We present an experimental study of the dynamics of shocks generated by the interaction of a double-spot laser in different kinds of targets: simple aluminum foils and foam–aluminum layered targets. The experiment was performed using the Prague PALS iodine laser working at 0.44 μm wavelength and irradiance of a few 1015 W/cm2. Shock breakouts for pure Al and for foam-Al targets have been recorded using time-resolved self-emission diagnostics. Experimental results have been compared with numerical simulations. The shocks originating from two spots move forward and expand radially in the targets, finally colliding in the intermediate region and producing a very strong increase in pressure. This is particularly clear for the case of foam layered targets, where we also observed a delay of shock breakout and a spatial redistribution of the pressure. The influence of the foam layer doped with high-Z (Au) nanoparticles on the shock dynamics was also studied.

We performed an experiment dedicated to study the interaction of a double-spot laser beam with aluminum foils and with foam-aluminum layered targets. The experiment was performed using the Prague PALS iodine laser working at 0.44 mu m wavelength and irradiance of a few 10(15) W/cm(2). Shock breakouts for pure Al and for foam-Al targets have been recorded using time-resolved self-emission diagnostics and compared to results from numerical simulations. In the case of foam layered targets, we observed a spatial redistribution of the pressure and collision between two shocks originating from two spots. We also observed a significant delay of shock breakout in the shots with foam.

This paper describes the results of a series of experiments conducted with the PALS laser at intensities of interest for the shock ignition approach to inertial fusion. In particular, we addressed the generation of hot electrons (HE) (determining their average energy and number), as well as the parametric instabilities which are producing them. In addition, we studied the impact of HE on the formation and dynamics of strong shocks.

The experimental study of the plasma projectile acceleration in the laser-induced cavity pressure acceleration (LICPA) scheme is reported. In the experiment performed at the kilojoule PALS laser facility, the parameters of the projectile were measured using interferometry, a streak camera and ion diagnostics, and the measurements were supported by two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations. It is shown that in the LICPA accelerator with a 200-J laser driver, a 4-mu g gold plasma projectile is accelerated to the velocity of 140 km/s with the energetic acceleration efficiency of 15-19% which is significantly higher than those achieved with the commonly used ablative acceleration and the highest among the ones measured so far for any projectiles accelerated to the velocities >= 100 km/s. This achievement opens the possibility of creation and investigation of high-energy-density matter states with the use of moderate-energy lasers and may also have an impact on the development of the impact ignition approach to inertial confinement fusion.

We have analyzed the laser driven shock behavior in experiments with double focal spots, in particular, its cumulative effect in double layer foam–metal targets, explained by multiple collisions of individual shocks in the structured target. Some of experimental shock dynamics results are in a good agreement with the theoretical and numerical predictions, but others demand for new models.

This paper provides a summary of recent research connected with the shock ignition (SI) concept of the inertial confinement fusion which was carried out at PALS. In the experiments, Cu planar targets coated with a thin CH layer were used. Two-beam irradiation experiment was applied to investigate the effect of preliminary produced plasma to shock-wave generation. The 1 omega or 3 omega main beam with a high intensity >10(15) W/cm(2) generates shock wave, while the other 1 omega beam with the intensity below 10(14) W/cm(2) creates CH pre-plasma simulating the pre-compressed plasma related to SI. Influence of laser wavelength on absorbed energy transfer to shock wave was studied by means of femtosecond interferometry and measuring the crater volume. To characterize the hot electron and ion emission, two-dimensional (2D) K-alpha-imaging of Cu plasma and grid collector measurements were used. In single 1 omega beam experiments energy transport by fast electrons produced by resonant absorption made a significant contribution to shock-wave pressure. However, two-beam experiments with 1 omega main beam show that the pre-plasma is strongly degrading the scalelength which leads to decreasing the fast electron energy contribution to shock pressure. In both the single 3 omega beam experiments and the two-beam experiments with the 3 omega main beam, do not show any clear influence of fast electron transport on shock-wave pressure. The non-monotonic behavior of the scalelength at changing the laser beam focal radius in both presence and absence of pre-plasma reflects the competition of plasma motion and electron heat conduction under the conditions of one-dimensional and 2D plasma expansion at large and small focal radii, respectively.

Hot electrons role in shock generation and energy deposition to hot dense core is crucial for the shock ignition scheme implying the need for their characterization at laser intensities of interest for shock ignition. In this paper we analyze the experimental results obtained at the PALS laboratory and provide an estimation of hot electrons temperature and conversion efficiency using a semi analytical approach, including Harrach-Kidder's model.

A solid hydrogen thin ribbon, produced by the cryogenic system ELISE (Experiments on Laser Interaction with Solid hydrogEn) target delivery system, was experimentally used at the PALS kJ-laser facility to generate intense proton beams with energies in the MeV range. This sophisticated target system operating at cryogenic temperature (similar to 10 K) continuously producing a 62 mu m thick target was combined with a 600 J sub-nanosecond laser pulse to generate a collimated proton stream. The accelerated proton beams were fully characterized by a number of diagnostics. High conversion efficiency of laser to energetic protons is of great interest for future potential applications in non-conventional proton therapy and fast ignition for inertial confinement fusion.

We report measurements of parametric instabilities and hot electron generation in a laser intensity regime up to 6 x 10(15) W/cm(2), typical of the shock ignition approach to inertial fusion. Experiments performed at the PALS laboratory in Prague show that the incident laser energy losses are dominated by Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) rather than by Stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS) or Two-Plasmon Decay (TPD). Results are compared to hydrodynamics simulations using a code that includes self-consistent calculations of non-linear laser plasma interactions and accounts for the laser intensity statistics contained in the beam speckles. Good agreement is found for the backscattered SRS light, and for temperature and flux of hot electrons. The effect of high-intensity speckles on backscattered SRS is also underlined numerically and experimentally. Copyright (C) EPLA, 2017

A system of precise pulse synchronization between a single-shot large-scale laser exploiting an acousto-optical modulator and a femtosecond high repetition rate laser is reported in this article. This opto-electronical system has been developed for synchronization of the sub-nanosecond kJ-class iodine photodissociation laser system (Prague Asterix Laser System-PALS) with the femtosecond 25-TW Ti:sapphire (Ti:Sa) laser operating at a repetition rate 1 kHz or 10 Hz depending on the required energy level of output pulses. At 1 kHz synchronization regime, a single femtosecond pulse of duration about 45 fs and a small energy less than 1 mJ are exploited as a probe beam for irradiation of a three-frame interferometer, while at 10 Hz repetition rate a single femtosecond pulse with higher energy about 7-10 mJ is exploited as a probe beam for irradiation of a two-channel polaro-interferometer. The synchronization accuracy ±100 ps between the PALS and the Ti:Sa laser pulses has been achieved in both regimes of synchronization. The femtosecond interferograms of laser-produced plasmas obtained by the three-frame interferometer and the femtosecond polarimetric images obtained by the two-frame polaro-interferometer confirm the full usefulness and correct functionality of the proposed method of synchronization.

The current balancing the target charging and the emission of transient electromagnetic pulses (EMP) driven by the interaction of a focused 1.315 mu m iodine 300 ps PALS laser with metallic and plastic targets were measured with the use of inductive probes. It is experimentally proven that the duration of return target currents and EMPs is much longer than the duration of laser-target interaction. The laser-produced plasma is active after the laser-target interaction. During this phase, the target acts as a virtual cathode and the plasma-target interface expands. A double exponential function is used in order to obtain the temporal characteristics of EMP. The rise time of EMPs fluctuates in the range up to a few tens of nanoseconds. Frequency spectra of EMP and target currents are modified by resonant frequencies of the interaction chamber.

The electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) generated during the interaction of a focused 1.315-μm sub-nanosecond laser pulse with a solid hydrogen ribbon were measured. The strength and temporal characteristics of EMPs were found to be dependent on the target density. If a low density target is ionized during the interaction with the laser, and the plasma does not physically touch the target holder, the EMP is weaker in strength and shorter in time duration. It is shown that during the H2 target experiment, the EMP does not strongly affect the response of fast electronic devices. The measurements of the EMP were carried out by Rohde&Schwarz B-Probes, particularly sensitive in the frequency range from 30 MHz and 1 GHz. Numerical simulations of resonant frequencies of the target chamber used in the experiment at the Prague Asterix Laser System kJ-class laser facility elucidate the peaked structure of EMP frequency spectra in the GHz domain.

