[en] We measured the hot electron production from short pulse laser plasma interactions using a fiber-array-based compact electron spectrometer that uses permanent magnets for electron energy dispersion and over 100 scintillating fibers coupled to a 1024 x 1024 pixel CCD as the detection system. This spectrometer has electron energy coverage from 10 keV to 60 MeV. The whole spectrometer is compact with dimensions of 8 inch x 7 inch x 4 inch. We performed systematic measurements of electron production on the ultra short pulse laser JanUSP (with pulse width less than 100 fs) at intensity range interest to Fast Ignition scheme from 10¹⁷ Wcm^-2 up to 10¹⁹ Wcm^-2 at Lawrence Livermore National laboratory. The electron distributions were obtained at various laser energies for different solid target materials and observation angles. We determined characteristic temperature of the escaped hot electrons at various incident laser intensity which is confirmed by theoretical simulations using the ZOHAL Particle-in-cell (PIC) code

[en] Recent advances in laser and optical technologies have now enabled the current generation of high intensity, ultrashort-pulse lasers to achieve focal intensities of 10²⁰-10²¹ W/cm² in pulse durations of 100-500fs. These ultraintense laser pulses are capable of producing highly relativistic plasma states with densities, temperatures, and pressures rivaling those found in the interiors of stars and nuclear weapons. Utilizing the ultraintense 100TW JanUSP laser at LLNL we have explored the possibility of ion shock heating small micron-sized plasmas to extremely high energy densities approaching 1GJ/g on timescales of a few hundred femtoseconds. The JanUSP laser delivers 10 Joules of energy in a 100fs pulse in a near diffraction-limited beam, producing intensities on target of up to 10²¹W/cm². The electric field of the laser at this intensity ionizes and accelerates electrons to relativistic MeV energies. The sudden ejection of electrons from the focal region produces tremendous electrostatic forces which in turn accelerate heavier ions to MeV energies. The predicted ion flux of 1 MJ/cm² is sufficient to achieve thermal equilibrium conditions at high temperature in solid density targets. Our initial experiments were carried out at the available laser contrast of 10^-7 (i.e. the contrast of the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE), and of the pre-pules produced in the regenerative amplifier). We used the nuclear photoactivation of Au-197 samples to measure the gamma production above 12MeV-corresponding to the threshold for the Au-197(y,n) reaction. Since the predominant mechanism for gamma production is through the bremsstrahlung emission of energetic electrons as they pass through the solid target we were able to infer a conversion yield of several percent of the incident laser energy into electrons with energies >12MeV. This result is consistent with the interaction of the main pulse with a large pre-formed plasma. The contrast of the laser was improved to the 10^-10 level by the insertion of two additional pockel cells to reduce the pre-pulse intensities, and by the implementation of a pulse clean up technique based on adding an additional pre-amplifier and saturable absorber which resulted in a reduction in the ASE level by a factor of approximately 1000. In FY00/01 we performed a series of experiments to investigate the mechanisms for ion generation and acceleration in thin foil targets irradiated at incident laser intensities above 10²⁰ W/cm², and with the laser contrast at 10^-10. Full details of this work can be found in the two accompanying papers: Energy spectrum and angular distribution of multi-MeV protons produced from ultraintense laser interactions, UCRL-JC-143112, P.K. Pate1 et al., and Enhancement of proton acceleration by hot electron re-circulation in thin foils irradiated by ultra-intense laser pulses, A.J. Mackinnon et al. UCRL-JC-145540. To obtain a more complete picture of the ion emission a range of detectors were developed and fielded including radiachromic films (measuring ion, electron, and x-ray dose), nuclear activation detectors (high energy protons), and single particle nuclear track detectors (protons and heavy ions). Significantly we found that a large fraction of the incident laser energy (greater than 1%) is coupled to highly energetic protons forming a well-collimated beam. The proton spectrum can be fit by an exponential distribution containing 10¹¹ particles with a mean energy of 3 MeV and a high energy cutoff of 25 MeV. However, these particles appear to originate not from the interaction region at the front of the target but rather from a thin adsorption layer on the rear surface

