Non-Maxwellian electron distributions resulting from direct laser acceleration in near-critical plasmas

The irradiation of few-nm-thick targets by a finite-contrast high-intensity short-pulse laser results in a strong pre-expansion of these targets at the arrival time of the main pulse.The targets decompress to near and lower than critical densities with plasmas extending over few micrometers,i.e.multiple wavelengths.The interaction of the main pulse with such a highly localized but inhomogeneous target leads to the generation of a short channel and further self-focusing of the laser beam.Experiments at the Glass Hybrid OPCPA Scaled Test-bed(GHOST)laser system at University of Texas,Austin using such targets measured non-Maxwellian,peaked electron distribution with large bunch charge and high electron density in the laser propagation direction.These results are reproduced in 2D PIC simulations using the EPOCH code,identifying direct laser acceleration(DLA)[1]as the responsible mechanism.This is the first time that DLA has been observed to produce peaked spectra as opposed to broad,Maxwellian spectra observed in earlier experiments[2].This high-density electrons have potential applications as injector beams for a further wakefield acceleration stage as well as for pump-probe applications.

A tabletop, ultrashort pulse photoneutron source driven by electrons from laser wakefield acceleration

Relativistic electron beams driven by laser wakefield acceleration were utilized to produce ultrashort neutron sources.The experiment was carried out on the 38 fs,~0.5 J,800 nm Ti:Sapphire laser in the 10 TW UT 3 laser lab at University of Texas at Austin.The target gas was a high density pulsed gas jet composed of 90%He and 10%N 2.The laser pulse with a peak intensity of 1.5×10^(18) W/cm^(2) interacted with the target to create a cylindrical plasma channel of 60 mm radius(FWHM)and 1.5 mm length(FWHM).Electron beams of~80 pC with the Gaussian energy distribution centered at 37 MeV and a width of 30 MeV(FWHM)were produced via laser wakefield acceleration.Neutron fluences of~2.4×10^(6) per shot with hundreds of ps temporal length were generated through bremsstrahlung and subsequent photoneutron reactions in a 26.6 mm thick tungsten converter.Results were compared with those of simulations using EPOCH and GEANT4,showing agreement in electron spectrum,neutron fluence,neutron angular distribution and conversion rate.

Experiments and simulations of isochorically heated warm dense carbon foam at the Texas Petawatt Laser

An experimental and simulation study of warm dense carbon foams at ambient density(ne∼10^(21) cm^(−3))is presented.This study of isochorically heated foams is motivated by their potential application in carbon-atmosphere white-dwarf envelopes,where there are modeling uncertainties due to the equation of state.The foams are heated on an approximately picosecond time scale with a laser-accelerated proton beam.The cooling and expansion of the heated foams can be modeled with appropriately initialized radiation-hydrodynamics codes;xRAGE code is used in this work.The primary experimental diagnostic is the streaked optical pyrometer,which images a narrow band of radiation from the rear surface of the heated material.Presented are xRAGE modeling results for both solid aluminum targets and carbonized resorcinol-formaldehyde foam targets,showing that the foam appears to cool slowly on the pyrometer because of partial transparency.So that simulations of cooling foam are processed properly,it is necessary to account for finite optical depth in the photosphere calculation,and the methods for performing that calculation are presented in depth.