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We present the main features of the ultrashort, high-intensity laser installation at the Intense Laser Irradiation Laboratory (ILIL) including laser, beam transport and target area specifications. The laboratory was designed to host laser–target interaction experiments of more than 220 TW peak power, in flexible focusing configurations, with ultrarelativistic intensity on the target. Specifications have been established via dedicated optical diagnostic assemblies and commissioning interaction experiments. In this paper we give a summary of laser specifications available to users, including spatial, spectral and temporal contrast features. The layout of the experimental target areas is presented, with attention to the available configurations of laser focusing geometries and diagnostics. Finally, we discuss radiation protection measures and mechanical stability of the laser focal spot on the target.

Accurate measurements of thermophysical properties at high temperatures (above 1000 K) have been obtained with millisecond pulse-heating techniques using tubular specimens with a blackbody hole. In the recent trend toward applications, simpler specimens in the form of rods or strips have been used, with simultaneous measurement of the normal spectral emissivity using either laser polarimetry or integrating sphere reflectometry. In these experiments the estimation of the heat capacity and of the hemispherical total emissivity is based on various computational methods that were derived assuming that the temperature was uniform in the central part of the specimen (long thin-rod approximation). The validity of this approach when using specimens with large cross sections (rods, strips) and when measuring temperature on the specimen surface must be verified. The application of the long thin-rod approximation to pulse-heating experiments is reconsidered, and an analytical solution of the heat equation that takes into account the temperature dependence of thermophysical properties is presented. A numerical model that takes into account the temperature variations across the specimen has been developed. This model can be used in simulated experiments to assess the magnitude of specific phenomena due to the temperature gradient inside the specimen, in relation to the specimen geometry and to the specific thermophysical properties of different materials.

The parameter estimation theory is considered the best way to estimate thermophysical properties from dynamic experiments. This approach deals with measurement and model errors in a statistical context and provides useful information to optimize the experiment. The experience gained in ten years of implementation of inverse algorithms based on the parameter estimation theory (OLS, MAP, and Kalman filtering) is summarized and presented. Several examples of estimation of thermophysical properties using transient and pulse techniques are reported and discussed. The thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, and total hemispherical emissivity of different materials (light insulators, Pyrex, and niobium) are presented and compared with data obtained with consolidated techniques and with literature data.

The normal spectral emissivity of niobium strip specimens was measured using a new pulse-heating reflectometric technique. The hemispherical spectral reflectivity of the surface of a strip tangent to an integrating sphere is determined by a high-speed lock-in technique. At the same time, the radiance temperature of the strip is measured by high-speed pyrometry from approximately 1000K to the melting point. Details of the measurement method and of the related calibration techniques are reported. Results of the normal spectral emissivity of niobium at 900 nm from room temperature to its melting point are presented, discussing differences related to the heating rate and to surface conditions.

Pulse-heating experiments were performed on niobium strips, taking the specimens from room temperature to the melting point is less than one second. The normal spectral emissivity of the strips was measured by integrating sphere reflectometry, and, simultaneously, experimental data (radiance temperature, current, voltage drop) for thermophysical properties were collected with sub-millisecond time resolution. The normal spectral emissivity results were used to compute the true temperature of the niobium strips; the heat capacity, electrical resistivity, and hemispherical total emissivity were evaluated in the temperature range 1100 to 2700 K. The results are compared with literature data obtained in pulse-heating experiments. It is concluded that combined measurements of normal spectral emissivity and of thermophysical properties on strip specimens provide results of the same quality as obtained using tubular specimens with a blackbody. The thermophysical property results on niobium also validate the normal spectral emissivity measurements by integrating sphere reflectometry.

