Spatial and temporal evolution of electromagnetic pulses from solid target irradiated with multi-hundred-terawatt laser pulse inside target chamber

Giant electromagnetic pulses(EMPs) induced by high-power laser irradiating solid targets interfere with various experimental diagnoses and even damage equipment,so unveiling the evolution of EMPs inside the laser chamber is crucial for designing effective EMP shielding.In this work,the transmission characteristics of EMPs as a function of distances from the target chamber center(TCC) are studied using B-dot probes.The mean EMP amplitude generated by picosecond laser-target interaction reaches 561 kV m^(-1),357 kV m^(-1),395 kV m^(-1),and 341 kV m^(-1)at 0.32 m,0.53 m,0.76 m,and 1 m from TCC,which decreases dramatically from 0.32 m to 0.53 m.However,it shows a fluctuation from 0.53 m to 1 m.The temporal features of EMPs indicate that time-domain EMP signals near the target chamber wall have a wider full width at half maximum compared to that close to TCC,mainly due to the echo oscillation of electromagnetic waves inside the target chamber based on simulation and experimentation.The conclusions of this study will provide a new approach to mitigate strong electromagnetic pulses by decreasing the echo oscillation of electromagnetic waves inside the target chamber during laser coupling with targets.

Electromagnetic pulses produced by a picosecond laser interacting with solid targets

A high-power laser ablating solid targets induces giant electromagnetic pulses(EMPs),which are intimately pertinent to laser parameters,such as energy and pulse width.In this study,we reveal the features of EMPs generated from a picosecond(ps)laser irradiating solid targets at the SG-Ⅱpicosecond petawatt(PSPW)laser facility.The laser energy and pulse,as well as target material and thickness,show determinative effects on the EMPs’amplitude.More intense EMPs are detected behind targets compared to those at the other three positions,and the EMP amplitude decreases from 90.09 kV/m to 17.8 kV/m with the gold target thickness increasing from 10μm to 20μm,which is suppressed when the laser pulse width is enlarged.The results are expected to provide more insight into EMPs produced by ps lasers coupling with targets and lay the foundation for an effective EMP shielding design in high-power laser infrastructures.

Generation and regulation of electromagnetic pulses generated by femtosecond lasers interacting with multitargets

Ultrashort and powerful laser interactions with a target generate intense wideband electromagnetic pulses(EMPs).In this study,we report EMPs generated by the interactions between petawatt(30 fs,1.4×10^(20) W/cm^(2))femtosecond(fs)lasers with metal flat,plastic flat,and plastic nanowire-array(NWA)targets.Detailed analyses are conducted on the EMPs in terms of their spatial distribution,time and frequency domains,radiation energy,and protection.The results indicate that EMPs from metal targets exhibit larger amplitudes at varying angles than those generated by other types of targets and are enhanced significantly for NWA targets.Using a plastic target holder and increasing the laser focal spot can significantly decrease the radiation energy of the EMPs.Moreover,the composite shielding materials indicate an effective shielding effect against EMPs.The simulation results show that the NWA targets exert a collimating effect on thermal electrons,which directly affects the distribution of EMPs.This study provides guidance for regulating EMPs by controlling the laser focal spot,target parameters,and target rod material and is beneficial for electromagnetic-shielding design.

Spatial and temporal evolution of electromagnetic pulses generated at Shenguang-Ⅱseries laser facilities

The distribution and sources of EMPs produced at Shenguang-Ⅱ(SG-Ⅱ)series laser facilities are systematically investigated.The results indicate that the EMP amplitudes in the SG-Ⅱps PW laser are very strong,one order higher than those from the SG-Ⅱlaser facility.EMPs outside the target chamber decrease exponentially with the distance from the measuring points to the target chamber center at the two laser facilities.Moreover,EMPs can be remarkably reduced when the picosecond laser together with the nanosecond laser is incident to targets compared to the SG-Ⅱps PW laser alone.The resulting conclusions are expected to offer experimental supports for further effective EMPs shielding design and achievement in high-power laser facilities.

Effect of Electromagnetic Pulse Exposure on Permeability of Blood-testicle Barrier in Mice

Objective To study the effect of electromagnetic pulse （EMP） exposure on the permeability of blood-testicle barrier （BTB） in mice. Methods Adult male BALB/c mice were exposed to EMP at 200 kV/m for 200 pulses with 2 seconds interval. The mice were injected with 2% Evans Blue solution through caudal vein at different time points after exposure, and the permeability of BTB was monitored using a fluorescence microscope. The testis sample for the transmission electron microscopy was prepared at 2 h after EMP exposure. The permeability of BTB in mice was observed by using Evans Blue tracer and lanthanum nitrate tracer. Results After exposure, cloudy Evans Blue was found in the testicle convoluted seminiferous tubule of mice. Lanthanum nitrate was observed not only between testicle spermatogonia near seminiferous tubule wall and sertoli cells, but also between sertoli cells and primary spermatocyte or secondary spermatocyte. In contrast, lanthanum nitrate in control group was only found in the testicle sertoli cells between seminiferous tubule and near seminifdrous tubule wall. Conclusion EMP exposure could increase the permeability of BTB in the mice.

Detrimental Effect of Electromagnetic Pulse Exposure on Permeability of In Vitro Blood-brain-barrier Model

Objective To study the effect of electromagnetic pulse （EMP） exposure on permeability of in vitro blood-brain-barrier （BBB） model. Methods An in vitro BBB model, established by co-culturing brain microvascular endothelial cells （BMVEC） and astroglial cells （AC） isolated from rat brain, was exposed to EMP at 100 kV/m and 400 kV/m, respectively. Permeability of the model was assayed by measuring the transendothelial electrical resistance （TEER） and the horseradish peroxidase （HRP） transmission at different time points. Levels of BBB tight junction-related proteins were measured at O, 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24 h after EMP exposure by Western blotting. Results The TEER level was lower in BBB model group than in control group at 12 h after EMP, exposure which returned to its normal level at 24 h. The 24 h recovery process was triphasic and biphasic respectively after EMP exposure at 100 kV/m and 400 kV/m. Following exposure to 400 kV/m EMP, the HRP permeability increased at 1-12 h and returned to its normal level at 24 h. Western blotting showed that the claudin-5 and ZO-1 protein levels were changed after EMP exposure. Conclusion EMP exposure at 100 kV/m and 400 kV/m can increase the permeability of in vitro BBB model and BBB tight junction-related proteins such as ZO-1 and claudin-5 may change EMP-induced BBB permeability.

Effect of Electromagnetic Pulse Exposure on Brain Micro Vascular Permeability in Rats

Objective To observe the effect of electromagnetic pulse (EMP) exposure on cerebral micro vascular permeability in rats. Methods The whole-body of male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed or sham exposed to 200 pulses or 400 pulses (1 Hz) of EMP at 200 kV/m. At 0.5, 1, 3, 6, and 12 h after EMP exposure, the permeability of cerebral micro vascular was detected by transmission electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry using lanthanum nitrate and endogenous albumin as vascular tracers, respectively. Results The lanthanum nitrate tracer was limited to the micro vascular lumen with no lanthanum nitrate or albumin tracer extravasation in control rat brain. After EMP exposure, the lanthanum nitrate ions reached the tight junction, basal lamina and pericapillary tissue. Similarly, the albumin immunopositive staining was identified in pericapillary tissue. The changes in brain micro vascular permeability were transient, the leakage of micro vascular vessels appeared at 1 h, and reached its peak at 3 h, and nearly recovered at 12 h, after EMP exposure. In addition, the leakage of micro vascular was more obvious after exposure of EMP at 400 pulses than after exposure of EMP at 200 pulses. Conclusion Exposure to 200 and 400 pulses (1 Hz) of EMP at 200 kV/m can increase cerebral micro vascular permeability in rats, which is recoverable.

