Electromagnetic pulse generation within a petawatt laser target chamber
- Atomic Weapons Establishment, Aldermaston, Reading, RG7 4PR (United Kingdom)
Recent work has been undertaken to characterize the electromagnatic pulse (EMP) generated by the high temperature high density plasma produced by a petawatt laser. This was to evaluate the susceptibility to malfunction and damage of equipment and diagnostics for the new Orion laser. EMP measurement were made using moebius loop antennas fitted inside the target chamber of the Vulcan petawatt laser at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. These show the EMP as a 63 MHz transient which decays from a peak magnetic field of around 4.3 A/m. A theoretical model presented assumes the EMP is produced by an impulse of 10{sup 12} electron emanating from the target, which charge the chamber wall causing it to ring at natural frequency. The theoretical model provides an estimate of the EMP measured in the Vulcan petawatt target chamber and will be used for the design of the Orion laser.
- OSTI ID:
- 20641278
- Journal Information:
- Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 75, Issue 10; Conference: 15. topical conference on high temperature plasma diagnostics, San Diego, CA (United States), 19-22 Apr 2004; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.1787606; (c) 2004 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0034-6748
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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