Investigations on MoS_(2)plasma by infra-red pulsed laser irradiation in high vacuum

MoS_(2)targets were irradiated by infra-red(IR)pulsed laser in a high vacuum to determine hot plasma parameters,atomic,molecular and ion emission,and angular and charge state distributions.In this way,pulsed laser deposition(PLD)of thin films on graphene oxide substrates was also realized.An Nd:YAG laser,operating at the 1064 nm wavelength with a 5 ns pulse duration and up to a 1 J pulse energy,in a single pulse or at a 10 Hz repetition rate,was employed.Ablation yield was measured as a function of the laser fluence.Plasma was characterized using different analysis techniques,such as time-of-flight measurements,quadrupole mass spectrometry and fast CCD visible imaging.The so-produced films were characterized by composition,thickness,roughness,wetting ability,and morphology.When compared to the MoS_(2)targets,they show a slight decrease of S with respect to Mo,due to higher ablation yield,low fusion temperature and high sublimation in vacuum.The pulsed IR laser deposited Mo Sx(with 1<x<2)films are uniform,with a thickness of about 130 nm,a roughness of about 50 nm and a higher wettability than the MoS_(2)targets.Some potential applications of the pulsed IR laser-deposited Mo Sx films are also presented and discussed.

High-resolution x-ray monochromatic imaging for laser plasma diagnostics based on toroidal crystal

Monochromatic x-ray imaging is an essential method for plasma diagnostics related to density information.Large-field high-resolution monochromatic imaging of a He-like iron(Fe XXV)Kαcharacteristic line(6.701 keV)for laser plasma diagnostics was achieved using a developed toroidal crystal x-ray imager.A high-index crystal orientation Ge(531)wafer with a Bragg angle of 75.37°and the toroidal substrate were selected to obtain sufficient diffraction efficiency and compensate for astigmatism under oblique incidence.A precise offline assembly method of the toroidal crystal imager based on energy substitution was proposed,and a spatial resolution of 3-7μm was obtained by toroidal crystal imaging of a 600 line-pairs/inch Au grid within an object field of view larger than 1.0 mm.The toroidal crystal x-ray imager has been successfully tested via side-on backlight imaging experiments of the sinusoidal modulation target and a 1000 line-pairs/inch Au grid with a linewidth of 5μm using an online alignment method based on dual positioning balls to indicate the target and backlighter.This paper describes the optical design,adjustment method,and experimental results of a toroidal crystal system in a laboratory and laser facility.

Correction of intense laser–plasma interactions by QED vacuum polarization in collision of laser beams

The influence of vacuum polarization effects on the interactions of multiple ultra-intense lasers with plasmas is discussed. The nonlinear paraxial monochromatic model of the interactions has been improved by considering the Heisenberg–Euler Lagrangian density of two laser processes. Comparing the corrections of vacuum polarization effects in the collision of laser beams with one generated by a single intense laser, we find that the former has a higher order of magnitude correction. The laser collision also produces variations in the propagation direction and polarization direction of the lasers propagating in the plasma. In addition, the strong-field quantum electrodynamic(QED) effects can be enhanced by increasing the laser intensity or frequency difference, or by adjusting the incident angles of the two laser beams.

Transmission effects of high energy nanosecond lasers in laser-induced air plasma under different pressures

When a high energy nanosecond(ns)laser induces breakdown in the air,the plasma density generated in the rarefied atmosphere is much smaller than that at normal pressure.It is associated with a relatively lower absorption coefficient and reduces energy loss of the laser beam at low pressure.In this paper,the general transmission characterizations of a Joule level 10 ns 1064 nm focused laser beam are investigated both theoretically and experimentally under different pressures.The evolution of the electron density(n_(e)),the changes in electron temperature(T_(e))and the variation of laser intensity(I)are employed for numerical analyses in the simulation model.For experiments,four optical image transfer systems with focal length(f)of 200 mm are placed in a chamber and employed to focus the laser beam and produce plasmas at the focus.The results suggest that the transmittance increases obviously with the decreasing pressure and the plasma channels on the transmission path can be observed by the self-illumination.The simulation results agree well with the experimental data.The numerical model presents that the maximum n_e at the focus can reach 10^(19)cm^(-3),which is far below the critical density(n_(c)).As a result,the laser beam is not completely shielded by the plasmas.