Low-frequency pulsed electromagnetic field pretreated bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells promote the regeneration of crush-injured rat mental nerve

Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells （BMSCs） have been shown to promote the regeneration of injured peripheral nerves. Pulsed electromagnetic field （PEMF） reportedly promotes the proliferation and neuronal differentiation of BMSCs. Low-frequency PEMF can induce the neuronal differentiation of BMSCs in the absence of nerve growth factors. This study was designed to investigate the effects of low-frequency PEMF pretreatment on the proliferation and function of BMSCs and the effects of low-frequency PEMF pre-treated BMSCs on the regeneration of injured peripheral nerve using in vitro and in vivo experiments.In in vitro experiments, quantitative DNA analysis was performed to determine the proliferation of BMSCs, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was performed to detect S100 （Schwann cell marker）, glial fibrillary acidic protein （astrocyte marker）, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor （neurotrophic factors） mRNA expression. In the in vivo experiments, rat models of crush-injured mental nerve established using clamp method were randomly injected with low-frequency PEMF pretreated BMSCs, unpretreated BMSCs or PBS at the injury site （1 × 106 cells）. DiI-labeled BMSCs injected at the injury site were counted under the fluorescence microscope to determine cell survival. One or two weeks after cell injection, functional recovery of the injured nerve was assessed using the sensory test with von Frey filaments. Two weeks after cell injection, axonal regeneration was evaluated using histomorphometric analysis and retrograde labeling of trigeminal ganglion neurons. In vitro experiment results revealed that low-frequency PEMF pretreated BMSCs proliferated faster and had greater mRNA expression of growth factors than unpretreated BMSCs. In vivo experiment results revealed that compared with injection of unpretreated BMSCs, injection of low-frequency PEMF pretreated BMSCs led to higher myelinated axon count and axon density and more DiI-labeled neurons in the trigeminal ganglia, contributing to rapider functional recovery of injured mental nerve. These findings suggest that low-frequency PEMF pretreatment is a promising approach to enhance the efficacy of cell therapy for peripheral nerve injury repair.

The Effects of High-intensity Pulsed Electromagnetic Field on Proliferation and Differentiation of Neural Stem Cells of Neonatal Rats in vitro

The effects of high-intensity pulsed electromagnetic stimulation （HIPEMS） on proliferation and differentiation of neonatal rat neural stem cells in vitro were investigated. Neural stem cells derived from neonatal rats were exposed to 0.1 Hz, 0.5–10 Tesla （T） [8 groups of B–I, respectively], 5 stimuli of HIPEMF. The sham exposure controls were correspondingly established. Inverted phase contrast microscope was used to observe the cultured cells, MTT assay to detect the viability of the cells as expressed by absorbance （A） value, and flow cytometry to measure differentiation of neural stem cells. The results showed that A values of neural stem cells in both 3.0 T and 4.0 T groups were significantly higher than the other groups 24 to 168 h post HPEMS, indicating a strong promotion of the growth of neural stem cells （P〈0.05）. The A values of neural stem cells in the 6.0 T, 8.0 T, and 10.0 T groups were lower than the sham exposure control group, indicating a restraint of the growth of neural stem cells. The rate of neuron-specific enolase-positive neurons revealed by flow cytometry in HPEMS groups was the same as that in control group （P〉0.05）. It was suggested that 0.1 Hz, 5 pulses stimulation of HPEMS within certain scale of intensity （0.5–10.0 T）, significantly promoted the growth of neural stem cells with the rational intensity being 4.0 T.

Analysis of the damage threshold of the GaAs pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor induced by the electromagnetic pulse

An electromagnetic pulse（EMP）-induced damage model based on the internal damage mechanism of the Ga As pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor（PHEMT） is established in this paper. With this model, the relationships among the damage power, damage energy, pulse width and signal amplitude are investigated. Simulation results show that the pulse width index from the damage power formula obtained here is higher than that from the empirical formula due to the hotspot transferring in the damage process of the device. It is observed that the damage energy is not a constant, which decreases with the signal amplitude increasing, and then changes little when the signal amplitude reaches up to a certain level.

Development of gated fiber detectors for laser-induced strong electromagnetic pulse environments

With the development of laser technologies,nuclear reactions can happen in high-temperature plasma environments induced by lasers and have attracted a lot of attention from different physical disciplines.However,studies on nuclear reactions in plasma are still limited by detecting technologies.This is mainly due to the fact that extremely high electromagnetic pulses(EMPs)can also be induced when high-intensity lasers hit targets to induce plasma,and then cause dysfunction of many types of traditional detectors.Therefore,new particle detecting technologies are highly needed.In this paper,we report a recently developed gated fiber detector which can be used in harsh EMP environments.In this prototype detector,scintillating photons are coupled by fiber and then transferred to a gated photomultiplier tube which is located far away from the EMP source and shielded well.With those measures,the EMPs can be avoided which may result that the device has the capability to identify a single event of nuclear reaction products generated in laser-induced plasma from noise EMP backgrounds.This new type of detector can be widely used as a time-of-flight(TOF)detector in high-intensity laser nuclear physics experiments for detecting neutrons,photons,and other charged particles.