[en] Advances in transient collisional x-ray lasers have been demonstrated over the last 5 years as a technique for achieving tabletop soft x-ray lasers using 2-10 J of laser pump energy. The high peak brightness of these sources operating in the high output saturation regime, in the range of 10²⁴-10²⁵ ph. mm^-2 mrad^-2 s-1 (0.1% BW)^-1, is ideal for many applications requiring high photon fluence in a single short burst. However, the pump energy required for these x-ray lasers is still relatively high and limits the x-ray laser repetition rate to 1 shot every few minutes. Higher repetition rate collisional schemes have been reported and show some promise for high output in the future. We report a novel technique for enhancing the coupling efficiency of the laser pump into the gain medium that could lead to enhanced x-ray inversion with a factor of ten reduction in the drive energy. This has been applied to the collisional excitation scheme for Ni-like Mo at 18.9 nm and x-ray laser output has been demonstrated. Preliminary results show lasing on a single shot of the optical laser operating at 10 Hz and with 70 mJ in the short pulse. Such a proposed source would have higher average brightness, ∼10¹⁴ ph. mm^-2 mrad^-2 s^-1 (0.1% BW)^-1, than present bending magnet 3rd generation synchrotron sources operating at the same spectral range

[en] We report progress in developing efficient pumping of laser-driven x-ray lasers that opens new possibilities for both high average power x-ray lasers as well as producing progressively shorter wavelength lasers. The new scheme of grazing incidence pumping (GRIP) is described. In essence, a chosen electron density region of a pre-formed plasma column, produced by a longer pulse at normal incidence onto a slab target, is selectively pumped by focusing the short pulse ∼ps laser at a determined grazing incidence angle to the target. The controlled use of refraction of the pumping laser in the plasma results in several benefits: The pump laser path length is longer and there is an increase in the laser absorption in the gain region for creating a collisional Ni-like ion x-ray laser. There is also an inherent traveling wave, close to c, that increases the overall pumping efficiency. The scheme requires careful tailoring of the pump and plasma conditions to the specific x-ray laser under investigation but the main advantage is a 3 - 30 times reduction in the laser pump energy for mid-Z materials. We report several examples of this new x-ray laser on two different laser systems. The first demonstrates a 10 Hz x-ray laser operating at 18.9 nm pumped with a total of 150 mJ of 800 nm wavelength from a Ti:Sapphire laser. The second case is shown where the COMET laser is used both at 527 nm and 1054 nm wavelength to pump higher Z materials with the goal of extending the wavelength regime of tabletop x-ray lasers below 10 nm

[en] The aim of this LDRD is to develop two completely new methods for creating and probing warm dense states of matter (plasmas at several eV at solid density), which will enable the direct measurement of fundamental material properties such as the opacity and equation of state (EOS). There is in this warm dense regime an almost complete lack of quantitative experimental data--primarily because of the difficulty in creating uniform, single temperature/density plasmas on which to make measurements. In an ideal case one would volumetrically heat a target with a very short burst of energy--simultaneously making measurements prior to the subsequent hydrodynamic expansion of the target. However, no mechanism for such rapid, uniform heating of a material currently exists. We propose to develop a completely new technique that has the potential for creating large uniform plasmas in local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) at warm dense conditions. This technique is based on volumetric heating of solid density targets with a high energy, high-flux, short-pulse, laser-produced proton beam. We also propose to use this beam of protons to probe high-Z, solid density matter with both 2-dimensional spatial resolution and picosecond temporal resolution. The combination of these two techniques will enable us to make the very first quantitative measurements of the equation of state and opacity of an isochorically heated state of matter

[en] The main objective of the project is to demonstrate a proof-of-principle, new type of high efficiency, short wavelength x-ray laser source that will operate at unprecedented high repetition rates (10Hz) that could be scaled to 1kHz or higher. The development of a high average power, tabletop x-ray laser would serve to complement the wavelength range of 3rd and future 4th generation light sources, e.g. the LCLS, being developed by DOE-Basic Energy Sciences. The latter are large, expensive, central, synchrotron-based facilities while the tabletop x-ray laser is compact, high-power laser-driven, and relatively inexpensive. The demonstration of such a unique, ultra-fast source would allow us to attract funding from DOE-BES, NSF and other agencies to pursue probing of diverse materials undergoing ultrafast changes. Secondly, this capability would have a profound impact on the semiconductor industry since a coherent x-ray laser source would be ideal for ''at wavelength'' ∼13 nm metrology and microscopy of optics and masks used in EUV lithography. The project has major technical challenges. We will perform grazing-incidence pumped laser-plasma experiments in flat or groove targets which are required to improve the pumping efficiency by ten times. Plasma density characterization using our existing unique picosecond x-ray laser interferometry of laser-irradiated targets is necessary. Simulations of optical laser propagation as well as x-ray laser production and propagation through freely expanding and confined plasma geometries are essential. The research would be conducted using the Physics Directorate Callisto and COMET high power lasers. At the end of the project, we expect to have a high-efficiency x-ray laser scheme operating below 20 nm at 10Hz with a pulse duration of ∼2 ps. This will represent the state-of-the-art in x-ray lasers and would be a major step forward from our present picosecond laser-driven x-ray lasers. There is an added bonus of creating the shortest wavelength laboratory x-ray laser, below 4.5 nm and operating in the water window, by using the high-energy capability of the Titan laser

