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.

Recent progress of laboratory astrophysics with intense lasers

Thanks to a rapid progress of high-power lasers since the birth of laser by T.H.Maiman in 1960,intense lasers have been developed mainly for studying the scientific feasibility of laser fusion.Inertial confinement fusion with an intense laser has attracted attention as a new future energy source after two oil crises in the 1970s and 1980s.From the beginning,the most challenging physics is known to be the hydrodynamic instability to realize the spherical implosion to achieve more than 1000 times the solid density.Many studies have been performed theoretically and experimentally on the hydrodynamic instability and resultant turbulent mixing of compressible fluids.During such activities in the laboratory,the explosion of supernova SN1987A was observed in the sky on 23 February 1987.The X-ray satellites have revealed that the hydrodynamic instability is a key issue to understand the physics of supernova explosion.After collaboration between laser plasma researchers and astrophysicists,the laboratory astrophysics with intense lasers was proposed and promoted around the end of the 1990s.The original subject was mainly related to hydrodynamic instabilities.However,after two decades of laboratory astrophysics research,we can now find a diversity of research topics.It has been demonstrated theoretically and experimentally that a variety of nonlinear physics of collisionless plasmas can be studied in laser ablation plasmas in the last decade.In the present paper,we shed light on the recent 10 topics studied intensively in laboratory experiments.A brief review is given by citing recent papers.Then,modeling cosmic-ray acceleration with lasers is reviewed in a following session as a special topic to be the future main topic in laboratory astrophysics research.

Elliptically polarized high-order harmonic generation of Ar atom in an intense laser field

High-order harmonic generation(HHG) of Ar atom in an elliptically polarized intense laser field is experimentally investigated in this work.Interestingly,the anomalous ellipticity dependence on the laser ellipticity(ε) in the lower-order harmonics is observed,specifically in the 13rd-order,which displays a maximal harmonic intensity at ε ≈ 0.1,rather than at ε = 0 as expected.This contradicts the general trend of harmonic yield,which typically decreases with the increase of laser ellipticity.In this study,we attribute this phenomenon to the disruption of the symmetry of the wave function by the Coulomb effect,leading to the generation of a harmonic with high ellipticity.This finding provides valuable insights into the behavior of elliptically polarized harmonics and opens up a potential way for exploring new applications in ultrafast spectroscopy and light–matter interactions.

Neutral Dissociation of Superexcited Nitric Oxide Induced by Intense Laser Fields

Superexcited states of NO molecule and their neutral dissociation processes have been studied both experimentally and theoretically. Neutral excited N^＊ and O^＊ atoms are detected by fluorescence spectroscopy for the NO molecule upon interaction with 800 nm intense laser radiation of duration 60 fs and intensity 0.2 PW/cm^2. Intense laser pulse causes neutral dissociation of superexcited NO molecule by way of multiphoton excitation, which is equivalent to single photon excitation in the extreme-ultraviolet region by synchrotron radiation. Potential energy curves （PECs） are also built using the calculated superexcited state of NO^＋. In light of the PECs, direct dissociation and pre-dissociation mechanisms are proposed respectively for the neutral dissociation leading to excited fragments N^＊ and O^＊.

Theoretical study of the influence of intense femtosecond laser field on the evolution of the wave packet and the population of NaRb molecule

Employing the two-state model and the time-dependent wave packet method, we have investigated the influences of the parameters of the intense femtosecond laser field on the evolution of the wave packet, as well as the population of ground and double-minimum electronic states of the NaRb molecule. For the different laser wavelengths, the evolution of the wave packet of 6{ }^1／Sigma ^ ＋ state with time and internuclear distance is different, and the different laser intensity brings different influences on the population of the electronic states of the NaRb molecule. One can control the evolutions of wave packet and the population in each state by varying the laser parameters appropriately, which will be a benefit for the light manipulation of atomic and molecular processes.

The dissociation pathways of N_2^+ in intense femtosecond laser fields

Using a neutral N2 beam as target, this paper studies the dissociation of N2^＋ in intense femtosecond laser fields （45 fs, ～ 1 × 10^16 W/cm^2） at the laser wavelength of 800 nm based on the time-of-flight mass spectra of N＋ fragment ions. The angular distributions of N^＋ and the laser power dependence of N^＋ yielded from different dissociation pathways show that the dissociation mechanisms mainly proceed through the couplings between the metastable states （A, B and C） and the upper excited states of N^＋.A coupling model of light-dressed potential energy curves of N2^＋ is used to interpret the kinetic energy release of N^＋.

High-energy-density electron beam generation in ultra intense laser-plasma interaction

By using a two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation,we demonstrate a scheme for highenergy-density electron beam generation by irradiating an ultra intense laser pulse onto an aluminum（Al） target.With the laser having a peak intensity of 4×10^23W cm^-2,a high quality electron beam with a maximum density of 117 nc and a kinetic energy density up to8.79×10^18J m^-3 is generated.The temperature of the electron beam can be 416 Me V,and the beam divergence is only 7.25°.As the laser peak intensity increases（e.g.,1024 W cm^-2）,both the beam energy density（3.56×10^19J m^-3） and the temperature（545 Me V） are increased,and the beam collimation is well controlled.The maximum density of the electron beam can even reach 180 nc.Such beams should have potential applications in the areas of antiparticle generation,laboratory astrophysics,etc.

