High-energy ultra-short pulse thin-disk lasers: new developments and applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michel, Knut; Klingebiel, Sandro; Schultze, Marcel; Tesseit, Catherine Y.; Bessing, Robert; Häfner, Matthias; Prinz, Stefan; Sutter, Dirk; Metzger, Thomas

2016-03-01

We report on the latest developments at TRUMPF Scientific Lasers in the field of ultra-short pulse lasers with highest output energies and powers. All systems are based on the mature and industrialized thin-disk technology of TRUMPF. Thin Yb:YAG disks provide a reliable and efficient solution for power and energy scaling to Joule- and kW-class picosecond laser systems. Due to its efficient one dimensional heat removal, the thin-disk exhibits low distortions and thermal lensing even when pumped under extremely high pump power densities of 10kW/cm². Currently TRUMPF Scientific Lasers develops regenerative amplifiers with highest average powers, optical parametric amplifiers and synchronization schemes. The first few-ps kHz multi-mJ thin-disk regenerative amplifier based on the TRUMPF thindisk technology was developed at the LMU Munich in 20081. Since the average power and energy have continuously been increased, reaching more than 300W (10kHz repetition rate) and 200mJ (1kHz repetition rate) at pulse durations below 2ps. First experiments have shown that the current thin-disk technology supports ultra-short pulse laser solutions >1kW of average power. Based on few-picosecond thin-disk regenerative amplifiers few-cycle optical parametric chirped pulse amplifiers (OPCPA) can be realized. These systems have proven to be the only method for scaling few-cycle pulses to the multi-mJ energy level. OPA based few-cycle systems will allow for many applications such as attosecond spectroscopy, THz spectroscopy and imaging, laser wake field acceleration, table-top few-fs accelerators and laser-driven coherent X-ray undulator sources. Furthermore, high-energy picosecond sources can directly be used for a variety of applications such as X-ray generation or in atmospheric research.

Pulse Consumption, Satiety, and Weight Management1

PubMed Central

McCrory, Megan A.; Hamaker, Bruce R.; Lovejoy, Jennifer C.; Eichelsdoerfer, Petra E.

2010-01-01

The prevalence of obesity has reached epidemic proportions, making finding effective solutions to reduce obesity a public health priority. One part of the solution could be for individuals to increase consumption of nonoilseed pulses (dry beans, peas, chickpeas, and lentils), because they have nutritional attributes thought to benefit weight control, including slowly digestible carbohydrates, high fiber and protein contents, and moderate energy density. Observational studies consistently show an inverse relationship between pulse consumption and BMI or risk for obesity, but many do not control for potentially confounding dietary and other lifestyle factors. Short-term (≤1 d) experimental studies using meals controlled for energy, but not those controlled for available carbohydrate, show that pulse consumption increases satiety over 2–4 h, suggesting that at least part of the effect of pulses on satiety is mediated by available carbohydrate amount or composition. Randomized controlled trials generally support a beneficial effect of pulses on weight loss when pulse consumption is coupled with energy restriction, but not without energy restriction. However, few randomized trials have been conducted and most were short term (3–8 wk for whole pulses and 4–12 wk for pulse extracts). Overall, there is some indication of a beneficial effect of pulses on short-term satiety and weight loss during intentional energy restriction, but more studies are needed in this area, particularly those that are longer term (≥1 y), investigate the optimal amount of pulses to consume for weight control, and include behavioral elements to help overcome barriers to pulse consumption. PMID:22043448

Dual-pulse laser ignition of ethylene-air mixtures in a supersonic combustor.

PubMed

Yang, Leichao; An, Bin; Liang, Jianhan; Li, Xipeng; Wang, Zhenguo

2018-04-02

To reduce the energy of an individual laser pulse, dual-pulse laser ignitions (LIs) at various pulse intervals were investigated in a Mach 2.92 scramjet engine fueled with ethylene. For comparison, experiments on a single-pulse LI were also performed. Schlieren visualization and high-speed photography were employed to observe the ignition processes simultaneously. The results indicate that the energy of an individual laser pulse can be reduced by half via a dual-pulse LI method as compared with a single-pulse LI with the same total energy. The reduction of the individual laser pulse energy degrades the requirements on the laser source and the beam delivery system, which facilitates the practical application of LI in hypersonic vehicles. A pulse interval shorter than 40 μs is suggested for dual-pulse LI in the present study. Because of the intense heat loss and radical dissipation in high-speed flows, the pulse interval for dual-pulse LI should be short enough to narrow the spatial distribution of the initial flame kernel.

Short-pulse laser interactions with disordered materials and liquids

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Phinney, L.M.; Goldman, C.H.; Longtin, J.P.

High-power, short-pulse lasers in the picosecond and subpicosecond range are utilized in an increasing number of technologies, including materials processing and diagnostics, micro-electronics and devices, and medicine. In these applications, the short-pulse radiation interacts with a wide range of media encompassing disordered materials and liquids. Examples of disordered materials include porous media, polymers, organic tissues, and amorphous forms of silicon, silicon nitride, and silicon dioxide. In order to accurately model, efficiently control, and optimize short-pulse, laser-material interactions, a thorough understanding of the energy transport mechanisms is necessary. Thus, fractals and percolation theory are used to analyze the anomalous diffusion regimemore » in random media. In liquids, the thermal aspects of saturable and multiphoton absorption are examined. Finally, a novel application of short-pulse laser radiation to reduce surface adhesion forces in microstructures through short-pulse laser-induced water desorption is presented.« less

Narrow Energy Spread Protons and Ions from High-Intensity, High-Contrast Laser Solid Target Interactions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dollar, Franklin; Matsuoka, Takeshi; McGuffey, Christopher

