Bulletin of the American Physical Society
64th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics
Volume 67, Number 15
Monday–Friday, October 17–21, 2022; Spokane, Washington
Session YO06: Short-pulse Laser-plasma Interactions/Nonlinear Optics of PlasmaLive Streamed
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Chair: David Stark, LANL Room: Ballroom 111 C |
Friday, October 21, 2022 9:30AM - 9:42AM |
YO06.00001: High-energy density laser-matter interaction at ELI-Beamlines Florian Condamine, Stefan Weber, Noémie Jourdain, Tomas Lastovicka, Raj Singh, Petr Rubovic The P3 infrastructure at ELI-Beamlines is designed for multiple-beam experiments. It allows for high-energy (~kJ, ~ns) as well as high-intensity (multi-PW, 150 fs) operation based on the L4 laser. In combination with the L3-HAPLS laser (at present ~0.5 PW, 27 fs), sophisticated pump-probe experiments will become available end 2022. The L3 and L4n laser have been partially commissioned in 2021 and 2022. |
Friday, October 21, 2022 9:42AM - 9:54AM |
YO06.00002: Ultra-intense short pulse ion acceleration from near solid density nanofoams Ginevra Cochran, Christopher Cooper, Nicholas Czapla, Rebecca L Daskalova, Zac Gavin, Kevin Glennon, David Hanggi, Edward P Hartouni, Andreas J Kemp, Shaun M Kerr, Derek Nasir, Patrick Poole, Pedro Spingola, German Tiscareno, Scott Wilks, Jarrod Williams, Douglass W Schumacher, Gary Grim Generating ~tens of keV ion distributions at near solid density has the potential to allow nuclear reaction cross section measurements of relevance to astrophysics, including the CNO stellar cycle. Recently, a platform has been proposed [1] which can accomplish this using an ultra-intense short pulse laser, with the possibility of data collection at high shot rates. An unstructured nanofoam CH or CD target, consisting of ~100 nm randomly oriented ligaments, is shot with a femtosecond-scale laser. Hot electrons are produced which stream through the foam, accelerating ions normal to the ligament surfaces and creating a plasma in which charged particle reactions can take place. Experimental results using these targets at the Ohio State Scarlet laser facility in its f/17 mode (~5x1019 W/cm2, 40 fs) will be presented. Proton and deuteron acceleration from CD and CH nanofoam targets is studied as a function of foam composition and incident laser parameters.
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Friday, October 21, 2022 9:54AM - 10:06AM Author not Attending |
YO06.00003: Neutron production using deuterated nano-foam targets. Gary Grim, Gary Grim, Ginevra Cochran, Ginevra Cochran, Christopher Cooper, Christopher Cooper, Kevin Glennon, Kevin Glennon, Edward P Hartouni, Edward P Hartouni, Andreas J Kemp, Andreas J Kemp, Shaun M Kerr, Shaun M Kerr, Scott Wilks, Scott Wilks Experimental results of neutron production using deuterated targets constructed from aerogel foams and irradiated by intense short pulse lasers will be presented. Targets comprised of nano-foams with $\sim$100 nm scale pores and filaments were mounted on a solid density CH, or CD supports. During the experimental runs, targets were illuminated on either the foam or the solid density side by an intense, $\geq$5E19 W/cm$^2$, short pulse laser with very high contrast. Data were collected at the ALEPH laser facility at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, and the Scarlet laser facility, at the Ohio State University, Columbus, OH using time awarded by the LaserNet US program. Neutron data were collected using both neutron time-of-flight techniques as well as a $^3$He proportional tube detector. Neutron yields, along with correlations with other experimental data from both facilities will be presented. |
Friday, October 21, 2022 10:06AM - 10:18AM |
YO06.00004: Effects of Non-Maxwellian Electrons on the Ionization of XFEL-heated Neon Plasmas via the Collisional-Radiative Model Min Sang Cho, Mark E Foord, Stephen B Libby, Hyun-Kyung Chung, Byoung-ick Cho The collisional-radiative model, SCFLY, has been successfully employed on analysis of XFEL-matter interaction with the assumption of the fast electron thermalization. The fact that the electron-electron collisional frequency in dense plasmas is comparable to a few femtoseconds makes this assumption valid. However, it would not be the case in a relatively low-density plasma where the electron-electron collisional time estimated is comparable or larger than the plasma evolution time. In this work, SCFLY has been improved to equip the Boltzmann solver to monitor the evolution of electron energy distribution function (EEDF) in that condition. For benchmark purposes, the calculation of the charge state distribution (CSD) of Ne plasma heated by XFEL [1] has been performed. It reveals that higher electron-ion collisional rate driven by energetic electrons remaining in EEDF makes the CSD more consistent with the experimental results than the previous simulation [2] conducted by SCFLY. |
Friday, October 21, 2022 10:18AM - 10:30AM |
