The ultrahigh laser intensities enabled by high power lasers facilitate the generation of high energy ions using accelerating gradients many million times that of conventional accelerators. The maturation of these sources relies on breakthroughs in the generated beam parameters and improved reproducibility and repetition rate. We used two independent state-of-the-art femtosecond laser systems capable of repetitive operation to accelerate protons and carbons to high energies (>50 MeV and 30 MeV/nucleon respectively) in the relativistically induced transparency (RIT) regime. We demonstrate that acceleration is optimised for different laser prepulse levels by varying the initial target thickness, relaxing laser requirements for energetic ion generation. We elucidated the acceleration dynamics with cutting-edge 3D simulation, showing a) the role of the laser prepulse in pre-expanding the target, and b) radiation pressure assisted electron expulsion from the target during relativistically induced transparency, generating a strong space charge field which rapidly accelerates ions. Our demonstration of a robust acceleration mechanism that does not require complicated targetry nor a single-shot prepulse suppressing plasma mirror is an important step forward for developing high repetition rate applications of laser driven ion sources.
We review a number of instruments employed in a high-intensity J-KAREN-P laser-solid interaction experiment and discuss the applicability of the diagnostics to the best target position determination with a ~10 μm accuracy, while the focal spot size was ~1 μm and peak intensity was up to 7×1021 W/cm2. We discuss both front- and back-side diagnostics, some of them operated in the infrared, visible and ultraviolet ranges, while others in the extreme ultraviolet, soft X-ray and gamma-ray ranges. We found that the applicability of some of the instruments to the best at-focus target position determination depends on the thickness of the target.
We report on the J-KAREN-P laser facility at QST, which can provide PW peak power at 0.1 Hz on target. The system
can deliver short pulses with an energy of 30 J and pulse duration of 30 fs after compression with a contrast level of
better than 1012. Such performance in high field science will give rise to the birth of new applications and breakthroughs,
which include relativistic particle acceleration, bright x-ray source generation, and nuclear activation. The current
achieved laser intensity on target is up to > 9x1021 Wcm-2 with an energy of ~9 J on target. The interaction with a 3 to 5-
μm stainless steel tape target provides us electrons with a typical temperature of more than 10 MeV and energetic proton
beams with typical maximum energies of > 40 MeV with good reproducibility. The protons are accelerated in the Target
Normal Sheath Acceleration regime, which is suitable for many applications including as an injector into a beamline for
medical use, which is one of our objectives.
Following three different types of high power lasers at Kansai Photon Science Institute are overviewed and controlling
the laser damages in these laser systems are described: (1) PW-class Ti:sapphire laser for high field science, (2) zig-zag
slab Nd:glass laser for x-ray laser pumping, and (3) high-repetition Yb:YAG thin-slab laser for THz generation. Also
reported is the use of plasma mirror for characterization of short-wavelength ultrashort laser pulses. This new method
will be useful to study evolution of plasma formation which leads to laser damages.
Experimental demonstration of multi-charged heavy ion acceleration from the interaction between the ultra-intense short pulse laser system and the metal target is presented. The laser pulse of <10 J laser energy, 36 fs pulse width, and the contrast level of ~1010 from 200 TW class Ti:sapphire J-KAREN laser system at JAEA is used in the experiment. Almost fully stripped Fe ions accelerated up to 0.9 GeV are demonstrated. This is achieved by the high intensity laser field of ∼ 1021Wcm−2 interacting with the solid density target. The demonstrated iron ions with high charge to mass ratio (Q/M) is difficult to be achieved by the conventional heavy ion source technique in the accelerators.
We demonstrate a new ion diagnosis method for high energy ions by utilizing a combination of a single CR-39 detector and plastic plates, which enables to detect high energy ions beyond the detection threshold limit of the CR-39. This detection method coupled with a magnetic spectrometer is applied to identify high energy ions of 50 MeV per nucleon in laser-driven ion acceleration experiments using cluster-gas targets.