Efficient ion acceleration driven by a Laguerre–Gaussian laser in near-critical-density plasma

Laser-driven ion accelerators have the advantages of compact size,high density,and short bunch duration over conventional accelerators.Nevertheless,it is still challenging to generate ion beams with quasi-monoenergetic peak and low divergence in experiments with the current ultrahigh intensity laser and thin target technologies.Here we propose a scheme that a Laguerre–Gaussian laser irradiates a near-critical-density(NCD)plasma to generate a quasi-monoenergetic and low-divergence proton beam.The Laguerre–Gaussian laser pulse in an NCD plasma excites a moving longitudinal electrostatic field with a large amplitude,and it maintains the inward bowl-shape for dozens of laser durations.This special distribution of the longitudinal electrostatic field can simultaneously accelerate and converge the protons.Our particle-in-cell(PIC)simulation shows that the efficient proton acceleration can be realized with the Laguerre–Gaussian laser intensity ranging from 3.9×10^(21)W·cm^(-2)–1.6×10^(22)W·cm^(-2)available in the near future,e.g.,a quasi-monoenergetic proton beam with peak energy~115 MeV and divergence angles less than 5°can be generated by a 5.3×10^(21)W·cm^(-2)pulse.This work could provide a reference for the high-quality ion beam generation with PWclass laser systems available recently.

Diagnostics of laser-induced plasma on carbon-based polymer material using atomic and molecular emission spectra

Time-integrated optical emission analysis of laser-induced plasma on Teflon is presented.Plasma was induced under atmospheric pressure air using transversely excited atmospheric CO_(2) laser pulses.Teflon is a C-based polymer that is,among other things,interesting as a substrate for laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy analysis of liquid samples.This study aimed to determine the optimal experimental conditions for obtaining neutral and ionized C spectral lines and C2 and CN molecular band emission suitable for spectrochemical purposes.Evaluation of plasma parameters was done using several spectroscopic techniques.Stark profiles of appropriate C ionic lines were used to determine electron number density.The ratio of the integral intensity of ionic-to-atomic C spectral lines was used to determine the ionization temperature.A spectral emission of C2 Swan and CN violet bands system was used to determine the temperature of the colder,peripheral parts of plasma.We critically analyzed the use of molecular emission bands as a tool for plasma diagnostics and suggested methods for possible improvements.

Intense low-noise terahertz generation by relativistic laser irradiating near-critical-density plasma

Low-noise terahertz(THz)radiation over 100 MV/cm generation by a linearly-polarized relativistic laser pulse interacting with a near-critical-density(NCD)plasma slab is studied by theory and particle-in-cell(PIC)simulations.A theoretical model is established to examine the dipole-like radiation emission.The THz radiation is attributed to the singlecycle low-frequency surface current,which is longitudinally constrained by the quasi-equilibrium established by the laser ponderomotive force and the ponderomotively induced electrostatic force.Through theoretical analysis,the spatiotemporal characteristics,polarization property of the THz radiation,and the relation between the radiation strength with the initial parameters of driving laser and plasma are obtained,which are in good consistence with the PIC simulation results.Furthermore,it is found by PIC simulations that the generation of thermal electrons can be suppressed within the appropriate parameter regime,resulting in a clear THz radiation waveform.The appropriate parameter region is given for generating a low-noise intense THz radiation with peak strength reaching 100 MV/cm,which could find potential applications in nonlinear THz physics.

Time-resolved K-shell x-ray spectra of nanosecond laser-produced titanium tracer in gold plasmas

A study of a nanosecond laser irradiation on the titanium-layer-buried gold planar target is presented. The timeresolved x-ray emission spectra of titanium tracer are measured by a streaked crystal spectrometer. By comparing the simulated spectra obtained by using the FLYCHK code with the measured titanium spectra, the temporal plasma states, i.e.,the electron temperatures and densities, are deduced. To evaluate the feasibility of using the method for the characterization of Au plasma states, the deduced plasma states from the measured titanium spectra are compared with the Multi-1D hydrodynamic simulations of laser-produced Au plasmas. By comparing the measured and simulated results, an overall agreement for the electron temperatures is found, whereas there are deviations in the electron densities. The experiment–theory discrepancy may suggest that the plasma state could not be well reproduced by the Multi-1D hydrodynamic simulation, in which the radial gradient is not taken into account. Further investigations on the spectral characterization and hydrodynamic simulations of the plasma states are needed. All the measured and FLYCHK simulated spectra are given in this paper as datasets. The datasets are openly available at http://www.doi.org/10.57760/sciencedb.j00113.00032.

