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Results for “BEAM-PLASMA SYSTEMS”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 145 records · Page 8
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2013

Effect of collisions on amplification of laser beams by Brillouin scattering in plasmas

We report on particle in cell simulations of energy transfer between a laser pump beam and a counter-propagating seed beam using the Brillouin scattering process in uniform plasma including collisions. The results presented show that the ion acoustic waves excited through naturally occurring Brillouin scattering of the pump field are preferentially damped without affecting the driven Brillouin scattering process resulting from the beating of the pump and seed fields together. We find that collisions, including the effects of Landau damping, allow for a more efficient transfer of energy between the laser beams, and a significant reduction in the amount of seed pre-pulse produced.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Intense terahertz emission from relativistic circularly polarized laser pulses interaction with overdense plasmas

During the interaction of a relativistic circularly polarized laser pulse with an overdense plasma target, the longitudinal motion of bunches of electrons under the action of light pressure and electrostatic restore force can emit intense terahertz (THz) pulses. This mechanism allows high pump laser intensity and large electron number participating in the emission. Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations are carried out to investigate the THz emission. The results suggest that such a source can produce remarkably intense THz pulses with energy of several mJ/sr and power of tens of gigawatts, which could find applications in nonlinear studies and relativistic laser-plasma interaction diagnostics.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Interaction of nonthermal muon beam with electron-positron-photon plasma: A thermal field theory approach

Interaction of a muon beam with hot dense QED plasma is investigated. Plasma system contains electrons and positrons with Fermi-Dirac distribution and Bose-Einstein distributed photons while the beam particles have nonthermal distribution. The energy loss of the beam particles during the interaction with plasma is calculated to complete leading order of interaction in terms of the QED coupling constant using thermal field theory approach. The screening effects of the plasma are computed consistently using resummation of perturbation theory with hard thermal loop approximation according to the Braaten-Pisarski method. Time evolution of the plasma characteristics and also plasma identifications during the interaction are investigated. Effects of the nonthermal parameter of the beam distribution on the energy exchange and the evolution of plasma-beam system are also explained.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Charge steering of laser plasma accelerated fast ions in a liquid spray — creation of MeV negative ion and neutral atom beams

The scenario of “electron capture and loss” has been recently proposed for the formation of negative ion and neutral atom beams with up to MeV kinetic energy [S. Ter-Avetisyan, et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 99, 051501 (2011)]. Validation of these processes and of their generic nature is here provided in experiments where the ion source and the interaction medium have been spatially separated. Fast positive ions accelerated from a laser plasma source are sent through a cold spray where their charge is changed. Such formed neutral atom or negative ion has nearly the same momentum as the original positive ion. Experiments are released for protons, carbon, and oxygen ions and corresponding beams of negative ions and neutral atoms have been obtained. The electron capture and loss phenomenon is confirmed to be the origin of the negative ion and neutral atom beams. The equilibrium ratios of different charge components and cross sections have been measured. Our method is general and allows the creation of beams of neutral atoms and negative ions for different species which inherit the characteristics of the positive ion source.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Observation of laser multiple filamentation process and multiple electron beams acceleration in a laser wakefield accelerator

The multiple filaments formation process in the laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA) was observed by imaging the transmitted laser beam after propagating in the plasma of different density. During propagation, the laser first self-focused into a single filament. After that, it began to defocus with energy spreading in the transverse direction. Two filaments then formed from it and began to propagate independently, moving away from each other. We have also demonstrated that the laser multiple filamentation would lead to the multiple electron beams acceleration in the LWFA via ionization-induced injection scheme. Besides, its influences on the accelerated electron beams were also analyzed both in the single-stage LWFA and cascaded LWFA.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Detection of significant differences between absorption spectra of neutral helium and low temperature photoionized helium plasmas

In this work, spectral investigations of photoionized He plasmas were performed. The photoionized plasmas were created by irradiation of helium stream, with intense pulses from laser-plasma extreme ultraviolet (EUV) source. The EUV source was based on a double-stream Xe/Ne gas-puff target irradiated with 10 ns/10 J Nd:YAG laser pulses. The most intense emission from the source spanned a relatively narrow spectral region below 20 nm, however, spectrally integrated intensity at longer wavelengths was also significant. The EUV radiation was focused onto a gas stream, injected into a vacuum chamber synchronously with the EUV pulse. The long-wavelength part of the EUV radiation was used for backlighting of the photoionized plasmas to obtain absorption spectra. Both emission and absorption spectra in the EUV range were investigated. Significant differences between absorption spectra acquired for neutral helium and low temperature photoionized plasmas were demonstrated for the first time. Strong increase of intensities and spectral widths of absorption lines, together with a red shift of the K-edge, was shown.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

