Optimization of hole-boring radiation pressure acceleration of ion beams for fusion ignition

In contrast to ion beams produced by conventional accelerators,ion beams accelerated by ultrashort intense laser pulses have advantages of ultrashort bunch duration and ultrahigh density,which are achieved in compact size.However,it is still challenging to simultaneously enhance their quality and yield for practical applications such as fast ion ignition of inertial confinement fusion.Compared with other mechanisms of laser-driven ion acceleration,the hole-boring radiation pressure acceleration has a special advantage in generating high-fluence ion beams suitable for the creation of high energy density state of matters.In this paper,we present a review on some theoretical and numerical studies of the hole-boring radiation pressure acceleration.First we discuss the typical field structure associated with this mechanism,its intrinsic feature of oscillations,and the underling physics.Then we will review some recently proposed schemes to enhance the beam quality and the efficiency in the hole-boring radiation pressure acceleration,such as matching laser intensity profile with target density profile,and using two-ion-species targets.Based on this,we propose an integrated scheme for efficient high-quality hole-boring radiation pressure acceleration,in which the longitudinal density profile of a composite target as well as the laser transverse intensity profile are tailored according to the matching condition.

Generation of high quality ion beams through the stable radiation pressure acceleration of the near critical density target

In order to generate high quality ion beams through the stable radiation pressure acceleration（RPA） of the near critical density（NCD） target, we propose a new type of target where an ultra-thin high density（HD） layer is attached to the front surface of an NCD target, which has a preferable self-supporting property in the RPA experiments than the ultra-thin foil target. It is found that in one-dimensional particle-in-cell（PIC） simulation, by the block of the HD layer in the new target,there emerges the hole-boring process rather than propagation in the NCD layer when the intense laser pulse impinges on this target. As a result, a typical RPA structure that the compressed electron layer overlaps the ion layer as a whole is formed and a high quality ion beam is obtained, e.g., a circularly polarized laser pulse with normalized amplitude a0= 120 impinges on this new target and a 1.2 GeV monoenergetic ion beam is generated through the RPA of the NCD layer. Similar results are also found in the two-dimensional PIC simulation.

Laser radiation pressure proton acceleration in gaseous target

An analytical model for hole boring proton acceleration by a circularly-polarized CO_(2) laser pulse in a gas jet is developed.The plasma density profile near the density peak is taken to be rectangular,with inner region thickness l around a laser wavelength and density 10%above the critical,while the outside density is 10%below the critical.On the rear side,plasma density falls off rapidly to a small value.The laser suffers strong reflection from the central region and,at normalized amplitude a _(0)≥1,creates a double layer.The space charge field of the double layer,moving with velocity v_(f)z,reflects up-stream protons to 2v_(f) velocity,incurring momentum loss at a rate comparable to radiation pressure.Reflection occurs for v_(f)≤ω_(p)√z_(f)lm/m_(p),where m and m_(p) are the electron and proton masses,z_(f) is the distance traveled by the compressed electron layer and u p is the plasma frequency.For Gaussian temporal profile of the laser and parabolic density profile of the upstream plasma,the proton energy distribution is narrowly peaked.

Acceleration of Protons from a Double-Layer or Multi-Ion-Mixed Foil Irradiated by Ultraintense Lasers

Acceleration of protons by the radiation pressure of a circularly polarized laser pulse with the intensity up to 1021 W/cm^2 from a double-layer or multi-ion-mixed thin foil is investigated by two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. The double-layer foil is composed of a heavy ion layer and a proton layer. It is found that the radiation pressure acceleration can be classified into three regimes according to the laser intensity due to the different critical intensities for laser transparency with different ion species. When the laser intensity is moderately high, the laser pushes the electrons neither so slowly nor so quickly that the protons can catch up with the electrons, while the heavy ions cannot. Therefore, the protons can be accelerated efficiently. The proton beam generated from the double-layer foil is of better quality and higher energy than that from a pure proton foil with the same areal electron density. When the laser intensity is relatively low, both the protons and heavy ions are accelerated together, which is not favorable to the proton acceleration. When the laser intensity is relatively high, neither the heavy ions nor the protons can be accelerated efficiently due to the laser transparency through the target.