2010-11-04

Recent simulations show that an idealized, high intensity, short pulse laser can generate quasi-monoenergetic proton beams with energies over 100 MeV in an interaction with a thin film. However, most short pulse laser facilities with sufficient intensity have difficulty controlling the nanosecond and picosecond contrast necessary to realize such a regime. Experiments were performed to investigate proton and ion acceleration from a high contrast, short pulse laser by employing dual plasma mirrors along with a deformable mirror at the HERCULES laser facility at the Center for Ultrafast Optical Sciences, University of Michigan. Plasma mirrors were characterized, allowing a 50% throughputmore » with an intensity contrast increase of 105. The focal spot quality was also exceptional, showing a 1.1 micron full width at half maximum (FWHM) focal diameter. Experiments were done using temporally cleaned 30 TW, 32 fs pulses to achieve an intensity of up to 10{sup 21} Wcm{sup -2} on Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} and Mylar targets with thicknesses ranging 50 nm to 13 microns. Proton beams with energy spreads below 2 MeV were observed from all thicknesses, peaking with energies up to 10.3 MeV and an energy spread of 0.8 MeV. Similar narrow energy spreads were observed for oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon at the silicon nitride thickness of 50 nm with energies up to 24 MeV with an energy spread of 3 MeV, whereas the energy spread is greatly increased at a larger thickness. Maximum energies were confirmed with CR39 track detectors, while a Thomson ion spectrometer was used to gauge the monoenergetic nature of the beam.« less

Ultra-Intense Short-Pulse Pair Creation Using the Texas Petawatt Laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, Edison; Henderson, Alexander; Clarke, Taylor; Taylor, Devin; Chaguine, Petr; Serratto, Kristina; Riley, Nathan; Dyer, Gilliss; Donovan, Michael; Ditmire, Todd

2013-10-01

We report results from the 2012 pair creation experiment using the Texas Petawatt Laser. Up to 1011 positrons per steradian were detected using 100 Joule pulses from the Texas Petawatt Laser to irradiate gold targets, with peak laser intensities up to 1.9 × 1021W/cm2 and pulse durations as short as 130 fs. Positron-to-electron ratios exceeding 20% were measured on some shots. The positron energy, positron yield per unit laser energy, and inferred positron density are significantly higher than those reported in previous experiments. This confirms that, for a given laser energy, higher intensity and shorter pulses irradiating thicker targets are more favorable for pair creation. Narrow-band high-energy positrons up to 23 MeV were observed from thin targets. Supported by DOE Grant DE-SC-0001481 and Rice FIF.

Developing high energy dissipative soliton fiber lasers at 2 micron

PubMed Central

Huang, Chongyuan; Wang, Cong; Shang, Wei; Yang, Nan; Tang, Yulong; Xu, Jianqiu

2015-01-01

While the recent discovered new mode-locking mechanism - dissipative soliton - has successfully improved the pulse energy of 1 μm and 1.5 μm fiber lasers to tens of nanojoules, it is still hard to scale the pulse energy at 2 μm due to the anomalous dispersion of the gain fiber. After analyzing the intracavity pulse dynamics, we propose that the gain fiber should be condensed to short lengths in order to generate high energy pulse at 2 μm. Numerical simulation predicts the existence of stable 2 μm dissipative soliton solutions with pulse energy over 10 nJ, comparable to that achieved in the 1 μm and 1.5 μm regimes. Experimental operation confirms the validity of the proposal. These results will advance our understanding of mode-locked fiber lasers at different wavelengths and lay an important step in achieving high energy ultrafast laser pulses from anomalous dispersion gain media. PMID:26348563

Ultra short laser pulse modification of wave guides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosenfeld, Arkadi; Ashkenasi, David

2003-11-01

The high peak powers of ultra short (ps and sub-ps) pulsed lasers available at relatively low single pulse energies potentially allow for a precise localization of photon energy, either on the surface or inside (transparent) materials. Three dimensional micro structuring of bulk transparent media without any sign of mechanical cracking has shown the potential of ultra short laser processing. In this study, the micro structuring of bulk transparent media was used to modify fused silica and especially the cladding-core interface in normal fused silica wave guides. The idea behind this technique is to enforce a local mismatch for total reflection at the interface at minimal mechanic stress to overcome the barrier for enhanced optical out-coupling. The laser-induced modifications were studied in dependence of pulse width, focal alignment, single pulse energy and pulse overlap. Micro traces with a thickness between 3 and 8 μm were generated with a spacing of 10 μm in the subsurface region using sub-ps and ps laser pulses at a wavelength of 800 nm. The optical leakage enforced by a micro spiral pattern is significant and can be utilized for medical applications or potentially also for telecommunications and fiber laser technology.

Interaction dynamics of fs-laser induced cavitation bubbles and their impact on the laser-tissue-interaction of modern ophthalmic laser systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tinne, N.; Ripken, T.; Lubatschowski, H.; Heisterkamp, A.

2011-07-01

A today well-known laser based treatment in ophthalmology is the LASIK procedure which nowadays includes cutting of the corneal tissue with ultra-short laser pulses. Instead of disposing a microkeratome for cutting a corneal flap, a focused ultra-short laser pulse is scanned below the surface of biological tissue causing the effect of an optical breakdown and hence obtaining a dissection. Inside the tissue, the energy of the laser pulses is absorbed by non-linear processes; as a result a cavitation bubble expands and ruptures the tissue. Hence, positioning of several optical breakdowns side by side generates an incision. Due to a reduction of the amount of laser energy, with a moderate duration of treatment at the same time, the current development of ultra-short pulse laser systems points to higher repetition rates in the range of even Megahertz instead of tens or hundreds of Kilohertz. In turn, this results in a pulse overlap and therefor a probable occurrence of interaction between different optical breakdowns and respectively cavitation bubbles of adjacent optical breakdowns. While the interaction of one single laser pulse with biological tissue is analyzed reasonably well experimentally and theoretically, the interaction of several spatial and temporal following pulses is scarcely determined yet. Thus, the aim of this study is to analyse the dynamic and interaction of two cavitation bubbles by using high speed photography. The applied laser pulse energy, the energy ratio and the spot distance between different cavitation bubbles were varied. Depending on a change of these parameters different kinds of interactions such as a flattening and deformation of bubble shape or jet formation are observed. The effects will be discussed regarding the medical ophthalmic application of fs-lasers. Based on these results a further research seems to be inevitable to comprehend and optimize the cutting effect of ultra-short pulse laser systems with high (> 500 kHz) repetition rates.

Generation of subterawatt-attosecond pulses in a soft x-ray free-electron laser

DOE PAGES

Huang, Senlin; Ding, Yuantao; Huang, Zhirong; ...

