Plasma expansion and relativistic filamentation in intense laser-irradiated cone targets

Cochran, G. E.; Kemp, A. J.; Wilks, S. C.; Kerr, S. M.; Williams, G. J.; Alessi, D. A.; Di Nicola, J.-M. G.; Hermann, M. R.; Kalantar, D. H.; Lanier, T. E.; Marinak, M. M.; Martinez, D.; Prantil, M. A.; Widmayer, C.; Williams, W. H.; Mackinnon, A. J.

doi:10.1063/5.0065725

Title: Plasma expansion and relativistic filamentation in intense laser-irradiated cone targets

Journal Article · Tue Nov 16 00:00:00 EST 2021 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0065725· OSTI ID:1860656

^[1];

^[1]; Wilks, S. C. ^[1]; Kerr, S. M. ^[1];

^[1];

^[1]; Di Nicola, J.-M. G. ^[1]; Hermann, M. R. ^[1]; Kalantar, D. H. ^[1]; Lanier, T. E. ^[1]; Marinak, M. M. ^[1];

^[1]; Prantil, M. A. ^[1]; Widmayer, C. ^[1]; Williams, W. H. ^[1]; Mackinnon, A. J. ^[1]

Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

We report that compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) cone targets have been shown to produce increased MeV photons on the NIF-ARC by 10× over flat targets. Multiple x-ray frames can potentially be generated by firing the NIF-ARC's beamlets into distinct cone targets at few nanosecond relative delays. This requires that the cone targets with delayed beams are not degraded by their proximity to previous targets. One concern is that the spatial wings of a beam fired into one target can fall on neighboring targets, producing a preformed plasma that may interfere with laser light reaching the tip of the cone. In this work, 3D hydra simulations of realistic targets and beam parameters show that hundreds of micrometer scale length preplasmas are produced in cones within 1 mm of the laser spot. 2D particle-in-cell simulations of the intense main pulse in this preplasma indicate a density threshold for the onset of relativistic filamentation in our conditions. Applying our modeling approach to a NIF-ARC shot with an intentional 15 J prepulse yields good agreement with experimental results.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

View Accepted Manuscript (Publisher)

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-07NA27344; 19-SI-002; 17-ERD-039

OSTI ID:: 1860656

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1830422

Report Number(s):: LLNL-JRNL-824816; 1037357; TRN: US2305402

Journal Information:: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 28, Issue 11; ISSN 1070-664X

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (36)

