D.P. Higginson

Bremsstrahlung and Kα fluorescence measurements for inferring conversion efficiencies into fast ignition relevant hot electrons

The Bremsstrahlung and K-shell emission from 1×1×1 mm3 planar targets irradiated by a short-pulse 3×1018–8×1019 W/cm2 laser were measured. The Bremsstrahlung was measured using a filter stack spectrometer with spectral discrimination up to 500 keV. K-shell emission was measured using a single photon counting charge coupled device. From Monte Carlo modeling of the target emission, conversion efficiencies into 1–3 MeV electrons of 3%–12%, representing 20%–40% total conversion efficiencies, were inferred for intensities up to 8×1019 W/cm2. Comparisons to scaling laws using synthetic energy spectra generated from the intensity distribution of the focal spot imply slope temperatures less than the ponderomotive potential of the laser. Resistive transport effects may result in potentials of a few hundred kV in the first few tens of microns in the target. This would lead to higher total conversion efficiencies than inferred from Monte Carlo modeling but lower conversion efficiencies into 1–3 MeV electrons.

Production of neutrons up to 18 MeV in high-intensity, short-pulse laser matter interactions

The generation of high-energy neutrons using laser-accelerated ions is demonstrated experimentally using the Titan laser with 360 J of laser energy in a 9 ps pulse. In this technique, a short-pulse, high-energy laser accelerates deuterons from a CD2 foil. These are incident on a LiF foil and subsequently create high energy neutrons through the 7Li(d,xn) nuclear reaction (Q = 15 MeV). Radiochromic film and a Thomson parabola ion-spectrometer were used to diagnose the laser accelerated deuterons and protons. Conversion efficiency into protons was 0.5%, an order of magnitude greater than into deuterons. Maximum neutron energy was shown to be angularly dependent with up to 18 MeV neutrons observed in the forward direction using neutron time-of-flight spectrometry. Absolutely calibrated CR-39 detected spectrally integrated neutron fluence of up to 8 × 108 n sr−1 in the forward direction.

Laser generated neutron source for neutron resonance spectroscopy

A neutron source for neutron resonance spectroscopy has been developed using high-intensity, short-pulse lasers. This technique will allow robust measurement of interior ion temperature of laser-shocked materials and provide insight into material equation of state. The neutron generation technique uses laser-accelerated protons to create neutrons in LiF through (p,n) reactions. The incident proton beam has been diagnosed using radiochromic film. This distribution is used as the input for a (p,n) neutron prediction code which is validated with experimentally measured neutron yields. The calculation infers a total fluence of 1.8×109 neutrons, which are expected to be sufficient for neutron resonance spectroscopy temperature measurements.

Proton radiography of laser-driven imploding target in cylindrical geometry

An experiment was done at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (Vulcan laser petawatt laser) to study fast electron propagation in cylindrically compressed targets, a subject of interest for fast ignition. This was performed in the framework of the experimental road map of HiPER (the European high power laser energy research facility project). In the experiment, protons accelerated by a picosecond-laser pulse were used to radiograph a 220 μm diameter cylinder (20 μm wall, filled with low density foam), imploded with ∼200 J of green laser light in four symmetrically incident beams of pulse length 1 ns. Point projection proton backlighting was used to get the compression history and the stagnation time. Results are also compared to those from hard x-ray radiography. Detailed comparison with two-dimensional numerical hydrosimulations has been done using a Monte Carlo code adapted to describe multiple scattering and plasma effects. Finally we develop a simple analytical model to estimate the performance of prot...

Laser-driven cylindrical compression of targets for fast electron transport study in warm and dense plasmas

Fast ignition requires a precise knowledge of fast electron propagation in a dense hydrogen plasma. In this context, a dedicated HiPER (High Power laser Energy Research) experiment was performed on the VULCAN laser facility where the propagation of relativistic electron beams through cylindrically compressed plastic targets was studied. In this paper, we characterize the plasma parameters such as temperature and density during the compression of cylindrical polyimide shells filled with CH foams at three different initial densities. X-ray and proton radiography were used to measure the cylinder radius at different stages of the compression. By comparing both diagnostics results with 2D hydrodynamic simulations, we could infer densities from 2 to 11 g/cm3 and temperatures from 30 to 120 eV at maximum compression at the center of targets. According to the initial foam density, kinetic, coupled (sometimes degenerated) plasmas were obtained. The temporal and spatial evolution of the resulting areal densities a...