2016-08-15

Here, we propose a novel scheme to generate attosecond soft x rays in a self-seeded free-electron laser (FEL) suitable for enabling attosecond spectroscopic investigations. A time-energy chirped electron bunch with additional sinusoidal energy modulation is adopted to produce a short seed pulse through a self-seeding monochromator. This short seed pulse, together with high electron current spikes and a cascaded delay setup, enables a high-efficiency FEL with a fresh bunch scheme. Simulations show that using the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) parameters, soft x-ray pulses with a FWHM of 260 attoseconds and a peak power of 0.5 TW can be obtained.more » This scheme also has the feature of providing a stable central wavelength determined by the self-seeding monochromator.« less

Energy compression of nanosecond high-voltage pulses based on two-stage hybrid scheme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ulmaskulov, M. R.; Mesyats, G. A.; Sadykova, A. G.; Sharypov, K. A.; Shpak, V. G.; Shunailov, S. A.; Yalandin, M. I.

2017-04-01

Test results of high-voltage subnanosecond pulse generator with a hybrid, two-stage energy compression scheme are presented. After the first compression section with a gas discharger, a ferrite-filled gyromagnetic nonlinear transmitting line is used. The offered technical solution makes it possible to increase the voltage pulse amplitude from -185 kV to -325 kV, with a 2-ns pulse rise time minimized down to ˜180 ps. For the small output voltage amplitude of -240 kV, the shortest pulse front of ˜85 ps was obtained. The generator with maximum amplitude was utilized to form an ultra-short flow of runaway electrons in air-filled discharge gap with particles' energy approaching to 700 keV.

Efficient coupling of high intensity short laser pulses into snow clusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palchan, T.; Pecker, S.; Henis, Z.; Eisenmann, S.; Zigler, A.

2007-01-01

Measurements of energy absorption of high intensity laser pulses in snow clusters are reported. Targets consisting of sapphire coated with snow nanoparticles were found to absorb more than 95% of the incident light compared to 50% absorption in flat sapphire targets.

High resolution, high rate x-ray spectrometer

DOEpatents

Goulding, F.S.; Landis, D.A.

1983-07-14

It is an object of the invention to provide a pulse processing system for use with detected signals of a wide dynamic range which is capable of very high counting rates, with high throughput, with excellent energy resolution and a high signal-to-noise ratio. It is a further object to provide a pulse processing system wherein the fast channel resolving time is quite short and substantially independent of the energy of the detected signals. Another object is to provide a pulse processing system having a pile-up rejector circuit which will allow the maximum number of non-interfering pulses to be passed to the output. It is also an object of the invention to provide new methods for generating substantially symmetrically triangular pulses for use in both the main and fast channels of a pulse processing system.

Dynamic and interaction of fs-laser induced cavitation bubbles for analyzing the cutting effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tinne, N.; Schumacher, S.; Nuzzo, V.; Ripken, T.; Lubatschowski, H.

2009-07-01

A prominent laser based treatment in ophthalmology is the LASIK procedure which nowadays includes a cutting of the corneal tissue based on ultra short pulses. Focusing an ultra short laser pulse below the surface of biological tissue an optical breakdown is caused and hence a dissection is obtained. The laser energy of the laser pulses is absorbed by nonlinear processes. As a result a cavitation bubble expands and ruptures the tissue. Hence positioning of several optical breakdowns side by side generates an incision. Due to a reduction of the duration of the treatment the current development of ultra short laser systems points to higher repetition rates in the range of hundreds of KHz or even MHz instead of tens of kHz. This in turn results in a probable occurrence of interaction between different optical breakdowns and respectively cavitation bubbles of adjacent optical breakdowns. While the interaction of one single laser pulse with biological tissue is analyzed reasonably well experimentally and theoretically, the interaction of several spatial and temporal following pulses is scarcely determined yet. Thus the aim of this study is to analyse the dynamic and interaction of two cavitation bubbles by using high speed photography. The applied laser pulse energy, the energy ratio and the spot distance between different cavitation bubbles were varied. Depending on a change of these parameters different kinds of interactions such as a flattening and deformation of bubble shape or jet formation are observed. Based on these results a further research seems to be inevitable to comprehend and optimize the cutting effect of ultra short pulse laser systems with high (> 1 MHz) repetition rates.

Self-reflection of extremely short light pulses in nonlinear optical waveguides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurasov, Alexander E.; Kozlov, Sergei A.

2004-07-01

An equation describing the generation of reflected radiation during the propagation of high-intensity extremely short pulses in a nonlinear optical waveguide is derived. The phenomena taking place during the strong self-inducted changes of the temporal structure of the forward wave are studied. It is shown that the duration of the backward pulse is much greater than the duration of the forward pulse and that the main part of the energy of the backward wave is carried by lower frequencies than the central frequency of the forward wave.

Radiation Damage in Si Diodes from Short, Intense Ion Pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Leon, S. J.; Ludewigt, B. A.; Persaud, A.; Seidl, P. A.; Schenkel, T.

2017-10-01

The Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment (NDCX-II) at Berkeley Lab is an induction accelerator studying the effects that concentrated ion beams have on various materials. Charged particle radiation damage was the focus of this research - we have characterized a series of Si diodes using an electrometer and calibrated the diodes response using an 241Am alpha source, both before and after exposing the diodes to 1 MeV He ions in the accelerator. The key part here is that the high intensity pulses from NDCX-II (>1010 ions/cm2 per pulse in <20 ns) enabled a systematic study of dose-rate effects. An example of a dose-rate effect in Si diodes is increased accumulation of defects due to damage from ions that bombard them in a short pulse. This accumulated damage leads to a reduction in the charge collection efficiency and an increase in leakage current. Testing dose-rate effects in Si diodes and other semiconductors is a crucial step in designing sustainable instruments that can encounter high doses of radiation, such as high intensity accelerators, fusion energy experiments and space applications and results from short pulses can inform models of radiation damage evolution. This work was supported by the Office of Science of the US Department of Energy under contract DE-AC0205CH11231.

Rare-gas-cluster explosions under irradiation by intense short XUV pulses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hoffmann, K.; Murphy, B.; Kandadai, N.

High-intensity, extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) femtosecond interactions with large rare-gas clusters of xenon and argon have been studied at a wavelength of 38 nm. Pulses of XUV radiation with nJ energy are produced by high-order harmonic conversion from a 35-fs, near-infrared, terawatt laser. Mass resolved ion spectra show charge states up to Xe{sup 8+} and Ar{sup 4+}. Kinetic-energy measurements of ions and electrons indicate that a nanoplasma is formed and a hydrodynamic cluster explosion ensues after heating by the short wavelength pulse. It appears that the observed charge states and electron temperatures are consistent with sequential, single-photon ionization and collisional ionization ofmore » ions that have had their ionization potential depressed by plasma continuum lowering in the cluster nanoplasma.« less

Generation of high-power subpicosecond pulses at 155 nm.

PubMed

Mossavi, K; Fricke, L; Liu, P; Wellegehausen, B

1995-06-15

Subpicosecond vacuum-ultraviolet radiation at 155 nm with pulse energies above 0.2 mJ has been obtained by near-resonant four-wave difference-frequency mixing in a Xe gas jet. Laser fields for the mixing process have been generated by a short-pulse KrF dye excimer laser system and a Raman converter. The process permits tuning in a broad vacuum-ultraviolet range and can be scaled up to higher output energies.

Study and development of 22 kW peak power fiber coupled short pulse Nd:YAG laser for cleaning applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choubey, Ambar; Vishwakarma, S. C.; Vachhani, D. M.; Singh, Ravindra; Misra, Pushkar; Jain, R. K.; Arya, R.; Upadhyaya, B. N.; Oak, S. M.

2014-11-01

Free running short pulse Nd:YAG laser of microsecond pulse duration and high peak power has a unique capability to ablate material from the surface without heat propagation into the bulk. Applications of short pulse Nd:YAG lasers include cleaning and restoration of marble, stones, and a variety of metals for conservation. A study on the development of high peak power short pulses from Nd:YAG laser along with its cleaning and conservation applications has been performed. A pulse energy of 1.25 J with 55 μs pulse duration and a maximum peak power of 22 kW has been achieved. Laser beam has an M2 value of ~28 and a pulse-to-pulse stability of ±2.5%. A lower value of M2 means a better beam quality of the laser in multimode operation. A top hat spatial profile of the laser beam was achieved at the exit end of 200 μm core diameter optical fiber, which is desirable for uniform cleaning. This laser system has been evaluated for efficient cleaning of surface contaminations on marble, zircaloy, and inconel materials for conservation with cleaning efficiency as high as 98%. Laser's cleaning quality and efficiency have been analysed by using a microscope, a scanning electron microscope (SEM), and X-ray photon spectroscopy (XPS) measurements.

Particle energy distributions and metastable atoms in transient low pressure interpulse microwave plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pandey, Shail; Nath Patel, Dudh; Ram Baitha, Anuj; Bhattacharjee, Sudeep

2015-12-01

The electron energies and its distribution function are measured in non-equilibrium transient pulsed microwave plasmas in the interpulse regime using a retarding field electron energy analyzer. The plasmas are driven to different initial conditions by varying the electromagnetic (EM) wave pulse duration, peak power, or the wave frequency. Two cases of wave excitation are investigated: (i) short-pulse (pulse duration, t w ~ 1 μs), high-power (~60 kW) waves of 9.45 GHz and (ii) medium-pulse (t w ~ 20 μs), and moderate power waves of ~3 kW at 2.45 GHz. It is found that high-power, short-duration pulses lead to a significantly different electron energy probability function (EEPF) in the interpulse phase—a Maxwellian with a bump on the tail, although the average energy per pulse (~60 mJ) is maintained the same in the two modes of wave excitation. Electrons with energies  >250 eV are found to exist in the discharge in the both cases. Another subset of experiments is performed to delineate the effect of the wave frequency and the peak power on EEPF. A traveling wave tube (TWT) amplifier based microwave source for generating pulsed plasma (t w  =  230 μs) in a wide frequency range (6-18 GHz) is employed for this purpose. Further experiments on measurements of metastable density using optical emission spectroscopy and ion energy analyzer have been carried out. By tailoring the EEPF of the transient plasma and metastable densities, new applications in plasma processing, chemistry and biology can be realized in the interpulse phase of the discharge.

Short-pulse, high-energy radiation generation from laser-wakefield accelerated electron beams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schumaker, Will

2013-10-01

Recent experimental results of laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) of ~GeV electrons driven by the 200TW HERCULES and the 400TW ASTRA-GEMINI laser systems and their subsequent generation of photons, positrons, and neutrons are presented. In LWFA, high-intensity (I >1019 W /cm2), ultra-short (τL < 1 / (2 πωpe)) laser pulses drive highly nonlinear plasma waves which can trap ~ nC of electrons and accelerate them to ~GeV energies over ~cm lengths. These electron beams can then be converted by a high-Z target via bremsstrahlung into low-divergence (< 20 mrad) beams of high-energy (<600 MeV) photons and subsequently into positrons via the Bethe-Heitler process. By increasing the material thickness and Z, the resulting Ne+ /Ne- ratio can approach unity, resulting in a near neutral density plasma jet. These quasi-neutral beams are presumed to retain the short-pulse (τL < 40 fs) characteristic of the electron beam, resulting in a high peak density of ne- /e+ ~ 1016 cm-3 , making the source an excellent candidate for laboratory study of astrophysical leptonic jets. Alternatively, the electron beam can be interacted with a counter-propagating, ultra-high intensity (I >1021 W /cm2) laser pulse to undergo inverse Compton scattering and emit a high-peak brightness beam of high-energy photons. Preliminary results and experimental sensitivities of the electron-laser beam overlap are presented. The high-energy photon beams can be spectrally resolved using a forward Compton scattering spectrometer. Moreover, the photon flux can be characterized by a pixelated scintillator array and by nuclear activation and (γ,n) neutron measurements from the photons interacting with a secondary solid target. Monte-Carlo simulations were performed using FLUKA to support the yield estimates. This research was supported by DOE/NSF-PHY 0810979, NSF CAREER 1054164, DARPA AXiS N66001-11-1-4208, SF/DNDO F021166, and the Leverhulme Trust ECF-2011-383.

High-efficiency, broad band, high-damage threshold high-index gratings for femtosecond pulse compression.

PubMed

Canova, Frederico; Clady, Raphael; Chambaret, Jean-Paul; Flury, Manuel; Tonchev, Svtelen; Fechner, Renate; Parriaux, Olivier

2007-11-12

High efficiency, broad-band TE-polarization diffraction over a wavelength range centered at 800 nm is obtained by high index gratings placed on a non-corrugated mirror. More than 96% efficiency wide band top-hat diffraction efficiency spectra, as well as more than 1 J/cm(2) damage threshold under 50 fs pulses are demonstrated experimentally. This opens the way to high-efficiency Chirped Pulse Amplification for high average power laser machining by means of all-dielectric structures as well as for ultra-short high energy pulses by means of metal-dielectric structures.

Short-pulsed gain-switched Cr2+:ZnSe laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gorajek, L.; Jabczynski, J. K.; Kaskow, M.

2014-04-01

We report the first demonstration of gain-switched, ultra-low-threshold Cr2+:ZnSe laser generating pulses as short as 1.75 ns. A diode pumped Tm3+:YLF laser delivering up to 5 mJ energy in 11 ns pulses was utilized as a pump source. The laser operated at 20 Hz repetition rate with 0.1 duty factor allowing us to reduce thermal effects in an active crystal. In a short resonator (length, 70 mm) we obtained more than 0.5 mJ of output energy and 300 kW of corresponding peak power. The Cr2+:ZnSe laser was characterized by very low losses manifesting themselves by an extremely low generation threshold of less than 7 μJ and very high slope efficiency (reaching the quantum efficiency) determined with respect to absorbed pump power.

Response of dosemeters in the radiation field generated by a TW-class laser system.

PubMed

Olšovcová, V; Klír, D; Krása, J; Krůs, M; Velyhan, A; Zelenka, Z; Rus, B

2014-10-01

State-of-the-art laser systems are able to generate ionising radiation of significantly high energies by focusing ultra-short and intense pulses onto targets. Thus, measures ensuring the radiation protection of both working personnel and the general public are required. However, commercially available dosemeters are primarily designed for measurement in continuous fields. Therefore, it is important to explore their response to very short pulses. In this study, the responses of dosemeters in a radiation field generated by iodine high-power and Ti:Sapphire laser systems are examined in proton and electron acceleration experiments. Within these experiments, electron bunches of femtosecond pulse duration and 100-MeV energy and proton bunches with sub-nanosecond pulse duration and energy of several megaelectronvolts were generated in single-shot regimes. Responses of typical detectors (TLD, films and electronic personal dosemeter) were analysed and compared. Further, a first attempt was carried out to characterise the radiation field generated by TW-class laser systems. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Method of making self-aligned lightly-doped-drain structure for MOS transistors

DOEpatents

Weiner, Kurt H.; Carey, Paul G.

2001-01-01

A process for fabricating lightly-doped-drains (LDD) for short-channel metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistors. The process utilizes a pulsed laser process to incorporate the dopants, thus eliminating the prior oxide deposition and etching steps. During the process, the silicon in the source/drain region is melted by the laser energy. Impurities from the gas phase diffuse into the molten silicon to appropriately dope the source/drain regions. By controlling the energy of the laser, a lightly-doped-drain can be formed in one processing step. This is accomplished by first using a single high energy laser pulse to melt the silicon to a significant depth and thus the amount of dopants incorporated into the silicon is small. Furthermore, the dopants incorporated during this step diffuse to the edge of the MOS transistor gate structure. Next, many low energy laser pulses are used to heavily dope the source/drain silicon only in a very shallow region. Because of two-dimensional heat transfer at the MOS transistor gate edge, the low energy pulses are inset from the region initially doped by the high energy pulse. By computer control of the laser energy, the single high energy laser pulse and the subsequent low energy laser pulses are carried out in a single operational step to produce a self-aligned lightly-doped-drain-structure.

Dependence of Initial Oxygen Concentration on Ozone Yield Using Inductive Energy Storage System Pulsed Power Generator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Go, Tomio; Tanaka, Yasushi; Yamazaki, Nobuyuki; Mukaigawa, Seiji; Takaki, Koichi; Fujiwara, Tamiya

Dependence of initial oxygen concentration on ozone yield using streamer discharge reactor driven by an inductive energy storage system pulsed power generator is described in this paper. Fast recovery type diodes were employed as semiconductor opening switch to interrupt a circuit current within 100 ns. This rapid current change produced high-voltage short pulse between a secondary energy storage inductor. The repetitive high-voltage short pulse was applied to a 1 mm diameter center wire electrode placed in a cylindrical pulse corona reactor. The streamer discharge successfully occurred between the center wire electrode and an outer cylinder ground electrode of 2 cm inner diameter. The ozone was produced with the streamer discharge and increased with increasing pulse repetition rate. The ozone yield changed in proportion to initial oxygen concentration contained in the injected gas mixture at 800 ns forward pumping time of the current. However, the decrease of the ozone yield by decreasing oxygen concentration in the gas mixture at 180 ns forward pumping time of the current was lower than the decrease at 800 ns forward pumping time of the current. This dependence of the initial oxygen concentration on ozone yield at 180 ns forward pumping time is similar to that of dielectric barrier discharge reactor.

Characterization of a high repetition-rate laser-driven short-pulsed neutron source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hah, J.; Nees, J. A.; Hammig, M. D.; Krushelnick, K.; Thomas, A. G. R.

2018-05-01

We demonstrate a repetitive, high flux, short-pulsed laser-driven neutron source using a heavy-water jet target. We measure neutron generation at 1/2 kHz repetition rate using several-mJ pulse energies, yielding a time-averaged neutron flux of 2 × 105 neutrons s‑1 (into 4π steradians). Deuteron spectra are also measured in order to understand source characteristics. Analyses of time-of-flight neutron spectra indicate that two separate populations of neutrons, ‘prompt’ and ‘delayed’, are generated at different locations. Gamma-ray emission from neutron capture 1H(n,γ) is also measured to confirm the neutron flux.