High pressure generation by hot electrons driven ablation

A previous model [Piriz et al. Phys. Plasmas 19, 122705 (2012)] for the ablation driven by the hot electrons generated in collisionless laser-plasma interactions in the framework of shock ignition is revisited. The impact of recent results indicating that for a laser wavelength λ = 0.35 μm the hot electron temperature θ{sub H} would be independent of the laser intensity I, on the resulting ablation pressure is considered. In comparison with the case when the scaling law θ{sub H}∼(Iλ{sup 2}){sup 1/3} is assumed, the generation of the high pressures needed for driving the ignitor shock may be more demanding. Intensities above 10{sup 17} W/cm{sup 2} would be required for θ{sub H}=25−30 keV.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2013

Role of positive ions on the surface production of negative ions in a fusion plasma reactor type negative ion source—Insights from a three dimensional particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collisions model

Results from a 3D self-consistent Particle-In-Cell Monte Carlo Collisions (PIC MCC) model of a high power fusion-type negative ion source are presented for the first time. The model is used to calculate the plasma characteristics of the ITER prototype BATMAN ion source developed in Garching. Special emphasis is put on the production of negative ions on the plasma grid surface. The question of the relative roles of the impact of neutral hydrogen atoms and positive ions on the cesiated grid surface has attracted much attention recently and the 3D PIC MCC model is used to address this question. The results show that the production of negative ions by positive ion impact on the plasma grid is small with respect to the production by atomic hydrogen or deuterium bombardment (less than 10%)

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Parallel implementation of three-dimensional molecular dynamic simulation for laser-cluster interaction

The objective of this article is to report the parallel implementation of the 3D molecular dynamic simulation code for laser-cluster interactions. The benchmarking of the code has been done by comparing the simulation results with some of the experiments reported in the literature. Scaling laws for the computational time is established by varying the number of processor cores and number of macroparticles used. The capabilities of the code are highlighted by implementing various diagnostic tools. To study the dynamics of the laser-cluster interactions, the executable version of the code is available from the author.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

On the electrodynamic model of ultra-relativistic laser-plasma interactions caused by radiation reaction effects

A simple electrodynamic model is developed to define plasma-field structures in self-consistent ultra-relativistic laser-plasma interactions when the radiation reaction effects come into play. An exact analysis of a circularly polarized laser interacting with plasmas is presented. We define fundamental notions, such as nonlinear dielectric permittivity, ponderomotive and dissipative forces acting in a plasma. Plasma-field structures arising during the ultra-relativisitc interactions are also calculated. Based on these solutions, we show that about 50% of laser energy can be converted into gamma-rays in the optimal conditions of laser-foil interaction.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2013

Stimulated Raman scattering of laser in a plasma in the presence of a co-propagating electron beam

A relativistic electron beam co-propagating with a high power laser in plasma is shown to add to the growth of the stimulated Raman back scattering of the laser. The growth rate is sensitive to phase matching of electron beam with the plasma wave. In the case of phase mismatch, the growth rate drops by an order. The energy spread of the electron beam significantly reduces the effectiveness of the beam on the stimulated Raman process.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Self-focusing of a high-intensity laser in a collisional plasma under weak relativistic-ponderomotive nonlinearity

Self-focusing a laser beam in collisional plasma is investigated under the weak relativistic-ponderomotive nonlinearity. In this case, the plasma equilibrium density is modified and it causes generation of the nonlinearity due to the Ohmic heating of electrons, collisions, and the weak relativistic-ponderomotive force during the interaction of the laser beam with the plasma. Our theoretical and simulation results show that a significant nonlinearity in laser self-focusing can occur under the weak relativistic-ponderomotive regime for some appropriate simulation parameters.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Optimization of beam configuration in laser fusion based on the laser beam pattern

