Xiao-ying Zhao

Charge exchange and ionization cross sections of H+ + H collision in dense quantum plasmas

The plasma screening effects of dense quantum plasmas on H+ + H charge exchange and ionization cross sections are calculated by the classical trajectory Monte Carlo method. For charge exchange cross sections, it is found that the screening effects reduce cross sections slightly in weak screening conditions. However, cross sections are reduced substantially in strong screening conditions. For ionization cross sections, with the increase of screening effects, cross sections for low energies increase more rapidly than those for high energies. When the screening effects are strong enough, it is found that ionization cross sections decrease with the increase of incident H+ energy. In addition, the cross sections have been compared with those in weakly coupled plasmas. It is found that in weak screening conditions, plasma screening effects in the two plasmas are approximately the same, while in strong screening conditions, screening effects of dense quantum plasmas are stronger than those of weakly coupled plasmas.

Dynamics of

Dynamics of He2+ + H ionization in dense quantum plasmas (DQPs) has been studied by the classical trajectory Monte Carlo method. The interactions between charged particles have been described by the exponential cosine-screened Coulomb potential. It is found that ionization cross sections in plasma environments are obviously larger than those in plasma-free environments due to the screening effects. Cross sections for H+ also have been calculated for comparison. For H+, cross sections increase with the increase of screening effects. However, for He2+, cross sections begin to decrease in strong screening effects at intermediate energies. Furthermore, He2+ impact ionization cross sections in weakly coupled plasmas (WCPs) also have been calculated. The interactions have been described by the static screened Coulomb potential. It is found that when screening effects are weak, cross sections in DQPs and WCPs are approximately the same. As screening effects increase, cross sections in DQPs become larger than those in WCPs at high energies. However, when screening effects are strong enough, cross sections in DQPs become smaller than those in WCPs at low and intermediate energies.

H{{e}^{2+}}+H

A cascaded target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) scheme is proposed to simultaneously increase energy and improve energy spread of a laser-produced mono-energetic proton beam. An optimum condition that uses the maximum sheath field to accelerate the center of the proton beam is theoretically found and verified by two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. An initial 10 MeV proton beam is accelerated to 21 MeV with energy spread decreased from 5% to 2% under the optimum condition during the process of the cascaded TNSA. The scheme opens a way to scale proton energy lineally with laser energy.

ionization with exponential cosine-screened Coulomb potential

A new scheme for proton acceleration by cascaded collisionless electrostatic shock (CES) is proposed. By irradiating a foil target with a moderate high-intensity laser beam, a stable CES field can be induced, which is employed as the accelerating field for the booster stage of proton acceleration. The mechanism is studied through simulations and theoretical analysis, showing that a 55 MeV seed proton beam can be further accelerated to 265 MeV while keeping a good energy spread. This scheme offers a feasible approach to produce proton beams with energy of hundreds of MeV by existing available high-intensity laser facilities.

Cascaded target normal sheath acceleration

1-D particle-in-cell simulations are used to investigate the propagation and decomposition of the ion acoustic solitary waves (IASWs) in plasmas. Our results show that for small-amplitude conditions, IASWs are stable and the simulation results are consistent with the theoretical predictions of the reductive perturbation method. As the amplitudes of IASWs increase, the waves become unstable and trains of oscillating waves are emitted behind the main waves. When the amplitude is large enough, the wave cannot exist and will decay into a series of waves with a small amplitude. By comparing our simulations with the theoretical solutions of Kortewag-de Vries soliton, the upper limitation of the amplitude of IASWs in plasmas is found. Moreover, our results show that although the reductive perturbation method is valid only for small perturbations, the application scope of the reductive perturbation method can be expanded to describe the potential profiles of IASWs with any amplitude. Meanwhile, the application scope for the density profiles is still limited in the perturbation cases.

