We investigate the dynamics of convergent shock compression in solid cylindrical targets irradiated by an ultrafast relativistic laser pulse.Our particle-in-cell simulations and coupled hydrodynamic simulations reveal...We investigate the dynamics of convergent shock compression in solid cylindrical targets irradiated by an ultrafast relativistic laser pulse.Our particle-in-cell simulations and coupled hydrodynamic simulations reveal that the compression process is initiated by both magnetic pressure and surface ablation associated with a strong transient surface return current with density of the order of 10^(17) A/m^(2) and lifetime of 100 fs.The results show that the dominant compression mechanism is governed by the plasma β,i.e.,the ratio of thermal pressure to magnetic pressure.For targets with small radius and low atomic number Z,the magnetic pressure is the dominant shock compression mechanism.According to a scaling law,as the target radius and Z increase,the surface ablation pressure becomes the main mechanism generating convergent shocks.Furthermore,an indirect experimental indication of shocked hydrogen compression is provided by optical shadowgraphy measurements of the evolution of the plasma expansion diameter.The results presented here provide a novel basis for the generation of extremely high pressures exceeding Gbar(100 TPa)to enable the investigation of high-pressure physics using femtosecond J-level laser pulses,offering an alternative to nanosecond kJ-laser pulse-driven and pulsed power Z-pinch compression methods.展开更多
Laser-driven ion sources are a rapidly developing technology producing high energy,high peak current beams.Their suitability for applications,such as compact medical accelerators,motivates development of robust accele...Laser-driven ion sources are a rapidly developing technology producing high energy,high peak current beams.Their suitability for applications,such as compact medical accelerators,motivates development of robust acceleration schemes using widely available repetitive ultraintense femtosecond lasers.These applications not only require high beam energy,but also place demanding requirements on the source stability and controllability.This can be seriously affected by the laser temporal contrast,precluding the replication of ion acceleration performance on independent laser systems with otherwise similar parameters.Here,we present the experimental generation of>60 MeV protons and>30 MeV u-1 carbon ions from sub-micrometre thickness Formvar foils irradiated with laser intensities>1021 Wcm2.Ions are accelerated by an extreme localised space charge field≥30TVm-1,over a million times higher than used in conventional accelerators.The field is formed by a rapid expulsion of electrons from the target bulk due to relativistically induced transparency,in which relativistic corrections to the refractive index enables laser transmission through normally opaque plasma.We replicate the mechanism on two different laser facilities and show that the optimum target thickness decreases with improved laser contrast due to reduced pre-expansion.Our demonstration that energetic ions can be accelerated by this mechanism at different contrast levels relaxes laser requirements and indicates interaction parameters for realising application-specific beam delivery.展开更多
文摘We investigate the dynamics of convergent shock compression in solid cylindrical targets irradiated by an ultrafast relativistic laser pulse.Our particle-in-cell simulations and coupled hydrodynamic simulations reveal that the compression process is initiated by both magnetic pressure and surface ablation associated with a strong transient surface return current with density of the order of 10^(17) A/m^(2) and lifetime of 100 fs.The results show that the dominant compression mechanism is governed by the plasma β,i.e.,the ratio of thermal pressure to magnetic pressure.For targets with small radius and low atomic number Z,the magnetic pressure is the dominant shock compression mechanism.According to a scaling law,as the target radius and Z increase,the surface ablation pressure becomes the main mechanism generating convergent shocks.Furthermore,an indirect experimental indication of shocked hydrogen compression is provided by optical shadowgraphy measurements of the evolution of the plasma expansion diameter.The results presented here provide a novel basis for the generation of extremely high pressures exceeding Gbar(100 TPa)to enable the investigation of high-pressure physics using femtosecond J-level laser pulses,offering an alternative to nanosecond kJ-laser pulse-driven and pulsed power Z-pinch compression methods.
基金supported by Kakenhi Grant No.16K05506,Grant No.20H00140,Grant No.21KK0049,Grant No.22H00121,JST PRESTO Grant No.JPMJPR16P9,QST President's Strategic Grant(QST) International Research Initiative(AAA98)and Creative Research(ABACS),and by Laserlab Europe V(PRISES,contract no.871124)supported by EU's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sktodowska-Curie grant agreement No 894679support by JST-Mirai Program Grant Number JPMJMI17A1,Japan.N.P.D.,EJ.D.,G.S.H.,Z.N.acknowledge support from STFC grants ST/P002021/1,STN001639/1.
文摘Laser-driven ion sources are a rapidly developing technology producing high energy,high peak current beams.Their suitability for applications,such as compact medical accelerators,motivates development of robust acceleration schemes using widely available repetitive ultraintense femtosecond lasers.These applications not only require high beam energy,but also place demanding requirements on the source stability and controllability.This can be seriously affected by the laser temporal contrast,precluding the replication of ion acceleration performance on independent laser systems with otherwise similar parameters.Here,we present the experimental generation of>60 MeV protons and>30 MeV u-1 carbon ions from sub-micrometre thickness Formvar foils irradiated with laser intensities>1021 Wcm2.Ions are accelerated by an extreme localised space charge field≥30TVm-1,over a million times higher than used in conventional accelerators.The field is formed by a rapid expulsion of electrons from the target bulk due to relativistically induced transparency,in which relativistic corrections to the refractive index enables laser transmission through normally opaque plasma.We replicate the mechanism on two different laser facilities and show that the optimum target thickness decreases with improved laser contrast due to reduced pre-expansion.Our demonstration that energetic ions can be accelerated by this mechanism at different contrast levels relaxes laser requirements and indicates interaction parameters for realising application-specific beam delivery.
