Direct Observations of Particle Dynamics in Magnetized Collisionless Shock Precursors in Laser-Produced Plasmas

Schaeffer, Derek B.; Fox, W.; Follett, R. K.; Fiksel, G.; Li, C. K.; Matteucci, J.; Bhattacharjee, A.; Germaschewski, K.

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.245001

Title: Direct Observations of Particle Dynamics in Magnetized Collisionless Shock Precursors in Laser-Produced Plasmas

Journal Article · 20 June 2019 · Physical Review Letters

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.245001 · OSTI ID:1543244

^[1]; Fox, W. ^[2]; Follett, R. K. ^[3]; Fiksel, G. ^[4]; Li, C. K. ^[5]; Matteucci, J. ^[6]; Bhattacharjee, A. ^[2]; Germaschewski, K. ^[7]

Princeton Univ., Princeton, NJ (United States); Princeton University
Princeton Univ., Princeton, NJ (United States); Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
Univ. of Rochester, Rochester, NY (United States)
Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
Princeton Univ., Princeton, NJ (United States)
Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States)

We present the first laboratory observations of time-resolved electron and ion velocity distributions in magnetized collisionless shock precursors. Thomson scattering of a probe laser beam was used to observe the interaction of a laser-driven, supersonic piston plasma expanding through an ambient plasma in an external magnetic field. From the Thomson-scattered spectra we measure time-resolved profiles of electron density, temperature, and ion flow speed, as well as spatially resolved magnetic fields from proton radiography. We observe direct evidence of the coupling between piston and ambient plasmas, including the acceleration of ambient ions driven by magnetic and pressure gradient electric fields, and deformation of the piston ion flow, key steps in the formation of magnetized collisionless shocks. Even before a shock has fully formed, we observe strong density compressions and electron heating associated with the pileup of piston ions. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that laboratory experiments can probe particle velocity distributions relevant to collisionless shocks, and can complement, and in some cases overcome, the limitations of similar measurements undertaken by spacecraft missions.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: Princeton Univ., Princeton, NJ (United States); Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) (SC-24); USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) (SC-21); USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: NA0003613; AC05-00OR22725; SC0008655; SC0016249

OSTI ID:: 1543244

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1546406

Journal Information:: Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 24 Vol. 122; ISSN 0031-9007; ISSN PRLTAO

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (41)