A simple method based on the laser beam pattern is proposed and numerically demonstrated to optimize a beam configuration for direct drive laser fusion. In this method, both the geometrical factor G{sub l} and the single beam factor B{sub l} are considered. By diminishing the product of B{sub l}·G{sub l}, the irradiation nonuniformity can be decreased to the order of 10{sup −5}. This optimization method can be applied on the design of irradiation systems for an arbitrary number of beams and any axially symmetric beam patterns.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Effects of electron recirculation on a hard x-ray source observed during the interaction of a high intensity laser pulse with thin Au targets

The interaction of a high intensity laser pulse on the preplasma of a high-Z solid target produced by the pulse's pedestal generates high-energy electrons. These electrons subsequently penetrate inside the solid target and produce bremsstrahlung photons, generating an x-ray source which can be used for photonuclear studies or to radiograph high area density objects. The source characteristics are compared for targets with thin (20 μm) and thick (100 μm) Au foils on the Omega EP laser at Laboratory for Laser Energetics. Simulations using the particle-in-cell code CALDER show that for a 20 μm thickness Au target, electrons perform multiple round-trips in the target under the effect of the laser ponderomotive potential and the target electrostatic potential. These relativistic electrons have random transverse displacements, with respect to the target normal, attributed to electrostatic fluctuation fields. As a result, the x-ray spot size is increased by a factor 2 for thin target compared to thick targets, in agreement with experimental results. In addition, the computed doses agree with the measured ones provided that electron recirculation in the thin target is taken into account. A dose increase by a factor 1.7 is then computed by allowing for recirculation. In the 100 μm target case, on the other hand, this effect is found to be negligible.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2013

Beam loading in a laser-plasma accelerator using a near-hollow plasma channel

Beam loading in laser-plasma accelerators using a near-hollow plasma channel is examined in the linear wake regime. It is shown that, by properly shaping and phasing the witness particle beam, high-gradient acceleration can be achieved with high-efficiency, and without induced energy spread or emittance growth. Both electron and positron beams can be accelerated in this plasma channel geometry. Matched propagation of electron beams can be achieved by the focusing force provided by the channel density. For positron beams, matched propagation can be achieved in a hollow plasma channel with external focusing. The efficiency of energy transfer from the wake to a witness beam is calculated for single ultra-short bunches and bunch trains.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Energetic beams of negative and neutral hydrogen from intense laser plasma interaction

We present observations of intense beams of energetic negative hydrogen ions and fast neutral hydrogen atoms in intense (5 × 10{sup 19} W/cm{sup 2}) laser plasma interaction experiments, which were quantified in numerical calculations. Generation of negative ions and neutral atoms is ascribed to the processes of electron capture and loss by a laser accelerated positive ion in the collisions with a cloud of droplets. A comparison with a numerical model of charge exchange processes provides information on the cross section of the electron capture in the high energy domain.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

The effect of degeneracy parameter on Weibel instability in dense plasma

In this paper, the role of degeneracy parameter, in both directions parallel and perpendicular with propagation direction of the laser beam in plasma, on the growth rate of Weibel instability, is studied. Calculations show that with the temperature anisotropy, β = T{sub ∥}/T{sub ⊥} = 0.2 and a 0.75 times reduction of the degeneracy parameter, the increased rate of the the Weibel instability growth rate is 72%. The degeneracy required for minimal growth rate in interaction laser plasma with a density of 1.2 × 10{sup 32}m{sup −3}, is larger than 3. The reduction of temperature and the degeneracy parameter of plasma in parallel direction will also increase growth rate about 30% more than incrossing degeneracy parameter in transverse direction. With the minimum pressure costs of cold compression, subsequent degeneracy parameters, and the minimum value of electron quiver energy, we can expect growth rate of Weibel instability order 0.01.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Investigation of relativistic intensity laser generated hot electron dynamics via copper K{sub α} imaging and proton acceleration

Simultaneous experimental measurements of copper K{sub α} imaging and the maximum target normal sheath acceleration proton energies from the rear target surface are compared for various target thicknesses. For the T-cubed laser (≈4 J, 400 fs) at an intensity of ≈2 × 10{sup 19} W cm{sup −2}, the hot electron divergence is determined to be θ{sub HWHM}≈22{sup °} using a K{sub α} imaging diagnostic. The maximum proton energies are measured to follow the expected reduction with increasing target thickness. Numerical modeling produces copper K{sub α} trends for both signal level and electron beam divergence that are in good agreement with the experiment. A geometric model describing the electron beam divergence reproduces the maximum proton energy trends observed from the experiment and the fast electron density and the peak electric field observed in the numerical modeling.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