Measurements of Bremsstrahlung and K-shell Emission to Determine the Hot Electron Temperature and Conversion Efficiency in Short-pulse Laser Experiments

POSTER

Abstract

Understanding the conversion efficiency and temperature spectrum of relativistic electrons produced via laser-plasma interactions is an essential first step for determining the coupling of laser energy to the compressed core of a fast ignition target. Measurements of the Bremsstrahlung spectrum and k-shell yield were made using a differentially filtered imaging plate spectrometer and a single-hit CCD spectrometer on various foil and cone targets irradiated with the TITAN laser (1054 nm, 150 J, 10$^{20}$ W/cm$^{2})$ at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The temperature and absolute number of relativistic electrons have been inferred from these x-ray measurements using the Monte Carlo code Integrated Tiger Series (ITS) 3.0.

*This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by University of California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract W-7405-Eng-48.

Authors

  • C.D. Chen

    • Plasma Science Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • J. King

    • Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California-San Diego
    • Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, CA

  • F.N. Beg

    • UCSD
    • Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California San Diego
    • U.C. San Diego, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, La Jolla CA
    • University of California-San Diego
    • Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California-San Diego
    • Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, CA

  • A.G. Macphee

    • Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
    • Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore CA 94550
    • Lawrence Livermore National Lab

  • M. Key

    • Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
    • Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore CA 94550
    • Lawrence Livermore National Lab

  • A.J. Mackinnon

    • Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
    • Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore CA 94550

  • L. Van Woerkom

    • Ohio State University, Columbus OH
    • The Ohio State University
    • College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Ohio State University
    • College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH