Measurement and simulations of hollow atom X-ray spectra of solid-density relativistic plasma created by high-contrast PW optical laser pulses

S. A. Pikuz; A. Ya Faenov; J. Colgan; R. J. Dance; J. Abdallah; E. Wagenaars; N. Booth; O. Culfa; R. G. Evans; R. J. Gray; T. Kaempfer; K. L. Lancaster; P. McKenna; A. L. Rossall; I. Yu Skobelev; K. S. Schulze; I. Uschmann; A. G. Zhidkov; N. C. Woolsey

doi:10.1016/j.hedp.2013.05.008

Measurement and simulations of hollow atom X-ray spectra of solid-density relativistic plasma created by high-contrast PW optical laser pulses

S. A. Pikuz, A. Ya Faenov, J. Colgan, R. J. Dance, J. Abdallah, E. Wagenaars, N. Booth, O. Culfa, R. G. Evans, R. J. Gray, T. Kaempfer, K. L. Lancaster, P. McKenna, A. L. Rossall, I. Yu Skobelev, K. S. Schulze, I. Uschmann, A. G. Zhidkov, N. C. Woolsey

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24 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

K-shell spectra of solid Al excited by petawatt picosecond laser pulses have been investigated at the Vulcan PW facility. Laser pulses of ultrahigh contrast with an energy of 160J on the targetallow studies of interactions between the laser field and solid state matter at 10²⁰W/cm². Intense X-ray emission of KK hollow atoms (atoms without n=1 electrons) from thin aluminum foils is observed from optical laser plasma for the first time. Specifically for 1.5μm thin foil targets the hollow atom yield dominates the resonance line emission. It is suggested that the hollow atoms are predominantly excited by the impact of X-ray photons generated by radiation friction to fast electron currents in solid-density plasma due to Thomson scattering and bremsstrahlung in the transverse plasma fields. Numerical simulations of Al hollow atom spectra using the ATOMIC code confirm that the impact of keV photons dominates the atom ionization. Our estimates demonstrate that solid-density plasma generated by relativistic optical laser pulses provide the source of a polychromatic keV range X-ray field of 10¹⁸W/cm² intensity, and allows the study of excited matter in the radiation-dominated regime. High-resolution X-ray spectroscopy of hollow atom radiation is found to be a powerful tool to study the properties of high-energy density plasma created by intense X-ray radiation.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	560-567
Number of pages	8
Journal	High Energy Density Physics
Volume	9
Issue number	3
Early online date	20 May 2013
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hedp.2013.05.008
Publication status	Published - 1 Sep 2013
Externally published	Yes

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Pikuz, S. A., Faenov, A. Y., Colgan, J., Dance, R. J., Abdallah, J., Wagenaars, E., Booth, N., Culfa, O., Evans, R. G., Gray, R. J., Kaempfer, T., Lancaster, K. L., McKenna, P., Rossall, A. L., Skobelev, I. Y., Schulze, K. S., Uschmann, I., Zhidkov, A. G., & Woolsey, N. C. (2013). Measurement and simulations of hollow atom X-ray spectra of solid-density relativistic plasma created by high-contrast PW optical laser pulses. High Energy Density Physics, 9(3), 560-567. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hedp.2013.05.008

@article{9215b7d3abb348aabea82bee144ad464,

title = "Measurement and simulations of hollow atom X-ray spectra of solid-density relativistic plasma created by high-contrast PW optical laser pulses",

abstract = "K-shell spectra of solid Al excited by petawatt picosecond laser pulses have been investigated at the Vulcan PW facility. Laser pulses of ultrahigh contrast with an energy of 160J on the targetallow studies of interactions between the laser field and solid state matter at 1020W/cm2. Intense X-ray emission of KK hollow atoms (atoms without n=1 electrons) from thin aluminum foils is observed from optical laser plasma for the first time. Specifically for 1.5μm thin foil targets the hollow atom yield dominates the resonance line emission. It is suggested that the hollow atoms are predominantly excited by the impact of X-ray photons generated by radiation friction to fast electron currents in solid-density plasma due to Thomson scattering and bremsstrahlung in the transverse plasma fields. Numerical simulations of Al hollow atom spectra using the ATOMIC code confirm that the impact of keV photons dominates the atom ionization. Our estimates demonstrate that solid-density plasma generated by relativistic optical laser pulses provide the source of a polychromatic keV range X-ray field of 1018W/cm2 intensity, and allows the study of excited matter in the radiation-dominated regime. High-resolution X-ray spectroscopy of hollow atom radiation is found to be a powerful tool to study the properties of high-energy density plasma created by intense X-ray radiation.",

keywords = "Hollow atoms, Radiation-dominated kinetics, Relativistic laser plasma, X-ray sources, X-ray spectroscopy",