Ultrashort laser pulse processing of wave guides for medical applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ashkenasi, David; Rosenfeld, Arkadi; Spaniol, Stefan B.; Terenji, Albert

2003-06-01

The availability of ultra short (ps and sub-ps) pulsed lasers has stimulated a growing interest in exploiting the enhanced flexibility of femtosecond and/or picosecond laser technology for micro-machining. The high peak powers available at relatively low single pulse energies potentially allow for a precise localization of photon energy, either on the surface or inside (transparent) materials. Three dimensional micro structuring of bulk transparent media without any sign of mechanical cracking has been demonstrated. In this study, the potential of ultra short laser processing was used to modify the cladding-core interface in normal fused silica wave guides. The idea behind this technique is to enforce a local mismatch for total reflection at the interface at minimal mechanic stress. The laser-induced modifications were studied in dependence of pulse width, focal alignment, single pulse energy and pulse overlap. Micro traces with a thickness between 3 and 8 μm were generated with a spacing of 10 μm in the sub-surface region using sub-ps and ps laser pulses at a wavelength of 800 nm. The optical leakage enforced by a micro spiral pattern is significant and can be utilized for medical applications or potentially also for telecommunications and fiber laser technology.

Lithotripsy Performance of Specially Designed Laser Fiber Tips.

PubMed

Kronenberg, Peter; Traxer, Olivier

2016-05-01

We evaluated and compared a standard laser lithotripsy fiber to laser fibers claimed to have lithotripsy performance enhancing features. A special AccuMax™ 200 polished tip fiber and an AccuTrac™ ball-shaped tip fiber, each with an approximately 240 μm core, were compared to a standard 272 μm core fiber (Rocamed™). The polished and ball-shaped tip fibers were used and reused without preparation. The standard fiber was stripped and cleaved according to manufacturer instructions after each experiment. An automated laser fragmentation testing system was used to perform multiple 30-second laser lithotripsy experiments. To mimic most typical lithotripsy conditions soft and hard stone materials were used with high frequency, low pulse energy (20 Hz and 0.5 J) or with low frequency, high pulse energy (5 Hz and 2.0 J) lithotripter settings. Ablation volumes and laser fiber tip photographs before and after lithotripsy were compared. The standard and ball-shaped tip fibers did not differ in ablation volume (p = 0.72) but they ablated 174% and 188% more stone, respectively, than the polished tip fiber (p <0.0001). The ball-shaped tip showed remarkable fiber tip degradation after short-term use at low frequency, high pulse energy settings. When high pulse energy settings were applied first even for short-term use, the ablation volume achieved by the polished and ball-shaped tip fibers at high frequency, low pulse energy settings decreased more than 20%. The standard laser fiber was as good as and sometimes better than the specially designed fibers. Rapid degradation of the specially designed laser fiber tips strongly limits their general usefulness but ball-shaped tip fibers may be useful in specific situations. Copyright © 2016 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

MeV electron acceleration at 1kHz with <10 mJ laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salehi, Fatholah; Goers, Andy; Hine, George; Feder, Linus; Kuk, Donghoon; Kim, Ki-Yong; Milchberg, Howard

2016-10-01

We demonstrate laser driven acceleration of electrons at 1 kHz repetition rate with pC charge above 1MeV per shot using < 10 mJ pulse energies focused on a near-critical density He or H2 gas jet. Using the H2 gas jet, electron acceleration to 0.5 MeV in 10 fC bunches was observed with laser pulse energy as low as 1.3mJ . Using a near-critical density gas jet sets the critical power required for relativistic self-focusing low enough for mJ scale laser pulses to self- focus and drive strong wakefields. Experiments and particle-in-cell simulations show that optimal drive pulse duration and chirp for maximum electron bunch charge and energy depends on the target gas species. High repetition rate, high charge, and short duration electron bunches driven by very modest pulse energies constitutes an ideal portable electron source for applications such as ultrafast electron diffraction experiments and high rep. rate γ-ray production. This work is supported by the US Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

High energy protons generation by two sequential laser pulses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Xiaofeng; Shen, Baifei, E-mail: bfshen@mail.shcnc.ac.cn, E-mail: zhxm@siom.ac.cn; Zhang, Xiaomei, E-mail: bfshen@mail.shcnc.ac.cn, E-mail: zhxm@siom.ac.cn

2015-04-15

The sequential proton acceleration by two laser pulses of relativistic intensity is proposed to produce high energy protons. In the scheme, a relativistic super-Gaussian (SG) laser pulse followed by a Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) pulse irradiates dense plasma attached by underdense plasma. A proton beam is produced from the target and accelerated in the radiation pressure regime by the short SG pulse and then trapped and re-accelerated in a special bubble driven by the LG pulse in the underdense plasma. The advantages of radiation pressure acceleration and LG transverse structure are combined to achieve the effective trapping and acceleration of protons. Inmore » a two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation, protons of 6.7 GeV are obtained from a 2 × 10{sup 22 }W/cm{sup 2} SG laser pulse and a LG pulse at a lower peak intensity.« less

Interaction dynamics of temporal and spatial separated cavitation bubbles in water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tinne, N.; Ripken, T.; Lubatschowski, H.

2010-02-01

The LASIK procedure is a well established laser based treatment in ophthalmology. Nowadays it includes a cutting of the corneal tissue bases on ultra short pulses which are focused below the tissue surface to create an optical breakdown and hence a dissection of the tissue. The energy of the laser pulse is absorbed by non-linear processes that result in an expansion of a cavitation bubble and rupturing of the tissue. Due to a reduction of the duration of treatment the current development of ultra short laser systems points to higher repetition rates. This in turn results in a probable interaction between different cavitation bubbles of adjacent optical breakdowns. While the interaction of one single laser pulse with biological tissue is analyzed reasonably well experimentally and theoretically, the interaction of several spatial and temporal following pulses is scarcely determined yet. We present a high-speed photography analysis of cavitation bubble interaction for two spatial separated laser-induced optical breakdowns varying the laser pulse energy as well as the spatial distance. Depending on a change of these parameters different kinds of interactions such as a flattening and deformation of bubble shape, asymmetric water streams and jet formation were observed. The results of this research can be used to comprehend and optimize the cutting effect of ultra short pulse laser systems with high repetition rates (> 1 MHz).