[en] We have demonstrated a 10 Hz Ni-like Mo X-ray laser operating at 18.9 nm with 150 mJ total pump energy by employing a novel pumping scheme. The grazing incidence scheme is described, where a picosecond pulse is incident at a grazing angle to a Mo plasma column produced by a slab target irradiated by a 200 ps laser pulse. This scheme uses refraction of the short pulse at a pre-determined electron density to increase absorption to pump a specific gain region. The high efficiency inherent to this scheme allows a reduction in the pump energy where 70 mJ long pulse energy and 80 mJ short pulse energy are sufficient to produce lasing at a 10 Hz repetition rate. Under these conditions and by optimizing the delay between the pulses, we achieve strong amplification and saturation for 4 mm long targets

[en] The first demonstration of the grazing incidence pumping (GRIP) scheme for laser-driven x-ray lasers (XRLs) is described utilizing 2-pulse pumping. A long pulse is incident normal to the target to produce a plasma with a particular density profile. Then a short pulse is incident at a grazing angle, chosen to optimally couple the short pulse laser energy into the specific density region where the inversion process will occur. The short pulse is simultaneously absorbed and refracted at a maximum electron density specified by the chosen pump angle then turns back into the gain region. The increased path length gives improved absorption allowing a reduction in the drive energy required for lasing. A Ni-like Mo XRL at 18.9 nm has been demonstrated with only 150 mJ total pump energy and a repetition rate of 10 Hz. We report high gains of 60 cm^-1 and the achievement of gain saturation for targets of 4 mm length

[en] We present experimental data of electron energy distributions from ultra-intense (>10¹⁹ W/cm²) laser-solid interactions using the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Vulcan petawatt laser. These measurements were made using a CCD-based magnetic spectrometer. We present details on the distinct effective temperatures that were obtained for a wide variety of targets as a function of laser intensity. It is found that as the intensity increases from 10¹⁷ W/cm² to 10¹⁹ W/cm², a 0.4 dependence on the laser intensity is found. Between 10¹⁹ W/cm² and 10²⁰ W/cm², a gradual rolling off of temperature with intensity is observed

[en] The Fast Ignition (FI) concept for Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) has the potential to provide a significant advance in the technical attractiveness of Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) reactors. FI differs from conventional 'central hot spot' (CHS) target ignition by using one driver (laser, heavy ion beam or Z-pinch) to create a dense fuel and a separate ultra-short, ultra-intense laser beam to ignite the dense core. FI targets can burn with ∼ 3X lower density fuel than CHS targets, resulting in (all other things being equal) lower required compression energy, relaxed drive symmetry, relaxed target smoothness tolerances, and, importantly, higher gain. The short, intense ignition pulse that drives this process interacts with extremely high energy density plasmas; the physics that controls this interaction is only now becoming accessible in the lab, and is still not well understood. The attraction of obtaining higher gains in smaller facilities has led to a worldwide explosion of effort in the studies of FI. In particular, two new US facilities to be completed in 2009/2010, OMEGA/OMEGA EP and NIF-ARC (as well as others overseas) will include FI investigations as part of their program. These new facilities will be able to approach FI conditions much more closely than heretofore using direct drive (dd) for OMEGA/OMEGA EP and indirect drive (id) for NIF-ARC. This LDRD has provided the physics basis for the development of the detailed design for integrated Fast ignition experiments on these facilities on the 2010/2011 timescale. A strategic initiative LDRD has now been formed to carry out integrated experiments using NIF ARC beams to heat a full scale FI assembled core by the end of 2010