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Title: A novel nuclear pyrometry for the characterization of high-energy bremsstrahlung and electrons produced in relativistic laser-plasma interactions

Journal Article · · Physics of Plasmas
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3613923· OSTI ID:22043420
; ; ;  [1];  [2]; ;  [3]
  1. Institut fuer Kernphysik, Schlossgartenstr. 9, Technische Universitaet Darmstadt, D-64289 Darmstadt (Germany)
  2. Laboratoire pour l'Utilisation des Lasers Intenses, UMR 7605 CNRS-CEA-Ecole Polytechnique-Universite Paris VI, F-91128 Palaiseau (France)
  3. GSI - Helmholtzzentrum fuer Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Planckstr. 1, D-64291 Darmstadt (Germany)

We present a novel nuclear activation-based method for the investigation of high-energy bremsstrahlung produced by electrons above 7 MeV generated by a high-power laser. The main component is a novel high-density activation target that is a pseudo alloy of several selected isotopes with different photo-disintegration reaction thresholds. The gamma spectrum emitted by the activated targets is used for the reconstruction of the bremsstrahlung spectrum using an analysis method based on Penfold and Leiss. This nuclear activation-based technique allows for the determination of the number of bremsstrahlung photons per energy bin in a wide range energy without any anticipated fit procedures. Furthermore, the analysis method also allows for the determination of the absolute yield, the energy distribution, and the temperature of high-energy electrons at the relativistic laser-plasma interaction region. The pyrometry is sensitive to energies above 7 MeV only, i.e., this diagnostic is insensitive to any low-energy processes.

OSTI ID:
22043420
Journal Information:
Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 18, Issue 8; Other Information: (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English