Advanced Orion Optimized Laser System Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1996-01-01

Contractor shall perform a complete analysis of the potential of the solid state laser in the very long pulse mode (100 ns pulse width, 10-30 hz rep-rate) and in the very short pulse mode (100 ps pulse width 10-30 hz rep rate) concentrating on the operation of the device in the 'hot-rod' mode, where no active cooling the laser operation is attempted. Contractor's calculations shall be made of the phase aberrations which develop during the repped-pulse train, and the results shall feed into the adaptive optics analyses. The contractor shall devise solutions to work around ORION track issues. A final report shall be furnished to the MSFC COTR including all calculations and analysis of estimates of bulk phase and intensity aberration distribution in the laser output beam as a function of time during the repped-pulse train for both wave forms (high-energy/long-pulse, as well as low-energy/short-pulse). Recommendations shall be made for mitigating the aberrations by laser re-design and/or changes in operating parameters of optical pump sources and/or designs.

Temporal narrowing of neutrons produced by high-intensity short-pulse lasers

DOE PAGES

Higginson, D. P.; Vassura, L.; Gugiu, M. M.; ...

2015-07-28

The production of neutron beams having short temporal duration is studied using ultraintense laser pulses. Laser-accelerated protons are spectrally filtered using a laser-triggered microlens to produce a short duration neutron pulse via nuclear reactions induced in a converter material (LiF). This produces a ~3 ns duration neutron pulse with 10 4 n/MeV/sr/shot at 0.56 m from the laser-irradiated proton source. The large spatial separation between the neutron production and the proton source allows for shielding from the copious and undesirable radiation resulting from the laser-plasma interaction. Finally, this neutron pulse compares favorably to the duration of conventional accelerator sources andmore » should scale up with, present and future, higher energy laser facilities to produce brighter and shorter neutron beams for ultrafast probing of dense materials.« less

Pulsed magnetic field excitation sensitivity of match-type electric blasting caps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parson, Jonathan; Dickens, James; Walter, John; Neuber, Andreas A.

2010-10-01

This paper presents a study on energy deposition and electromagnetic compatibility of match-type electroexplosive devices (EEDs), which recently have found more usage in pulsed power environments with high electromagnetic interference (EMI) background. The sensitivity of these devices makes them dangerous to intended and unintended radiation produced by devices commonly used in pulsed power environments. Match-type EEDs have been found to be susceptible to such low levels of energy (7-8 mJ) that safe operation of these EEDs is vital when in use near devices that produce high levels of pulsed EMI. The scope of this paper is to provide an investigation that incorporates results of similar studies to provide detonation characteristics of these EEDs. The three topics included in this study are sensitivity testing, modeling of the thermodynamic heat propagation, and electromagnetic compatibility from pulsed electromagnetic radiation. The thermodynamic joule heating of the primary explosive has been modeled by a solution to the 1D heat equation. A simple pulsed generator, Marx generator with an inductive load, was used for the electromagnetic compatibility assessment of the coupled field between the pulse generator and shorted EED. The results of the electromagnetic compatibility assessment relate the resistive, inductive, and capacitive components of the pulse generator to the area of the shorted EED.

Pulsed magnetic field excitation sensitivity of match-type electric blasting caps.

PubMed

Parson, Jonathan; Dickens, James; Walter, John; Neuber, Andreas A

2010-10-01

This paper presents a study on energy deposition and electromagnetic compatibility of match-type electroexplosive devices (EEDs), which recently have found more usage in pulsed power environments with high electromagnetic interference (EMI) background. The sensitivity of these devices makes them dangerous to intended and unintended radiation produced by devices commonly used in pulsed power environments. Match-type EEDs have been found to be susceptible to such low levels of energy (7-8 mJ) that safe operation of these EEDs is vital when in use near devices that produce high levels of pulsed EMI. The scope of this paper is to provide an investigation that incorporates results of similar studies to provide detonation characteristics of these EEDs. The three topics included in this study are sensitivity testing, modeling of the thermodynamic heat propagation, and electromagnetic compatibility from pulsed electromagnetic radiation. The thermodynamic joule heating of the primary explosive has been modeled by a solution to the 1D heat equation. A simple pulsed generator, Marx generator with an inductive load, was used for the electromagnetic compatibility assessment of the coupled field between the pulse generator and shorted EED. The results of the electromagnetic compatibility assessment relate the resistive, inductive, and capacitive components of the pulse generator to the area of the shorted EED.

Stone Retropulsion with Ho: YAG and Tm: YAG Lasers: A Clinical Practice-Oriented Experimental Study.

PubMed

Kamal, Wissam; Kallidonis, Panagiotis; Koukiou, Georgia; Amanatides, Lefteris; Panagopoulos, Vasileios; Ntasiotis, Pantelis; Liatsikos, Evangelos

2016-11-01

To compare the retropulsion of stones with the use of holmium: yttrium aluminum garnet (Ho: YAG) laser and thulium: yttrium aluminum garnet (Tm: YAG) laser in settings that could be used in clinical practice. The experimental configuration included a glass tube set in a water bath filled with physiologic saline. Plaster of Paris stones were inserted in the tube. Tm: YAG and Ho: YAG laser systems were used along with a high-speed slow-motion camera. The lasers were activated with different settings. The displacement of the stone was measured according to a custom-made algorithm. Ho: YAG: the retropulsion of stones was the lowest with the energy setting of 0.5 J and the frequency of 20 Hz with long pulse duration. The highest retropulsion was observed in the case of 3 J, 5 Hz, and short pulse. Tm: YAG: the retropulsion of stones was the lowest with the energy setting of 1 J and the frequency of 10 Hz with either long or short pulse duration. Practically, there was no retropulsion at all. The highest retropulsion was observed in the case of 8 J, 5 Hz, and short pulse. Ho: YAG laser has a linear increase in stone retropulsion with increased pulse energy. On the other hand, the retropulsion rate was kept to the minimum with Tm: YAG as much as the energy level of 8 J. The activation of lasers with short pulse resulted in further displacement of the stone. Lower frequency with the same power setting seemed to result in further stone retropulsion. Higher power with the same frequency setting resulted in further displacement of the stone.

Recrystallization and grain growth behavior of rolled tungsten under VDE-like short pulse high heat flux loads

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Y.; Greuner, H.; Böswirth, B.; Krieger, K.; Luo, G.-N.; Xu, H. Y.; Fu, B. Q.; Li, M.; Liu, W.

