Title: High repetition rate mapping of the interaction between a laser plasma and magnetized background plasma via laser induced fluorescence

Abstract

In this work, the laminar coupling of energy between a laser-produced plasma and a background magnetized plasma was investigated via planar laser induced fluorescence diagnostic and magnetic flux probes. Experiments performed on the Large Plasma Device at the University of California, Los Angeles, mapped out the two-dimensional spatiotemporal evolution of the laser-plasma (debris) ion velocity distribution function (VDF) to assess debris-background coupling in a sub-Alfvénic regime. The acquisition of these data necessitates high repetition rate (1 Hz) as each dataset is the accumulation of thousands of laser shots, which would not be feasible in single-shot experiments. Fully kinetic, three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations are compared to the measured VDFs to provide a framework in which we can understand the coupling of a sub-Alfvénic plasma flow through a preformed, magnetized plasma. The simulations display the same departure from the expected gyromotion of the debris plasma as observed in the experimental data, and in conjunction with the measured magnetic field traces, have led to the direct observation of the collisionless coupling via laminar fields.

Authors:

Dorst, Robert S.  ^[1];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-0356-1036"

Schaeffer, Derek B.  ^[2];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-1675-5910"

Le, Ari Yitzchak  ^[3];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-9381-6839"

Pilgram, J. J. ^[1]; Constantin, C. G. ^[1]; Vincena, Stephen  ^[1];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-6468-5710"

Tripathi, Shreekrishna K. P.  ^[1];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-6500-2272"

Winske, Dan ^[3]; Larson, David  ^[4];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-0814-8555"

Cowee, Misa  ^[3];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-3117-4030"

Niemann, Christoph  ^[1]

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0001-5489-9144"

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
2. Princeton Univ., NJ (United States)
3. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
4. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Publication Date:

Tue Aug 23 00:00:00 EDT 2022

Research Org.:

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES); Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA); National Science Foundation (NSF)

OSTI Identifier:

1922776

Alternate Identifier(s):

OSTI ID: 1882982; OSTI ID: 1959410

Report Number(s):

LA-UR-22-21403; LLNL-JRNL-844516
Journal ID: ISSN 1070-664X; TRN: US2312359

Grant/Contract Number:  

89233218CNA000001; B643014; B649519; SC0017900; DGE-1650604; AC52-07NA27344

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

Physics of Plasmas

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 29; Journal Issue: 8; Journal ID: ISSN 1070-664X

Publisher:

American Institute of Physics (AIP)

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY; planetary bow shocks; laser induced fluorescence; laser ablation; particle-in-cell method; astrophysics; optical filters; plasmas; flow visualization; carbon based materials