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Ultrashort pulse (USP) lasers provide a novel approach to microwave production for remote applications. In this scheme, the plasma produced in the interaction of a USP with a material surface at a distance serves as a localized source of radio frequency (RF) radiation. Ultrashort pulses allow for the long-range projection of high-intensity light (∼1013 W/cm2), through the phenomenon of laser filamentation, thereby enabling the efficient generation of transient plasmas on remote material surfaces. In this paper, the mechanism of RF production in the laser–matter interaction is discussed and experimental characterization of the RF emission in a variety of target geometries is presented. Both transient dipole radiation and resonance absorption are discussed as theoretical mechanisms of RF generation. Furthermore, spectral composition of the RF emission, angular distribution of the emission, and dependence of the RF on laser focusing conditions are all characterized for a number of target materials in the single to tens of GHz range, using microwave horn antennas in conjunction with heterodyning electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high-intensity ultrashort laser pulse interacting with a thin plasma target is shown to couple to plasma electrons, driving electron oscillations within the plasma and making these electrons bounce back and forth between plasma boundaries. Each time these recirculating electrons traverse the plasma boundary, they emit bright subcycle terahertz (THz) field waveforms via laser-driven coherent transition radiation. As a concurrent process, laser-driven electrons near the front surface of the plasma target are accelerated to relativistic velocities to emit high-order harmonics (HHs), giving rise to attosecond pulses of vacuum-ultraviolet radiation. These attosecond pulses are shown to provide a high-precision clock for subcycle THz field waveforms. We demonstrate that the delay time between HH pulses and THz waveforms can be tuned with an attosecond precision by varying the thickness of the plasma target, thus opening an avenue toward HH-pump–THz-probe studies of ultrafast processes on the attosecond time scale with table-top laser sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electron heat transport plays an important role in laser driven inertial confinement fusion. For the plasmas created by intense laser, the traditional Spitzer–Härm theory cannot accurately describe the electron heat transport process mainly due to two physical effects. First, the electron distribution function would significantly differ from the Maxwellian distribution because of the inverse bremsstrahlung heating. Second, the long mean free paths of heat carrying electrons relative to the temperature scale length indicate that the electron heat flux has the nonlocal feature. In 2020, we have developed a nonlocal electron heat transport model based on the non-Maxwellian electron distribution function (NM-NL model) to describe the electron heat flux in laser plasmas. Recently, this model is successfully incorporated into our radiation hydrodynamical code RDMG. In this article, we numerically investigated the electron heat flux in laser plasmas, especially the nonlocal feature of heat flux and the influence of the non-Maxwellian distribution. The influence of electron heat transport on laser ablation is also discussed. The simulated plasma conditions based on different electron heat transport models are presented and compared with experiments. Our results show that the nonlocal feature of heat flux and the influence of non-Maxwellian distribution function are considerable in plasmas heated by intense lasers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dual-laser beams interacting with small droplets of liquid tin are currently the most efficient systems for producing the 13.5 nm EUV photon radiation source required for the next generation microchips. Usually, EUV light is produced during the second main-pulse stage, while the pre-pulse (PP) is used for target preparation, i.e., droplet preheating, vaporization, and target deformation. However, the PP laser energy can be utilized more efficiently if the EUV producing plasma is being developed during the PP stage as well. In this work, we study the ways of optimization of the PP laser temporal shape to achieve conditions for maximum EUV output during the pre-pulse. The size of the deformed droplet is kept optimized for the following main laser pulse. Our simulations showed a significant increase in the EUV output at the pre-pulse stage when a ramping profile is used for the laser temporal shape. Using the ramped square pre-pulse produces 24% gain in the EUV output in comparison with the standard Gaussian temporal profile (i.e., regular Nd:YAG shape) for the same energy of the laser pulse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shear flow instabilities under the presence of magnetic fields in the primordial disk can greatly facilitate the formation of density structures that serve as seeds prior to the onset of the gravitational Jeans instability. We evaluate the effects of the Parker, magnetorotational and kinematic dynamo instabilities by comparing the properties of these instabilities. We calculate the mass spectra of