Ultraintense laser interaction with nanoscale target: a simple model for layer expansion and ion acceleration

Conference · Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/244/4/042022· OSTI ID:974297

Albright, Brian J ^[1]; Yin, Lin ^[1]; Hegelich, Bjoorn M ^[1]; Bowers, Kevin J ^[1]; Huang, Chengkun ^[1]; Fernandez, Juan C ^[1]; Flippo, Kirk A ^[1]; Gaillard, Sandrine ^[1]; Kwan, Thomas J T ^[1]; Henig, Andreas ^[2]; Yan, Xue Q ^[2]; Tajima, Toshi ^[3]; Habs, Dieter ^[2]

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1. Los Alamos National Laboratory
2. GERMANY
3. JAEA, KYOTO, JAPAN

A simple model has been derived for the expansion of a thin (up to 100s of nm thickness), solid-density target driven by an u.ltraintense laser. In this regime, new ion acceleration mechanisms, such as the Break-Out Afterburner (BOA) [1], emerge with the potential to dramatically improve energy, efficiency, and energy spread of laser-driven ion beams. Such beams have been proposed [2] as drivers for fast ignition inertial confinement fusion [3]. Analysis of kinetic simulations of the BOA shows two dislinct times that bound the period of enhanced acceleration: t{sub 1}, when the target becomes relativistically transparent to the laser, and t{sub 2}, when the target becomes classically underdense and the enhanced acceleration terminates. A silllple dynamical model for target expansion has been derived that contains both the early, one-dimensional (lD) expansion of the target as well as three-dimensional (3D) expansion of the plasma at late times, The model assumes that expansion is slab-like at the instantaneous ion sound speed and requires as input target composition, laser intensity, laser spot area, and the efficiency of laser absorption into electron thermal energy.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC52-06NA25396
• OSTI ID: 974297
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-09-07049; LA-UR-09-7049; TRN: US1002267
• Resource Relation: Journal Volume: 244; Journal Issue: 4; Conference: Inertial Fusion Science and Applications conference ; September 6, 2009 ; San Francisco, CA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ABSORPTION
ACCELERATION
AFTERBURNERS
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRONS
IGNITION
INERTIAL CONFINEMENT
ION BEAMS
KINETICS
LASERS
PLASMA
TARGETS
THICKNESS
VELOCITY