Observation of the optical X2Σg+–A2Πu coupling in N2+ lasing induced by intense laser field

We propose a simple pump-coupling-seed scheme to examine the optical X^2Σg^+–A^2Πu coupling in N2^+ lasing. We produce the N2^+ lasing at 391 nm, corresponding to the B^2Σu^+(v = 0)–X^2Σg+(v = 0) transition, by externally seeding the N^2+ gain medium prepared by irradiation of N2 with an intense pump pulse. We then adopt a weak coupling pulse in between the pump and seed pulses, and show that the intensity of the 391-nm lasing can be efficiently modulated by varying the polarization direction of the coupling pulse with respect to that of the pump pulse. It is found that when the polarization directions of the pump and coupling pulses are perpendicular, the 391-nm lasing intensity is more sensitive to the coupling laser energy, which reflects the inherent nature of the perpendicular X^2+Σg^–A^2Πu transition.

Nuclear fusion from Coulomb explosions of deuterated methane clusters subjected to ultraintense femtosecond laser pulses

This paper reports that Coulomb explosions taken place in the experiment of heteronuclear deuterated methane clusters （（CD4）n） in a gas jet subjected to intense femtoseeond laser pulses （170 mJ, 70 fs） have led to table-top laser driven DD nuclear fusion. The clusters produced in supersonic expansion had an average size of about 5 nm in radius and the laser intensity used was 3 × 10^17 W/cm^2.The measured maximum and average energies of deuterons produced in the laser-cluster interaction were 60 and 13.5 keV, respectively. Prom DD collisions of energetic deuterons, a yield of 2.5（±0.4） × 10^4 fusion neutrons of 2.45 MeV per shot was realized, giving rise to a neutron production efficiency of about 1.5 × 10^5 per joule of incident laser pulse energy. Theoretical calculations were performed and a fairly good agreement of the calculated neutron yield with that obtained from the present experiment was found.

Multiphoton and tunneling ionization of atoms in an intense laser field

We study the ionization probabilities of atoms by a short laser pulse with three different theoretical methods, i.e., the numerical solution of the time-dependent SchrSdinger equation （TDSE）, the Perelomov-Popov Terent＇ev （PPT） theory, and the Ammosov-Delone-Krainov （ADK） theory. Our results show that laser intensity dependent ionization probabilities of several atoms （i.e., H, He, and Ne） obtained from the PPT theory accord quite well with the TDSE results both in the multiphoton and tunneling ionization regimes, while the ADK results fit well to the TDSE data only in the tunneling ionization regime. Our calculations also show that laser intensity dependent ionization probabilities of a H atom at three different laser wavelengths of 600 nm, 800 nm, and 1200 nm obtained from the PPT theory are also in good agreement with those from the TDSE, while the ADK theory fails to give the wavelength dependence of ionization probability. Only when the laser wavelength is long enough, will the results of ADK be close to those of TDSE.

Study on the interaction of intense femtosecond laser pulses with nanometre-sized hydrogen clusters

The interaction of intense femtosecond laser pulses with hydrogen clusters has been experimentally studied. The hydrogen clusters were produced from expansion of high-pressure hydrogen gas （backed up to 8×10^6Pa） into vacuum through a conical nozzle cryogenically cooled by liquid nitrogen. The average size of hydrogen clusters was estimated by Rayleigh scattering measurement and the maximum proton energy of up to 4.2keV has been obtained from the Coulomb explosion of hydrogen clusters under 2 × 10^16W/cm^2 laser irradiation. Dependence of the maximum proton energy on cluster size and laser intensity was investigated, indicating the correlation between the laser intensity and the cluster size. The maximum proton energy is found to be directly proportional to the laser intensity, which is consistent with the theoretical prediction.

Quantum Path Selection and Isolated-Attosecond-Pulse Generation of H2+ with an Intense Laser Pulse and a Static Field

We theoretically investigate the high-order-harmonic generation from the H2^＋ molecular ion exposed to the combi- nation of an intense trapezoidal laser and a static field. The results show that the harmonic spectrum is obviously extended and the short quantum path is selected to contribute to the spectrum, because the corresponding long path is seriously suppressed. Then the combined Coulomb and laser field potentials and the time-dependent electron wave packet distributions are applied to illustrate the physical mechanism of high-order harmonic gen- eration. Finally, by adjusting the intensity of the static field and superposing a properly selected range of the HHG spectrum, a 90-as isolated attosecond pulse is straightforwardly obtained.