Structure of a Magnetic Flux Annihilation Layer Formed by the Collision of Supersonic, Magnetized Plasma Flows Suttle, L. G.; Hare, J. D.; Lebedev, S. V. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 116, Issue 22 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.225001	journal	May 2016
Thomson-scattering techniques to diagnose local electron and ion temperatures, density, and plasma wave amplitudes in laser produced plasmas (invited) Froula, D. H.; Ross, J. S.; Divol, L. Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 77, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2336451	journal	October 2006
Small‐Scale Structure of the SN 1006 Shock with Chandra Observations Bamba, Aya; Yamazaki, Ryo; Ueno, Masaru The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 589, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1086/374687	journal	June 2003
Generation and Evolution of High-Mach-Number Laser-Driven Magnetized Collisionless Shocks in the Laboratory Schaeffer, D. B.; Fox, W.; Haberberger, D. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 119, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.025001	journal	July 2017
Magnetic Reconnection between Colliding Magnetized Laser-Produced Plasma Plumes Fiksel, G.; Fox, W.; Bhattacharjee, A. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 113, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.105003	journal	September 2014
Note: Experimental platform for magnetized high-energy-density plasma studies at the omega laser facility Fiksel, G.; Agliata, A.; Barnak, D. Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 86, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4905625	journal	January 2015
Dynamics of exploding plasmas in a large magnetized plasma Niemann, C.; Gekelman, W.; Constantin, C. G. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 20, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4773911	journal	January 2013
Electron Bulk Acceleration and Thermalization at Earth’s Quasiperpendicular Bow Shock Chen, L. -J.; Wang, S.; Wilson, L. B. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 120, Issue 22 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.225101	journal	May 2018
Laboratory space physics: Investigating the physics of space plasmas in the laboratory Howes, Gregory G. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 25, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5025421	journal	May 2018
Kinetic simulation of magnetic field generation and collisionless shock formation in expanding laboratory plasmas Fox, W.; Matteucci, J.; Moissard, C. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 25, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5050813	journal	October 2018
The upgrade to the OMEGA laser system Boehly, T. R.; Craxton, R. S.; Hinterman, T. H. Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 66, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1146333	journal	January 1995
Rippled Quasiperpendicular Shock Observed by the Magnetospheric Multiscale Spacecraft Johlander, A.; Schwartz, S. J.; Vaivads, A. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 117, Issue 16 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.165101	journal	October 2016
Demagnetization of transmitted electrons through a quasi-perpendicular collisionless shock Lembège, B. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 108, Issue A6 https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JA009288	journal	January 2003
Highly Resolved Measurements of a Developing Strong Collisional Plasma Shock Rinderknecht, Hans G.; Park, H. -S.; Ross, J. S. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 120, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.095001	journal	March 2018
Filamentation Instability of Counterstreaming Laser-Driven Plasmas Fox, W.; Fiksel, G.; Bhattacharjee, A. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 111, Issue 22 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.225002	journal	November 2013
Electron Temperature Gradient Scale at Collisionless Shocks Schwartz, Steven J.; Henley, Edmund; Mitchell, Jeremy Physical Review Letters, Vol. 107, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.215002	journal	November 2011
Observation of collisionless shocks in a large current-free laboratory plasma Niemann, C.; Gekelman, W.; Constantin, C. G. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 41, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL061820	journal	November 2014
New mechanism for electron heating in shocks Balikhin, M.; Gedalin, M.; Petrukovich, A. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 70, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.70.1259	journal	March 1993
Measurement of Electron Temperatures produced by Collisionless Shock Waves in a Magnetized Plasma Paul, J. W. M.; Goldenbaum, G. C.; Iiyoshi, A. Nature, Vol. 216, Issue 5113 https://doi.org/10.1038/216363a0	journal	October 1967
Collisionless coupling of a high- β expansion to an ambient, magnetized plasma. II. Experimental fields and measured momentum coupling Bonde, Jeffrey; Vincena, Stephen; Gekelman, Walter Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 25, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5029302	journal	April 2018
A mechanism for strong shock electron heating in supernova remnants Cargill, P. J.; Papadopoulos, K. The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 329 https://doi.org/10.1086/185170	journal	June 1988
A model of the pre-Sedov expansion phase of supernova remnant-ambient plasma coupling and X-ray emission from SN 1987A Spicer, D. S.; Maran, S. P.; Clark, R. W. The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 356 https://doi.org/10.1086/168862	journal	June 1990