coagulated density structures by the above mechanism in the radial direction for an axisymmetric magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) torus equilibrium and power density profile models. Our local three-dimensional MHD simulation indicates that the coupling of the Parker and magnetorotational instability creates spiral arms and gas blobs in an accretion disk, reinforcing the theory and model. Such a mechanism for the early structure formation may be tested in a laboratory. The recent progress in experiments involving shear flows in rotating tokamak, field reversed configuration (FRC) and laser plasmas may become a key element to advance in nonlinear studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The described method is intended for application as a diagnostic tool for a nonstationary, short-lived plasma (in particular, for the laser-produced plasma). It is based on taking into account the lifetime of a laser-produced plasma, which is so short (several nanoseconds) that it is not enough for the ionization equilibrium to be established. Among mechanisms leading to appearance of an ion with a given charge Z in the plasma, only the electron-collisional ionization is considered, because contributions of other phenomena turn out to be negligible. The method is discussed as an example of a plasma excited on the Xe gas-jet target. The necessary collisional cross sections of ions from+7Xe to+16Xe have been calculated specifically for this study using a quantum-mechanical numerical simulation, with its principles and features being also presented in the paper. To demonstrate capabilities of the method, it has been applied to one of the experimental cases when the plasma was produced by the laser beam focused on the Xe gas-jet target. The time-integrated energy of laser radiation absorbed in the plasma was measured, and the absorption coefficient, μ, was derived from it with a correction for the plasma lifetime, which was several times shorter than the laser pulse. Using the method described here, the values of ⟨ Z ⟩ and then μ were calculated as a function of temperature. The time-averaged plasma temperature, T, in the above-mentioned experiment was believed to be equal to that at which the calculated and experimentally determined values of μ coincided. The following results were obtained: T = 42 eV, ⟨ Z ⟩ = 10.2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a self-consistent multi-dimensional mathematical model and a numerical approach for simulating the low-temperature plasma induced by the femtosecond laser filament. Addressing limitations in current models, we analyze key aspects of the laser plasma behavior, including plasma generation, detailed chemical kinetics, energy exchange channels, total energy balance, and hydrodynamics. The developed model and LOTASFOAM code are applied to study the temporal and spatial decay of the plasma produced by a femtosecond laser pulse in pure nitrogen at atmospheric pressure. The paper also includes a discussion on the spatial and temporal dynamics of electronically excited states of nitrogen in the decaying laser plasma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents the experimental investigation of the ignition and subsequent combustion spreading sequences of hydrogen jets issued from a single-hole nozzle into a constant-volume combustion chamber. The hydrogen jet flames, forced ignited using a laser-induced plasma ignition, were monitored using high-speed schlieren imaging and pressure trace measurements. The parameters varied include the laser ignition location (axial or radial positions), laser ignition timing and the ambient oxygen level (10–21 vol.%). An analysis of the jet flame evolution reveals that the reaction front of the hydrogen jet spreads from the forced ignition site to engulf the entire downstream jet volume and recedes towards the nozzle. The results reveal that the ignition parameters and ambient oxygen condition in which it occurs can impact the jet flame recession and stabilisation characteristics. When ignition occurs sufficiently downstream or at the jet head periphery, the flame may not attain a stable lift-off within the specified injection period. Additionally, lower ambient oxygen levels lead to slower flame recession towards the nozzle. Furthermore, the heat release profile of the hydrogen jet flame exhibits dependence on both the laser ignition parameters and ambient oxygen level. • Laser-plasma ignition. • Flame evolution. • Flame stabilisation. • Hydrogen direct-injection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In laser-produced plasmas, the electron distribution function (EDF) driven by inverse bremsstrahlung heating tends to form a super-Gaussian distribution, which significantly influences ion acoustic waves (IAWs). In this study, the effect of the super-Gaussian EDF on driven IAWs is investigated using one-dimensional fluid simulations. Distinct behaviors are observed in the nonlinear evolution of driven IAWs in such plasmas. First, under the condition of small wave amplitudes, weaker harmonic generation and smaller nonlinear frequency shifts of IAWs are observed compared to the Maxwellian EDF case, consistent with nonlinear fluid theory. Additionally, for both the Maxwellian and super-Gaussian EDF cases, three-wave fluid theory and simulations show that due to the significant nonlinear frequency shift, the occurrence of two-ion decay requires a positive frequency mismatch between the driven frequency and the IAW linear frequency. However, for the super-Gaussian EDF case, a smaller frequency mismatch is required. Finally, turbulence and multi-soliton generation induced by IAW decay are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivated by experiments employing picosecond-long, kilojoule laser pulses, we examined x-ray emission in a finite-length underdense plasma irradiated by such a pulse using two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. We found that, in addition to the expected forward emission, the plasma also efficiently emits in the backward direction. Our simulations reveal that the backward emission occurs when the laser exits the plasma. The longitudinal plasma electric field generated by the laser at the density down-ramp turns around some of the laser-accelerated electrons and re-accelerates them in the backward direction. As the electrons collide with the laser, they emit hard x rays. The energy conversion efficiency is comparable to that for the forward emission, but the effective source size is smaller. We show that the picosecond laser duration is required for achieving a spatial overlap between the laser and the backward energetic electrons. At peak laser intensity of 1.4 × 10 20 W / cm 2 , backward-emitted photons (energies above 100 keV and 10 ° divergence angle) account for 2 × 10 − 5 of the incident laser energy. This conversion efficiency is three times higher than that for similarly selected forward-emitted photons. The source size of the backward photons (5 μ m) is three times smaller than the source size of the forward photons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laser-driven high-quality ion beams hold immense potential for applications in diverse fields such as tumor therapy, fast ignition, and so on. However, current experimental ion beams are often constrained by either a large energy spread or relatively low energy. In this paper, we proposed a novel scheme for generating quasi-monoenergetic proton beams by irradiating near-critical-density plasmas, which have a density gradient with a picosecond laser pulse. This approach leverages two key aspects: first, the sustained interaction between the laser pulse and the plasma enhances the duration of magnetic vortex acceleration, thereby promoting extended ion acceleration. Second, the utilization of a multi-species target facilitates the formation of a dual-peaked electric field, which leads to the accumulation of protons in the negative gradient of the accelerating phase, resulting in a quasi-monoenergetic proton beam. The two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation reveals that by employing a laser intensity of 1.37 × 1020 W/cm2 with a pulse duration of 0.5 ps, we can achieve a carbon ion beam with an energy of 50 MeV/u, and a quasi-monoenergetic proton beam exhibiting a cutoff energy of 160 MeV/u, a peak energy of 75 MeV/u, an energy spread of 3.1 % , and an angle divergence of ∼ 3.2°. Furthermore, the quasi-monoenergetic property is corroborated in three-dimensional simulation results, underscoring the robustness and effectiveness of our proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of theoretical investigation of implosion and combustion of a direct-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) target as a shell with compound outer layer (ablator) intended to absorb laser radiation and produce the ablation pressure compressing the target are presented. It is proposed to supplement the solid ablator of conventional ICF target with an outer layer of a low-density porous substance with density corresponding to the nearly critical one of laser-produced plasma. It is shown that for a laser pulse with energy of 2–3 MJ, designed to ignite the deuterium-tritium reaction in modern experiments, the target with a compound ablator can provide a significant increase in fusion energy yield when the mass fraction of low-density component is in (10–15) % interval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report a simple yet efficient method for rapid and high-performance SERS substrate fabrication by a combination of cold plasma and laser treatment. Our analysis reveals that cold plasma pre-treatment significantly reduced surface roughness, transforming 200 nm spikes into an almost perfectly uniform surface, while enhancing the substrate's surface energy by lowering the water contact angle from 59° to 0°, all achieved within just 30 s of 0.9-mW plasma treatment, while 15-min green-laser treatment facilitated more uniform deposition of AuNPs across the entire treated area, effectively creating the SERS substrates. The combined treatments result in enhancement of the Raman intensity (11 times) and consistency over the whole area of the SERS substrates, and their reusability (up to 10 times). The fabricated SERS substrates exhibit a significant enhancement factor of approximately 3 × 10⁸ with R6G, allowing detection down to a concentration of 10−12 M. We demonstrate the application of these SERS substrates by detecting amoxicillin—an antibiotic used worldwide to treat a diversity of bacterial infections—in a dynamic expanded linear range of seven orders (from 10−3 to 10−9 M) with high reliability (R2 = 0.98), and a detection limit of 9 × 10−10 M. Our approach to high-performance SERS substrate fabrication holds potential for further expansion to other metallic NPs like Ag, or magnetic NPs (Fe3O4). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the excitation of terahertz (THz) electromagnetic fields by interaction of radially polarized laser pulses of diverse profiles with a homogenous plasma density slab. We utilize the properties of the laser pulse to generate THz fields in a plasma slab. It is shown that the radial ponderomotive force exerted by laser imparts an oscillatory velocity to plasma electrons and drives a nonlinear current in azimuthal direction exciting THz electromagnetic fields in the plasma slab. The dependence of the excited radial electric field and azimuthal magnetic field on axial and radial parameters of the plasmas lab, as well as on the slab thickness and laser pulse width size, is investigated. It is demonstrated that the terahertz fields are generated most efficiently with a frequency close to the plasma frequency. It is also shown that the intensity of the excited fields may be optimized and controlled by the plasma slab and laser pulse parameters. Rectangular‐triangular, super‐Gaussian, and sinusoidal lasers exhibit a significantly steeper radial gradient of ponderomotive potential in comparison with other laser profiles, and excite intense radial electric fields and generate azimuthal magnetic fields in plasma slab. The numerical results closely follow the scaling laws and match with previous experimental and simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We analyze the impact of plasma noise on Taiji using Wind's electron number density data. • Lomb–Scargle method is used to estimate the spectrum of plasma noise in 10−6 to 10−2 Hz. • The spectrum of plasma noise is fitted by power law and its effect on TDI is estimated. • It provides a basis for estimating plasma noises in similar gravitational wave observatories. In space-based laser interferometric gravitational wave antennas, plasma from the solar wind is an important noise floor source for laser interferometric measurements between two distant spacecraft. In this study, we aim to analyze the impact of solar wind on the inter-satellite laser interferometric measurements of the Taiji mission, a space-based laser interferometric gravitational wave antenna proposed by the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. Based on the 6.5-year electron number density data from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Wind spacecraft and considering the uneven sampling characteristics of the data, we employed the Lomb–Scargle spectral analysis method to study the impact of solar wind plasma on intersatellite laser interferometric measurements within the frequency range of 1 × 10 - 6 Hz to 0.01 Hz. The study shows that the effect of the plasma on the intersatellite laser interferometric measurement is approximately 1 pm/ Hz at 3.3 mHz, which is one order of magnitude smaller than the requirements on the displacement noise of the interferometric measurement of the Taiji mission, indicating that the noise due to plasma will not affect the aim of the Taiji mission to detect gravitational waves. The research can be applied to Taiji, Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, and future gravitational wave detection missions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), a rapid and nondestructive elemental analysis method, is widely applied across various fields. This technique is used for elemental analysis of materials by analyzing the light emitted from laser-induced plasma, with plasma temperature being a crucial parameter. This study focused on obtaining time-resolved spectra of Cu samples at different distances from the lens to the sample using LIBS in conjunction with the following machine-learning algorithms to simulate plasma temperature: decision trees, support vector machine, Gaussian process regression, and neural network. The study compared the accuracy of these four algorithms before and after normalization based on the Cu (I) spectral line at 510.55 nm. All four algorithms achieved a correlation coefficient greater than 0.95 after normalization. The Gaussian process regression model provided excellent predictions before and after normalization with a correlation coefficient of 0.99, demonstrating the advantages of this model in plasma temperature simulation. This study confirmed that machine learning can effectively, conveniently, and accurately predict laser-induced plasma temperature, providing significant utility in LIBS research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Action of a relativistically intense subpicosecond laser pulse on the near critical density (NCD) plasma can give rise to the formation of ion channel inside the plasma and effective acceleration of background electrons. Thus, one can produce high current (electron charges from tens nCl to several mkCl), high energy (from several MeV to several hundreds of MeV) electron bunches, demanded in different practical applications. Synchrotron (betatron) radiation of these electrons can serve as an important tool both for practical applications and also for diagnostic of the process in laser plasma, which