Cascaded proton acceleration by collisionless electrostatic shock

The plasma screening effects of dense quantum plasmas on charge exchange processes of a fully stripped ion colliding with a hydrogen atom are studied by the classical trajectory Monte Carlo method. The inter-particle interactions are described by the exponential cosine-screened Coulomb potentials. It is found that in weak screening conditions, cross sections increase with the increase of the ionic charge Z. However, in strong screening conditions, the dependence of cross sections on the ionic charge is related to the incident particle energy. At high energies, cross sections show a linear increase with the increase of Z, whereas at low energies, cross sections for Z≥4 become approximately the same. The He2+ and C6+ impacting charge exchange cross sections in dense quantum plasmas are also compared with those in weakly coupled plasmas. The interactions are described by the static screened Coulomb potential. It is found that for both He2+ and C6+, the oscillatory screening effects of dense quantum plasmas a...

Application of Particle-in-Cell Simulation to the Description of Ion Acoustic Solitary Waves

A two-dimensional (2D) particle-in-cell simulation is carried out to study the collective effects on the wakefield and stopping power for a hydrogen ion beam pulse propagation in hydrogen plasmas. The dependence of collective effects on the beam velocity and density is obtained and discussed. For the beam velocity, it is found that the collective effects have the strongest impact on the wakefield as well as the stopping power in the case of the intermediate beam velocities, in which the stopping power is also the largest. For the beam density, it is found that at low beam densities, the collective contribution to the stopping power increase linearly with the increase of the beam density, which corresponds well to the results calculated using the dielectric theory. However, at high beam densities, our results show that after reaching a maximum value, the collective contribution to the stopping power starts to decrease significantly with the increase of the beam density. Besides, at high beam densities, the wakefield loses typical V-shaped cone structures, and the wavelength of the oscillation wakefield increases as the beam density increases.

Dynamics of the fully stripped ion-hydrogen atom charge exchange process in dense quantum plasmas

With the use of measured electron–neutral cross sections, the transmission properties of an electromagnetic (EM) wave in a nitrogen (N2) plasma and a helium (He) plasma are studied by means of PIC-MCC (the particle-in-cell method with collision modeling by the Monte Carlo method) simulation. The plasmas are assumed to be uniform, collisional and non-magnetized. Each type of species presented in the plasmas is treated by the PIC method and the electron–neutral collisions are treated by direct Monte Carlo simulation of particle trajectories. And then the dependence of power attenuation of the EM wave on plasma parameters and wave parameters is obtained and discussed. It is found that power attenuation of the EM wave is strongly affected by the plasma density, species of neutral gas, density of neutral gas and the frequency of the EM wave. Moreover, it is also found that the stopband (passband) of EM wave propagation turns out to be narrower (wider) in collisional plasmas both numerically and analytically.

Collective effects on the wakefield and stopping power of an ion beam pulse in plasmas

We performed two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations to investigate how a magnetic field affects the wake field and stopping power of an ion-beam pulse moving in plasmas. The corresponding density of plasma electrons is investigated. At a weak magnetic field, the wakes exhibit typical V-shaped cone structures. As the magnetic field strengthens, the wakes spread and lose their typical V-shaped structures. At a sufficiently strong magnetic field, the wakes exhibit conversed V-shaped structures. Additionally, strengthening the magnetic field reduces the stopping power in regions of low and high beam density. However, the influence of the magnetic field becomes complicated in regions of moderate beam density. The stopping power increases in a weak magnetic field, but it decreases in a strong magnetic field. At high beam density and moderate magnetic field, two low-density channels of plasma electrons appear on both sides of the incident beam pulse trajectory. This is because electrons near the beam pulses will be attracted and move along with the beam pulses, while other electrons nearby are restricted by the magnetic field and cannot fill the gap.

PIC-MCC simulation of electromagnetic wave attenuation in partially ionized plasmas

A two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation is carried out to study the focusing effects of the long proton beam propagating in background plasmas. It is found that the smooth beam, with the long length and the small density gradient profile, is focused to high density. The sharp beam, with long length and the large density gradient profile, is modulated into many high density and periodic short beam pulses due to the wakefield induced by the beam. In addition, increasing the plasma density and adopting the non-uniform plasmas are the effective ways to reduce the wakefield.