We studied the interaction of a high-intensity laser with mass-limited Ti-wires. The laser was focused up to 7 × 10 20 W/cm 2 , with contrast of 10 −10 to produce relativistic electrons. High-spatial-resolution X-ray spectroscopy was used to measure isochoric heating induced by hot electrons propagating along the wire up to 1 mm depth. For the first time it was possible to distinguish surface target regions heated by mixed plasma mechanisms from those heated only by the hot electrons that generate warm dense matter with temperatures up to 50 eV. Our results are compared to simulations that highlight both the role of electron confinement inside the wire and the importance of resistive stopping powers in warm dense matter.

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In connection with the West German Heavy Ion Fusion Program the first stage (six periods) of a magnetic quadrupole channel (FODO type) to study the transport of intense ion beams was built at GSI. Different ion beams can be used and the variation of the brightness of these beams (hence of the tune depression o/oo) is sufficiently large that regions of theoretically predicted instabilities can be covered. The initial studies are being carried out with a high-brightness beam of 190 keV Ar+ ions and currents of a few mA. Since the pulse length is > 0.5 ms and the pressure is between 10 6 and 10 7 torr partial space charge neutralization occurs. Clearing electrodes can be used to remove the electrons from the beam. Results of theoretical studies, measurements of charge neuitralization effects and first results of transport experiments will be reported.

We report experimental results of a single coaxial plasma accelerator in preparation for a colliding plasma experiment. The utilized device consisted of a coaxial pair of electrodes, accelerating the plasma due to J Â B forces. A pulse forming network, composed of three capacitors connected in parallel, with a total capacitance of 27 lF was set up. A thyratron allowed to switch the maximum applied voltage of 9 kV. Under these conditions, the pulsed currents reached peak values of about 103 kA. The measurements were performed in a small vacuum chamber with a neutral-gas prefill at gas pressures between 10 Pa and 14 000 Pa. A gas mixture of ArH 2 with 2.8% H 2 served as the discharge medium. H 2 was chosen in order to observe the broadening of the H b emission line and thus estimate the electron density. The electron density for a single plasma accelerator reached peak values on the order of 10 16 cm À3 . Electrical parameters, inter alia inductance and resistance, were determined for the LCR circuit during the plasma acceleration as well as in a short circuit case. Depending on the applied voltage, the inductance and resistance reached values ranging from 194 nH to 216 nH and 13 mX to 23 mX, respectively. Furthermore, the plasma velocity was measured using a fast CCD camera. Plasma velocities of 2 km/s up to 17 km/s were observed, the magnitude being highly correlated with gas pressure and applied voltage. V C 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.

A novel method to determine the total hydrogen density and, accordingly, a precise plasma temperature in a lowly ionized hydrogen plasma is described. The key to the method is to analyze the energy loss of swift heavy ions interacting with the respective bound and free electrons of the plasma. A slowly developing and lowly ionized hydrogen theta-pinch plasma is prepared. A Boltzmann plot of the hydrogen Balmer series and the Stark broadening of the H_{β} line preliminarily defines the plasma with a free electron density of (1.9±0.1)×10^{16}  cm^{-3} and a free electron temperature of 0.8-1.3 eV. The temperature uncertainty results in a wide hydrogen density, ranging from 2.3×10^{16} to 7.8×10^{18}  cm^{-3}. A 108 MHz pulsed beam of ^{48}Ca^{10+} with a velocity of 3.652  MeV/u is used as a probe to measure the total energy loss of the beam ions. Subtracting the calculated energy loss due to free electrons, the energy loss due to bound electrons is obtained, which linearly depends on the bound electron density. The total hydrogen density is thus determined as (1.9±0.7)×10^{17}  cm^{-3}, and the free electron temperature can be precisely derived as 1.01±0.04  eV. This method should prove useful in many studies, e.g., inertial confinement fusion or warm dense matter.