V. Yu. Bychenkov

Fast Ignitor Concept with Light Ions

A short-laser-pulse driven ion flux is examined as a fast ignitor candidate for inertial confinement fusion. Ion ranges in a hot precompressed fuel are studied. The ion energy and the corresponding intensity of a short laser pulse are estimated for the optimum ion range and ion energy density flux. It is shown that a lightion beam triggered by a few-hundreds-kJ laser at intensities of ≳1021 W/cm2 is relevant to the fast ignitor scenario.

Controlled electron injection into the wake wave using plasma density inhomogeneity

The electron injection, for the laser wake field accelerator, controlled through the plasma density inhomogeneity is studied on a basis of analytical estimates and two- and three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. The injection scheme requires a concordance of the density scale length and laser intensity. It is shown that at a sloping inhomogeneity of plasma the wave breaking produces stronger singularity of the electron density than at a density discontinuity, but develops slower. With the help of simulations for a moderate laser intensity, we demonstrate the optimal plasma density gradient, where the electron injection into the wake wave forms the electron beam with low divergence, small energy spread and high energy.

Ion acceleration in expanding multispecies plasmas

The acceleration of light and heavy ions in an expanding plasma slab with hot electrons produced by an intense and short laser pulse is studied by using the hybrid Boltzmann–Vlasov–Poisson model. Spatial profiles, energy distributions, and maximum energies of accelerated ions are analyzed in function of the plasma and hot electron parameters. The crucial parameter for ion acceleration is found to be the ratio of the foil thickness to the hot electron Debye length. Special attention is paid to characterization of protons accelerated from a thin hydrogenated layer at the target surface. The evolution of the proton spectrum is studied for the cases of isothermal and cooling hot electron distributions. The obtained dependencies of the ion energy on the pulse duration and the target characteristics allow one to define the optimal conditions for the ion acceleration with lasers.

High energy electron generation in surface-wave-produced plasmas

A theoretical model predicting production of hot electrons in the high-frequency field of surface-wave-produced plasmas is presented. The fast-particle generation is caused by the radial component of the surface-wave electric field near the boundary of the discharge by a mechanism so far not considered. As a result of acceleration, due to the interaction with the surface-wave field and due to energy loss by excitation and ionization of atoms in the main volume of the plasma, hot-electron tail of the energy distribution function is formed. The proposed mechanism of hot-electron generation is described for cases when the wave frequency is larger than the electron collision frequency.

Nonlocal electron transport in laser heated plasmas

Nonlocal theory of an electron transport in laser-produced plasmas with the large ion charge and arbitrary ratio of the characteristic spatial scale length to the electron mean free path has been developed for small potential perturbations. Closure relations have been derived from the solution to the electron Fokker–Planck equation which includes inverse bremsstrahlung heating and ponderomotive effects. All electron transport coefficients and their dependence on the laser intensity have been found. An expression for the electron heat flux includes laser field and plasma flow contributions. Identification of these different sources is necessary for the unique definition of the thermal transport coefficient which is independent of the particular application. A complete derivation of the potential part of the ponderomotive force in the presence of inverse bremsstrahlung heating has been presented.

Ion acceleration in short-laser-pulse interaction with solid foils

We discuss the physical processes, which take place in a multi-component plasma set in expansion by a minority of energetic electrons. The expansion is in the form of a collisionless rarefaction wave associated with three types of electrostatic shocks. Each shock manifests itself in a potential jump and in the spatial separation of plasma species. The shock front associated with the proton–electron separation sets the maximum proton velocity. Two other shocks are due to the hot–cold electron separation and the light–heavy ion separation. They result in the light ion acceleration and their accumulation in the phase space. These structures open possibilities for control of the number and the energy spectrum of accelerated ions. Simple analytical models are confirmed in numerical simulations where the ions are described kinetically, and the electrons assume the Boltzmann distribution.

Particle Dynamics during Adiabatic Expansion of a Plasma Bunch

The renormalization-group approach is used to obtain an exact solution to the self-consistent Vlasov kinetic equations for plasma particles in the quasi-neutral approximation. This solution describes the one-dimensional adiabatic expansion of a plasma bunch into a vacuum for arbitrary initial particle velocity distributions. Ion acceleration is studied for two-temperature Maxwellian and super-Gaussian initial electron distributions, which predetermine distinctly different ion spectra. The solution found is used to describe the acceleration of ions of two types. The relative acceleration efficiency of light and heavy ions as a function of atomic weights and number densities is analyzed. The solutions obtained are of practical importance in describing ion acceleration during the interaction of an ultrashort laser pulse with nanoplasma, for example, cluster plasma or plasma produced when thin foils are irradiated by a laser.

On the design of experiments for the study of relativistic nonlinear optics in the limit of single-cycle pulse duration and single-wavelength spot size

We propose a set of experiments with the aim of studying for the first time relativistic nonlinear optics in the fundamental limits of single-cycle pulse duration and single-wavelength spot size. The laser system that makes this work possible is now operating at the Center for Ultrafast Optical Science at the University of Michigan. Its high repetition rate (1 kHz) will make it possible to perform a detailed investigation of relativistic effects in this novel regime. This study has the potential to make the field of relativistic optics accessible to a wider community and to open the door for real-world applications of relativistic optics, such as electron/ion acceleration and neutron and positron production.

Heat transport and electron distribution function in laser produced plasmas with hot spots

Using Fokker–Planck and particle-in-cell simulations, the evolution of a single hot spot and multiple hot spot systems have been studied in laser produced plasmas. A practical formula for nonlocal heat flux has been derived as a generalized expression of a nonlocal linear approach [Bychenkov et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 4405 (1995)] and is tested in simulations. The electron distribution function is studied at different spatial locations with respect to a localized heating source. The electron distribution function displays several non-Maxwellian features which depend on the interplay between the effects of inverse bremsstrahlung heating and nonlocal transport. In particular, significant high-energy tails are found. They may have impact on the behavior of parametric instabilities in nonuniformly heated laser plasma.

Nuclear reactions triggered by laser-accelerated high-energy ions

A technique is suggested for triggering nuclear reactions by accelerating ions with a powerful ultrashort laser pulse in a plasma. The underlying idea of the suggested compact “reactor” is utilization of high-energy ions accelerated by the charge-separation electrostatic field in the direction perpendicular to the laser beam axis in a gas-filled capillary. Accelerated ions with energies of several MeV penetrating the target from the inside surface of a channel give rise to nuclear reactions which can be used to create a compact source of fast neutrons and neutrons of intermediate energies for generating various (short-and long-lived, light and heavy) isotopes, for generating gamma radiation over a broad energy range, for making sources of light ion and induced radioactivity. The yield of the corresponding nuclear reactions as a function of the laser beam parameters has been investigated. The suggested technique for triggering nuclear reactions provides a practical tool for studies of nuclear transformation on the pico-and nanosecond scales, which cannot be achieved using other methods.