First results with the novel petawatt laser acceleration facility in Dresden

Schramm, U.; Albach, Daniel; Bernert, Constantin; Bock, Stefan; Brack, Florian‐Emanuel; Branco, João; Bußmann, Michael; Couperus, Jurjen; Debus, A.; Eisenmann, Christoph; Garten, Marco; Gebhardt, René; Grams, Simon; Helbig, Uwe; Huebl, Axel; Irman, Arie; Kluge, T.; Köhler, A.; Krämer, Jakob; Kraft, Stephan; Kroll, Florian; Kuntzsch, Michael; Lehnert, U.; Löser, Markus; Metzkes, J.; Michel, P.; Obst, L.; Pausch, Richard; Rehwald, Martin; Sauerbrey, R.; Schlenvoigt, Hans-Peter; Siebold, M.; Steiniger, Klaus; Zarini, Omid; Zeil, Karl

doi:10.1088/1742-6596/874/1/012028

Cited by 97 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Selection of various laser and target parameters can cause transfer of laser energy into electron beams [1], x-rays or neutron beams for radiography or remote detection applications [2,3], positron-electron plasmas for fundamental studies related to astrophysics [4], and ion beams, which relate to radiography [5], generation of warm dense matter [6], and cancer therapy [7][8][9][10]. Efforts towards ion beam applications are hastened due to high power, high repetition rate laser facilities currently under development [11][12][13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Laser-driven ion acceleration via target normal sheath acceleration in the relativistic transparency regime

et al. 2018

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We present an experimental study investigating laser-driven proton acceleration via target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) over a target thickness range spanning the typical TNSA-dominant regime (∼1 μm) down to below the onset of relativistic laser-transparency (<40 nm). This is done with a single target material in the form of freely adjustable films of liquid crystals along with high contrast (via plasma mirror) laser interaction (∼2.65 J, 30 fs, I 1 10 21 >´W cm −2 ). Thickness dependent maximum proton energies scale well with TNSA models down to the thinnest targets, while those under ∼40 nm indicate the influence of relativistic transparency on TNSA, observed via differences in light transmission, maximum proton energy, and proton beam spatial profile. Oblique laser incidence (45°) allowed the fielding of numerous diagnostics to determine the interaction quality and details: ion energy and spatial distribution was measured along the laser axis and both front and rear target normal directions; these along with reflected and transmitted light measurements on-shot verify TNSA as dominant during high contrast interaction, even for ultra-thin targets. Additionally, 3D particle-incell simulations qualitatively support the experimental observations of target-normal-directed proton acceleration from ultra-thin films.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Laser-driven ion acceleration via target normal sheath acceleration in the relativistic transparency regime

et al. 2018

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“…Several high power laser facilities now have the capability to produce intense laser pulses with ξ of the order of 0.1 to 1 at a repetition rate of 1 Hz, such as VEGA [37], BELLA [38], Draco [39] and the the upcoming ELI-Beamlines laser facility [40]. Through collisions with fixed targets these pulses can be used to produce high energy (O(GeV)) electron bunches with N e ∼ 10 9 and l = O(10) µm [41].…”

Section: Experimental Prospects For Scalar Alp Production and Detementioning

confidence: 99%

Light scalars: Coherent nonlinear Thomson scattering and detection

King

2019

Phys. Rev. D

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Several theories of beyond-the-standard-model physics predict light scalars that couple to fermions. By extending classical electrodynamics to include an electron-scalar coupling, we calculate the nonlinear Thomson scattering of light scalars in the collision of an electron with a monochromatic electromagnetic background. In doing so, we identify the classical electron-scalar current, which allows for straightforward inclusion of the process in laser-plasma particle-in-cell simulations. Scattering of pseudoscalar particles is found to vanish in the classical (or, equivalently, the lowlightfront-momentum) limit. When electrons co-propagate with the laser pulse, we demonstrate that coherence effects in the production of light scalar particles can greatly enhance the signal for sub-eV scalars. When the electron beams counter-propagate with the laser pulse, we demonstrate that experiments can probe larger scalar masses due to the larger momentum transfer in the collisions. We then discuss a possible lab-based experimental set-up to detect this scalar signal which is similar to light-shining-through-the-wall experiments. Using existing experimental facilities as benchmarks, we calculate projected exclusion bounds on the couplings of light scalars in such experiments.

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“…Recent technological advances in ultra-intense laser systems facilitate studies of particle dynamics in electromagnetic fields of unprecedented strength [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. In particular, the dynamics of electrons in such ultrastrong fields has been an area of intense research over the past decades [10][11][12][13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultra-intense laser pulse characterization using ponderomotive electron scattering

2019

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We present a new analytical solution for the equation of motion of relativistic electrons in the focus of a high-intensity laser pulse. We approximate the electron's transverse dynamics in the averaged field of a long laser pulse focused to a Gaussian transverse profile. The resultant ponderomotive scattering is found to feature an upper boundary of the electrons' scattering angles, depending on the laser parameters and the electrons' initial state of motion. In particular, we demonstrate the angles into which the electrons are scattered by the laser scale as a simple relation of their initial energy to the laser's amplitude. We find two regimes to be distinguished in which either the laser's focusing or peak power are the main drivers of ponderomotive scattering. Based on this result, we demonstrate how the intensity of a laser pulse can be determined from a ring-shaped pattern in the spatial distribution of a high-energy electron beam scattered from the laser. We confirm our analysis by means of detailed relativistic test particle simulations of the electrons' averaged ponderomotive dynamics in the full electromagnetic fields of the focused laser pulse.for providing this key laser parameter is the combination of three different and distinct measurements: (a) pulse energy of the fully amplified, collimated beam; (b) pulse duration of a fraction of the collimated beam, typically not at full amplification; and (c) focus imaging of typically a not fully amplified and with attenuating elements transported beam. There is a number of shortcomings of this approach: (a) it does not necessarily yield the energy concentrated within the focus; (b) it may differ across the beam profile due to radial dispersion and further nonlinear effects [41,42]. (c) It is a time-and spectrum-integrated measurement. Due to the previous effects as well as radial group delay and chromatic aberrations [43,44], the pulse duration in the focus can be much longer than measured with (b) and exhibit time structures varying with the focal position. Hence, the typical procedure yields rather an upper limit of peak intensity.Atomic effects have been proposed and employed to yield a measure of peak intensity [45][46][47], but were restricted to non-relativistic intensities. At higher intensity, atomic ionization is followed by significant electron acceleration which can also provide information on peak intensity and focus size [48,49]. Experimental realizations of this concept were successfully implemented at mildly relativistic intensities [50,51]. Relativistic, intensity-dependent plasma effects like ion acceleration [52][53][54][55], on the other hand, are not feasible since they are quite sensitive to the temporal contrast of the laser pulse [9, 56], as the plasma formation prior to the pulse peak strongly affects the energy conversion during the peak. Hence, measurements of laser-scattered electron distributions could be a reasonable alternative, especially when relying on beam profile measurements which are much simpler than spectral measuremen...

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First results with the novel petawatt laser acceleration facility in Dresden

Cited by 97 publications

References 30 publications

Laser-driven ion acceleration via target normal sheath acceleration in the relativistic transparency regime

Laser-driven ion acceleration via target normal sheath acceleration in the relativistic transparency regime

Light scalars: Coherent nonlinear Thomson scattering and detection

Ultra-intense laser pulse characterization using ponderomotive electron scattering

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