YO06.00005: The Plasma Dynamics of Two Color THz Generation Travis M Garrett Broadband THz radiation is a well known product of femtosecond filamentation, with particularly strong THz being driven by two color systems. Many papers describe aspects of this THz radiation, but we show that novel plasma dynamics are key to understanding how the THz is generated. We show that an electromagnetic pulse is generated from the Langmuir waves by inverse mode conversion, and this pulse then stimulates and copropagates with an HE1 surface plasmon polariton (which then detaches from the end of the plasma column and propagates forward). In turn higher frequency THz radiation is also generated within the envelope of the ionizing laser pulse. The evolution of this high frequency THz is well described by a simple linear inhomogeneous wave equation, and for a slowly evolving laser pulse the frequency of this THz grows as the square root of the plasma column length. |
Friday, October 21, 2022 10:30AM - 10:42AM |
YO06.00006: Modeling damage formation in copper illuminated by laser pulses of few optical cycle duration using particle-in-cell simulations Alexander C Klepinger, Douglass W Schumacher, Alex M Russell
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Friday, October 21, 2022 10:42AM - 10:54AM |
YO06.00007: Particle-In-Cell simulation of silicon laser ablation and formation of over-dense plasma Gennady Miloshevsky The efficient coupling of laser energy to a solid target is of the great importance in many research areas related to laser-matter interactions. The laser light doesn’t penetrate deeply into a preformed over-dense plasma. The energy is deposited into the deeper solid layers by the hot electrons with energies of tens of keV. The ablation of silicon and expansion of plasma generated by a short laser pulse with intensity of 1015 W/cm2 are studied using the Smilei Particle-In-Cell (PIC) code. The collisions between macro-particles and ionization are taken into account. The kinetic PIC simulation allows to investigate how the material is removed when the electron density is above the critical density of plasma. The over-dense plasma was found to be characterized by very steep profiles of electron density and temperature. The PIC results provide insights into the time evolution of 1) number density of ions and electrons along the depth of plasma layer; 2) electric and magnetic fields; 3) total ion, electron, and electromagnetic field energies; and 4) energy spectra of ions and electrons. |
Friday, October 21, 2022 10:54AM - 11:06AM |
YO06.00008: Generating optical supercontinuum and frequency comb in tenuous plasmas Kenan Qu, Nathaniel Fisch Wideband laser spectra with high intensities are capable of overcoming plasma instabilities and enable efficient laser power delivery. Focusing on one-dimensional effects, we identify two strong optical nonlinearities, namely, four-wave mixing (including self-phase modulation) and forward Raman scattering, for creating octave-wide spectra. PIC simulations demonstrate that the spectrum of a bicolor laser at 1016-1017 W/cm2 can be broadened by nearly two orders of magnitude after propagating through a few-centimeter-long plasma of density 1017-1018 cm-3. This talk will discuss the two operation regimes of laser spectra broadening and key properties of each regime. |
Friday, October 21, 2022 11:06AM - 11:18AM |
YO06.00009: A liquid crystal plasma mirror "fuse" for petawatt-class lasers to protect against back reflections German Tiscareno, Nicholas Czapla, Douglass W Schumacher, Mihail O Cernaianu, Florin Rotaru, Petru Virgil Ghenuche, Theodor Asavei, Septimiu Balascuta, Alexandru Magureanu, Viorel Nastasa, Florin Negoita, Paolo Tomassini, Lucian Tudor, Kazuo A Tanaka, Calin A Ur, Domenico Doria Petawatt-class lasers employ optics which are expensive and have very long lead-times to replace. Due to the dynamical plasma formed from high-density targets, back reflections risk damaging these optics even in non-normal incidence geometries. We present results on the use of a liquid crystal (LC) based plasma mirror (PM) that acts as a "fuse" to prevent back reflections by expanding below the critical density before reflections from the target arrive. This work was performed at ELI-NP using the recently commissioned High Power Laser System (HPLS). The experiment used a F/3.7 focusing optic and an LC PM. A Linear Slide Target Inserter (LSTI) was used to form in situ films of 20-2000 nm thickness. A pump-probe setup was used to measure the lifetime and reflectivity of the plasma mirror on picosecond timescales ranging before and after the plasma mirror formation. Results indicate the PM reflectivity lifetime is on the order of 10 ps for 20 nm films, showing the feasibility of a LC PM fuse. Measurements of suppression of the back reflection itself are presented. |
Friday, October 21, 2022 11:18AM - 11:30AM |
YO06.00010: High Efficiency Plasma Diffraction Gratings Generated in Cluster Jets Stefan K Waczynski, Matthew R Edwards, Anthony Zingale, Ela M Rockafellow, Robert M Schwartz, Pierre A Michel, Howard M Milchberg High efficiency diffraction of intense laser light without incurring grating damage is an area of high interest. Modern lasers often exceed solid material damage thresholds, requiring the construction of large-surface-area gratings to reduce the intensity of the incident light. Plasma based gratings offer a promising alternative due to their high damage resistance. However, there are many obstacles still remaining to field a working plasma grating. Here we present experimental and simulation results which demonstrate very high-efficiency first-order diffraction of a λ=3.9 um laser pulse with plasma transmission gratings. The gratings are formed in an argon cluster jet by avalanche ionization driven by a pair of intersecting λ=1.064 mm pulses. We achieve average and peak diffraction efficiencies of 35% and 60%, respectively, constituting the highest efficiency plasma gratings demonstrated to date [1]. We additionally present plans for follow-up optimization of cluster-based plasma gratings. |
