An explanation for the energetic ions observed in the PetaWatt experiments is presented. In solid target experiments with focused intensities exceeding 10 20 W/cm 2 , high-energy electron generation, hard bremsstrahlung, and energetic protons have been observed on the backside of the target. In this report, we attempt to explain the physical process present that will explain the presence of these energetic protons, as well as explain the number, energy, and angular spread of the protons observed in experiment. In particular, we hypothesize that hot electrons produced on the front of the target are sent through to the back off the target, where they ionize the hydrogen layer there. These ions are then accelerated by the hot electron cloud, to tens of MeV energies in distances of order tens of microns, whereupon they end up being detected in the radiographic and spectrographic detectors.

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Investigations of 7 Li(p,n) 7 Be reactions using Cu and CH primary and LiF secondary targets were performed using the VULCAN laser ͓C.N. Danson et al., J. Mod. Opt. 45, 1653 ͑1997͔͒ with intensities up to 3ϫ10 19 W cm Ϫ2. The neutron yield was measured using CR-39 plastic track detector and the yield was up to 3ϫ10 8 sr Ϫ1 for CH primary targets and up to 2ϫ10 8 sr Ϫ1 for Cu primary targets. The angular distribution of neutrons was measured at various angles and revealed a relatively anisotropic neutron distribution over 180°that was greater than the error of measurement. It may be possible to exploit such reactions on high repetition, table-top lasers for neutron radiography.

Saturation gain-length product during short-wavelength plasma lasing Appl. Phys. Lett. 101, 081105 (2012) Laser induced avalanche ionization in gases or gas mixtures with resonantly enhanced multiphoton ionization or femtosecond laser pulse pre-ionization Phys. Plasmas 19, 083508 (2012) A new scheme for stigmatic x-ray imaging with large magnification Rev. Sci. Instrum. 83, 10E527 (2012) Efficient laser-induced 6-8keV x-ray production from iron oxide aerogel and foil-lined cavity targets Phys. Plasmas 19, 083101 (2012) Additional information on Rev. Sci. Instrum. Laser driven proton beams have been used to diagnose transient fields and density perturbations in laser produced plasmas. Grid deflectometry techniques have been applied to proton radiography to obtain precise measurements of proton beam angles caused by electromagnetic fields in laser produced plasmas. Application of proton radiography to laser driven implosions has demonstrated that density conditions in compressed media can be diagnosed with million electron volt protons. This data has shown that proton radiography can provide unique insight into transient electromagnetic fields in super critical density plasmas and provide a density perturbation diagnostics in compressed matter.

Deuterium-tritium inertial confinement fusion implosion experiments on the National Ignition Facility have demonstrated yields ranging from 0.8 to 7×10(14), and record fuel areal densities of 0.7 to 1.3 g/cm2. These implosions use hohlraums irradiated with shaped laser pulses of 1.5-1.9 MJ energy. The laser peak power and duration at peak power were varied, as were the capsule ablator dopant concentrations and shell thicknesses. We quantify the level of hydrodynamic instability mix of the ablator into the hot spot from the measured elevated absolute x-ray emission of the hot spot. We observe that DT neutron yield and ion temperature decrease abruptly as the hot spot mix mass increases above several hundred ng. The comparison with radiation-hydrodynamic modeling indicates that low mode asymmetries and increased ablator surface perturbations may be responsible for the current performance.