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When a piston drives a shock in a multicomponent plasma, residual separation of the ion species persists close to the piston-plasma boundary, long after the shock has propagated away from the boundary and has reached a (nearly) steady-state solution. This effect is observed in hybrid particle-in-cell simulations with two kinetic ion species and fluid electrons. It is a consequence of the different dynamics experienced by ions of different mass and charge-to-mass ratio and must be taken into account to properly model the physics of species separation in collisional plasma shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anomalous reduction of the fusion yields by 50% and anomalous scaling of the bum-averaged ion temperatures with the ion-species fraction has been observed for the first time in D3He-filled shock-driven inertial confinement fusion implosions. Two ion kinetic mechanisms are used to explain the anomalous observations: thermal decoupling of the D and 3He populations and diffusive species separation. The observed insensitivity of ion temperature to a varying deuterium fraction is shown to be a signature of ion thermal decoupling in shock-heated plasmas. The bum-averaged deuterium fraction calculated from the experimental data demonstrates a reduction in the average core deuterium density, as predicted by simulations that use a diffusion model. Accounting for each of these effects in simulations reproduces the observed yield trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A strong nonhydrodynamic mechanism generating atomic fuel-shell mix has been observed in strongly shocked inertial confinement fusion implosions of thin deuterated-plastic shells filled with 3He gas. These implosions were found to produce D3He-proton shock yields comparable to implosions of identical shells filled with a hydroequivalent 50∶50 D 3He gas mixture. Standard hydrodynamic mixing cannot explain this observation, as hydrodynamic modeling including mix predicts a yield an order of magnitude lower than was observed. Instead, these results can be attributed to ion diffusive mix at the fuel-shell interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report experimental evidence for a Rayleigh-Taylor-like instability driven by radiation pressure of an ultraintense (1021 W/cm2) laser pulse. The instability is witnessed by the highly modulated profile of the accelerated proton beam produced when the laser irradiates a 5 nm diamondlike carbon (90% C, 10% H) target. Clear anticorrelation between bubblelike modulations of the proton beam and transmitted laser profile further demonstrate the role of the radiation pressure in modulating the foil. Measurements of the modulation wavelength, and of the acceleration from Doppler-broadening of back-reflected light, agree quantitatively with particle-in-cell simulations performed for our experimental parameters and which confirm the existence of this instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent efforts to demonstrate significant self-heating of the fuel and eventual ignition at the National Ignition Facility make use of plastic (CH) ablators [O. A. Hurricane et al., Phys. Plasmas 21, 056314 (2014)]. Mainline simulation techniques for modeling CH capsule implosions treat the ablator as an average-atom fluid and neglect potential species separation phenomena. The mass-ablation process for a mixture is shown to lead to the potential for species separation, parasitic energy loss according to thermodynamic arguments, and reduced rocket efficiency. A generalized plasma barometric formula for a multispecies concentration gradient that includes collisionality and steady flows in spherical geometry is presented. A model based on plasma expansion into a vacuum is used to interpret reported experimental evidence for ablator species separation in an inertial-confinement-fusion target [J. S. Ross et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 83, 10E323 (2012)]. The possibility of "runaway" hydrogen ions in the thermoelectric field of the ablation front is conjectured.

Clear evidence of the transition from hydrodynamiclike to strongly kinetic shock-driven implosions is, for the first time, revealed and quantitatively assessed. Implosions with a range of initial equimolar D3He gas densities show that as the density is decreased, hydrodynamic simulations strongly diverge from and increasingly overpredict the observed nuclear yields, from a factor of ∼2 at 3.1  mg/cm3 to a factor of 100 at 0.14  mg/cm3. (The corresponding Knudsen number, the ratio of ion mean-free path to minimum shell radius, varied from 0.3 to 9; similarly, the ratio of fusion burn duration to ion diffusion time, another figure of merit of kinetic effects, varied from 0.3 to 14.) This result is shown to be unrelated to the effects of hydrodynamic mix. As a first step to garner insight into this transition, a reduced ion kinetic (RIK) model that includes gradient-diffusion and loss-term approximations to several transport processes was implemented within the framework of a one-dimensional radiation-transport code. After empirical calibration, the RIK simulations reproduce the observed yield trends, largely as a result of ion diffusion and the depletion of the reacting tail ions.

The plasma analog of an adiabatic lapse rate (or temperature variation with height) in atmospheric physics is obtained. A new source of plasma temperature gradient in a binary ion species mixture is found that is proportional to the concentration gradient ∇α and difference in average ionization states Z(2)-Z(1). Application to inertial-confinement-fusion implosions indicates a potentially strong effect in plastic (CH) ablators that is not modeled with mainline (single-fluid) simulations. An associated plasma thermodiffusion coefficient is derived, and charge-state diffusion in a single-species plasma is also predicted.