Influence of Compaction Pressure on the Accelerated Carbonation of Calcium Hydroxide

Mineral carbonation using waste cement is a promising method to solve the problems caused by CO_2 emission and waste cement. Compaction pressure is an important parameter for mineral carbonation of calcium hydroxide, one of the most dominant composite of waste cement that can be carbonated. The carbonation degree, morphology of products and compressive strength of carbonated compacts are influenced by compaction pressure significantly. Results show that the carbonation degree of calcium hydroxide increases at first（0-8 MPa） and then decreases in the higher compaction pressure range（10-14 MPa）. At the meantime, results also indicate that lower compaction pressure accelerates the early carbonation but hinder carbonation in the later stages. For the morphologies of carbonation products, calcium carbonate tends to form typical crystal morphology of calcite（rhombohedral） under lower compaction pressure, while it will become ellipsoidlike when compaction pressure reaches 8 MPa. TGA and water content results show that there is an optimal water content for the carbonation. In addition, lower water content is adverse to the carbonation at later stage and the CO_2 is difficult to penetrate into the inside of compacts when water content is high, which will hinder the carbonation. XRD and TGA results show that the carbonation products are calcite and small amount of amorphous calcium carbonate.

Impact Analysis of Solar Irradiance Change on Precision Orbit Determination of Navigation Satellites

Solar radiation pressure is the main driving force and error source for precision orbit determination of navigation satellites.It is proportional to the solar irradiance,which is the"sun constant".In regular calculation,the"solar constant"is regard as a constant.However,due to the existence of sunspots,flares,etc.,the solar constant is not fixed,the change in the year is about 1%.To investigate the variation of solar irradiance,we use interpolation and average segment modeling of total solar irradiance data of SORCE,establishing variance solar radiation pressure(VARSRP)model and average solar radiation pressure(AVESRP)model based on the built solar pressure model(SRPM)(constant model).According to observation data of global positioning system(GPS)and Beidou system(BDS)in 2015 and comparing the solar pressure acceleration of VARSRP,AVESRP and SRPM,the magnitude of change can reach 10-10 m/s^2.In addition,according to the satellite precise orbit determination,for GPS satellites,the results of VARSRP and AVESRP are slightly smaller than those of the SRPM model,and the improvement is between 0.1 to 0.5 mm.For geosynchronous orbit(GEO)satellites of BDS,The AVESRP and VARSRP have an improvement of 3.5 mm and 4.0 mm,respectively,based on overlapping arc,and SLR check results show the AVESRP model and the VARSRP model is improved by 2.3 mm and 3.5 mm,respectively.Moreover,the change of inclined geosynchronous orbit(IGSO)satellites and medium earth orbit(MEO)satellites is relatively small,and the improvement is smaller than 0.5 mm.

Suppression of multiple ion bunches and generation of monoenergetic ion beams in laser foil-plasma

In one-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, this paper shows that the formation of multiple ion bunches is disadvantageous to the generation of monoenergetic ion beams and can be suppressed by choosing an optimum target thickness in the radiation pressure acceleration mechanism by a circularly polarised laser pulse. As the laser pulse becomes intense, the optimum target thickness obtained by a non-relativistic treatment is no longer adequate. Considering the relativistic Doppler-shifted pressure, it proposes a relativistic formulation to determine the optimum target thickness. The theoretical predictions agree with the simulation results well. The model is also valid for two-dimensional cases. The accelerated ion beams can be compelled to be more stable by choosing the optimum target thickness when they exhibit some unstable behaviours.

Effects of Ions Charge-Mass Ratio on Energy and Energy Spread of Accelerated Ions in Laser Driven Plasma

Effects of ions charge-mass ratio on energy and energy spread of accelerated ions in laser driven plasma are investigated in detail by proposing a simple double-layer model for a foil target driven by an ultrastrong laser. The radiation pressure acceleration mechanism plays an important role on the studied problem. For the ions near the plasma mirror, i.e. electrons layer, the dependence of ions energy on their charge-mass ratio is derived theoretically. It is found that the larger the charge-mass ratio is, the higher the accelerated ions energy gets. For those ions far away from the layer, the dependence of energy and energy spread on ions charge-mass ratio are also obtained by numerical performance. It exhibits that, as ions charge-mass ratio increases, not only the accelerated ions energy but also the energy spread will become large.