Friday, October 21, 2022 11:30AM - 11:42AM |
YO06.00011: Particle Simulation of Resonant Silicon Nanoantennas Simin Zhang, Joseph R Smith, Enam Chowdhury Metasurfaces can trap the light at the resonant frequency and enhance the electric field dramatically, which has potential application in energetic electron beam emission, free-electron lasers, etc. Nevertheless, the microscopic picture of electron dynamics is unclear, obscuring an in-depth understanding of the nonlinear optical processes associated. |
Friday, October 21, 2022 11:42AM - 11:54AM |
YO06.00012: Efficient generation and amplification of intense vortex and vector laser pulses via strongly coupled stimulated Brillouin scattering in plasmas Yipeng Wu, Chaojie Zhang, Zan Nie, Mitchell Sinclair, Audrey Farrell, Kenneth A Marsh, Warren B Mori, Chandrashekhar Joshi The past decade has seen tremendous interest and progress in the production and utilization of vortex and vector laser beams. As two special kinds of structured light, the vortex lasers have helical phase fronts and phase singularities, while the vector lasers have spatially variable polarization states and polarization singularities. In contrast to the vortex pulses that carry orbital angular momentum (OAM), the vector laser pulses have a complex spin angular momentum (SAM) and OAM coupling. Despite of many potential applications enabled by such pulses, the generation of high-intensity vortex and vector beams remains challenging. Here we demonstrate theoretically and with three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations that the strongly coupled stimulated Brillouin scattering (sc-SBS) process in plasmas can be used as a promising amplification technique with extremely high energy transfer efficiency for both vortex and vector lasers. We also show the various couplings when such complex lasers interact with plasmas, leading to the generation of intense new light structures with controllable OAM and SAM. This scheme significantly reduces the size of amplification system and promotes access to high-intensity vortex and vector laser beams for scientific and industrial applications. |
Friday, October 21, 2022 11:54AM - 12:06PM |
YO06.00013: Laser harmonic generation with tuneable orbital angular momentum using a structured plasma target Raoul M Trines, Holger Schmitz, Robert Bingham In previous studies of spin-to-orbital angular momentum (AM) conversion in laser high harmonic generation (HHG) using a plasma target, one unit of spin AM is always converted into precisely one unit of OAM [1,2]. Here we show, through analytic theory and numerical simulations, that we can exchange one unit of SAM for a tuneable amount of OAM per harmonic step, via the use of a structured plasma target. The target absorbs the difference in total AM between that of n fundamental photons and the outgoing n-th harmonic photon. We introduce a novel way to analyse the frequency, spin and OAM content of the harmonic radiation which provides enhanced insight into this process. The prospects of structured targets for HHG with high-order transverse modes will be discussed. |
Friday, October 21, 2022 12:06PM - 12:18PM |
YO06.00014: Constraining Temperature Profiles in High Energy Density Matter Through High-resolution X-ray Spectroscopy Nicholas F Beier, Bassam Nima, Vigneshvar Senthilkumaran, Hunter G Allison, Yasmeen Musthafa, Mahek Logantha, Philip C Efthimion, Lan Gao, Kenneth W Hill, Kirk A Flippo, Stephanie B Hansen, Reed C Hollinger, Ryan Nedbailo, Huanyu Song, Shoujun Wang, Vyacheslav Shlyaptsev, Ronnie L Shepherd, Franklin J Dollar, Jorge J Rocca, Amina E Hussein High energy density (HED) matter exists in extremes of temperature and density characterized by energy densities exceeding 1011 J/m3 . Short-pulse, laser-solid interactions provide a unique platform to develop well-characterized laboratory HED conditions to diagnose fundamental properties such as opacity and equations of state, needed to benchmark atomic physics models and simulations tools. Experiments performing high-resolution (E/ΔE > 7500) X-ray spectroscopy of copper K-shell emission using the high-contrast, high-intensity (I ∼1021 W/cm2 ) ALEPH 400 nm laser at Colorado State University demonstrate the generation of micron-scale, uniformly-heated, solid-density plasmas with electron densities exceeding 1024 cm-3 and temperatures exceeding 3 keV. Simultaneous measurement of front-side and rear-side K-shell fluorescence reveals opacity effects within the highly-ionized plasma conditions that indicate significant plasma bulk heating driven by refluxing electrons. We implement a Monte Carlo algorithm to further constrain the plasma heating profiles by estimating the probability distribution of temperature profiles derived from collisional-radiative modeling |
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