A. Mancic

Absolute calibration of photostimulable image plate detectors used as (0.5-20 MeV) high-energy proton detectors

In this paper, the absolute calibration of photostimulable image plates (IPs) used as proton detectors is presented. The calibration is performed in a wide range of proton energies (0.5-20 MeV) by exposing simultaneously the IP and calibrated detectors (radiochromic films and solid state detector CR39) to a source of broadband laser-accelerated protons, which are spectrally resolved. The final result is a calibration curve that enables retrieving the proton number from the IP signal.

Ultraintense proton beams from laser-induced skin-layer ponderomotive acceleration

The results of studies of high-intensity proton beam generation from thin (1–3 μm) solid targets irradiated by 0.35 ps laser pulse of energy up to 15 J and intensity up to 2×1019 W/cm2 are reported. It is shown that the proton beams of terawatt power and intensity around 1018 W/cm2 at the source can be produced when the laser-target interaction conditions approach the skin-layer ponderomotive acceleration requirements. The proton beam parameters remarkably depend on the target structure and can be significantly increased with the use of a double-layer Au/PS target (plastic covered by 0.1–0.2 μm Au front layer).

X-ray absorption for the study of warm dense matter

A time-resolved ultrafast x-ray spectrometer is developed in order to extract the x-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES) structure of an Al sample in the warm dense matter regime. In this context, an intense, broadband, short (ps) x-ray source based on the M-band emission from high-Z plasmas is optimized to maximize the photon flux around the Al K-edge. An experiment is reported, devoted to probe a solid Al foil isochorically heated by laser-produced protons up to 3?eV. The experimental x-ray spectra lead to an estimation of the electron temperature with an accuracy of 15%. In good agreement with two different theoretical approaches, the observed progressive smoothing of the XANES structures is clearly related to a significant loss of ion?ion correlation.

Production of high-intensity proton fluxes by a 2ω Nd:glass laser beam

The results of numerical and experimental studies of high-intensity proton beam generation using a 2ω or 1ω Nd:glass laser beam irradiating a thin hydrogen-rich target are reported. The effect of the laser wavelength (λ), intensity (IL) and pulse duration as well as the target thickness, and the preplasma density gradient scale length on proton beam parameters, and the laser-protons energy conversion efficiency were examined by particle-in-cell simulations. Both the simulations and measurements, performed on the LULI 100 TW laser facility at IL up to 2× 10 19 W/cm 2 , prove that at the ILλ 2 product fixed, the 2ω laser driver can produce proton beams of intensity, current density and energy fluence significantly higher than the ones which could be achieved using the 1ω driver. In particular, at ILλ 2 ∼(0.5–1)× 10 20 Wcm −2 μm 2 the 2ω picosecond driver makes it possible to generate multi-MeV proton beams of intensity and current density in excess of 10 21 W/cm 2 and 10 14 A/cm 2 , respectively, with the conversion efficiency above 10%.

Measuring hot electron distributions in intense laser interaction with dense matter

Retrieving the characteristics of hot electrons produced in the interaction between solid targets and ultra-intense (I?>?1018?W?cm?2) laser pulses is essential for achieving?progress in our understanding of the interaction physics, which is?key for optimizing numerous downstream applications. Until now, various methods have been used, direct or indirect, but no correlation and no assessment of their respective merits were performed. Here we compare results retrieved from four different diagnostics, direct or indirect, as well as local or non-local, i.e. spectrometry of electrons, spectrometry of the protons accelerated by the electrons and optical probing of these beams expanding into vacuum from the targets. We show that measurements obtained locally at the target rear surface are consistent with those far away from the target and that one can use the diagnostics of the co-moving proton beams to retrieve information about electrons.

Laser-driven generation of ultraintense proton beams

The results of experimental and numerical studies of high-intensity proton beam generation driven by a short laser pulse of relativistic intensity are reported. In the experiment, a 350 fs laser pulse of 1.06 or 0.53 μm wavelength and intensity up to 2×1019 Wcm−2 irradiated a thin (0.6–2 μm) plastic (PS) or Au/PS (plastic covered by 0.2 μm Au front layer) target along the target normal. The effect of laser intensity, the target structure and the laser wavelength on the proton beam parameters and laser-protons energy conversion efficiency were examined. Both the measurements and one-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations showed that MeV proton beams of intensity ∼1018 Wcm−2 and current density ∼1012 Acm−2 at the source can be produced when the laser intensity-wavelength squared product I Lλ2 is ∼1019 Wcm−2 μm2 and the laser-target interaction conditions approach the skin-layer ponderomotive acceleration (SLPA) requirements. The simulations also proved that at I Lλ2≥slant 5×1019 Wcm−2 μm2 and λ≤slant 0.53 μm, SLPA clearly prevails over other acceleration mechanisms and it can produce multi-MeV proton beams of extremely high intensities above 1020 Wcm−2.

Laser‐induced generation of ultraintense proton beams for high energy‐density science

Basic properties of high‐current high‐intensity ion beam generation using laser‐induced skin‐layer ponderomotive acceleration (SLPA) are discussed. The results of a recent experiment, in which 0.35‐ps laser pulse of intensity up to 2×1019 W/cm2 irradiated a thin (1–3 μm) PS (plastic) or Au/PS target (PS covered by 0.1–0.2 μm Au front layer), are presented. It is shown that multi‐MA proton beams of current densities >1 TA/cm2 and intensities > 1018 W/cm2 at the source can be produced when the laser‐target interaction conditions approach the SLPA requirements. The proton beam parameters as well as the laser‐protons energy conversion efficiency substantially depend on the target structure and can be significantly increased with the use of a double‐layer Au/PS target. A prospect for the application of SLPA‐driven proton beams in ICF fast ignition research is outlined.

