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Abstract: Observation is reported of the polarization of the helium-like Cl–Heα line (1s2 1S0–1s2p 1P1), at 2.79keV emitted from a triple-layer target irradiated with a 130fs laser pulse. The polarization degree is determined as a function of overcoat thickness of the target. It is found that the emission from a layer closer to the target surface is polarized parallel to the surface direction whereas emission from a deeper region in perpendicular to the surface. The experimental result is analyzed using a two-dimensional (2D) Maxwellian distribution function for hot electrons. Beam-like distribution was found in the depth of plasma. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The onset of a tooth vibration signal with a mini acceleration pickup attached to the skin on the forehead was delayed by 0.1788 ms on average after the actual tooth impact. When the signal was recorded at the zygomatic arch, the delay time was 0.1008 ms on average, which was significantly shorter than that obtained from the forehead (P<0.001). The difference due to a transposition of the vibrated tooth was also smaller (0025<P<0.05) and had almost no effect on the intensities of the tooth flipping force. The delay time was even more prolonged when a poor frequency specification pickup and/or low pass filter were applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advances in free electron lasers (FELs) which generate high energy photons are expected to open novel nonlinear optics in the x-ray and vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) regions. In this paper, we report a new method for performing VUV-FEL focusing experiments. A VUV-FEL was focused with Kirkpatrick-Baez optics on a multilayer target, which contains fused silica as a fluorescent material. By measuring the fluorescence, a 5.6×4.9 μm2 focal spot was observed in situ. Fluorescence was used to measure the saturable absorption of VUV pulses in the tin layer. The transmission increases nonlinearly higher with increasing laser intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A beamline for the x-ray free electron laser (XFEL) of SPring-8 Angstrom Compact free electron LAser (SACLA) provides hard x-ray pulses in the range 4.5-19.5 keV. Its optical system in an optics hutch delivers a pink beam below 15 keV with either of two double-mirror systems or a monochromatic beam with a double-crystal monochromator. These XFEL beams are used for various types of measurement at experimental stations, e.g. x-ray diffraction, coherent diffraction imaging, x-ray spectroscopy and pump-and-probe measurement. The experimental stations consist of experimental hutches and control stations, and a femtosecond optical laser which is synchronized with XFEL pulses. Photon diagnostics have been performed for measuring radiation parameters in a shot-by-shot manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an indirect method of estimating the strength of a shock wave, allowing on line monitoring of its reproducibility in each laser shot. This method is based on a shot-to-shot measurement of the X-ray emission from the ablated plasma by a high resolution, spatially resolved focusing spectrometer. An optical pump laser with energy of 1.0 J and pulse duration of ∼660 ps was used to irradiate solid targets or foils with various thicknesses containing Oxygen, Aluminum, Iron, and Tantalum. The high sensitivity and resolving power of the X-ray spectrometer allowed spectra to be obtained on each laser shot and to control fluctuations of the spectral intensity emitted by different plasmas with an accuracy of ∼2%, implying an accuracy in the derived electron plasma temperature of 5%-10% in pump-probe high energy density science experiments. At nano- and sub-nanosecond duration of laser pulse with relatively low laser intensities and ratio Z/A∼0.5, the electron temperature follows Te∼Ilas2/3. Thus, measurements of the electron plasma temperature allow indirect estimation of the laser flux on the target and control its shot-to-shot fluctuation. Knowing the laser flux intensity and its fluctuation gives us the possibility of monitoring shot-to-shot reproducibility of shock wave strength generation with high accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Control of the polarization of an X‐ray free‐electron laser (XFEL) has been performed using an X‐ray phase retarder (XPR) in combination with an arrival timing diagnostic on BL3 of the SPring‐8 Angstrom Compact free‐electron LAser (SACLA). To combine with the timing diagnostic, a pink beam was incident on the XPR crystal and then monochromated in the vicinity of samples. A high degree of circular polarization of ∼97% was obtained experimentally at 11.567 keV, which agreed with calculations based on the dynamical theory of X‐ray diffraction. This system enables pump–probe experiments to be operated using circular polarization with a time resolution of 40 fs to investigate ultrafast magnetic phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct metrology of coherent short-wavelength beamlines is important for obtaining operational beam characteristics at the experimental site. However, since beam-time limitation imposes fast metrology procedures, a multi-parametric metrology from as low as a single shot is desirable. Here a two-dimensional (2D) procedure based on high-resolution Fresnel diffraction analysis is discussed and applied, which allowed an efficient and detailed beamline characterization at the SACLA XFEL. So far, the potential of Fresnel diffraction for beamline metrology has not been fully exploited because its high-frequency fringes could be only partly resolved with ordinary pixel-limited detectors. Using the high-spatial-frequency imaging capability of an irradiated LiF crystal, 2D information of the coherence degree, beam divergence and beam quality factor M2 were retrieved from simple diffraction patterns. The developed beam metrology was validated with a laboratory reference laser, and then successfully applied at a beamline facility, in agreement with the source specifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a search for photon–photon elastic scattering in vacuum in the X-ray region at an energy in the center of mass system of ω cms = 6.5 keV for which the QED cross section is σ QED = 2.5 × 10 − 47 m 2 . An X-ray beam provided by the SACLA X-ray Free Electron Laser is split and the two beamlets are made to collide at right angle, with a total integrated luminosity of ( 1.24 ± 0.08 ) × 10 28 m − 2 . No signal X rays from the elastic scattering that satisfy the correlation between energy and scattering angle were detected. We obtain a 95% C.L. upper limit for the scattering cross section of 1.9 × 10 − 27 m 2 at ω cms = 6.5 keV . The upper limit is the lowest upper limit obtained so far by keV experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We report the first results of a search for real photon–photon scattering using X rays. A novel system is developed to split and collide X-ray pulses by applying interferometric techniques. A total of pulses (each containing about 1011 photons) from an X-ray Free-Electron Laser are injected into the system. No scattered events are observed, and an upper limit of (95% C.L.) is obtained on the photon–photon elastic scattering cross section at 6.5 keV. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We report clear experimental evidence for second harmonic generation at hard x-ray wavelengths. Using a 1.7 Å pumping beam generated by a free electron laser, we observe second harmonic generation in diamond. The generated second harmonic is of order 10 times the background radiation, scales quadratically with pump pulse energy, and is generated over a narrow phase-matching condition. Of importance for future experiments, our results indicate that it is possible to observe nonlinear x-ray processes in crystals at pump intensities exceeding 1016 W/cm². [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We studied the induced plasma heating in three different kinds of targets: mass limited, foam targets, and large mass targets. The experiment was performed at Alisé Laser Facility of CEA/CESTA. The laser system emitted a ∼1 ps pulse with ∼10 J energy at a wavelength of ∼1 μm. Mass limited targets had three layers with thicknesses of 10 μm C8H8, 1 μm C8H7Cl, and 10 μm C8H8 with size of 100×100 μm2. Detailed spectroscopic analysis of x rays emitted from the Cl tracer showed that it was possible to heat up the plasma from mass limited targets to a temperature of ∼250 eV with density of ∼1021 cm-3. The plasma heating is only produced by fast electron transport in the target, being the 10 μm C8H8 overcoating thick enough to prevent any possible direct irradiation of the tracer layer even taking into account mass-ablation due to the prepulse. These results demonstrate that with mass limited targets, it is possible to generate a plasma heated up to several hundreds eV. It is also very important for research concerning high energy density phenomena and for fast ignition (in particular for the study of fast electrons transport and induced heating). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction is presented to the article, "Fluence thresholds for grazing incidence hard x-ray mirrors" which was published in a 2019 issue of the periodical.

In situ femtosecond x-ray diffraction measurements and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations were performed to study the liquid structure of tantalum shock released from several hundred gigapascals (GPa) on the nanosecond timescale. The results show that the internal negative pressure applied to the liquid tantalum reached -5.6 (0.8)GPa, suggesting the existence of a liquid-gas mixing state due to cavitation. This is the first direct evidence to prove the classical nucleation theory which predicts that liquids with high surface tension can support GPa regime tensile stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present results from the SPring-8 Angstrom Compact free electron LAser facility, where we used a high intensity (∼1020  W/cm²) x-ray pump x-ray probe scheme to observe changes in the ionic structure of silicon induced by x-ray heating of the electrons. By avoiding Laue spots in the scattering signal from a single crystalline sample, we observe a rapid rise in diffuse scattering and a transition to a disordered, liquidlike state with a structure significantly different from liquid silicon. The disordering occurs within 100 fs of irradiation, a timescale that agrees well with first principles simulations, and is faster than that predicted by purely inertial behavior, suggesting that both the phase change and disordered state reached are dominated by Coulomb forces. This method is capable of observing liquid scattering without masking signal from the ambient solid, allowing the liquid structure to be measured throughout and beyond the phase change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High resolution X-ray imaging is crucial for many high energy density physics (HEDP) experiments. Recently developed techniques to improve resolution have, however, come at the cost of a decreased field of view. In this paper, an innovative experimental detector for X-ray imaging in the context of HEDP experiments with high spatial resolution, as well as a large field of view, is presented. The platform is based on coupling an X-ray backligther source with a Lithium Fluoride detector, characterized by its large dynamic range. A spatial resolution of 2 µm over a field of view greater than 2 mm2 is reported. The platform was benchmarked with both an X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) and an X-ray source produced by a short pulse laser. First, using a non-coherent short pulse laser-produced backlighter, reduced penumbra blurring, as a result of the large size of the X-ray source, is shown. Secondly, we demonstrate phase contrast imaging with a fully coherent monochromatic XFEL beam. Modeling of the absorption and phase contrast transmission of X-ray radiation passing through various targets is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on new results of a search for a two-photon interaction with axionlike particles (ALPs). The experiment is carried out at a synchrotron radiation facility using a "light shining through a wall (LSW)" technique. For this purpose, we develop a novel pulsed-magnet system, composed of multiple racetrack magnets and a transportable power supply. It produces fields of about 10 T over 0.8 m with a high repetition rate of 0.2 Hz and yields a new method of probing a vacuum with high intensity fields. The data obtained with a total of 27 676 pulses provide a limit on the ALP-two-photon coupling constant that is more stringent by a factor of 5.2 compared to a previous x-ray LSW limit for the ALP mass ≲ 0.1 eV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the structural and magnetic origins of the unusual ultrafast second-harmonic-generation (SHG) response of femtosecond-laser-excited nickel oxide (NiO) previously attributed to oscillatory reorientation dynamics of the magnetic structure induced by d-d excitations. Using time resolved x-ray diffraction from the (3/23/23/2) magnetic planes, we show that changes in the magnitude of the magnetic structure factor following ultrafast optical excitation are limited to Δ〈Fm〉/〈Fm〉=1.5% in the first 30 ps. An extended investigation of the ultrafast SHG response reveals a strong dependence on wavelength as well as characteristic echoes, both of which give evidence for an acoustic origin of the dynamics. We therefore propose an alternative mechanism for the SHG response based on perturbations of the nonlinear susceptibility via optically induced strain in a spatially confined medium. In this model, the two observed oscillation periods can be understood as the times required for an acoustic strain wave to traverse one coherence length of the SHG process in either the collinear or anticollinear geometries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]