Self-focusing of short intense pulses in plasmas Sun, Guo-Zheng; Ott, Edward; Lee, Y. C. Physics of Fluids, Vol. 30, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.866349	journal	January 1987
Microengineering Laser Plasma Interactions at Relativistic Intensities Jiang, S.; Ji, L. L.; Audesirk, H. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 116, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.085002	journal	February 2016
Fast ignition realization experiment with high-contrast kilo-joule peta-watt LFEX laser and strong external magnetic field Fujioka, Shinsuke; Arikawa, Yasunobu; Kojima, Sadaoki Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 23, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4948278	journal	May 2016
How well do time-integrated K _α images represent hot electron spatial distributions? Ovchinnikov, V. M.; Kemp, G. E.; Schumacher, D. W. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 18, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3609819	journal	July 2011
Order-of-magnitude increase in laser-target coupling at near-relativistic intensities using compound parabolic concentrators Williams, G. J.; Link, A.; Sherlock, M. Physical Review E, Vol. 103, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.103.L031201	journal	March 2021
Ignition and high gain with ultrapowerful lasers Tabak, Max; Hammer, James; Glinsky, Michael E. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 1, Issue 5, p. 1626-1634 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.870664	journal	May 1994
Bremsstrahlung spectrum and photon dose from short-pulse high-intensity laser interaction on various metal targets Compant La Fontaine, A.; Courtois, C.; Gobet, F. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 26, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5118361	journal	November 2019
Hot Electron Temperature and Coupling Efficiency Scaling with Prepulse for Cone-Guided Fast Ignition Ma, T.; Sawada, H.; Patel, P. K. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 108, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.115004	journal	March 2012
Increased efficiency of short-pulse laser-generated proton beams from novel flat-top cone targets Flippo, K. A.; d’Humières, E.; Gaillard, S. A. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 15, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2918125	journal	May 2008
Visualizing fast electron energy transport into laser-compressed high-density fast-ignition targets Jarrott, L. C.; Wei, M. S.; McGuffey, C. Nature Physics, Vol. 12, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3614	journal	January 2016
VISRAD—A 3-D view factor code and design tool for high-energy density physics experiments MacFarlane, J. J. Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, Vol. 81, Issue 1-4 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4073(03)00081-5	journal	September 2003
High-energy (>70 keV) x-ray conversion efficiency measurement on the ARC laser at the National Ignition Facility Chen, Hui; Hermann, M. R.; Kalantar, D. H. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 24, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4978493	journal	March 2017
Coupling of high-intensity laser light to fast electrons in cone-guided fast ignition Akli, K. U.; Orban, C.; Schumacher, D. Physical Review E, Vol. 86, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.86.065402	journal	December 2012
Self-focusing and guiding of short laser pulses in ionizing gases and plasmas Esarey, E.; Sprangle, P.; Krall, J. IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, Vol. 33, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1109/3.641305	journal	January 1997
Flash Kα radiography of laser-driven solid sphere compression for fast ignition Sawada, H.; Lee, S.; Shiroto, T. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 108, Issue 25 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4954383	journal	June 2016
Time-resolved compression of a capsule with a cone to high density for fast-ignition laser fusion Theobald, W.; Solodov, A. A.; Stoeckl, C. Nature Communications, Vol. 5, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms6785	journal	December 2014
High-resolution multi-MeV x-ray radiography using relativistic laser-solid interaction Courtois, C.; Edwards, R.; Compant La Fontaine, A. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 18, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3551738	journal	February 2011
Characterisation of a MeV Bremsstrahlung x-ray source produced from a high intensity laser for high areal density object radiography Courtois, C.; Edwards, R.; Compant La Fontaine, A. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 20, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4818505	journal	August 2013
Using time-integrated K _α images to study refluxing and the extent of pre-plasmas in intense laser-plasma experiment Ovchinnikov, V. M.; Schumacher, D. W.; Kemp, G. E. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 18, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3656957	journal	November 2011
Beyond the ponderomotive limit: Direct laser acceleration of relativistic electrons in sub-critical plasmas Arefiev, A. V.; Khudik, V. N.; Robinson, A. P. L. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 23, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4946024	journal	April 2016
Increased laser-accelerated proton energies via direct laser-light-pressure acceleration of electrons in microcone targets Gaillard, S. A.; Kluge, T.; Flippo, K. A. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 18, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3575624	journal	May 2011
High proton energies from cone targets: electron acceleration mechanisms Kluge, T.; Gaillard, S. A.; Flippo, K. A. New Journal of Physics, Vol. 14, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/14/2/023038	journal	February 2012
Direct electron acceleration in multi-kilojoule, multi-picosecond laser pulses Kemp, A. J.; Wilks, S. C. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 27, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0007159	journal	October 2020
Impact of extended preplasma on energy coupling in kilojoule energy relativistic laser interaction with cone wire targets relevant to fast ignition Yabuuchi, T.; Mishra, R.; McGuffey, C. New Journal of Physics, Vol. 15, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/15/1/015020	journal	January 2013
The Scattered Light Time-history Diagnostic suite at the National Ignition Facility Rosenberg, M. J.; Hernandez, J. E.; Butler, N. Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 92, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0040558	journal	March 2021
Limitation on Prepulse Level for Cone-Guided Fast-Ignition Inertial Confinement Fusion MacPhee, A. G.; Divol, L.; Kemp, A. J. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 104, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.055002	journal	February 2010
Magnetized fast isochoric laser heating for efficient creation of ultra-high-energy-density states Sakata, Shohei; Lee, Seungho; Morita, Hiroki Nature Communications, Vol. 9, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-06173-6	journal	September 2018
Inhibition of fast electron energy deposition due to preplasma filling of cone-attached targets Baton, S. D.; Koenig, M.; Fuchs, J. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 15, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2903054	journal	January 2008
Principles of solar concentrators of a novel design Winston, Roland Solar Energy, Vol. 16, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/0038-092X(74)90004-8	journal	October 1974
Plasma Physics via Computer Simulation Birdsall, C. K.; Langdon, A. B. https://doi.org/10.1887/0750301171	book	January 1991
Effects of Preplasma Scale Length and Laser Intensity on the Divergence of Laser-Generated Hot Electrons Ovchinnikov, V. M.; Schumacher, D. W.; McMahon, M. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 110, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.065007	journal	February 2013
Enhancements in laser-generated hot-electron production via focusing cone targets at short pulse and high contrast Rusby, D. R.; King, P. M.; Pak, A. Physical Review E, Vol. 103, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.103.053207	journal	May 2021
Spatio-temporal focal spot characterization and modeling of the NIF ARC kilojoule picosecond laser Williams, Wade H.; Crane, John K.; Alessi, David A. Applied Optics, Vol. 60, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.416846	journal	January 2021
Relativistic laser driven electron accelerator using micro-channel plasma targets Snyder, J.; Ji, L. L.; George, K. M. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 26, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5087409	journal	March 2019
Effect of plasma hydrodynamics on laser-produced bremsstrahlung MeV photon dose Courtois, C.; Compant La Fontaine, A.; Bonnet, T. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 27, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0019816	journal	November 2020
Three-dimensional HYDRA simulations of National Ignition Facility targets Marinak, M. M.; Kerbel, G. D.; Gentile, N. A. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 8, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1356740	journal	May 2001

Similar Records

Enhanced electron acceleration by high-intensity lasers in extended (confined) preplasma in cone targets

Journal Article · Wed Feb 08 00:00:00 EST 2023 · Physics of Plasmas · OSTI ID:1860656

Rusby, D. R.; Cochran, G. E.; Aghedo, A.; +19 more

Development of a bright MeV photon source with compound parabolic concentrator targets on the National Ignition Facility Advanced Radiographic Capability (NIF-ARC) laser

Journal Article · Tue Jan 03 00:00:00 EST 2023 · Physics of Plasmas · OSTI ID:1860656

Kerr, S. M.; Rusby, D.; Williams, G. J.; +47 more

Limitation on Prepulse Level for Cone-Guided Fast-Ignition Inertial Confinement Fusion

Journal Article · Fri Feb 05 00:00:00 EST 2010 · Physical Review Letters · OSTI ID:1860656

MacPhee, A G; Divol, L; Kemp, A J; +17 more

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY

Title: Plasma expansion and relativistic filamentation in intense laser-irradiated cone targets

Citation Formats

References (36)

Similar Records

Related Subjects