We present experimental results, theory, and simulations demonstrating two novel sources of coherent X-ray radiation
generated in the relativistic laser (>1018W/cm2) interaction with easily accessible, repetitive, and debris-free gas jet
targets. The first source is based on a relativistic mirror reflecting a counter-propagating laser pulse. A strongly nonlinear
breaking wake wave driven by an intense laser pulse can act as a semi-transparent relativistic flying mirror. Such a
mirror directly converts counter-propagating laser light into a high-frequency (XUV or X-ray) ultrashort pulse due to the
double Doppler effect. In the experimental demonstration with the 9 TW J-KAREN laser, the flying mirror generated in
a He gas jet partially reflected a 1 TW pulse, providing up to ~1010 photons, 60 nJ (~1012 photons/sr) in the XUV range
(12.8-22 nm). The second source is demonstrated with the laser power ranging from 9 to 170 TW in experiments with
the J-KAREN and Astra Gemini lasers. The odd and even order harmonics generated by linearly as well as circularly
polarized pulses are emitted forward out of the gas jet. The 120 TW laser pulses produce harmonics with ~3×1013photons/sr (~600 μJ/sr) in the 120±5 eV spectral range. The observed harmonics cannot be explained by previously
known mechanisms (atomic harmonics, betatron radiation, nonlinear Thomson scattering, etc.). We introduce a novel
mechanism of harmonic generation based on the relativistic laser-plasma phenomena (self-focusing, cavity evacuation,
bow wave generation), mathematical catastrophe theory which explains the formation of structurally stable electron
density singularities, spikes, and collective radiation of a compact charge driven by a relativistic laser.
The critical electric field of quantum electrodynamics, called also the Schwinger field, is so strong that it produces
electron-positron pairs from vacuum, converting the energy of light into matter. Since the dawn of quantum
electrodynamics, there has been a dream on how to reach it on Earth. With the rise of laser technology this field has
become feasible through the construction of extremely high power lasers or/and with the sophisticated use of nonlinear
processes in relativistic plasmas. This is one of the most attractive motivations for extremely high power laser
development, i.e. producing matter from vacuum by pure light in fundamental process of quantum electrodynamics in
the nonperturbative regime. Recently it has been realized that a laser with intensity well below the Schwinger limit can
create an avalanche of electron-positron pairs similar to a discharge before attaining the Schwinger field. It has also been
realized that the Schwinger limit can be reached using an appropriate configuration of laser beams. In experiments on
the collision of laser light and high intensity electromagnetic pulses generated by relativistic flying mirrors, with
electron bunches produced by a conventional accelerator and with laser wake field accelerated electrons the studying of
extreme field limits in the nonlinear interaction of electromagnetic waves is proposed. The regimes of dominant
radiation reaction, which completely changes the electromagnetic wave-matter interaction, will be revealed. This will
result in a new powerful source of high brightness gamma-rays. A possibility of the demonstration of the electronpositron
pair creation in vacuum via multi-photon processes can be realized. This will allow modeling under terrestrial
laboratory conditions neutron star magnetospheres, cosmological gamma ray bursts and the Leptonic Era of the
Universe.
M. Nishiuchi, K. Ogura, A. Pirozhkov, T. Tanimoto, A. Yogo, H. Sakaki, T. Hori, Y. Fukuda, M. Kanasaki, A. Sagisaka, M. Tampo, H. Kiriyama, T. Shimomura, K. Kondo, S. Kawanishi, C. Brenner, D. Neely
KEYWORDS: Aluminum, Laser systems engineering, Skin, Laser therapeutics, Electrons, Ions, Medical laser equipment, Laser applications, Particles, Current controlled current source
This paper presents the experimental investigation of laser-driven proton acceleration using a table top Ti:Sapphire laser system interacting with the thin-foil targets during the course of medical
application of the laser-driven proton beam.
The proton beam with maximum energy of upto 14~MeV is generated in 60 TW mode.
The number of protons at ~10 MeV is estimated to be over 105 proton/sr/MeV/shot with
beam having half divergence angle of 5~degree.
If 10 Hz operation is assumed 2 Gy dose is possible to irradiate during 10 min onto a ~1 mm tumor just under the skin.
In contrast to the previous condition of our apparatus with which we
demonstrated the DNA double-strand breaking by irradiating the laser-driven proton beam onto the
human cancer cells in-vitro test,
the result reported here has significant meaning in the sense that
pre-clinical in-vivo test can be started by irradiating the laser-driven proton beam
onto the skin of the mouse, which is unavoidable step before the real radiation therapy.
Electromagnetic wave generation in the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) and infrared (IR) wavelength range occurs
during the interaction of intense short laser pulses with underdense plasmas. XUV pulses are generated through
laser light reflection from relativistically moving electron dense shells (flying mirrors). A proof-of-principle and
an advanced experiment on flying mirrors are presented. Both of the experiments demonstrated light reflection
and frequency upshift to the XUV wavelength range (14-20 nm). The advanced experiment with a head-on
collision of two laser pulses exhibited the high reflected photon number. IR radiation, which is observed in the
forward direction, has the wavelength of 5 μm and dominantly the same polarization as the driving laser. The
source of the IR radiation is attributed to emission from relativistic solitons formed in the underdense plasma.
