Laser-driven cylindrical compression of targets for fast electron transport study in warm and dense plasmas

Journal Article · Fri Apr 15 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3578346· OSTI ID:21537662

Vauzour, B; Nicolaie, Ph; Dorchies, F; Fourment, C; Hulin, S; Regan, C; Ribeyre, X; Schurtz, G; Santos, J J ^[1]; Perez, F; Baton, S D; Brambrink, E ^[2]; Volpe, L; Batani, D; Jafer, R ^[3]; Lancaster, K; Galimberti, M; Heathcote, R ^[4]; Beg, F N; Chawla, S ^[5]

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1. Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications (CELIA), CNRS, CEA, Universite Bordeaux 1, 33405 Talence Cedex (France)
2. LULI, Ecole Polytechnique, CNRS, CEA, UPMC, 91128 Palaiseau Cedex (France)
3. Dipartimento di Fisica, Universita di Milano-Bicocca, Milano 20126 (Italy)
4. Central Laser Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot (United Kingdom)
5. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0411 (United States)

Fast ignition requires a precise knowledge of fast electron propagation in a dense hydrogen plasma. In this context, a dedicated HiPER (High Power laser Energy Research) experiment was performed on the VULCAN laser facility where the propagation of relativistic electron beams through cylindrically compressed plastic targets was studied. In this paper, we characterize the plasma parameters such as temperature and density during the compression of cylindrical polyimide shells filled with CH foams at three different initial densities. X-ray and proton radiography were used to measure the cylinder radius at different stages of the compression. By comparing both diagnostics results with 2D hydrodynamic simulations, we could infer densities from 2 to 11 g/cm{sup 3} and temperatures from 30 to 120 eV at maximum compression at the center of targets. According to the initial foam density, kinetic, coupled (sometimes degenerated) plasmas were obtained. The temporal and spatial evolution of the resulting areal densities and electrical conductivities allow for testing electron transport in a wide range of configurations.

• OSTI ID: 21537662
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 18, Issue 4; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3578346; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
CHARGED-PARTICLE TRANSPORT
COMPRESSION
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRON BEAMS
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
FOAMS
IGNITION
ION TEMPERATURE
PLASMA
PLASMA DENSITY
PLASMA DIAGNOSTICS
PROTON RADIOGRAPHY
X-RAY RADIOGRAPHY
BEAMS
COLLOIDS
DISPERSIONS
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
INDUSTRIAL RADIOGRAPHY
LEPTON BEAMS
MATERIALS TESTING
NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING
PARTICLE BEAMS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
RADIATION TRANSPORT
TESTING