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.

Photoacoustic Imaging with a Line-Focus Laser Beam for Rapid Inspection and Tomographic Characterization of Simulated Surface and Undersurface Defects

A photoacoustic (PA) imaging apparatus using a laser line-focus beam (LFB) was designed to perform rapid inspection and photoacoustic tomographic (PAT) imaging of surface and undersurface defects. 2D-PAT imaging of surface and undersurface defects was demonstrated based on a formulation similar to the X-ray tomography. The obtained PAT images represented forward-projected PA signals collected along the LFB. The reconstructed images were in close agreement with those obtained from laser point-focus beam (PFB) PA imaging. We achieved rapid non-destructive inspection of a surface-simulated defect using a LFB. The reconstructed PA image of the undersurface defect was consistent with that obtained by a plane-thermal wave diffraction model.

Comprehensive Review of Line-Focus Concentrating Solar Thermal Technologies: Parabolic Trough Collector (PTC) vs Linear Fresnel Reflector (LFR)

In the present review,parabolic trough collector(PTC)and linear Fresnel reflector(LFR)are comprehensively and comparatively reviewed in terms of historical background,technological features,recent advancement,economic analysis and application areas.It is found that although PTC and LFR are both classified as mainstream line-focus concentrating solar thermal(CST)technologies,they are now standing at different stages of development and facing their individual opportunities and challenges.For PTC,the development is commercially mature with steady and reliable performance;therefore,extension of application is the main future demand.For LFR,the development is still in rapid progress to commercial maturity,yet indicating very promising potentials with high flexibility in novel designs and remarkable reduction in capital and operational costs.The question,which has to be answered in order to estimate the future perspectives of these two line-focus CST technologies,becomes which of these characteristics carries more weight or how to reach an optimal trade-off between them.

SELF-FOCUSING FILAMENTATION AND PLASMA JET-LIKE STRUCTURE IN LINE-FOCUSED LASER-PRODUCED PLASMA

In the experiments on line-focused laser irradiating planar and cylindrical targets,we have observed, for the first time, a line-focused laser breakup into small filamentsin a plasma. We have also observed small-scale plasma iet-like structures. Such phenom-ena may become obstacles in the experimental research on X-ray laser using line-focusedlaser-produced plasma as a gain medium.

Generation of X-ray vortex with ultra-long depth of focus using axial line-focused spiral zone plates

We propose axial line-focused spiral zone plates （ALFSZPs） for generating tightly focused X-ray vortex beams with ultra-long depth of focus （DOF） along the propagation direction. In this typical design, compared with the conventional spiral zone plates （SZPs） under the same numerical aperture （NA）, the DOF of ALFSZPs has been extended to an ultra-length by optimizing the corresponding parameters. Besides, it also exhibits lower side lobes and smaller dark cores in the whole focus volume. The diameters of dark cores increase as the topological charge value increases.