We explore the use of a laser-based electron gun for applications in transmission electron radiography and microscopy at electron energies up to 2 MeV. This new approach holds the promise to overcome some limitations of existing conventional electron guns at high beam energies especially for ultrafast applications. Our laser-electron gun is based on titanium-sapphire, ultrashort pulse lasers to drive electron acceleration in a plasma. The focused laser pulse travels in a tailored Ar gas target and accelerates electrons to MeV energy in less than a millimetre. As a first application, we use this electron beam to perform contact transmission electron radiography of cm-scale thin and thick samples. We obtain transmission electron radiography of organic and inorganic dense objects over a field of view more than 50 mm wide. The images are well exposed and show details of both thick and thin samples. The spatial resolution for the current geometrical configuration was found to be approximately 60 mu m and was limited by geometrical effects combined with the intrinsic detector resolution and diffusion in the sample.

We present a laser-driven source of electron bunches with average energy 260 keV and picosecond duration, which has been setup for radiobiological tests covering the previously untested sub-MeV energy range. Each bunch combines high charge with short duration and sub-millimeter range into a record instantaneous dose rate, as high as 10(9) Gy s(-1). The source can be operated at 10 Hz and its average dose rate is 35 mGy s(-1). Both the high instantaneous dose rate and high level of relative biological effectiveness, attached to sub-MeV electrons, make this source very attractive for studies of ultrafast radiobiology on thin cell samples. The source reliability, in terms of shot-to-shot stability of features such as mean energy, bunch charge and transverse beam profile, is discussed, along with a dosimetric characterization. Finally, a few preliminary biological tests performed with this source are presented. .

Spectral modification of an intense (>= 10(18) W cm(-2)) laser pulse propagating in a helium gas target was studied using Thomson scattering diagnostic. The spectra recorded at 90 degrees to the laser propagation and polarization direction show a significant modulation and modification of the incident laser pulse during its interaction and propagation through the helium gas target. Simulations suggest that such a modulation in the spectrum of the laser pulse could arise due to its interaction with the self excited plasma waves. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V.

Measurements of the radiance temperature of metals at their melting point received wide attention recently on account of controversial results obtained in different laboratories. During further investigations at IMGC, a new technique for radiance temperature measurements at the melting point was perfected, with numerous experiments performed at the melting point of niobium. The new technique consists in bringing the material to the melting point and interrupting the flow of current just before the specimen is destroyed. Using this method the melting plateau may be repeated several times using the same specimen. Repeatibility studies may be performed, and changes in the surface structure of the material may be evaluated. Typical results of this new technique are presented, along with a complete description of this new measurement method.

Radiance temperatures (at 658 and 898 nm) of niobium at its melting point were measured by a pulse-heating technique. A current pulse of subsecond duration was imparted to a niobium strip and the initial part of the melting plateau was measured by high-speed pyrometry. Experiments were performed with two techniques and the results do not indicate any dependence of radiance temperature (at the melting point) on initial surface or system operational conditions. The average radiance temperature at the melting point of niobium is 2420 K at 658 nm and 2288 K at 898 nm, with a standard deviation of 0.4 K at 658 nm and 0.3–0.6 K at 898 nm (depending on the technique used). The total uncertainty in radiance temperature is estimated to be not more than ±6 K. The results are in good agreement with earlier measurements at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (USA) and confirm that both radiance temperature and normal spectral emissivity (of niobium at its melting point) decrease with increasing wavelength in the region 500–900 nm.

A new dynamic technique for the measurement of thermal conductivity under development at the IMGC requires accurate values of heat capacity and of hemispherical total emittance at high temperature. Until recently, these data were provided by subsecond pulse heating experiments performed on the same specimens in the same apparatus. The pulse heating technique is the most accurate method for the determination of heat capacity at high temperatures, but because of various experimental problems, the accuracy of hemispherical total emittance determinations is limited to 5%. A new method for a more accurate determination of hemispherical total emittance is proposed, which uses the same experimental data available from thermal conductivity experiments. An analysis of the temperature profiles measured during the free cooling indicates that regions with high-temperature gradients (toward the ends of the specimen) are the best regions for thermal conductivity measurements, while regions with low-temperature gradients (at the center of the specimen) are the best regions for hemispherical total emittance determinations. The new measurement method and some preliminary results are presented and discussed.