The application of time-of-flight Faraday cups and SiC detectors for the measurement of currents of fast ions emitted by laser-produced plasmas is reported. Presented analysis of signals of ion detectors reflects the design and construction of the detector used. A similarity relation between output signals of ion collectors and semiconductor detectors is established. Optimization of the diagnostic system is discussed with respect to the emission time of electromagnetic pulses interfering with signals induced by the fastest ions accelerated up to velocities of 107 m/s. The experimental campaign on laser-driven ion acceleration was performed at the PALS facility in Prague.

A comparative study of photoionized plasmas created by two soft X-ray and extreme ultraviolet (SXR/EUV) laser plasma sources with different parameters is presented. The two sources are based on double-stream Xe/He gas-puff targets irradiated with high (500 J/0.3 ns) and low energy (10 J/1 ns) laser pulses. In both cases, the SXR/EUV beam irradiated the gas stream, injected into a vacuum chamber synchronously with the radiation pulse. Irradiation of gases resulted in formation of photoionized plasmas emitting radiation in the SXR/EUV range. The measured Ne plasma radiation spectra are dominated by emission lines corresponding to radiative transitions in singly charged ions. A significant difference concerns origin of the lines: K-shell or L-shell emissions occur in case of the high and low energy irradiating system, respectively. In high energy system, the electron density measurements were also performed by laser interferometry, employing a femtosecond laser system. A maximum electron density for Ne plasma reached the value of 2·1018 cm−3. For the low energy system, a detection limit was too high for the interferometric measurements, thus only an upper estimation for electron density could be made.

Margarone, D., Velyhan, A., Dostal, J., Ullschmied, J., Perin, J. P., Chatain, D., Garcia, S., Bonnay, P., Pisarczyk, T., Dudzak, R., Rosinski, M., Krasa, J., Giuffrida, L., Prokupek, J., Scuderi, V., Psikal, J., Kucharik, M., De Marco, M., Cikhardt, J., ... Korn, G. (2016). Proton acceleration driven by a nanosecond laser from a cryogenic thin solid-hydrogen ribbon. Physical review x, 6(4), [041030]. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.6.041030

Generation of strong shock waves for the production of Mbar or Gbar pressures is a topic of high relevance for contemporary research in various domains, including inertial confinement fusion, laboratory astrophysics, planetology and material science. The pressures in the multi-Mbar range can be produced by the shocks generated using chemical explosions, light-gas guns, Z-pinch machines or lasers. Higher pressures, in the sub-Gbar or Gbar range are attainable only with nuclear explosions or laser-based methods. Unfortunately, due to the low efficiency of energy conversion from a laser to the shock (below a few percent), multi-kJ, multi-beam lasers are needed to produce such pressures with these methods. Here, we propose and investigate a novel scheme for generating high-pressure shocks which is much more efficient than the laser-based schemes known so far. In the proposed scheme, the shock is generated in a dense target by the impact of a fast projectile driven by the laser-induced cavity pressure acceleration (LICPA) mechanism. Using two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations and the measurements performed at the kilojoule PALS laser facility it is shown that in the LICPA-driven collider the laser-to-shock energy conversion efficiency can reach a very high value similar to 15-20 % and, as a result, the shock pressure similar to 0.5-1 Gbar can be produced using lasers of energy <= 0.5 kJ. On the other hand, the pressures in the multi-Mbar range could be produced in this collider with low-energy (similar to 10 J) lasers available on the market. It would open up the possibility of conducting research in high energy-density science also in small, university-class laboratories.

