Photon and positron production by ultrahigh-intensity laser interaction with various plasma foils

The generation of γ photons and positrons using an ultrahigh-intensity laser pulse interacting with various plasma solid foils is investigated with a series of quantum electrodynamic particlein-cell(PIC) simulations. When ultrahigh-intensity lasers interact with plasma foils, a large amount of the laser energy is converted into γ photon energy. The simulation results indicate that for a fixed laser intensity with different foil densities, the conversion efficiency of the laser to γphotons and the number of produced photons are highly related to the foil density. We determine the optimal foil density by PIC simulations for high conversion efficiencies as approximately 250 times the critical plasma density, and this result agrees very well with our theoretical assumptions. Four different foil thicknesses are simulated and the effects of foil thickness on γ photon emission and positron production are discussed. The results indicate that optimal foil thickness plays an important role in obtaining the desired γ photon and positron production according to the foil density and laser intensity. Further, a relation between the laser intensity and conversion efficiency is present for the optimal foil density and thickness.     

Numerical studies on pair production in ultra-intense laser interaction with a thin solid-foil

A theoretical and numerical model of photon and electron–positron pair production in strong-field quantum electrodynamics(QED) is described. Two processes are contained in our QED theoretical model, one is photon emission in the interaction of ultra-intense laser with relativistic electron(or positron), and the other is pair production by a gamma-ray photon interacting with the laser field.This model has been included in a PIC/MCC simulation code named BUMBLEBEE 1 D, which is used to simulate the laser plasma interaction. Using this code, the evolutions of electron–positron pair and gamma-ray photon production in ultra-intense laser interaction with aluminum foil target are simulated and analyzed. The simulation results revealed that more positrons are moved in the opposite direction to the incident direction of the laser under the charge separation field.     

Proton Acceleration Driven by High-Intensity Ultraviolet Laser Interaction with a Gold Foil

Proton acceleration induced by a high-intensity ultraviolet laser interaction with a thin foil target was studied on an ultra-short KrF laser amplifier called LLG50 in China Institute of Atomic Energy(CIAE).The ultraviolet laser produced pulses with a high-contrast of 109,duration of 500 fs and energy of 30 mJ.The p-polarized laser was focused on a 2.1 μm gold foil by an of-axis parabola mirror(OAP) at an incident angle of 45°.The laser intensity was 1.2×1017W/cm2.The divergence angle for proton energy of 265 keV or higher was 30°,which was recorded by a CR39 detector covered with 2 μm aluminum foil in the target normal direction.The maximum proton energy recorded by a CR39 detector covered with a 4 μm aluminum foil was 440 keV,and the proton energy spectrum was measured by a proton spectrometer.The ultraviolet laser acquires a relatively lower hot electron temperature,which can be ascribed to the proportional relationship of Iλ2,but a higher hot electron density because of the higher laser absorption and critical density.Higher electron density availed to strengthen the sheath electric field,and increased the proton acceleration.     

Time-Resolved Optical Emission Spectroscopy Diagnosis of CO2 Laser-Produced SnO2 Plasma

The spectral emission and plasma parameters of SnO_2 plasmas have been investigated.A planar ceramic SnO_2 target was irradiated by a CO2 laser with a full width at half maximum of 80 ns.The temporal behavior of the specific emission lines from the SnO_2 plasma was characterized.The intensities of Sn I and Sn II lines first increased,and then decreased with the delay time.The results also showed a faster decay of Sn I atoms than that of Sn II ionic species.The temporal evolutions of the SnO_2 plasma parameters(electron temperature and density) were deduced.The measured temperature and density of SnO_2 plasma are 4.38 eV to0.5 eV and 11.38×10~(17) cm~(-3) to 1.1×10~(17) cm~(-3),for delay times between 0.1 μs and 2.2 μs.We also investigated the effect of the laser pulse energy on SnO_2 plasma.     

Effect of Foil Target Thickness in Proton Acceleration Driven by an Ultra-Short Laser

Proton acceleration experiments were carried out by a 1.2 x 101s W/cm2 ultra-short laser interaction with solid foil targets.The peak proton energy observed from an optimum target thickness of 7μm in our experiments was 2.1 MeV.Peak proton energy and proton yield were investigated for different foil target thicknesses.It was shown that proton energy and conversion efficiency increased as the target became thinner,on one condition that the preplasma generated by the laser prepulse did not have enough shock energy and time to influence or destroy the target rear-surface.The existence of optimum foil thickness is due to the effect of the prepulse and hot electron transportation behavior on the foil target.     