author = "Pikuz, {S. A.} and Faenov, {A. Ya} and J. Colgan and Dance, {R. J.} and J. Abdallah and E. Wagenaars and N. Booth and O. Culfa and Evans, {R. G.} and Gray, {R. J.} and T. Kaempfer and Lancaster, {K. L.} and P. McKenna and Rossall, {A. L.} and Skobelev, {I. Yu} and Schulze, {K. S.} and I. Uschmann and Zhidkov, {A. G.} and Woolsey, {N. C.}",

year = "2013",

month = sep,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.hedp.2013.05.008",

language = "English",

volume = "9",

pages = "560--567",

journal = "High Energy Density Physics",

issn = "1574-1818",

publisher = "Elsevier",

number = "3",

}

Pikuz, SA, Faenov, AY, Colgan, J, Dance, RJ, Abdallah, J, Wagenaars, E, Booth, N, Culfa, O, Evans, RG, Gray, RJ, Kaempfer, T, Lancaster, KL, McKenna, P, Rossall, AL, Skobelev, IY, Schulze, KS, Uschmann, I, Zhidkov, AG & Woolsey, NC 2013, 'Measurement and simulations of hollow atom X-ray spectra of solid-density relativistic plasma created by high-contrast PW optical laser pulses', High Energy Density Physics, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 560-567. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hedp.2013.05.008

TY - JOUR

T1 - Measurement and simulations of hollow atom X-ray spectra of solid-density relativistic plasma created by high-contrast PW optical laser pulses

AU - Pikuz, S. A.

AU - Faenov, A. Ya

AU - Colgan, J.

AU - Dance, R. J.

AU - Abdallah, J.

AU - Wagenaars, E.

AU - Booth, N.

AU - Culfa, O.

AU - Evans, R. G.

AU - Gray, R. J.

AU - Kaempfer, T.

AU - Lancaster, K. L.

AU - McKenna, P.

AU - Rossall, A. L.

AU - Skobelev, I. Yu

AU - Schulze, K. S.

AU - Uschmann, I.

AU - Zhidkov, A. G.

AU - Woolsey, N. C.

PY - 2013/9/1

Y1 - 2013/9/1

N2 - K-shell spectra of solid Al excited by petawatt picosecond laser pulses have been investigated at the Vulcan PW facility. Laser pulses of ultrahigh contrast with an energy of 160J on the targetallow studies of interactions between the laser field and solid state matter at 1020W/cm2. Intense X-ray emission of KK hollow atoms (atoms without n=1 electrons) from thin aluminum foils is observed from optical laser plasma for the first time. Specifically for 1.5μm thin foil targets the hollow atom yield dominates the resonance line emission. It is suggested that the hollow atoms are predominantly excited by the impact of X-ray photons generated by radiation friction to fast electron currents in solid-density plasma due to Thomson scattering and bremsstrahlung in the transverse plasma fields. Numerical simulations of Al hollow atom spectra using the ATOMIC code confirm that the impact of keV photons dominates the atom ionization. Our estimates demonstrate that solid-density plasma generated by relativistic optical laser pulses provide the source of a polychromatic keV range X-ray field of 1018W/cm2 intensity, and allows the study of excited matter in the radiation-dominated regime. High-resolution X-ray spectroscopy of hollow atom radiation is found to be a powerful tool to study the properties of high-energy density plasma created by intense X-ray radiation.

AB - K-shell spectra of solid Al excited by petawatt picosecond laser pulses have been investigated at the Vulcan PW facility. Laser pulses of ultrahigh contrast with an energy of 160J on the targetallow studies of interactions between the laser field and solid state matter at 1020W/cm2. Intense X-ray emission of KK hollow atoms (atoms without n=1 electrons) from thin aluminum foils is observed from optical laser plasma for the first time. Specifically for 1.5μm thin foil targets the hollow atom yield dominates the resonance line emission. It is suggested that the hollow atoms are predominantly excited by the impact of X-ray photons generated by radiation friction to fast electron currents in solid-density plasma due to Thomson scattering and bremsstrahlung in the transverse plasma fields. Numerical simulations of Al hollow atom spectra using the ATOMIC code confirm that the impact of keV photons dominates the atom ionization. Our estimates demonstrate that solid-density plasma generated by relativistic optical laser pulses provide the source of a polychromatic keV range X-ray field of 1018W/cm2 intensity, and allows the study of excited matter in the radiation-dominated regime. High-resolution X-ray spectroscopy of hollow atom radiation is found to be a powerful tool to study the properties of high-energy density plasma created by intense X-ray radiation.

KW - Hollow atoms

KW - Radiation-dominated kinetics

KW - Relativistic laser plasma

KW - X-ray sources

KW - X-ray spectroscopy

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84879436953&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.hedp.2013.05.008

DO - 10.1016/j.hedp.2013.05.008

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84879436953

VL - 9

SP - 560

EP - 567

JO - High Energy Density Physics

JF - High Energy Density Physics

SN - 1574-1818

IS - 3

ER -

Measurement and simulations of hollow atom X-ray spectra of solid-density relativistic plasma created by high-contrast PW optical laser pulses

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