Yu. B. Smakovskii

Production of He-like light and medium mass ions in laser ion source

Operation of the laser ion source of He-like light ions designed for the first stage of the ITEP Terra Watt Accumulator (TWAC) project is discussed. A 5 J/0.5 Hz rep-rate CO2 laser was used for generation of highly charged light ions. The absolute number of ions with different charge states for carbon and aluminum ion beams has been measured. The obtained number of C+4 ions (∼1011ions/pulse) is sufficient to start the experimental proof of the accelerator scheme of the TWAC project. The investigation of shot to shot stability indicates significant increasing (∼2–3 times) of highly charged ion yield for the first shot onto the fresh target surface with respect to the next shots onto the same spot of aluminum target. This effect was not observed for the carbon target. Experimental results for highly charged light and medium mass (F, Mg, Al, Ca, Ti) ions produced by of 75 J single pulse CO2 laser consisting of a master oscillator and power amplifier are also presented.

The generation of fast particles in plasmas created by laser pulses with different wavelengths

By means of spatially resolved high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy, we have investigated the generation of fast ions at various laser installations with different flux densities and laser wavelengths. It is demonstrated that the fast ion generation in laser-produced plasma can be achieved for a very low level of the averaged laser intensity on the target. The time-of-flight mass spectrometry ion diagnostics and X-ray spectrographs give very close results for the energy distribution of the thermal ion component. For higher energies, however, we found significant differences: the spatially resolved high-resolution spectrographs expose the presence of suprathermal ions, while the time-of-flight method does not. Suprathermal ion energies Eion plotted as a function of the qλ2 parameter show a large scatter far above the experimental errors. The cause of these large scatters is attributed to a strong nonuniformity of the laser intensity distribution in the focal spot. The analysis by means of hydrodynamics and spectral simulations show that the X-ray emission spectrum is a complex convolution from different parts of the plasma with strongly different electron density and temperature. It is shown that the highly resolved Li-like satellite spectrum near Heαcontains significant distortions even for very low hot electron fractions. Non-Maxwellian spectroscopy allows determination of both the hot electron fraction and the bulk electron temperature.

Laser ion source based on a 100 J/1 Hz CO2-laser system

The laser system is a key element of the laser ion source (LIS), significantly influencing source stability and reliability. A 100 J/1 Hz master oscillator-power amplifier CO2-laser system has been designed, built, and tested for a Pb25+ LIS, with the aim of producing the ion beam parameters compatible with an injection chain for the large hadron collider. The results obtained during commissioning of the laser at ITEP and CERN are presented. LIS parameters based on 100 J/1 Hz CO2-laser system and the use of such a source for the ITEP–TWAC project are discussed.

The “Katran” CO2 Laser with High Specific Output Power and Stable Parameters

The design and parameters of the UV-preionized discharge module “Katran” are described. A particular feature of the scheme is a high-voltage pulse formation technique for sharp discharge current ignition to stabilize the self-sustained glow discharge. The free-running laser based on the discharge module allows one to obtain high specific laser power exceeding 145 MW/liter in the P(20) line for the 10-μm band for an active volume of 3 liters. Duration of the first spike of generation is 30 ns FWHM and energy content is about 65% of the total pulse energy. The high reliability and reproducibility of the modules operation for a wide range of parameters ensures laser suitability for different scientific and technical applications.

Generation of intense beams of Pb+4 to Pb+10 ions in a laser ion source

Experiments have been carried out to optimize the yield of Pb+4 ions from the plasma produced by a 100 J CO2 laser. The laser power density on the target surface was varied between 1010 W/cm2 and 9×1010 W/cm2 by changing the focal spot size. Data on the production of Pb+4 to Pb+10 ions are presented for the 15 and 40 ns laser pulse durations. The 10 mA/80 μs pulses of Pb+4 ions (about 1012 ions per pulse) were directed into an extraction aperture of 3.4 cm in diameter for optimal irradiation conditions. This is comparable with the parameters of the MEVVA ion source. Laser ion sources can be especially attractive due to the absence of the “noise” problem, typical for the MEVVA ion source, and because of the possibility of generating higher charge states. The emittance of the lead ion beam extracted from the laser-produced plasma was measured by using a 5 J laser, which provided plasma parameters (the electron temperature, ion velocities, and the charge state distribution) close to those of the plasma gener...

