Tunable MeV x-rays from Petawatt laser-solid interaction

POSTER

Abstract

It is well established that high irradiance lasers (>10¹⁸ W/cm² μm2) can drive MeV x-rays, essential tools for nuclear physics, nuclear medicine, and high-energy radiography. However, for tunable source generation, open physics questions remain, such as the role of focal geometry and relativistically induced transparency (RIT). A focal geometry study (f/1.5, 10²¹ W/cm² and f/3, 5×10²⁰ W/cm²) at Texas Petawatt (120 J, 140 fs) was carried out, with the laser incident on 1 mm Ta target to produce bremsstrahlung x-rays. The x-rays were characterized with an image plate stack known as a Filter Stack Spectrometer (FSS). Despite the lower intensity, the f/3 produces 3× greater MeV x-ray dose than the f/1.5. Particle-in-cell simulations indicate that the larger interaction volume allows for 3× greater coupling efficiency to MeV electrons. The simulations also convey that the f/1.5, due to its higher intensity, undergoes RIT in a target expanded by preplasma. For this system, coating the 1 mm Ta with microns of plastic increased the experimental MeV x-ray yield by 60%.

*This work, LA-UR-24-26390, was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Triad National Security, LLC, operator of the Los Alamos National Laboratory under Contract No. 89233218CNA000001, with support from the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program.

Publication: J. Strehlow, L. Yin, C.-S. Wong, S.V. Luedtke, S. Palaniyappan, D. J. Stark. C.-K. Huang, A. Bogale, B. Cage, T.A. Coffman, A. Figueroa, R. Fitzgarrald, L.T. Mix, R. Nedbailo, D.R. Rusby, J.L. Schmidt, J. Twardowski, A. Van Pelt, T.H. Day, B.J. Jones, S.A. Bruce, A. Helal, M.M. Spinks, H.J. Quevedo, F.N. Beg, E.A Chowdhury, T. Ditmire, E. Liang, A.G.R. Thomas, J.C. Fernandez, D.C. Gautier, J. Hunter, Y. Kim, K. Meaney, and B.J. Albright. "MeV x-ray production from a Petawatt laser in the regime of a relativistically transparent preplasma, with applications to radiography." High Power Laser Science and Engineering (submitted).

Presenters

  • Joseph Strehlow

    • Los Alamos National Laboratory

Authors

  • Joseph Strehlow

    • Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Farhat N Beg

    • University of California, San Diego
    • UC San Diego

  • Alemayehu S Bogale

    • University of California, San Diego

  • sandra a bruce

    • UT Austin

  • Brandon Cage

    • Rice University

  • G. Capeluto

    • Colorado State University

  • Hui Chen

    • LLNL
    • Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

  • Enam A Chowdhury

    • Ohio State Univ - Columbus

  • Timothy A Coffman

    • LANL
    • Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Joshua E Coleman

    • LANL

  • Thomas H Day

    • LANL

  • Todd Ditmire

    • University of Texas at Austin

  • Juan Carlos Fernandez

    • Los Alamos Natl Lab

  • Rebecca Fitzgarrald

    • University of Michigan

  • Donald Cort Gautier

    • Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Chengkun Huang

    • Los Alamos National Laboratory
    • Los Alamos Natl Lab

  • Christopher E Hamilton

    • LANL

  • Reed C Hollinger

    • Colorado State University

  • James Hunter

    • Los Alamos National Lab

  • Benjamin J Jones

    • LANL

  • Yongho Kim

    • Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Marc Klasky

    • LANL

  • Edison P Liang

    • Rice University

  • Scott V Luedtke

    • Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Kevin D Meaney

    • LANL

  • Brandon M Medina

    • Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Albert J Mendez

    • LANL

  • Tyler Mix

    • Los Alamos National Lab

  • Ryan Nedbailo

    • Colorado State University

  • Sasikumar Palaniyappan

    • Los Alamos National Laboratory
    • Los Alamos Natl Lab
    • Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)

  • Hernan J Quevedo

    • University of Texas at Austin

  • Jorge J Rocca

    • Colorado State University

  • John L Schmidt IV

    • Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Mark Jude Schmitt

    • Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Dean R Rusby

    • Lawrence Livermore National Lab
    • Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

  • Alexander G Seaton

    • Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Avneet Sood

    • Los Alamos National Lab

  • michael spinks

    • UT Austin

  • David Stark

    • LANL

  • Alec G.R. Thomas

    • University of Michigan
    • Michigan University

  • Chris Tomkins

    • LANL
    • Los Alamos National Lab

  • Justin Drew Twardowski

    • The Ohio State University

  • Ashlyn Van Pelt

    • Los Alamos National Lab

  • Tim Wong

    • LANL

  • Lin Yin

    • Los Alamos National Laboratory
    • Los Alamos Natl Lab

  • Brian James Albright

    • Los Alamos National Laboratory
    • Los Alamos Natl Lab