Nonstationarity and reformation of high-Mach-number quasiperpendicular shocks: Cluster observations: SHOCK FRONT REFORMATION Lobzin, V. V.; Krasnoselskikh, V. V.; Bosqued, J. -M. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 34, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1029/2006GL029095	journal	March 2007
Saturn's Magnetic Field and Magnetosphere Smith, E. J.; Davis, L.; Jones, D. E. Science, Vol. 207, Issue 4429 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.207.4429.407	journal	January 1980
Thomson scattering measurement of a shock in laser-produced counter-streaming plasmas Morita, T.; Sakawa, Y.; Tomita, K. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 20, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4821967	journal	September 2013
Jupiter's Magnetic Field. Magnetosphere, and Interaction with the Solar Wind: Pioneer 11 Smith, E. J.; Davis, L.; Jones, D. E. Science, Vol. 188, Issue 4187 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.188.4187.451	journal	May 1975
The Plasma Simulation Code: A modern particle-in-cell code with patch-based load-balancing Germaschewski, Kai; Fox, William; Abbott, Stephen Journal of Computational Physics, Vol. 318 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcp.2016.05.013	journal	August 2016
High-Mach number, laser-driven magnetized collisionless shocks Schaeffer, D. B.; Fox, W.; Haberberger, D. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 24, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4989562	journal	December 2017
Generation and Evolution of High-Mach-Number Laser-Driven Magnetized Collisionless Shocks in the Laboratory Schaeffer, D. B.; Fox, W.; Haberberger, D. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 119, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.025001	journal	July 2017
Proton imaging of stochastic magnetic fields Bott, A. F. A.; Graziani, C.; Tzeferacos, P. Journal of Plasma Physics, Vol. 83, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022377817000939	journal	December 2017
Quasiperpendicular High Mach Number Shocks Sulaiman, A. H.; Masters, A.; Dougherty, M. K. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 115, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.125001	journal	September 2015
Collisionless Coupling of Ion and Electron Temperatures in Counterstreaming Plasma Flows Ross, J. S.; Park, H. -S.; Berger, R. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 110, Issue 14 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.145005	journal	April 2013
High-Mach number, laser-driven magnetized collisionless shocks Schaeffer, D. B.; Fox, W.; Haberberger, D. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 24, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4989562	journal	December 2017
Early-Time Model of Laser Plasma Expansion Wright, Thomas P. Physics of Fluids, Vol. 14, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1693699	journal	January 1971
Observation of Anomalous Electron Heating in Plasma Shock Waves DeSilva, A. W.; Stamper, J. A. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 19, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.19.1027	journal	October 1967
Plasma characterization using ultraviolet Thomson scattering from ion-acoustic and electron plasma waves (invited) Follett, R. K.; Delettrez, J. A.; Edgell, D. H. Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 87, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4959160	journal	July 2016
A platform for high-repetition-rate laser experiments on the Large Plasma Device Schaeffer, D. B.; Hofer, L. R.; Knall, E. N. High Power Laser Science and Engineering, Vol. 6 https://doi.org/10.1017/hpl.2018.11	journal	January 2018
Generation of magnetized collisionless shocks by a novel, laser-driven magnetic piston Schaeffer, D. B.; Everson, E. T.; Winske, D. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 19, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4736846	journal	July 2012
Collisionless momentum transfer in space and astrophysical explosions Bondarenko, A. S.; Schaeffer, D. B.; Everson, E. T. Nature Physics, Vol. 13, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys4041	journal	February 2017
Collisionless Shocks in Space Plasmas Burgess, David; Scholer, Manfred Cambridge University Press https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139044097	book	January 2015
Lorentz Mapping of Magnetic Fields in Hot Dense Plasmas Petrasso, R. D.; Li, C. K.; Seguin, F. H. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 103, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.085001	journal	August 2009

Similar Records

Generation and Evolution of High-Mach-Number Laser-Driven Magnetized Collisionless Shocks in the Laboratory

Journal Article · 2017 · Physical Review Letters · OSTI ID:1395788

Schaeffer, D. B.; Fox, W.; Haberberger, D.; +5 more

Final report for the NSF/DOE partnership in basic plasma science grant DE-FG02-06ER54906 'Laser-driven collisionless shocks in the Large Plasma Device'

Technical Report · 2012 · OSTI ID:1057398

Niemann, Christoph; Gekelman, W.; Winske, D.; +1 more

Generation of magnetized collisionless shocks by a novel, laser-driven magnetic piston

Journal Article · 2012 · Physics of Plasmas · OSTI ID:22072518

Schaeffer, D B; Everson, E T; Constantin, C G; +7 more

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
Laboratory astrophysics
collisionless shocks
magnetized plasmas
Thomson scattering

Title: Direct Observations of Particle Dynamics in Magnetized Collisionless Shock Precursors in Laser-Produced Plasmas

Citation Formats

References (41)

Similar Records

Related Subjects