Recent experiments at the laser facility PALS focused on the laser driven fusion of deuterons are reviewed. They benefit of high reaction cross-sections and of a high number of multi-MeV deuterons from thick CD2 targets irradiated by intensity of 3× 1016 W cm−2. In the reported experiments fast fusion neutrons with energy up to 16 MeV were produced through 7Li(d, n)8Be and 11B(d, n)12C reactions in a pitcher-catcher target configuration. When using a large area CD2 foil as a secondary catcher target the total maximum neutron yield from the 2H(d, n)3He reaction increased by a factor of about 5, from 4× 108 to 2× 109. This result reveals that most of the deuterons having enough kinetic energy to enter a fusion reaction are emitted from the primary target into vacuum.

A target irradiated with a high power laser pulse, blows off a large amount of charge and as a consequence the target itself becomes a generator of electromagnetic pulses (EMP) owing to high return current flowing to the ground through the target holder. The first measurement of the magnetic field induced by the neutralizing current reaching a value of a few kA was performed with the use of an inductive target probe at the PALS Laser Facility (Cikhardt et al. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 85 (2014) 103507). A full description of EMP generation should contain information on the spatial distribution and temporal variation of the electromagnetic field inside and outside of the interaction chamber. For this reason, we consider the interaction chamber as a resonant cavity in which different modes of EMP oscillate for hundreds of nanoseconds, until the EMP is transmitted outside through the glass windows and EM waves are attenuated. Since the experimental determination of the electromagnetic field distribution is limited by the number of employed antennas, a mapping of the electromagnetic field has to be integrated with numerical simulations. Thus, this work reports on a detailed numerical mapping of the electromagnetic field inside the interaction chamber at the PALS Laser Facility (covering a frequency spectrum from 100 MHz to 3 GHz) using the commercial code COMSOL Multiphysics 5.2. Moreover we carried out a comparison of the EMP generated in the parallelepiped-like interaction chamber used in the Vulcan Petawatt Laser Facility at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, against that produced in the spherical interaction chamber of PALS.

The paper is a continuation of research carried out at Prague Asterix Laser System (PALS) related to the shock ignition (SI) approach in inertial fusion, which was carried out with use of 1 omega main laser beam as the main beam generating a shock wave. Two-layer targets were used, consisting of Cu massive planar target coated with a thin polyethylene layer, which, in the case of two-beam irradiation geometry, simulate conditions related to the SI scenario. The investigations presented in this paper are related to the use of 3 omega to create ablation pressure for high-power shock wave generation. The interferometric studies of the ablative plasma expansion, complemented by measurements of crater volumes and K-alpha emission, clearly demonstrate the effect of changing the incident laser intensity due to changing the focal radius on efficiency of laser energy transfer to a shock wave and fast electron emission. The efficiency of the energy transfer increases with the radius of the focused laser beam. The pre-plasma does not significantly change the character of this effect. However, it unambiguously results in the increasing temperature of fast electrons, the total energy of which remains very small (<0.1% of the laser energy). This study shows that the optimal radius from the point of view of 3 omega radiation energy transfer to the shock wave is the maximal one used in these experiments and equal to 200 mu m that corresponds to the minimal effect of two-dimensional (2D)-expansion. Such a result is typical for the ablation process determined by electron conductivity energy transfer under the conditions of one-dimensional or 2D matter expansion without any appreciable effect due to energy transfer by fast electrons. The 2D simulations based on application of the ALANT-HE code and an analytical model that includes generation and transport of hot electrons has been used to support of experimental data.

Energy transfer to shock wave in Al and Cu targets irradiated by a laser pulse with intensity of I≈1-50 PW/cm2 and duration of 250 ps was investigated at Prague Asterix Laser System (PALS). The iodine laser provided energy in the range of 100-600 J at the first and third harmonic frequencies. The focal spot radius of laser beam on the target was varied from 160 to 40 μm. The dominant contribution of fast electron energy transfer into the ablation process was found when using the first harmonic radiation, the focal spot radius of 40-100 μm, and the energy of 300-600 J. The fast electron heating results in the growth of ablation pressure from 60 Mbar at the intensity of 10 PW/cm2 to 180 Mbar at the intensity of 50 PW/cm2 and in the growth of the efficiency of the energy conversion into the shock wave from 2 to 7% under the conditions of 2D ablation.