The possibility to use the ultrashort ion bunches produced by circularly polarized laser pulses to drive a source of fusion neutrons with sub-optical cycle duration is discussed. A two-side irradiation of a thin foil deuterated target produces two countermoving ion bunches, whose collision leads to an ultrashort neutron burst. Using particle-in-cell simulations and analytical modeling, it is evaluated that, for intensities of a few $10^{19} W cm^{-2}$, more than $10^3$ neutrons per Joule may be produced within a time shorter than one femtosecond. Another scheme based on a layered deuterium-tritium target is outlined.
We study ion acceleration mechanisms in laser-plasma interactions using neutron spectroscopy. We consider different types of ion-collision mechanisms in the plasma, which cause the angular anisotropy of the observed neutron spectra. These include the collisions between an ion in the plasma and an ion in the target, and the collisions between two ions in the hot plasma. By analyzing the proton spectra, we suggest that the laser-generated plasma consists of at least two components, one of which collectively accelerated and can also produce anisotropy in the angular distribution of fusion neutron…
Enhanced electron injection for efficient proton acceleration and neutron production in femtosecond laser-driven nano-structured targets
State Key Laboratory of Ultra-intense laser Science and Technology, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)（中国科学院上海光学精密机械研究所强激光科学和技术国家重点实验室）；University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学）；Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)（中国科学院上海应用物理研究所）；Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Ion-beam Application (MOE), Institute of Modern Physics, Fudan University（复旦大学现代物理研究所核物理与离子束应用教育部重点实验室）；Department of Physics, Shanghai Normal University（上海师范大学物理学系）
Coulomb explosion is revisited on the basis of explosion theory. The characteristics of the Coulomb explosion such as the ion kinetic energy, the energy distribution function, the laser absorption length along with the neutron yield are determined. The model explains reasonably well the experimental results.
Exploring and understanding ultrafast processes at the atomic level is a scientific challenge. Femtosecond X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) is an essential experimental probing technic, as it can simultaneously reveal both electronic and atomic structures, and thus unravel their non-equilibrium dynamic interplay which is at the origin of most of the ultrafast mechanisms. However, despite considerable efforts, there is still no femtosecond X-ray source suitable for routine experiments. Here we show that betatron radiation from relativistic laser-plasma interaction combines ideal features for…
Using fully three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we show that readily available femtosecond laser systems can stably generate proton beams with hundred MeV energy and low spread at $\sim1\%$ level by parallel irradiation of a tens of micrometers long plasma plate. As the laser pulse sweeps along the plate, it drags out a huge charge ($\sim$100 nC) of collimated energetic electrons and accelerates them along the plate surface to superponderomotive energies. When this dense electron current arrives at the rear end of the plate, it induces a strong electrostatic field. Due to the exces…
Laser-plasma electron accelerators can be used to produce high-intensity X-rays, as electrons accelerated in wakefields emit radiation due to betatron oscillations.Such X-ray sources inherit the features of the electron beam; sub-femtosecond electron bunches produce betatron sources of the same duration, which in turn allow probing matter on ultrashort time scales. In this paper we show, via Particle-in-Cell simulations, that attosecond electron bunches can be obtained using low-energy, ultra-short laser beams both in the self-injection and the controlled injection regimes at low plasma densit…
Laser-based sources of ionizing radiation have attracted a considerable attention in the last years for their broad potential applications. However the stability and robustness of such sources is still an issue that needs to be addressed. Aiming to solve such problems, we propose a source that uses a liquid jet -rather than a solid- as a target for the production of X-rays. Liquid jets offer always a clean surface for every laser shot which represent a clear advantage over solids. In this work, we present an experimental characterization of the X-ray emission of such targets, and study the eff…
Ultrashort electron beams with femtosecond to picosecond bunch durations offer unique opportunities to explore active research areas ranging from ultrafast structural dynamics to ultra-high dose-rate radiobiological studies. We present a straightforward method to generate MeV-ranged electron beams in ambient air through the tight focusing of a few-cycle, mJ-class femtosecond IR laser. At one meter from the source, the highest measured dose rate of 0.15 Gy/s exceeds the yearly dose limit in less than one second and warrants the implementation of radiation protection. Two-dimensional Particle-In…