Influence of the position relationship between gas–liquid interface and laser focus on plasma evolution characteristics in jet LIBS technology

In order to understand the characteristics of breakdown process,plasma evolution and spectral emission in liquid jets laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy methods under the influence of the position variation between laser focus and gas–liquid interface,this work takes the plasma generated by laser-induced liquid jets as the object of study and discusses the changes in the spatial and temporal evolution characteristics and spectral radiation of the plasma when the position parameters between the laser focal point and the gas–liquid interface are different.The initial breakdown position is always between the front interface and the focus when the laser focus moves along the vertical direction of the interface,forming a phenomenon like’interface effect’.The relationship between laser pulse energy and breakdown probability exhibits a law similar to a‘hysteresis curve’in the study of breakdown threshold.In this work,plasma with smaller size,rounder shape,stronger radiation,higher temperature,and higher density can be produced when the focus position is in the liquid column 0.2 mm away from the front interface.Simultaneously,the spectral signal intensity and signal-to-back ratio of the characteristic peaks of target elements in water reach maximum values,and the spectral signal becomes more stable(relative standard deviation value reaches 2%).The Ca element’s ion radiation at 393.366 nm and atomic radiation at 422.673 nm are studied using narrow-band filtering imaging and time-space resolution spectroscopy.The findings demonstrate that the laws of ion and atomic radiation are not perfectly consistent in space and time.

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.

Tamping the movement of the laser absorption cutoff position using gold foam hohlraum

In indirect-driven laser fusion experiments,the movement of the laser absorption layer will distort the radiation uniformity on the capsule.The gold foam has advantages in symmetry control and lowering wall plasma blowoff when used in an inertial confinement fusion(ICF)hohlraum.This work investigates the motion of the laser absorption cutoff position using lowdensity foam gold walls.It is found that the motion of the laser absorption cutoff position can be significantly mitigated through optimal initial low density,tailored to a specific laser shape.For a short square laser pulse,the laser absorption cutoff position remains almost stationary at an initial density of approximately 0.6 g cm^(-3).For a long-shaped laser pulse,the minimal motion of the laser absorption cutoff position is observed at an initial density of about 0.1 g cm^(-3).This approach allows for the adjustment of the symmetry of the hohlraum radiation source.The insights gained from this study serve as a crucial reference for optimizing the hohlraum wall density.

Model of self-generated magnetic field generation from relativistic laser interaction with solid targets

Generation of self-generated annular magnetic fields at the rear side of a solid target driven by relativistic laser pulse is investigated by using theoretical analysis and particle-in-cell simulations.The spatial strength distribution of magnetic fields can be accurately predicted by calculating the net flow caused by the superposition of source flow and return flow of hot electrons.The theoretical model established shows good agreement with the simulation results,indicating that the magnetic-field strength scales positively to the temperature of hot electrons.This provides us a way to improve the magnetic-field generation by using a micro-structured plasma grating in front of the solid target.Compared with that for a common flat target,hot electrons can be effectively heated with the well-designed grating size,leading to a stronger magnetic field.The spatial distribution of magnetic fields can be modulated by optimizing the grating period and height as well as the incident angle of the laser pulse.

Divergence angle consideration in energy spread measurement for high-quality relativistic electron beam in laser wakefield acceleration

The thorough exploration of the transverse quality represented by divergence angle has been lacking yet in the energy spread measurement of the relativistic electron beam for laser wakefield acceleration(LWFA). In this work, we fill this gap by numerical simulations based on the experimental data, which indicate that in a C-shape magnet, magnetic field possesses the beam focusing effect, considering that the divergence angle will result in an increase in the full width at half maxima(FWHM) of the electron density distribution in a uniformly isotropic manner, while the length-to-width ratio decreases. This indicates that the energy spread obtained from the electron deflection distance is smaller than the actual value, regardless of the divergence angle. A promising and efficient way to accurately correct the value is presented by considering the divergence angle(for instance, for an electron beam with a length-to-width ratio of 1.12, the energy spread correct from 1.2% to 1.5%), providing a reference for developing the high-quality electron beam source.

Effect of Laser Remelting on the Microstructure and Corrosion Resistance of Plasma Sprayed Fe-based Coating

Fe-based amorphous and nanocrystalline coatings were fabricated by air plasma spraying. The coatings were further treated by laser remelting process to improve their microstructure and properties. The corrosion resistance of the as-sprayed and laser-remelted coatings in 3.5wt% NaC1 and 1 mol/L HCI solutions was evaluated by electrochemical polarization analysis. It was found that laser-remelted coating appeared much denser than the as-sprayed coating. However, laser-remelted coating contains much more nanocrystalline grains than the as-sprayed coatings, resulting from the lower cooling rate in laser remelting process compared with plasma spraying process. Electrochemical polarization results indicated that the laser-remelted coating has great corrosion resistance than the as-sprayed coating because of its dense structure.

Study of Dynamic Features of Surface Plasma in High-Power Disk Laser Welding

High-speed photography was used to obtain the dynamic changes in the surface plasma during a high-power disk laser welding process. A color space clustering algorithm to extract the edge information of the surface plasma region was developed in order to improve the accuracy of image processing. With a comparative analysis of the plasma features, i.e., area and height, and the characteristics of the welded seam, the relationship between the surface plasma and the stability of the laser welding process was characterized, which provides a basic understanding for the real-time monitoring of laser welding.

