[en] The study of sonoluminescence has been under taken to determine the mechanisms for the production of the short burst of light that arises in an acoustically driven water cell. The investigations have reached a state of understanding where the underlying physical processes causing the conversion of acoustic energy to radiation can now be successfully simulated. Further, the effort has led to substantial outreach to the community including undergraduate student, post-graduate students, and professors. Finally, the experimental program has provided important information on the region where sonoluminescence works

[en] The short pulse x-ray sources will provide a major advance in dense matter studies important to understand implosion physics for ICF as a generator of warm dense matter or a probe of finite temperature dense matter. The interaction of such a high-energy photon pulse with the initially solid matter creates highly transient states of plasmas initially whose relaxation processes are of interest to the equation of states or spectral properties of these matter. For these plasmas, assumptions such as LTE population distributions or Maxwellian electron energy distributions should be tested by employing a method that does not make these assumption a priori. Our goal is to present a model that can be used to simulate the electron distributions, the ionization balance and the spectral output of transient systems generated in the future ICF experiments. We report on the progress in developing a non-LTE atomic population kinetics code integrated with Boltzmann equation solver to provide a self-consistent time-dependent solution of the level populations and the particle energy distributions

[en] The scope of work for this subcontract requires that state-of-the-art, detailed atomic kinetics calculations be applied to compute the total radiative cooling rates for Ar and Kr in high density plasmas. This is in support of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency's program of development of simulators with high-fluence radiation and spectral fidelity. Using collisional-radiative modeling codes and unique expertise at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), the total radiative yields from Ar and Kr, integrated over all photon energies, have been computed. Spectrally resolved yields from K-shell Ar and K- and L-shell Kr have also been tabulated. The present calculations show that high electron density in the plasma sources is essential to maximize the fraction of power output in various x-ray bands

[en] This document provides a summary of the ''LLNL Workshop on Extreme States of Materials: Warm Dense Matter to NIF'' which was held on 20, 21, and 22 February 2002 at the Wente Conference Center in Livermore, CA. The warm dense matter regime, the transitional phase space region between cold material and hot plasma, is presently poorly understood. The drive to understand the nature of matter in this regime is sparking scientific activity worldwide. In addition to pure scientific interest, finite temperature dense matter occurs in the regimes of interest to the SSMP (Stockpile Stewardship Materials Program). So that obtaining a better understanding of WDM is important to performing effective experiments at, e.g., NIF, a primary mission of LLNL. At this workshop we examined current experimental and theoretical work performed at, and in conjunction with, LLNL to focus future activities and define our role in this rapidly emerging research area. On the experimental front LLNL plays a leading role in three of the five relevant areas and has the opportunity to become a major player in the other two. Discussion at the workshop indicated that the path forward for the experimental efforts at LLNL were two fold: First, we are doing reasonable baseline work at SPLs, HE, and High Energy Lasers with more effort encouraged. Second, we need to plan effectively for the next evolution in large scale facilities, both laser (NIF) and Light/Beam sources (LCLS/TESLA and GSI) Theoretically, LLNL has major research advantages in areas as diverse as the thermochemical approach to warm dense matter equations of state to first principles molecular dynamics simulations. However, it was clear that there is much work to be done theoretically to understand warm dense matter. Further, there is a need for a close collaboration between the generation of verifiable experimental data that can provide benchmarks of both the experimental techniques and the theoretical capabilities. The conclusion of this meeting is that LLNL is presently well poised to play a leading role in understanding warm dense matter as the foundation we have built in experiment/theory is strong and due to our strong connections to next generation experimental facilities. The most important recommendation is that for the SSMP to benefit the most, LLNL needs to incorporate present research activities into a consolidated programmatic effort and move forward on the experimental fronts, especially those planned for next generation facilities

[en] Laser-based plasma spectroscopic techniques have been used with great success to determine the line shapes of atomic transitions in plasmas, study the population kinetics of atomic systems embedded in plasmas, and look at the redistribution of radiation. However, the possibilities for optical lasers end for plasmas with n_e>10²²cm^-3 as light propagation is severely altered by the plasma. The construction of the Tesla Test Facility(TTF) at DESY(Deutsche Elektronen-Synchrotron), a short pulse tunable free electron laser in the vacuum-ultraviolet and soft X-ray regime (VUV FEL), based on the SASE(self amplified spontaneous emission) process, will provide a major advance in the capability for dense plasma-related research. This source will provide 10¹³ photons in a 200 fs duration pulse that is tunable from ∼ 6nm to 100nm. Since an VUV FEL will not have the limitation associated with optical lasers the entire field of high density plasmas kinetics in laser produced plasma will then be available to study with tunable source. Thus, one will be able to use this and other FEL x-ray sources to pump individual transitions creating enhanced population in the excited states that can easily be monitored. We show two case studies illuminating different aspects of plasma spectroscopy

[en] We present the first x-ray spectroscopic measurements of the ionization balance in inertial confinement fusion hohlraums supported by 4ω Thomson scattering diagnostics. The experimental data show agreement with non-LTE radiation-hydrodynamic calculations of the averaged Au charge state and electron temperatures. These findings are consistent with the successful integrated modeling of the hohlraum radiation fields. Comparisons with detailed synthetic spectra calculations show that the experimental ionization distribution is slightly shifted indicating nonsteady state kinetics

[en] The development of a set of stable implosions using indirectly driven plastic microspheres with argon (0.1 atm) doped deuterium (50 atm) has provided a unique source for testing the plasma spectroscopy of the high energy density imploded core. The core reaches electron densities of > 10²⁴ cm^-3 with temperatures of ∼ 1 keV and has been shown to be reproducible on a shot to shot basis. Moreover, it has been shown that not only the peak temperature and density are consistent, but that the temporal evolution of the mean temperature and density of the final phase of the implosion is also reproducible. These imploding cores provide a unique opportunity to test aspects of plasma spectroscopy that are difficult to study in other plasmas and to develop methods to test stable hydrodynamics. We present experimental results and discuss spectroscopic analysis algorithms to determine consistent temperature and density fits to determine gradients in the plasma

[en] We measure 300 eV thermal temperatures at near-solid densities by x-ray spectroscopy of tracer layers buried up to 30 pm inside CH slabs which are irradiated by a 0.5 kJ, 5 ps laser. X-ray imaging data suggest that collimated electron transport produces comparable temperatures as deep as 200 pm, and unexpectedly show the heated regions to be 50-120 pm-diameter rings. The data indicate that intense lasers can directionally heat solid matter to high temperatures over large distances; the results are relevant for fast-ignition inertial-confinement fusion and hot, dense plasma research

[en] The Nova laser facility has been used to produce matter in extreme conditions in the laboratory. The plasmas are produced by imploding spherical capsules filled with deuterium and trace amounts of Ar. A spectroscopic study of these indirectly driven, inertially confined plasmas provides measurements of the plasma parameters as a function of time. Multiple diagnostics measure peak n_e∼1x10²⁴ cm^-3 and T_e∼1000 eV. A series of experiments have demonstrated that the results are reliable and reproducible. These experiments are designed to produce laboratory implosions that can serve as a ''testbed'' for high energy density matter. Measuring temperature gradients are the next step so that they can become sources suitable for studying physics such as high-density plasma effects or radiative cooling. (c) 2000 The American Astronomical Society

No abstract available