Tuning the velocity and flux of a low-velocity intense source of cold atomic beam

We investigate experimentally and numerically the quantitative dependence of characteristics of a low-velocity intensity source（LVIS） of atomic beam on light parameters, especially the polarization of cooling laser along the atomic beam axis（pushing beam）. By changing the polarization of the pushing beam, the longitudinal mean velocity of a rubidium atomic beam can be tuned continuously from 10 to 20 m/s and the flux can range from 3 × 10^-8 to 1 × 10^-9 atoms/s, corresponding to the maximum sensitivity of the velocity with respect to the polarization angle of 20（m/s）/rad and the mean sensitivity of flux of 1.2 × 10^-9（atoms/s）/rad. The mechanism is explained with a Monte-Carlo based numerical simulation method, which shows a qualitative agreement with the experimental result. This is also a demonstration of a method enabling the fast and continuous modulation of a low-velocity intense source of cold atomic beam on the velocity or flux,which can be used in many fields, like the development of a cold atomic beam interferometer and atom lithography.

Double Ionization Dynamics of Molecular Hydrogen in Ultrashort Intense Laser Fields

We experimentally investigate the double ionization pulses. The total kinetic energy release of the two of molecular hydrogen subjected to ultrashort intense laser coincident H＋ ions, which provides a diagnosis of different processes to double ionization of H2, is measured for two different pulse durations, i.e., 25 and 5 fs, and various laser intensities. It is found that, for the long pulse duration （i.e., 25 fs）, the double ionization occurs mainly via two processes, i.e., the charge resonance enhanced ionization and recollision-induced double ionization. Moreover, the contributions from these two processes can be significantly modulated by changing the laser intensity. In contrast, for a few-cycle pulse of 5 fs, only the recollsion-induced double ionization survives, and in particular, this process could be solely induced by the first-return reeollision at appropriate laser intensities, providing an efficient way to probe the sub-laser-cycle molecular dynamics.

Stimulated Emission of Gamma Photon from Ultrashort Pulse Intense Laser—Solid—Target Interaction

The efficient production of energetic γ photons is a significant physical process in the relativistic ultrashortpulse laser-plasma inducing photonuclear action. Based on the interaction of laser-solid-target, an analytical theory onstimulated γ photon emission from a hot electron firing the target-nucleus is developed by a relativistic full quantummethod. The emitting power or probability of γ photon in arbitrary space direction can be calculated for laser irradiatingsolid-target normally. It is valid only if the scatter-centre is immovable or its motion can be neglected compared withthat of the scattered electrons.

Coulomb expansion of deuterated methane clusters irradiated by an ultrashort intense laser pulse

The simulations of three-dimensional particle dynamics show that when irradiated by an ultrashort intense laser pulse, the deuterated methane cluster expands and the majority of deuterons overrun the more slowly expanding carbon ions, resulting in the creation of two separated subelusters. The enhanced deuteron kinetic energy and a narrow peak around the energy maximum in the deuteron energy distribution make a considerable contribution to the efficiency of nuclear fusion compared with the ease of homonuelear deuterium clusters. With the intense laser irradiation, the nuclear fusion yield increases with the increase of the cluster size, so that deuterated heteronuelear clusters with larger sizes are required to achieve a greater neutron yield.

Measuring gravitational effect of superintense laser by spin-squeezed Bose-Einstein condensates interferometer

We consider an extremely intense laser,enclosed by an atom interferometer.The gravitational potential generated from the high-intensity laser is solved from the Einstein field equation under the Newtonian limit.We compute the strength of the gravitational force and study the feasibility of measuring the force by the atom interferometer.The intense laser field from the laser pulse can induce a phase change in the interferometer with Bose-Einstein condensates.We push up the sensitivity limit of the interferometer with Bose-Einstein condensates by spin-squeezing effect and determine the sensitivity gap for measuring the gravitational effect from intense laser by atom interferometer.

Gravitational Perturbation of Hydrogen Spectrum in the Space Curved by Intense Laser Pulses

The energy level shifts of hydrogen in the space curved by the intense short laser pulses are studied. It shows that for present power level of laser pulses, the magnitude of the energy level shifts in a highly excited hydrogen atom is detectable.

Modulation of ionization on laser frequency in ultra-short pulse intense laser-gas-target

Based on the dispersion relation of intense laser pulse propagating in gradually ionized plasma, this paper discusses the frequency modulation induced by ionization of an ultra-short intense laser pulse interacting with a gas target. The relationship between the frequency modulation and the ionization rate, the plasmas frequency variation, and the polarization of atoms （ions） is analysed. The numerical results indicate that, at high frequency, the polarization of atoms （ions） plays a more important role than plasma frequency variation in modulating the laser frequency, and the laser frequency variation is different at different positions of the laser pulse.

Dynamics simulation on the interaction of intense laser pulses with atomic clusters

Under classical particle dynamics, the interaction process between intense femtosecond laser pulses and icosahedral noble-gas atomic clusters was studied. Our calculated results show that ionization proceeds mainly through tunnel ionization in the combined field from ions, electrons and laser, rather than the electron-impact ionization. With increasing cluster size, the average and maximum kinetic energy of the product ion increases. According to our calculation, the expansion process of the clusters after laser irradiation is dominated by Coulomb explosion and the expansion scale increases with increasing cluster size. The dependence of average kinetic energy and average charge state of the product ions on laser wavelength is also presented and discussed. The dependence of average kinetic energy on the number of atoms inside the cluster was studied and compared with the experimental data. Our results agree with the experimental results reasonably well.