Generation of high-energy (>15 MeV) neutrons using short pulse high intensity lasers

A roadmap is suggested and demonstrated experimentally for the production of high-energy (>15 MeV) neutrons using short pulse lasers. Investigation with a 3D Monte Carlo model has been employed to quantify the production of energetic neutrons. Numerical simulations have been performed for three nuclear reactions, d(d,n)3He, 7Li(d,n)8Be, and 7Li(p,n)7Be, driven by monoenergetic ion beams. Quantitative estimates for the driver ion beam energy and number have been made and the neutron spectra and yield in the ion propagation direction have been evaluated for various incident ion energies. In order to generate neutron fluence above a detection limit of 106 neutrons/sr, either ∼1010 protons with energy 20–30 MeV or comparable amount of deuterons with energy 5–10 MeV are required. Experimental verification of the concept with deuterons driven by the Titan laser (peak intensity 2 × 1019 W/cm2, pulse duration of 9 ps, wavelength 1.05 μm, and energy of 360 J) is provided with the generation of neutrons with energy...

Single-shot divergence measurements of a laser-generated relativistic electron beam

The relativistic electron transport induced by an ultraintense picosecond laser is experimentally investigated using an x-ray two-dimensional imaging system. Previous studies of the electron beam divergence [R. B. Stephens et al. Phys. Rev. E 69, 066414 (2004), for instance] were based on an x-ray imaging of a fluorescence layer buried at different depths in the target along the propagation axis. This technique required several shots to be able to deduce the divergence of the beam. Other experiments produced single-shot images in a one-dimensional geometry. The present paper describes a new target design producing a single-shot, two-dimensional image of the electrons propagating in the target. Several characteristics of the electron beam are extracted and discussed and Monte Carlo simulations provide a good understanding of the observed beam shape. The proposed design has proven to be efficient, reliable, and promising for further similar studies.

A Dual Channel X-ray Spectrometer for Fast Ignition Research

A new Dual Channel Highly Ordered Pyrolytic Graphite (DC-HOPG) x-ray spectrometer was developed for use in high energy short-pulse laser experiments. The instrument uses a pair of graphite crystals and has the advantage of simultaneously detecting self emission from low-Z materials in first diffraction order and high-Z materials in second order. The emissions from the target are detected using a pair of parallel imaging plates positioned in a such way that the noise from background is minimized and the mosaic focusing is achieved. Initial tests of the diagnostic on the Titan laser (I ~ 1020W/cm2,τ = 0.7ps) show excellent signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) > 1000 for the low energy channel and SNR > 400 for the high energy channel.

Proton radiography of cylindrical laser-driven implosions

A recent experiment was performed at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (UK) to study fast electron propagation in cylindrically compressed targets, a subject of interest for fast ignition. In this experiment, protons accelerated by a picosecond laser pulse have been used to radiograph a 220 µm diameter cylinder (10 µm wall filled with 0.1 g/cc foam), imploded with _ 200 J of green laser light in 4 symmetrically incident beams of wavelength and pulse length 1 ns. Point projection proton backlighting was used to measure the compression degree as well as the stagnation time. Results were also compared to those from a hard X-ray radiography diagnostics. Finally, Monte Carlo simulations of proton propagation in the cold and in the compressed targets allowed a detailed comparison with 2D numerical hydro simulations.

Characterizing the energy distribution of laser-generated relativistic electrons in cone-wire targets

Transport of relativistic electrons in a solid Cu wire target has been modeled with the implicit hybrid particle-in-cell code LSP to investigate the electron energy distribution and energy coupling from the high-intensity, short-pulse laser to electrons entering to the wire. Experiments were performed on the TITAN laser using a 1.5 mm long Cu wire attached to a Au cone tip at the laser intensity of 1 × 1020 W/cm2 which was irradiated into the cone. The simulated Cu Kα wire profile and yields matched the measurements using a two-temperature energy distribution. These modeling results show that the cold component of the energy spectrum can be determined with ±100 keV accuracy from the fit to the initial experimental fall-off of the Kα emission while the simulated profiles were relatively insensitive to the hotter component of the electron distribution (>4 MeV). The slope of measured escaped electrons was used to determine the hotter temperature. Using exponential energy distributions, the laser-to-electron-...