Reactions of Laser Ablation-magnesium Plasma with Methanol Clusters

The laser ablation-molecular beam（LA-MB） method is useful for studying the reactions of metal ions with molecular clusters. Reactions of magnesium plasma with methanol clusters were studied by using this method. A specially designed reaction cell was used as a fast flow reactor operated under thermal conditions, and the reaction products were measured with a time-of-flight（TOF） mass spectrometer. Surprisingly, several series of cluster ions with complex sizes and intensity distributions were obtained when the laser ablating was applied to different parts of the molecular beam. In the front part of the molecular beam, strong Mg^＋ （CH3OH）n（ n = 0-5） and weak H^＋ （CH3OH）n（ n = 0-5 ） cluster ions were observed with relatively small cluster sizes ; in the middle part of the molecular beam, the main cluster ions were H^＋ （ CH3OH）n （ n = 6-17 ） and H^＋（ H2O） 2 （ CH3OH）n（ n = 6-17 ） with a relatively large cluster size and a weak intensity; in the back part of the molecular beam, two new series of cluster ions, MgO^＋ （ H2O） （ CH3 OH）n（ n = 6-10 ） and MgOCH3^＋ （ CH3OH）n（ n = 6-10）, were obtained and accompanied by weak H^＋（CH3OH）n（n = 4-7） and H^＋（ H2O）2 （CH3OH）n（ n = 3-6）. The formation mechanisms and speed characteristics of the cluster ions are discussed in this article.

Theoretical analysis and numerical simulation of the impulse delivering from laser-produced plasma to solid target

A plasma is produced in air by using a high-intensity Q-switch Nd：YAG pulsed laser to irradiate a solid target, and the impulses delivering from the plasma to the target are measured at different laser power densities. Analysing the formation process of laser plasma and the laser supported detonation wave （LSDW） and using fluid mechanics theory and Pirri＇s methods, an approximately theoretical solution of the impulse delivering from the plasma to the target under our experimental condition is found. Furthermore, according to the formation time of plasma and the variation of pressure in plasma in a non-equilibrium state, a physical model of the interaction between the pulse laser and the solid target is developed. The plasma evolutions with time during and after the laser pulse irradiating the target are simulated numerically by using a three-dimensional difference scheme. And the numerical solutions of the impulse delivering from the plasma to the target are obtained. A comparison among the theoretical, numerical and experimental results and their analyses are performed. The experimental results are explained reasonably. The consistency between numerical results and experimental results implies that the numerical calculation model used in this paper can well describe the mechanical action of the laser on the target.

2D hydrodynamic simulation of a line-focused plasma in Ni-like Ag x-ray laser research

In most collisional schemes of x-ray laser （XRL） experiments, a bow-like intensity distribution of XRL is often observed, and it is generally ascribed to the two-dimensional hydrodynamic behaviour of expanding plasma. In order to better understand its essence in physics, a newly developed two-dimensional non-equilibrium radiation hydrodynamic code XRL2D is used to simulate a quasi-steady state Ni-like Ag XRL experiment on ShenGuang-Ⅱfacility. The simulation results show that the bow-like distribution of Ni-like ions caused by over-ionization in the central area of plasma is responsible for the bow-like shape of the XRL intensity distribution observed.

Generation and characterization of millimeter-scale plasmas for the research of laser plasma interactions on Shenguang-Ⅲ prototype

In order to produce millimeter-scale plasmas for the research of laser-plasma interactions （LPIs）, gasbag target is designed and tested on Shenguang-III prototype laser facility. The x-ray pinhole images show that millimeter-scale plasmas are produced with the gasbag. The electron temperature inferred from the stimulated Raman scattering （SRS） spectrum is about 1.6 keV. The SRS spectrum also indicates that the electron density has a fiat region within the duration of 200 ps. The obvious differences between the results of the gasbag and that of the void half hohlraum show the feasibility of the gasbag target in creating millimeter-scale plasmas. The LPIs in these millimeter-scale plasmas may partially mimic those in the ignition condition because the duration of the existence of a flat plasma density is much larger than the growth time of the two main instabilities, i.e., SRS and stimulated Brillouin scattering （SBS）. So we make the conclusion that the gasbag target can be used to research the large-scale LPIs.

Research on laser weld penetration monitoring with laser induced plasma signals

In this paper, laser induced plasma signals were analyzed during keyhole welding through three methods. According to the results, the relativity between optical and acoustic signals of plasma is shown when welds are in full-penetration, or partial-penetration and non-penetration.