K-shell spectroscopy of nanowire plasmas heated with highly relativistic laser pulses

ORAL

Abstract

The K-shell emission from Ni and Ti near-solid density nanowire array plasmas and solid foils is measured with high spectral resolution at the ALEPH laser facility at Colorado State University using a suite of high-resolution x-ray spectrometers for time-integrated measurements. The addition of a sub-picosecond resolution x-ray streak camera allows for time-resolved measurements of the spectral line emission. The targets are irradiated at highly relativistic intensities, ao ~ 20, with ultra-high contrast 400 nm laser pulses of ~50 fs duration. The plasma density is varied using arrays of 100 nm diameter nanowire arrays with different wire spacings which allows us to vary the target density from 7% to 30% of solid density. The x-ray yield of the lower density nanowire arrays exceeds that of the solid density foil by a factor of ~5x. Time-resolved x-ray emission reveals that the lower density nanowire arrays reach higher temperatures and radiate for longer durations of time (~25 ps) whereas the higher density nanowire arrays radiate for shorter times, converging with the x-ray emission of solid density foils. The experimental results will be compared to three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. 

*The experiments were conducted at Colorado State University ALEPH laser facility supported by DOE LaserNet US (DE-SC0019076 with the support of a DOD Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship and Fusion Energy Sciences (FES), Office of Science, of the US Department of Energy (DOE) (grant no. DE-SC0014610). Work by LLNL was performed under the auspice of DOE under Contract No. DE-AC52-07NA27344

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Presenters

  • Reed C Hollinger

    • Colorado State University
    • Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521 USA

Authors

  • Reed C Hollinger

    • Colorado State University
    • Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521 USA

  • Shoujun Wang

    • Colorado State University
    • Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521 USA

  • Huanyu Song

    • Colorado State University
    • Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521 USA

  • Ryan Nedbailo

    • Colorado State University
    • Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521 USA

  • Vyacheslav Shlyaptsev

    • Colorado State University

  • Jorge J Rocca

    • Colorado State University
    • Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521 USA

  • Jerry Clark

    • Lawrence Livermore Natl Lab

  • Ronnie L Shepherd

    • Lawrence Livermore Natl Lab

  • Jim A Emig

    • Lawrence Livermore Natl Lab
    • Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
    • Lawrence Livermore National Lab

  • Ed Magee

    • Lawrence Livermore Natl Lab

  • Matthew P Hill

    • AWE Plc
    • Lawrence Livermore Natl Lab
    • Atomic Weapons Establishment
    • LLNL and AWE

  • Riccardo Tommasini

    • Lawrence Livermore Natl Lab

  • Alexander Pukhov

    • Institut für Theoretische Physik I, Heinrich-Heine Universitat
    • Institut für Theoretische Physik I, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf

  • Christoph Baumann

    • Institut für Theoretische Physik I, Heinrich-Heine Universitat

  • Brian F Kraus

    • Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
    • PPPL
    • Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), USA

  • Lan Gao

    • Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
    • PPPL
    • Princeton University

  • P.C. C Efthimion

    • Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
    • PPPL

  • Kenneth W Hill

    • Princeton University
    • Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory

  • Manfred L Bitter

    • Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory