RELATIVISTIC PLASMA NANO-PHOTONICS FOR ULTRA-HIGH ENERGY DENSITY PHYSICSThe trapping of femtosecond laser pulses of relativistic intensity deep within ordered nanowire arrays is shown to volumetrically heat near solid density matter transforming it into ultra-hot highly ionized plasmas. The plasmas were generated by focusing intense ~ 60 femtosecond duration ultra-high-contrast laser pulses onto targets consisting of arrays of densely packed vertically aligned nanowires 35-80 nm diameter. X-ray spectra are presented showing that irradiation of Ni and Au nanowire arrays heats a plasma volume several µm in depth to reach extraordinarily high degrees of ionization (i.e. 26 times ionized Ni , 52 times ionized Au), in the process generating gigabar level pressures. Electron densities nearly 100 times greater than the typical critical density and multi-keV temperatures are achieved using laser pulses of only 0.5 J energy. The large plasma volume and high electron density lead to an increased hydrodynamic-to-radiative lifetime ratio that results in a significant increase in X-ray yield.Measurements from a filtered photodiode array reveal a 100X increase in emission with respect to polished flat targets for photons with energies greater than 9keV. Scaling to higher laser intensities promises to create plasmas with temperatures and pressures approaching those in the center of the sun.iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The efficient conversion of optical laser light into bright ultrafast x-ray pulses in laser created plasmas is of high interest for dense plasma physics studies, material science, and other fields. However, the rapid hydrodynamic expansion that cools hot plasmas has limited the x-ray conversion efficiency (CE) to 1% or less. Here we demonstrate more than one order of magnitude increase in picosecond x-ray CE by tailoring near solid density plasmas to achieve a large radiative to hydrodynamic energy loss rate ratio, leading into a radiation loss dominated plasma regime. A record 20% CE into hν > 1 keV photons was measured in arrays of large aspect ratio Au nanowires heated to keV temperatures with ultrahigh contrast femtosecond laser pulses of relativistic intensity. The potential of these bright ultrafast x-ray point sources for table-top imaging is illustrated with single shot flash radiographs obtained using low laser pulse energy. These results will enable the deployment of brighter laser driven x-ray sources at both compact and large laser facilities.
Ultrahigh-energy density (UHED) matter, characterized by energy densities >1 × 10 8 J cm −3 and pressures greater than a gigabar, is encountered in the center of stars and inertial confinement fusion capsules driven by the world's largest lasers. Similar conditions can be obtained with compact, ultrahigh contrast, femtosecond lasers focused to relativistic intensities onto targets composed of aligned nanowire arrays. We report the measurement of the key physical process in determining the energy density deposited in high-aspect-ratio nanowire array plasmas: the energy penetration. By monitoring the x-ray emission from buried Co tracer segments in Ni nanowire arrays irradiated at an intensity of 4 × 10 19 W cm, we demonstrate energy penetration depths of several micrometers, leading to UHED plasmas of that size. Relativistic three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, validated by these measurements, predict that irradiation of nanostructures at intensities of >1 × 10 22 W cm −2 will lead to a virtually unexplored extreme UHED plasma regime characterized by energy densities in excess of 8 × 10 10 J cm −3
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