Electromagnetic Pulses Generated From Laser Target Interactions at Shenguang Ⅱ Laser Facility

Significant electromagnetic pulses （EMP） can be generated by the intensive laser irradiating solid targets in inertial confinement fusion （ICF）. To evaluate the EMP intensity and distribution in and outside the laser chamber, we designed and fabricated a discone antenna with ultra-wide bands of over 10 GHz. The return loss （Sn parameter） of this antenna was below -10 dB and could even achieve under -30 dB at 3.1 GHz. The EMP intensity in this study at 80 cm and 40 cm away from the target chamber center （TCC） reached 400 kV/m and 2000 kV/m. The current results are expected to offer preliminary information to study physics regarding laser plasma interactions and will also lay experimental foundation for EMI shielding design to protect various diagnostics.

Effects of Electromagnetic Pulse on Bone Metabolism of Mice in vivo

Objective To study the effects of electromagnetic pulse （EMP） on bone metabolism of mice in vivo. Methods Twenty-four male BALB/c mice were divided into a control group and 2 experimental groups （n=8）. The whole-body of mice in experimental groups were exposed to 50 kV/m and 400kV/m EMP, 400 pulses daily for 7 consecutive days at 2 seconds intervals. Alkaline phosphotase （ALP） activity, serum calcium concentration and osteocalcin level and trabecular bone volume （BV/TV, %） were measured immediately after EMP exposure by biochemical, ELISA and morphological methods. Results The ALP activity, serum calcium concentration and osteocalcin level and BV/TV in experimental groups remained unchanged after EMP exposure. Conelusion Under our experimental conditions, EMP exposure cannot affect bone metabolism of mice in vivo.

Damage effect and mechanism of the GaAs pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor induced by the electromagnetic pulse

The damage effect and mechanism of the electromagnetic pulse （EMP） on the GaAs pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor （PHEMT） are investigated in this paper. By using the device simulation software, the distributions and variations of the electric field, the current density and the temperature are analyzed. The simulation results show that there are three physical effects, i.e., the forward-biased effect of the gate Schottky junction, the avalanche breakdown, and the thermal breakdown of the barrier layer, which influence the device current in the damage process. It is found that the damage position of the device changes with the amplitude of the step voltage pulse. The damage appears under the gate near the drain when the amplitude of the pulse is low, and it also occurs under the gate near the source when the amplitude is sufficiently high, which is consistent with the experimental results.

Analytical solutions of transient pulsed eddy current problem due to elliptical electromagnetic concentrative coils

The electromagnetic concentrative coils are indispensable in the functional magnetic stimulation and have potential applications in nondestructive testing. In this paper, we propose a figure-8-shaped coil being composed of two arbitrary oblique elliptical coils, which can change the electromagnetic concentrative region and the magnitude of eddy current density by changing the elliptical shape and/or spread angle between two elliptical coils. Pulsed current is usually the excitation source in the functional magnetic stimulation, so in this paper we derive the analytical solutions of transient pulsed eddy current field in the time domain due to the elliptical concentrative coil placed in an arbitrary position over a half-infinite plane conductor by making use of the scale-transformation, the Laplace transform and the Fourier transform are used in our derivation. Calculation results of field distributions produced by the figure-8-shaped elliptical coil show some behaviours as follows： 1） the eddy currents are focused on the conductor under the geometric symmetric centre of figure-8-shaped coil; 2） the greater the scale factor of ellipse is, the higher the eddy current density is and the wider the concentrative area of eddy current along y axis is; 3） the maximum magnitude of eddy current density increases with the increase of spread angle. When spread angle is 180°, there are two additional reverse concentrative areas on both sides of x axis.

