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Mecseki, K.

Publications and source records attributed to Mecseki, K..

Multi-pass cell spectral broadening at high pulse energies

We simulate experimental conditions for nonlinear spectral broadening and compression of multi-joule, sub-picosecond, and femtosecond laser systems focusing on 1 μm center wavelength. The spatial, spectral, and temporal properties of two distinct cases are investigated in detail. The first system is a short multi-pass cell with 0.1–0.5 J pulse energy operated at higher helium pressures, used to illustrate the transition between Kerr-effect induced spectral broadening and spectral broadening in plasma. The second case is a long ten-joule multi-pass cell operated at few Pascal pressure range. These examples cover the operational extent of plasma spectral broadening in a multi-pass cell. Here effects pertaining to plasma spectral broadening, including imperfect spatial beam profiles and initial non-zero nonlinear phase, are investigated, as well as scalability.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Modeling radiative-shocks created by laser–cluster interactions

Radiative-shocks induced by laser–cluster interactions are modeled using radiation-hydrodynamic simulations. A good agreement—in both shock velocity and density profiles—is obtained between experiment and simulations, indicating that non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) radiative effects are important in the experimental regime examined, particularly at early times (≤30 ns) due to the elevated temperatures (≥35 eV). The enhanced NLTE radiative emission causes the shock to be reduced in amplitude, increased in width, and reduced in propagation velocity, while the amplitude of the radiative precursor is increased. As the density and temperature conditions are relatively modest, this potentially has important implications for the scalings that are used in laboratory–astrophysics to transform between laboratory and astrophysical scales, which do not hold for non-LTE systems.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