Generation of Ultraintense Proton Beams Driven by a Short-Pulse Multi-TW Laser

The paper presents the way that colour can serve solving the problem of calibration points indexing in a camera geometrical calibration process. We propose a technique in which indexes of calibration points in a black-and-white chessboard are represented as sets of colour regions in the neighbourhood of calibration points. We provide some general rules for designing a colour calibration chessboard and provide a method of calibration image analysis. We show that this approach leads to obtaining better results than in the case of widely used methods employing information about already indexed points to compute indexes. We also report constraints concerning the technique. Nowadays we are witnessing an increasing need for camera geometrical calibration systems. They are vital for such applications as 3D modelling, 3D reconstruction, assembly control systems, etc. Wherever possible, calibration objects placed in the scene are used in a camera geometrical calibration process. This approach significantly increases accuracy of calibration results and makes the calibration data extraction process easier and universal. There are many geometrical camera calibration techniques for a known calibration scene [1]. A great number of them use as an input calibration points which are localised and indexed in the scene. In this paper we propose the technique of calibration points indexing which uses a colour chessboard. The presented technique was developed by solving problems we encountered during experiments with our earlier methods of camera calibration scene analysis [2]-[3]. In particular, the proposed technique increases the number of indexed points points in case of local lack of calibration points detection. At the beginning of the paper we present a way of designing a chessboard pattern. Then we describe a calibration point indexing method, and finally we show experimental results. A black-and-white chessboard is widely used in order to obtain sub-pixel accuracy of calibration points localisation [1]. Calibration points are defined as corners of chessboard squares. Assuming the availability of rough localisation of these points, the points can be indexed. Noting that differences in distances between neighbouring points in calibration scene images differ slightly, one of the local searching methods can be employed (e.g. [2]). Methods of this type search for a calibration point to be indexed, using a window of a certain size. The position of the window is determined by a vector representing the distance between two previously indexed points in the same row or column. However, experiments show that this approach has its disadvantages, as described below. * E-mail: A.Nowakowski@ire.pw.edu.pl Firstly, there is a danger of omitting some points during indexing in case of local lack of calibration points detection in a neighbourhood (e.g. caused by the presence of non-homogeneous light in the calibration scene). A particularly unfavourable situation is when the local lack of detection effects in the appearance of separated regions of detected calibration points. It is worth saying that such situations are likely to happen for calibration points situated near image borders. Such points are very important for the analysis of optical nonlinearities, and a lack of them can significantly influence the accuracy of distortion modelling. Secondly, such methods may give wrong results in the case of optical distortion with strong nonlinearities when getting information about the neighbouring index is not an easy task. Beside this, the methods are very sensitive to a single false localisation of a calibration point. Such a single false localisation can even result in false indexing of a big set of calibration points. To avoid the above-mentioned problems, we propose using a black-and-white chessboard which contains the coded index of a calibration point in the form of colour squares situated in the nearest neighbourhood of each point. The index of a certain calibration point is determined by colours of four nearest neighbouring squares (Fig.1). An order of squares in such foursome is important. Because the size of a colour square is determined only by the possibility of correct colour detection, the size of a colour square can be smaller than the size of a black or white square. The larger size of a black or white square is determined by the requirements of the exact localisation step which follows the indexing of calibration points [3]. In this step, edge information is extracted from a blackand-white chessboard. This edge information needs larger Artur Nowakowski, Wladyslaw Skarbek Institute of Radioelectronics, Warsaw University of Technology, Nowowiejska 15/19, 00-665 Warszawa, A.Nowakowski@ire.pw.edu.pl Received February 10, 2009; accepted March 27, 2009; published March 31, 2009 http://www.photonics.pl/PLP

K‐edge Absorption spectra in Warm Dense Matter

The recent development of compact, short (ps or sub‐ps) X‐ray sources gives access to the structural nature of short time‐scale phenomena and to the study of very transient systems such as warm dense materials. Among the structural tools used for the study of static (solid) materials, X‐ray Absorption Fine Structure (XAFS) spectroscopy has proven to provide useful information on the local structure (atomic arrangement) and on the electronic Density of States. In a context where the matter is disordered but highly correlated, we present K‐edge absorption studies of warm, dense aluminum. The range of temperature starts from the solid and extend to the strongly correlated plasma regime. We describe here two theoretical approaches for the the calculation of the K‐edge absorption features. The first one involves a (Modified) HyperNetted Chain—Neutral Pseudo Atom (MHNC‐NPA) model of dense matter coupled with a specific model of the XAFS features. The second one is based on ab initio Quantum Molecular Dynamics (...

Ultrahigh-current proton beams from short-pulse laser-solid interactions

The results of studies of high-current proton beam generation from thin (1–3μm) solid targets irradiated by 0.35-ps laser pulse of intensity up to 2×1019 W/cm2 are reported. It is shown that the proton beams of multi-MA currents and multi-TA/cm2 current densities at the source can be produced when the laser-target interaction conditions approach the skin-layer ponderomotive acceleration requirements. The current and energy spectrum of protons remarkably depend on the target structure. In particular, using a double-layer Au/PS target (plastic covered by 0.1 − 0.2μm Au front layer) results in two-fold higher proton currents and higher proton energies than in the case of a plastic target.