Comparison of emission signals for different polarizations in femtosecond laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

In this study, a femtosecond laser was focused to ablate brass target and generate plasma emission in air. The influence of lens to sample distance(LTSD) on spectral emission of brass plasma under linearly and circularly polarized pulses with different pulse energies was investigated. The results indicated that the position with the strongest spectral emission moved toward focusing lens with increasing the energy. At the same laser energy, the line emission under circularly polarized pulse was stronger compared with linearly polarized pulse for different LTSDs. Next, electron temperature and density of the plasma were obtained with Cu(Ⅰ) lines,indicating that the electron temperature and density under circularly polarized pulse were higher compared to that under linearly polarized pulse. Therefore, changing the laser polarization is a simple and effective way to improve the spectral emission intensity of femtosecond laserinduced plasma.     

Programmable electron density patterns induced by the interaction of an array laser and underdense plasma

The spatially modulated electron distribution of plasma is the basis for obtaining programmable electron density patterns. It has an important influence on plasma technology applications. We propose an efficient scheme to realize controllable electron density patterns in underdense plasma based on the array laser–plasma interaction. Theoretical evidence for the realization of programmable electron density patterns and the corresponding electrostatic field is provided analytically, which is confirmed by particle-in-cell simulations. Results show that the spatial distribution of electron density in the propagation and transverse directions of the laser can be highly modulated to obtain rich programmable electron density patterns by adjusting the array pattern code and pulse width of the array laser beam.     

Preliminary Research Results for the Generation and Diagnostics of High Power Ion Beams on FLASH II Accelerator

The preliminary experimental results of the generation and diagnostics of highpower ion beams on FLASH II accelerator are reported, The high-power ion beams presently are being produced in a pinched diode, The method for enhancing the ratio of ion to electron current is to increase the electron residing time by pinching the electron flow, Furthermore, electron beam pinching can be combined with electron reflexing to achieve ion beams with even higher efficiency and intensity. The anode plasma is generated by anode foil bombarded with electron and anode foil surface flashover. In recent experiments on FLASH II accelerator, ion beams have been produced with a current of 160 kA and an energy of 500 keV corresponding to an ion beam peak power of about 80 GW. The ion number and current of high power ion beams were determined by monitoring delayed radioactivity from nuclear reactions induced in a ^12C target by the proton beams, The prompt γ-rays and diode bremsstrahlung X-rays were measured with a PIN semi-conductor detector and a plastic scintillator detector, The current density distribution of ion beam were measured with a biased ion collector array. The ion beams were also recorded with a CR-39 detector.     

Diagnostic Study of an Fe-Ni Alloy Plasma Generated by the Fundamental (1064 nm) and Second (532 nm) Harmonics of an Nd: YAG Laser

We studied the spatial evolution of the Fe-Ni plasma generated by the fundamental (1064 nm) and second (532 nm) harmonics of a Q-switched Nd: YAG laser. The experimentally observed line profiles of the neutral iron (Fe I) have been used to extract the plasma temperature (T e ) using the Boltzmann plot method, whereas the electron number density (N e ) has been deter- mined from the Stark broadening. In addition, we studied the spatial behavior of T e and N e with the variation of laser energy for iron plasma by placing the target material (iron-nickel alloy) in air at atmospheric pressure for both modes of the Nd: YAG laser.     

HCN Laser Interferometer on the EAST Superconducting Tokamak

A single-channel far-infrared （FIR） laser interferometer was developed to measure the line averaged electron density on the EAST tokamak. The structure of the single-channel FIR laser interferometer is described in detail. The evolution of density sawtooth oscillation was measured by means the FIR laser interferometer, and was identified by electron cyclotron emission （ECE） signals and soft X-ray intensity. The discharges with and without sawtooth were compared with each other in the Hugill diagram.     

Influence of target temperature on femtosecond laser-ablated brass plasma spectroscopy

Spectral intensity,electron temperature and density of laser-induced plasma(LIP) are important parameters for affecting sensitivity of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy(LIBS).Increasing target temperature is an easy and feasible method to improve the sensitivity.In this paper,a brass target in a temperature range from 25℃ to 200℃ was ablated to generate the LIP using femtosecond pulse.Time-resolved spectral emission of the femtosecond LIBS was measured under different target temperatures.The results showed that,compared with the experimental condition of 25℃,the spectral intensity of the femtosecond LIP was enhanced with more temperature target.In addition,the electron temperature and density were calculated by Boltzmann equation and Stark broadening,indicating that the changes in the electron temperature and density of femtosecond LIP with the increase of the target temperature were different from each other.By increasing the target temperature,the electron temperature increased while the electron density decreased.Therefore,in femtosecond LIBS,a hightemperature and low-density plasma with high emission can be generated by increasing the target temperature.The increase in the target temperature can improve the resolution and sensitivity of femtosecond LIBS.     