Gene Expression Changes in the Pituitary Gland of Rats Exposed to Electromagnetic Pulses

Objective We examined alterations in the expression of tumorigenesis‐related genes in the pituitary gland of rats exposed to electromagnetic pulses （EMP）.Methods The global gene expression profiles of the pituitary gland in EMP‐exposed and control groups were detected by cDNA microarray analysis.We then validated and further investigated the reduced expression of two tumorigenesis‐related genes,Pten,and Jund,by assessing their mRNA and protein expression by quantitative real‐time‐PCR,western blotting,and immunohistochemistry in the pituitary gland of rats 6 months after exposure to EMP.Results EMP exposure induced genome‐wide gene expression changes in the rat pituitary gland.There was decreased expression of the Pten and Jund mRNAs and proteins in EMP‐exposed rats compared with in unexposed control animals.Conclusion EMP exposure alters the expression of tumorigenesis‐related genes in the pituitary gland.These tumorigenesis‐related genes are potentially involved in the development of pituitary gland tumors in rats.

Simulation of electromagnetic pulses generated by escaped electrons in a high-power laser chamber

Intensive electromagnetic pulses （EMPs） can be generated when a high-power laser strikes a target. The transient electromagnetic field can have an intensity of up to several hundred kV m- 1 with a broad frequency of up to several gigahertz, which may affect diagnostics and interfere with, or even damage, electronic equipment. In this paper, the process in which hot electrons produced by the laser-target interaction radiate EMPs is studied and simulated. The physical process is divided into three stages which are： the production of hot electrons; the escape of hot electrons; and the generation of EMPs. Instead of using a general finite difference time domain （FDTD） method to solve the Maxwell equations, a particle-in-cell method together with a time- biased FDTD method is applied in EMP simulation to restrain high-frequency noise. The results show that EMPs are stronger with higher laser intensity and larger target size.

Effect of pulsed electromagnetic frequency on the microstructure, wear and solid erosion resistance of CrAlN coatings deposited by arc ion plating

In this work,the chromium aluminum nitride(CrAlN)coatings were prepared on TC11 titanium alloy by composite magnetic field cathodic arc ion plating with controllable pulse electromagnetic combined with permanent magnet.The effects of electromagnetic frequency on the morphology,microstructure,nano-hardness and elastic modulus of the coatings were investigated by scanning electron microscope(SEM),X-ray diffraction(XRD)and nano-indenter.This paper has mainly studied the influence of CrAlN coatings which are prepared at various electromagnetic frequencies on the wear and erosion resistance through a series of wear and solid particle erosion experiments.It was found that the deposition rate of CrAlN coatings increases with the increase of electromagnetic frequency.And CrAlN coatings all preferentially grew along the(111)crystal plane.At 16.7 Hz,with the increase of pulsed electromagnetic frequency,the hardness is the highest(23.6 GPa)and the adhesion is the highest(41.5 N).In addition,the coating deposition exhibited the best wear and solid erosion resistance at 16.7 Hz and 33.3 Hz,the friction coefficient is about 0.35,and the erosion rate is about 0.2μm/g at 30°and less than 1μm/g at 90°,respectively.These results indicate that the CrAlN coating formed at an appropriate pulsed electromagnetic frequency can achieve excellent mechanical properties,wear and solid erosion resistance.

Pulse Electromagnetic Effect on Metal Melts

The aim of the work was the study of the effect of NEMP （nanosecond electromagnetic pulses） on steel properties. Steel treatment was performed under the workshop conditions. The mechanical properties and the microstructure of the experimental samples and samples prepared by usual way were analyzed. The treatment of metal melt with nanosecond electromagnetic pulses at the crystallization stage makes it possible to change mechanical properties of metal and its structure.

Pulsed electromagnetic non-destructive evaluation and applications

This paper introduces recent research work in the field of pulsed electromagnetic non-destructive testing/evaluation.These are pulsed eddy current,pulsed magnetic flux leakage and eddy current pulsed thermography.This paper introduces pulsed electromagnetic techniques and their different case studies on defect detection as well as stress characterisation.Experimental tests have been validated and future research plans are discussed.This paper demonstrates pulsed electromagnetic non-destructive testing and evaluation for not only depth information,but also for multiple parameter measurement and multiple integration,which are important for future development.