We present complete experimental characterization of the temporal shape of an intense ultrashort 200-TW laser pulse driving a laser wakefield. The phase of the pulse was uniquely measured by using (second-order) frequency-resolved optical gating. The pulses are asymmetrically compressed and exhibit a positive chirp consistent with the expected asymmetric self-phase-modulation due to photon acceleration or deceleration in a relativistic plasma wave. The measured pulse duration decreases linearly with increasing length and density of the plasma, in quantitative agreement with the intensity-dependent group velocity variation in the plasma wave.

The acceleration of electrons to approximately 0.8 GeV has been observed in a self-injecting laser wakefield accelerator driven at a plasma density of 5.5x10(18) cm(-3) by a 10 J, 55 fs, 800 nm laser pulse in the blowout regime. The laser pulse is found to be self-guided for 1 cm (>10zR), by measurement of a single filament containing >30% of the initial laser energy at this distance. Three-dimensional particle in cell simulations show that the intensity within the guided filament is amplified beyond its initial focused value to a normalized vector potential of a0>6, thus driving a highly nonlinear plasma wave.

Experiments were performed to investigate the propagation of a high intensity (I approximately 10(21) W cm(-2)) laser in foam targets with densities ranging from 0.9n(c) to 30n(c). Proton acceleration was used to diagnose the interaction. An improvement in proton beam energy and efficiency is observed for the lowest density foam (n(e)=0.9n(c)), compared to higher density foams. Simulations show that the laser beam penetrates deeper into the target due to its relativistic propagation and results in greater collimation of the ensuing hot electrons. This results in the rear surface accelerating electric field being larger, increasing the efficiency of the acceleration. Enhanced collimation of the ions is seen to be due to the self-generated azimuthal magnetic and electric fields at the rear of the target.

The dynamics of plasma electrons in the focus of a petawatt laser beam are studied via measurements of their x-ray synchrotron radiation. With increasing laser intensity, a forward directed beam of x rays extending to 50 keV is observed. The measured x rays are well described in the synchrotron asymptotic limit of electrons oscillating in a plasma channel. The critical energy of the measured synchrotron spectrum is found to scale as the Maxwellian temperature of the simultaneously measured electron spectra. At low laser intensity transverse oscillations are negligible as the electrons are predominantly accelerated axially by the laser generated wakefield. At high laser intensity, electrons are directly accelerated by the laser and enter a highly radiative regime with up to 5% of their energy converted into x rays.

The emission characteristics of intense laser driven protons are controlled using ultrastrong (of the order of 10(9) V/m) electrostatic fields varying on a few ps time scale. The field structures are achieved by exploiting the high potential of the target (reaching multi-MV during the laser interaction). Suitably shaped targets result in a reduction in the proton beam divergence, and hence an increase in proton flux while preserving the high beam quality. The peak focusing power and its temporal variation are shown to depend on the target characteristics, allowing for the collimation of the inherently highly divergent beam and the design of achromatic electrostatic lenses.

Metal foil targets were irradiated with 1 mum wavelength (lambda) laser pulses of 5 ps duration and focused intensities (I) of up to 4x10;{19} W cm;{-2}, giving values of both Ilambda;{2} and pulse duration comparable to those required for fast ignition inertial fusion. The divergence of the electrons accelerated into the target was determined from spatially resolved measurements of x-ray K_{alpha} emission and from transverse probing of the plasma formed on the back of the foils. Comparison of the divergence with other published data shows that it increases with Ilambda;{2} and is independent of pulse duration. Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations reproduce these results, indicating that it is a fundamental property of the laser-plasma interaction.

The spatial energy distributions of beams of protons accelerated by ultrahigh intensity (>10(19)Wcm2) picosecond laser pulse interactions with thin foil targets are investigated. Using separate, low intensity (<10(13)Wcm2) nanosecond laser pulses, focused onto the front surface of the target foil prior to the arrival of the high intensity pulse, it is demonstrated that the proton beam profile can be actively manipulated. In particular, results obtained with an annular intensity distribution at the focus of the low intensity beam are presented, showing smooth proton beams with a sharp circular boundary at all energies, which represents a significant improvement in the beam quality compared to irradiation with the picosecond beam alone.

The first evidence of x-ray harmonic radiation extending to 3.3 A, 3.8 keV (order n>3200) from petawatt class laser-solid interactions is presented, exhibiting relativistic limit efficiency scaling (eta approximately n{-2.5}-n{-3}) at multi-keV energies. This scaling holds up to a maximum order, n{RO} approximately 8{1/2}gamma;{3}, where gamma is the relativistic Lorentz factor, above which the first evidence of an intensity dependent efficiency rollover is observed. The coherent nature of the generated harmonics is demonstrated by the highly directional beamed emission, which for photon energy hnu>1 keV is found to be into a cone angle approximately 4 degrees , significantly less than that of the incident laser cone (20 degrees ).