Application of FLUKA and OpenMC in coupled physics calculation of target and subcritical reactor for ADS

The study of accelerator-driven subcritical reactor systems(ADSs) has been an important research topic in the field of nuclear energy for years. The main code applied in ADS research is MCNPX, which was developed by Los Alamos National Laboratory. We studied the application of the open-source Monte Carlo codes FLUKA and OpenMC to a coupled ADS calculation. The FLUKA code was used to simulate the reaction of highenergy protons with the nucleus of the target material in the ADS, which produces spallation neutrons. Information on the spallation neutrons, such as their energy, position,direction, and weight, can be recorded by a user-defined routine called FLUSCW provided by FLUKA. Then, the information was stored in an external neutron source file in HDF5 format by using a conversion code, as required by the OpenMC calculation. Finally, the fixed-source calculation function of OpenMC was applied to simulate the transport of spallation neutrons and obtain the distribution of the neutron flux in the core region. In the coupled calculation, the high-energy cross-section library JENDL4.0/HE in ACE format produced by NJOY2016 was applied in the OpenMC transport simulation. The OECD–ADS benchmark problem was calculated, and the results were compared with those obtained using MCNPX. It was found that the flux calculations performed by FLUKA–OpenMC and MCNPX were in agreement, so the coupling calculation method for ADS is reasonable and feasible.     

Characteristics of Ions Emitted from Laser-Induced Silver Plasma

In this work, study of laser-induced ions is presented. The plasma was produced by focusing a Nd：YAG laser, with a wavelength of 1064 nm, a pulsed width of 9-14 ns, a power of 1.1 MW and energy of 10 mJ, on silver target in vacuum （10-3 Torr= 1.3332 Pa）. The characteristics of ion streams were investigated by CR-39 detectors located at angles of 0°, 30°, 60° and 90° with respect to normal of the target. The distance between the silver target and each detector was 11 cm. The energy of silver ions was found ranging from 1.5 eV to 1.06E4 eV. There was a high concentration of ions with low energy as compared to those with high energy, showing the energy distribution amongst the ions. The flux of ions was maximum in the axial direction which was decreasing with the angle increase with respect to normal of the target, and finally became minimum in the radial direction. Hence the silver ions have shown anisotropic behaviour.     

Transmission Degradation of Femtosecond Laser Pulses in Opened Cone Targets

Irradiated by femtosecond laser pulses with different energies, opened cone targets behave very differently in the transmission of incident laser pulses. The targets, each with an opening angle of 71 and an opening of 5 μm, are fabricated using standard semiconductor technology. When the incident laser energy is low and no pre-plasma is generated on the side walls of the cones, the cone target acts like an optical device to reflect the laser pulse, and 15% of the laser energy can be transmitted through the cones. In contrast, when the incident laser energy is high enough to generate pre-plasmas by the pre-pulse of the main pulse that fills the inner cone, the cone with the plasmas will block the transmission of the laser, which leads to a decrease in laser transmission compared with the low-energy case with no plasma. Simulation results using optical software in the low-energy case, and using the particle-in-cell code in the high-energy case, are primarily in agreement with the experimental results.     

Spectral characteristic of laser-induced plasma in soil

The spectral characteristic of laser-induced plasma in soil was studied in this work, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy was used to analyze the spectral characteristic of plasma under the condition of different time delays and irradiances. Moreover, the time evolution characteristics of plasma temperature and electron density were discussed. Within the time delay range of 0-5 μs,the spectral intensity of the characteristic lines of Si I: 288.158 nm, Ti I: 336.126 nm, Al I:394.400 nm and Fe I: 438.354 nm of the four main elements in two kinds of national standard soil decayed exponentially with time. The average lifetime of the spectral lines was nearly 1.56 μs. Under the condition of different time delays, the spectral intensity of Pb I: 405.78 nm in soil increased linearly with laser energy. However, the slope between the spectral intensity and laser energy decreased exponentially with the increase in time delay, from 4.91 to 0.99 during 0-5 μs. The plasma temperature was calculated by the Boltzmann plot method and the electron density was obtained by inversion of the full width at half maximum of the spectrum. The plasma temperature decreased from 8900 K to 7800 K and the electron density decreased from 1.5 × 10~(17) cm~(-3) to 7.8 × 10~(16) cm~(-3) in the range of 0-5 μs.     