is important for better understanding of these processes and for optimization of experimental conditions. For the last goals, an approximate model is proposed for calculating the spatial and energy characteristics of a bunch of DLA (direct laser accelerated) electrons in the ion channel formed in the NCD plasma and the characteristics describing the spectrum of their synchrotron radiation. For the considered example of a powerful laser pulse action on NCD plasma, the predictions of the proposed model are in good agreement with the results of particles in cell simulations and with the experimental measurements of the synchrotron radiation specter. It is shown that with the assumption of the rotation of the initial plane of motion of DLA electrons, the experimental data on the measurements of synchrotron radiation specters can be explained on the basis of the concept of betatron radiation of electrons accelerated in NCD plasma by DLA mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reduced models for approximating the impact of kinetic electron behavior on the transport of thermal energy and magnetic field are investigated. The thermal flux limiter has improved agreement with Vlasov–Fokker–Planck data when a harmonic form is used that adjusts the electron mean free path to account for electron–electron collisions; these results apply to both unmagnetized and magnetized plasmas. Once a magnetic field is incorporated, the mean free path should also be modified using the electron gyroradius. A flux limiter on Nernst advection of magnetic fields is also required; a form that limits Nernst by the same fraction as the thermal heat-flow best reproduces kinetic simulations. A flux limiter form for the cross terms (Righi–Leduc and cross-gradient-Nernst) is also suggested. Hohlraum simulations relevant to fusion experiments on the National Ignition Facility are found to be sensitive to all of these details. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a combined 1D imaging and broadband spectroscopy tool for analyzing laser-produced plasma sources of extreme ultraviolet light using a tapered zone plate that is dispersion-matched to a transmission grating. Specifically, we follow up on prior work [Mostafa et al. Opt. Lett. 48, 4316 (2023)] to obtain the actual spectral and spatial resolution of the imaging spectrometer and compare it to the design values. The imaging spectrometer is shown to have a spectral resolution of 1.2 nm at 13.5 nm, close to its design value, by assessing spectra obtained from carbon laser-produced plasma in a 5–180 nm wavelength band. The spatial resolution was obtained by placing slits near the object plane and back-illuminating the slit with a tin laser-produced plasma and found to be 17(5) µm, somewhat larger than the design specifications but still well within design limits for use for diagnosing plasma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experimental study on the packing thickness (PT) dependent plasma emission caused by laser ablating thin-layer microgranular samples in air was conducted using three sets of size-selected copper grains (median size d50 = 53 mm, 72 mm, and 100 mm, respectively). For each size-selected case, the PT parameter was tuned from 0.15 to 1.00 mm through varying the amount of grains packed into a vessel with a steel bottom wall and the emission spectra of laser-induced plasma were measured at various PT. It is found that there is a striking threshold phenomenon in the measured behavior of PTdependent plasma emission. Specifically, when PT is less than a threshold PTth, the emission intensity exhibits an exponential decreasing with incremental thickness; however, when it exceeds PTth, the emission intensity becomes almost constant. It is also found that the PTth slightly depends on grain size but the ratio of PTth to d50 seems to be size independent. Combining the mechanical fundamentals of granular materials, we interpreted the findings by considering a PT-dependent effect of the vessel's bottom on the formation circumstance of a laser-induced plasma. This work has practical significance in assessing a threshold thickness above which laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, as an analytical technique to quantify elements embedded in microgranular materials, is viable regardless of PT difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unconfined high-energy-density laser plasmas are known to emit broadband ion spectra in terms of species and their kinetic energy. The diagnostic of choice is often the Thomson parabola method, which is well-studied for the particle energies in the MeV range. In this work, a spectrometer is presented that is specifically designed to function down to energies of a few keV. Advancing into this regime requires an accurate knowledge of the spectrometer fields, which were precisely determined by simulations and measurements The dynamic range was substantially increased by adopting a compact electromagnet instead of a permanent one. We demonstrate how the field parameters can be chosen for obtaining exceptionally broad spectra while keeping the energy uncertainty minimal. Finally, the performance of the device is demonstrated for the ion emission of a carbon plasma ignited by sub-10-fs laser pulses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]