Dense blocks of energetic ions driven by multi-petawatt lasers

Weng, Shangkun; Liu, M.; Sheng, Zheng-Ming; Murakami, M.; Chen, Min; Yu, Linpeng; Zhang, J.

doi:10.1038/srep22150

Cited by 28 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 52 publications

(101 reference statements)

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“…It is worthwhile to notice that in the above 3D simulation the laser pulse already has a peak power of 10 PW, and this pulse has been converted into circularly polarized sub-pulses by a magnetized plasma on the centimeter scale (a waist of 0.68 cm). The resultant high-power circularly polarized pulses are particularly attractive to the laser-driven ion acceleration [26,27], the optical control of mesoscopic objects [28], and the ultrahigh acceleration of plasma blocks for fusion ignition [17][18][19]29].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extreme case of Faraday effect: magnetic splitting of ultrashort laser pulses in plasmas

Weng¹,

Zhao²,

Sheng³

et al. 2017

Optica

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This version is available at https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/61917/ Strathprints is designed to allow users to access the research output of the University of Strathclyde. Unless otherwise explicitly stated on the manuscript, Copyright © and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Please check the manuscript for details of any other licences that may have been applied. You may not engage in further distribution of the material for any profitmaking activities or any commercial gain. You may freely distribute both the url (https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/) and the content of this paper for research or private study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge.Any correspondence concerning this service should be sent to the Strathprints administrator: strathprints@strath.ac.ukThe Strathprints institutional repository (https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk) is a digital archive of University of Strathclyde research outputs. It has been developed to disseminate open access research outputs, expose data about those outputs, and enable the management and persistent access to Strathclyde's intellectual output. The Faraday effect due to magnetic-field-induced change in the optical properties takes place in a vast variety of systems from a single atomic layer of graphenes to huge galaxies. To date, it plays a pivot role in many applications such as the manipulation of light, and the probing of magnetic fields and material's properties. Basically this effect causes a polarization rotation of light during its propagation along the magnetic field in a medium. Here, we report an extreme case of the Faraday effect that a linearly polarized ultrashort laser pulse splits in time into two circularly polarized pulses of opposite handedness during its propagation in a highly magnetized plasma. This offers a new degree of freedom to manipulate ultrashort and ultrahigh power laser pulses. Together with technologies of ultra-strong magnetic fields, it may pave the way for novel optical devices, such as magnetized plasma polarizers. Besides, it may offer a powerful means to measure strong magnetic fields in laser-produced plasmas.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extreme case of Faraday effect: magnetic splitting of ultrashort laser pulses in plasmas

Weng¹,

Zhao²,

Sheng³

et al. 2017

Optica

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“…The replenishment of cold electrons in the NCD plasma plays a crucial role for suppressing the plasma heating. In Figure 3a without the NCD plasma, the plasma temperature is as high as tens of m e c 2 , where the plasma temperature T e in PIC simulations is defined by the averaged kinetic energy of electrons in the center-of-momentum frame [46]. This considerable plasma heating causes the thermal expansion of the plasma and the decrease in the plasma density, which is indicated by the black and blue lines in Figure 3a.…”

Section: Particle-in-cell Simulation Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Theoretical Study of the Efficient Ion Acceleration Driven by Petawatt-Class Lasers via Stable Radiation Pressure Acceleration

Gao

Wang

et al. 2022

Applied Sciences

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Laser-driven radiation pressure acceleration (RPA) is one of the most promising candidates to achieve quasi-monoenergetic ion beams. In particular, many petawatt systems are under construction or in the planning phase. Here, a stable radiation pressure acceleration (SRPA) scheme is investigated, in which a circularly-polarized (CP) laser pulse illuminates a CH2 thin foil followed by a large-scale near-critical-density (NCD) plasma. In the laser-foil interaction, a longitudinal charge-separated electric field is excited to accelerate ions together with the heating of electrons. The heating can be alleviated by the continuous replenishment of cold electrons of the NCD plasma as the laser pulse and the pre-accelerated ions enter into the NCD plasma. With the relativistically transparent propagation of the pulse in the NCD plasma, the accelerating field with large amplitude is persistent, and its propagating speed becomes relatively low, which further accelerates the pre-accelerated ions. Our particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation shows that the SRPA scheme works efficiently with the laser intensity ranging from 6.85×1021 W cm−2 to 4.38×1023 W cm−2, e.g., a well-collimated quasi-monoenergetic proton beam with peak energy ∼1.2 GeV can be generated by a 2.74 × 1022 W cm−2 pulse, and the energy conversion efficiency from the laser pulse to the proton beam is about 16%. The QED effects have slight influence on this SRPA scheme.

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“…A1D3V PIC simulation code 34 has been performed to verify the formation mechanism of the shocks. Two identical plasma flows are counter-propagating.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formation and evolution of a pair of collisionless shocks in counter-streaming flows

Yuan

Liu

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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A pair of collisionless shocks that propagate in the opposite directions are firstly observed in the interactions of laser-produced counter-streaming flows. The flows are generated by irradiating a pair of opposing copper foils with eight laser beams at the Shenguang-II (SG-II) laser facility. The experimental results indicate that the excited shocks are collisionless and electrostatic, in good agreement with the theoretical model of electrostatic shock. The particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations verify that a strong electrostatic field growing from the interaction region contributes to the shocks formation. The evolution is driven by the thermal pressure gradient between the upstream and the downstream. Theoretical analysis indicates that the strength of the shocks is enhanced with the decreasing density ratio during both flows interpenetration. The positive feedback can offset the shock decay process. This is probable the main reason why the electrostatic shocks can keep stable for a longer time in our experiment.

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Dense blocks of energetic ions driven by multi-petawatt lasers

Cited by 28 publications

References 52 publications

Extreme case of Faraday effect: magnetic splitting of ultrashort laser pulses in plasmas

Extreme case of Faraday effect: magnetic splitting of ultrashort laser pulses in plasmas

Theoretical Study of the Efficient Ion Acceleration Driven by Petawatt-Class Lasers via Stable Radiation Pressure Acceleration

Formation and evolution of a pair of collisionless shocks in counter-streaming flows

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