of 500 fs was measured for the duration of the X-ray pulses

[en] Complete text of publication follows. The characteristics features of the formation of the spatial distribution of the energy transferred to the plasma from a beam of ions with different initial energies, masses and charges under fast ignition conditions are determined. The motion of the Bragg peak is extended with respect to the spatial distribution of the temperature of the ion-beam-heated medium. The parameters of the ion beams are determined to initiate different regimes of fast ignition of thermonuclear fuel precompressed to a density of 300-500 g/cm³ - the edge regime, in which the ignition region is formed at the outer boundary of the fuel, and the internal regime, in which the ignition region is formed in central parts of the fuel. The conclusion on the requirements for fast ignition by light and heavy ion beams is presented. It is shown that the edge heating with negative temperature gradient is described by a self-similar solution. Such a temperature distribution is the reason of the fact that the ignited beam energy at the edge heating is larger than the minimal ignition energy by factor 1.65. The temperature Bragg peak may be produced by ion beam heating in the reactor scale targets with pR-parameter larger than 3-4 g/cm². In particular, for central ignition of the targets with pR-parameters in the range of 4-8 g/cm² the ion beam energy should be, respectively, from 5 to 7 times larger than the minimal ignition energy. The work by S.Ye. Gus'kov, D.V. Il'in, and V.E. Sherman was supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation under the program 'Development of the Scientific Potential of High Education for 2009-2010' (project no. 2.1.1/1505) and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project no. 08-02-01394_a). The work by J. Limpouch and O. Klimo was supported by the Czech Ministry of Education (project no. LC528, MSM6840770022).

[en] Laser-plasma interaction is investigated for conditions relevant for the shock-ignition (SI) scheme of inertial confinement fusion using two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of an intense laser beam propagating in a hot, large-scale, non-uniform plasma. The temporal evolution and interdependence of Raman- (SRS), and Brillouin- (SBS), side/backscattering as well as Two-Plasmon-Decay (TPD) are studied. TPD is developing in concomitance with SRS creating a broad spectrum of plasma waves near the quarter-critical density. They are rapidly saturated due to plasma cavitation within a few picoseconds. The hot electron spectrum created by SRS and TPD is relatively soft, limited to energies below one hundred keV. (authors)

[en] Emission of high energy gamma rays via the non-linear inverse Compton scattering process (ICS) in interactions of ultra-intense laser pulses with thin solid foils is studied using particle-in-cell simulations. It is shown that the angular distribution of the ICS photons has a forward-oriented two-directional structure centred at an angle ϑ =± 30^°, a value which corresponds to a model based on a standing wave approximation to the electromagnetic field in front of the target, which only increases at the highest intensities due to faster hole boring, which renders the approximation invalid. The conversion efficiency is shown to exhibit a super-linear increase with the driving pulse intensity. In comparison to emission via electron-nucleus bremsstrahlung, it is shown that the higher absorption, further enhanced by faster hole boring, in the targets with lower atomic number strongly favours the ICS process. (paper)