Solitary kinetic Alfvén waves in a dense electron–positron–ion plasma with degenerate electrons and positrons

Through the use of a reductive perturbation technique, solitary kinetic Alfvén waves(KAWs) are investigated in a low but finite b(particle-to-magnetic pressure ratio) dense electron–positron–ion plasma where electrons and positrons are degenerate. The degenerate plasma model considered here permits the existence of sub-Alfvénic compressive solitary KAWs. The influence of r(equilibrium positron-to-ion density ratio), sF(electron-to-positron Fermi temperature ratio), b and obliqueness parameter lzon various characteristics of solitary KAWs are examined through numerical plots. We have shown that there exists a critical value of lzat which a soliton width attains its maximum value which decreases with an increase in r and sF.It is also found that solitons with a higher energy propagate more obliquely in the direction of an ambient magnetic field. The results of the present investigation may be useful for understanding low frequency nonlinear electromagnetic wave propagation in magnetized electron–positron–ion plasmas in dense stars. Specifically, the relevance of our investigation to a pulsar magnetosphere is emphasized.     

Numerical simulation of laser ablation of molybdenum target for laser-induced breakdown spectroscopic application

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy has been recognized as a significant tool for element diagnostics in plasma–wall interaction. In this work, a one-dimensional numerical model is developed to simulate the laser ablation processes of a molybdenum(Mo) target in vacuum conditions. The thermal process of the interaction between the ns-pulse laser with wavelength of 1064 nm and the Mo target is described by the heat conduction equation. The plasma plume generation and expansion are described by Euler equations, in which the conservation of mass density, momentum and energy are included. Saha equations are used to describe the local thermal equilibrium of electrons, Mo atoms,Mo~+ and Mo~(2+) Plasma shielding and emission are all considered in this model. The mainly numerical results are divided into three parts, as listed below.Firstly, the rule of the plasma shielding effect varying with laser intensity is demonstrated quantitatively and fitted with the Nelder function. Secondly, the key parameters of plasma plume,such as the number density of species, the propagation velocity and the temperature, are all calculated in this model. The results indicate that the propagation velocity of the plume center increased with time in a general trend, however, one valley value appeared at about 20 ns due to the pressure gradient near the target surface leading to negative plasma velocity. Thirdly, the persistent lines of a Mo atom in the wavelength range from 300 nm to 600 nm are selected and the spectrum is calculated. Moreover, the temporal evolutions of Mo's spectral lines at wavelength of 550.6494 nm,553.3031 nm and 557.0444 nm are given and the results are compared with experimental data in this work.     

One-dimensional ordinary–slow extraordinary–Bernstein mode conversion in the electron cyclotron range of frequencies

The ordinary–slow extraordinary–Bernstein(O-SX-B) mode conversion in the electron cyclotron range of frequencies(ECRF) is revisited in slab geometry. The analytical formula of the O-SX conversion efficiency by Mj?lhus is upgraded to include the magnetic field gradient, and the analytical expression of the SX-B conversion efficiency by Ram and Schultz is generalized for the case of oblique injection. Therefore, the conversion efficiency and optimal parallel refractive index for the whole O-SX-B conversion are obtained analytically and a shift of optimal parallel refractive index due to SX-FX loss is found. Full wave calculations are also presented to be compared with the analytical results.     

Automated electron temperature fitting of Langmuir probe Ⅰ–Ⅴ trace in plasmas with multiple Maxwellian EEDFs

An algorithm for automated fitting of the effective electron temperature from a planar Langmuir probe I–V trace taken in a plasma with multiple Maxwellian electron populations is developed through MATLAB coding. The code automatically finds a fitting range suitable for analyzing the temperatures of each of the electron populations. The algorithm is used to analyze I–V traces from both the Institute of Plasma Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences' s Diagnostic Test Source device and a similar multi-dipole chamber at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. I–V traces reconstructed from the parameters fitted by the algorithm not only agree with the measured I–V trace but also reveal physical properties consistent with those found in previous studies.Cylindrical probe traces are also analyzed with the algorithm and it is shown that the major source of error in such attempts is the disruption of the inflection point due to both decreased signal-to-noise ratio and greater sheath expansion. It is thus recommended to use planar probes with radii much greater than the plasma Debye length when signal-to-noise ratio is poor.     

Development of a scintillation detector for real-time measurement of space proton effective dose

In this study, a scintillation detector was developed to measure the space proton effective dose for astronauts based on the proton effective dose conversion coefficients provided by International Commission on Radiological Protection Report No. 116. In the Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport Code X(version 2.6.0) simulation process, by modulating the depth and solid angle of truncated conical holes in an iron shell from lower-energy protons to higher-energy protons, the energy deposited in the scintillator by isotropic protons was nearly proportional to the corresponding effective dose, with a maximum relative deviation of 13.28% at thirteen energy points in the energy range of 10–400 MeV. Therefore, the detector can monitor proton effective dose indirectly in real time by measuring the deposited energy. We calibrated the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the detector at the cobalt source, tested the response of the detector in the energy range of 30–100 MeV in unidirectional proton field, and validated the simulation with the experimental results.