We describe the demonstration of the high pulse energy and high efficiency second-harmonic generation (SHG) at 532-nm using large aperture CsLiB6O10 (CLBO) crystals for the first time to our knowledge. A pulsed green energy of 25 J has been generated with 34 J of input 1064-nm Nd:glass laser radiation using a two-stage crystal architecture. High conversion efficiency of 74% has been attained at fundamental laser intensity of only 370MW/cm2. This result represents the highest green pulse energy ever reported using the CLBO crystals. We discuss in detail the design and performance of SHG using CLBO crystals.
A four-pass quadrature frequency conversion scheme was developed to generate green output with high efficiency for pumping an ultrashort pulse laser system. With this scheme, a efficiency from fundamental energy into total second harmonic energy in excess of 80% was achieved for frequency doubling of 1064-nm in KTP with a low input fundamental laser intensity of 76 MW/cm2. A total second-harmonic output of 486 mJ was obtained with 607 mJ of the input 1064- nm fundamental laser at 10 Hz.
A novel laser architecture of laser-diode pumped eight pass 1064-nm Nd:YAG zig-zag slab laser amplifier with thermal birefringence compensation by use of a 90 degree quartz rotator has been developed aiming to achieve a high average power laser with high efficiency and good beam quality. With a 100 W (1 kHz) class module, the basic performance of the novel concept was examined by demonstrating an average power of 68 W with a high energy extraction efficiency of 61% for the laser mode volume at an initial small signal gain of 3.03 on single pass, and an excellent beam quality, undernegligible thermal lensing with the compensation for thermal birefringence.
A novel frequency converter architecture of four-pass quadrature frequency conversion scheme was developed aiming to achieve high conversion efficiency. A high conversion efficiency of more than 80% has been achieved in this scheme for frequency doubling of 1064-nm in KTP with a low input fundamental laser intensity of 76 MW/cm2. A second- harmonic output of 486 mJ was obtained with 607 mJ of the input 1064-nm fundamental laser at 10 Hz.
The progress of implosion physics research and relevant technologies enable us to examine technical and economical feasibility, and to plan the realistic strategy to the commercial power plant. The most important key issue for IFE is the driver technology. The development of the laser fusion driver is opening new industrial technologies based on the photon processes and new fields of high energy physics.
A novel laser architecture of laser-diode pumped eight pass 1064-nm Nd:YAG zig-zag slab laser amplifier was developed aiming to achieve high energy extraction efficiency and good beam quality. A high energy extraction efficiency of up to 73% for the laser mode volume has been achieved in this amplifier operating at an initial small signal gain of 3.36. The excellent beam quality factor M2 of 1.2 has been obtained. The compensation of thermal birefringence in this amplifier was successfully performed.
We report the high-sensitivity measurements of 2D thermal birefringence distribution in LD pumped Nd:glass (HAP4) laser under lasing at 1054 nm and non lasing conditions. The thermal birefringence was reduced under the lasing condition compared to the non lasing condition. By inserting a 90 degree(s) quartz rotator between two identically LD pumped Nd:glass rods, almost perfect birefringence compensation was achieved with very little residual birefringence. A considerable reduction of birefringence loss from over 20% before compensation to less than 1% after compensation was observed.
The design and construction of an efficient near-infrared holosteric optical parametric oscillator amplifier based on KTiOPO4 (KTP) crystal are reported. The system is tunable from 840 to 1451 nm and generates up to 0.45 mJ at 920 nm with 27% efficiency in 4 - 6 ns pulses. The 532 nm pump source is a frequency doubled laser-diode pumped Nd:YAG laser producing up to 2 mJ in 8 ns, 50 Hz pulses. We have used the system to study the fluorescence lifetimes of Yb:YAG and Yb:glass as a function of wavelength. The data reveal interesting variations in the reabsorption enhanced Yb-ion lifetime. Some Yb:YAG samples exhibiting a sharp increase in their lifetime near the peak absorption wavelengths. The longest lifetime measured in a few mm thick sample of Yb:YAG was 3.3 ms, which would be highly beneficial for energy storage applications using laser diodes.
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