Bright Ar K-shell x-ray with very little background has been generated using an Ar clustering gas jet target irradiated with an 800 mJ, 30 fs ultra-high contrast laser, with the measured flux of 1.1 x 10^4 photons/mrad^2/pulse. This intense x-ray source critically depends on the laser contrast and the laser energy and the optimization of this source with interaction is addressed. Electron driven by laser electric field directly via nonlinear resonant is proved in simulation, resulting in effective electron heating and the enhancement of x-ray emission. The x-ray pulse duration is demonstrated …
We report on an experimental demonstration of laser wakefield electron acceleration using a sub-TW power laser by tightly focusing 30-fs laser pulses with only 8 mJ pulse energy on a 100 μm scale gas target. The experiments are carried out at an unprecedented 0.5 kHz repetition rate, allowing "real time" optimization of accelerator parameters. Well-collimated and stable electron beams with a quasi-monoenergetic peak in excess of 100 keV are measured. Particle-in-cell simulations show excellent agreement with the experimental results and suggest an acceleration mechanism based on electron trapp…
Narrow bandwidth, high energy photon sources can be generated by Thomson scattering of laser light from energetic electrons, and detailed control of the interaction is needed to produce high quality sources. We present analytic calculations of the energy-angular spectra and photon yield that parametrize the influences of the electron and laser beam parameters to allow source design. These calculations, combined with numerical simulations, are applied to evaluate sources using conventional scattering in vacuum and methods for improving the source via laser waveguides or plasma channels. We show…
Relativistic interaction of short-pulse lasers with underdense plasmas has recently led to the emergence of a novel generation of femtosecond x-ray sources. Based on radiation from electrons accelerated in plasma, these sources have the common properties to be compact and to deliver collimated, incoherent and femtosecond radiation. In this article we review, within a unified formalism, the betatron radiation of trapped and accelerated electrons in the so-called bubble regime, the synchrotron radiation of laser-accelerated electrons in usual meter-scale undulators, the nonlinear Thomson scatter…
All-optical Compton sources are innovative, compact devices to produce high energy femtosecond X-rays. Here we present results on a single-pulse scheme that uses a plasma mirror to reflect the drive beam of a laser plasma accelerator and to make it collide with the highly-relativistic electrons in its wake. The accelerator is operated in the self-injection regime, producing quasi-monoenergetic electron beams of around 150 MeV peak energy. Scattering with the intense femtosecond laser pulse leads to the emission of a collimated high energy photon beam. Using continuum-attenuation filters we mea…
With the rapid development of short-pulse intense laser sources, studies of matter under extreme irradiation conditions enter further unexplored regimes. In addition, an application of X-ray Free- Electron Lasers (XFELs), delivering intense femtosecond X-ray pulses allows to investigate sample evolution in IR pump - X-ray probe experiments with an unprecedented time resolution. Here we present the detailed study of periodic plasma created from the colloidal crystal. Both experimental data and theory modeling show that the periodicity in the sample survives to a large extent the extreme excitat…
We study the excitation of electron currents in a transparent cell of sub-millimeter size filled by an atomic gas and illuminated by an intense two-color femtosecond laser pulse. The pulse consists of a strong fundamental component and its second harmonic of low intensity, both circularly polarized. We show that for sufficiently small $20μ$m cells the plasma oscillation excited by asymmetric ionization is almost spatially homogeneous within the interaction volume. This coherent dipole plasma oscillation results in a remarkably efficient conversion of the electron energy into that of radiation …
Efficient Generation of Neutrons Based on Ultrashort Laser-driven Direct Acceleration in Microwire-Array Targets
College of Science, National University of Defense Technology（国防科技大学理学院）；Science and Technology on Plasma Physics Laboratory, Laser Fusion Research Center, China Academy of Engineering Physics（中国工程物理研究院激光聚变研究中心等离子体物理重点实验室）；State Key Laboratory of High Field Laser Physics, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院上海光学精密机械研究所高场激光物理国家重点实验室）