Influence of angles of incidence of laser radiation on the generation of fast ions

It was established experimentally that the number and energy of fast ions in laser plasma increased with increasing angle of focusing laser radiation onto a flat target. Numerical calculations showed that the increase in angle of focusing brought the mean angle of incidence of laser radiation closer to the optimal angle corresponding to the maximal efficiency of the resonance absorption mechanism and, as a result, increased the fraction of absorbed laser energy in the energy of fast electrons and increased the number of fast electrons. In turn, the increase in the energy and number of fast electrons resulted in an increase in the number of fast electrons involved in the formation of a self-consistent electric field at the target edge and led to the growth of the field strength, which, eventually, was the reason for the increase in the number and energy of fast ions.

Study of the ion composition of an expanding magnesium plasma produced by a CO2 laser

The evolution of the ion composition of a laser plasma during its expansion over a large distance is studied. The plasma is produced by a TIR CO2 laser with a pulse energy up to 100 J and duration of ∼20 ns. X-ray diagnostics with the use of a spectrograph and X-ray PIN diodes was applied to study the plasma near the target surface. At large distances from the target surface, time-of-flight neutral-particle diagnostics with the use of an electrostatic analyzer and ion collector was applied. Calculations performed with the GIDRA-1 code agree well with experimental data.

A Triggered Gas-Filled Metal–Ceramic Spark Gap with a High Current Rise Rate and Stable Operation

A triggered gas-filled three-electrode metal–ceramic РГУ-01М spark gap with a field distortion is described. This device is intended for use as a nanosecond switch. Spark gaps operating within voltage ranges of 15–30 and 30–60 kV have been developed, manufactured, and tested. The operation delay with respect to the trigger pulse is 60 × 10 ns. Life tests at a pulse repetition rate of 1.1 Hz have shown that the parameters of spark gaps do not deteriorate after the total number of operations of up to 3 × 106, which corresponds to a total charge of 4.5 × 104 C. The probability of a breakdown during life tests was 10–4. A batch of 20 spark gaps has been manufactured for the operation in a pulse voltage generator for supplying the discharge in a large-volume pulsed CO2 laser. The test results confirm the stability of the parameters of the devices in the batch.

Study of the generation of the 13.5-nm EUV radiation from Sn ions in a CO2 laser-produced plasma

Results are presented from experimental and theoretical studies of the efficiency of using a CO2 laser to create a high-power source of 13- to 14-nm EUV radiation for lithography. For a laser intensity of ∼2 × 1011 W/cm2, a conversion efficiency of kEUV ≃ 1.5% was achieved on a plane solid Sn target. The calculated gas dynamics and population kinetics of Sn plasma ions agree qualitatively with experimental results.

Selection of a Master-Oscillator Scheme for a Chemical IR-Initiated Laser

The results of experimental and theoretical studies of operation regimes of a pulsed chemical D2–F2–CO2 UV initiated laser are presented. The influence of particular mixture components, the power of the UV radiation source, and the resonators characteristics on the output radiation parameters are experimentally studied on the “Kaiman” setup. The results of theoretical simulation obtained using the proposed scheme correspond sufficiently to those obtained experimentally. A description is given of the pulsed D2–F2–CO2 UV initiated laser “Flash-1” that provides for radiation pulses of 18 J with a 2.6–3.5 μs duration in the 10-micron range. A detailed description is given of the precision diagnostics of dark reactions occurring during the mixture preparations and affecting the efficiency of energy extraction in the course of generation.