2013-02-01

Short pulse heat loads expected for vertical displacement events (VDEs) in ITER were applied in the high heat flux (HHF) test facility GLADIS at IPP-Garching onto samples of rolled W. Pulsed neutral beams with the central heat flux of 23 MW/m2 were applied for 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 s, respectively. Rapid recrystallization of the adiabatically loaded 3 mm thick samples was observed when the pulse duration was up to 1.0 s. Grains grew markedly following recrystallization with increasing pulse length. The recrystallization temperature and temperature dependence of the recrystallized grain size were also investigated. The results showed that the recrystallization temperature of the W grade was around 2480 °C under the applied heat loading condition, which was nearly 1150 °C higher than the conventional recrystallization temperature, and the grains were much finer. A linear relationship between the logarithm of average grain size (ln d) and the inverse of maximum surface temperature (1/Tmax) was found and accordingly the activation energy for grain growth in temperature evolution up to Tmax in 1.5 s of the short pulse HHF load was deduced to be 4.1 eV. This provided an effective clue to predict the structure evolution under short pulse HHF loads.

5-nJ Femtosecond Ti3+:sapphire laser pumped with a single 1 W green diode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muti, Abdullah; Kocabas, Askin; Sennaroglu, Alphan

2018-05-01

We report a Kerr-lens mode-locked, extended-cavity femtosecond Ti3+:sapphire laser directly pumped at 520 nm with a 1 W AlInGaN green diode. To obtain energy scaling, the short x-cavity was extended with a q-preserving multi-pass cavity to reduce the pulse repetition rate to 5.78 MHz. With 880 mW of incident pump power, we obtained as high as 90 mW of continuous-wave output power from the short cavity by using a 3% output coupler. In the Kerr-lens mode-locked regime, the extended cavity produced nearly transform-limited 95 fs pulses at 776 nm. The resulting energy and peak power of the pulses were 5.1 nJ and 53 kW, respectively. To our knowledge, this represents the highest pulse energy directly obtained to date from a mode-locked, single-diode-pumped Ti3+:sapphire laser.

Generation of attosecond electron beams in relativistic ionization by short laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cajiao Vélez, F.; Kamiński, J. Z.; Krajewska, K.

2018-03-01

Ionization by relativistically intense short laser pulses is studied in the framework of strong-field quantum electrodynamics. Distinctive patterns are found in the energy probability distributions of photoelectrons, which are sensitive to the properties of a driving laser field. It is demonstrated that these electrons are generated in the form of solitary attosecond wave packets. This is particularly important in light of various applications of attosecond electron beams such as in ultrafast electron diffraction and crystallography, or in time-resolved electron microscopy of physical, chemical, and biological processes. We also show that, for intense laser pulses, high-energy ionization takes place in narrow regions surrounding the momentum spiral, the exact form of which is determined by the shape of a driving pulse. The self-intersections of the spiral define the momenta for which the interference patterns in the energy distributions of photoelectrons are observed. Furthermore, these interference regions lead to the synthesis of single-electron wave packets characterized by coherent double-hump structures.

Enabling cost-effective high-current burst-mode operation in superconducting accelerators

DOE PAGES

Sheffield, Richard L.

2015-06-01

Superconducting (SC) accelerators are very efficient for CW or long-pulse operation, and normal conducting (NC) accelerators are cost effective for short-pulse operation. The addition of a short NC linac section to a SC linac can correct for the energy droop that occurs when pulsed high-current operation is required that exceeds the capability of the klystrons to replenish the cavity RF fields due to the long field fill-times of SC structures, or a requirement to support a broad range of beam currents results in variable beam loading. This paper describes the implementation of this technique to enable microseconds of high beam-current,more » 90 mA or more, in a 12 GeV SC long-pulse accelerator designed for the MaRIE 42-keV XFEL proposed for Los Alamos National Laboratory.« less

Method to reduce damage to backing plate

DOEpatents

Perry, Michael D.; Banks, Paul S.; Stuart, Brent C.

2001-01-01

The present invention is a method for penetrating a workpiece using an ultra-short pulse laser beam without causing damage to subsequent surfaces facing the laser. Several embodiments are shown which place holes in fuel injectors without damaging the back surface of the sack in which the fuel is ejected. In one embodiment, pulses from an ultra short pulse laser remove about 10 nm to 1000 nm of material per pulse. In one embodiment, a plasma source is attached to the fuel injector and initiated by common methods such as microwave energy. In another embodiment of the invention, the sack void is filled with a solid. In one other embodiment, a high viscosity liquid is placed within the sack. In general, high-viscosity liquids preferably used in this invention should have a high damage threshold and have a diffusing property.

Pulsed power systems for environmental and industrial applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neau, E. L.

1994-10-01

The development of high peak power simulators, laser drivers, free electron lasers, and Inertial Confinement Fusion drivers is being extended to high average power short-pulse machines with the capabilities of performing new roles in environmental cleanup and industrial manufacturing processes. We discuss a new class of short-pulse, high average power accelerator that achieves megavolt electron and ion beams with 10's of kiloamperes of current and average power levels in excess of 100 kW. Large treatment areas are possible with these systems because kilojoules of energy are available in each output pulse. These systems can use large area x-ray converters for applications requiring grater depth of penetration such as food pasteurization and waste treatment. The combined development of this class of accelerators and applications, and Sandia National Laboratories, is called Quantum Manufacturing.

Slow positron applications at slow positron facility of institute of materials structure science, KEK

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hyodo, Toshio; Mochizuki, Izumi; Wada, Ken; Toge, Nobukazu; Shidara, Tetsuo

2018-05-01

Slow Positron Facility at High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) is a user dedicated facility with an energy-tunable (0.1 - 35 keV) slow positron beam created by a dedicated ˜ 50 MeV linac. It operates in a short pulse (width 1-12 ns, variable, 5×106 e+/s) and a long pulse (width 1.2 µs, 5×107 e+/s) modes of 50 Hz. High energy positrons from pair creation are moderated by reemission after thermalization in W foils. The reemitted positrons are then electrostatically accelerated to a desired energy up to 35 keV and magnetically transported. A pulse-stretching section (pulse stretcher) is installed in the middle of the beamline. It stretches the slow positron pulse for the experiments where too many positrons annihilating in the sample at the same time has to be avoided. Four experiment stations for TRHEPD (total-reflection high-energy positron diffraction), LEPD (low-energy positron diffraction), Ps- (positronium negative ion), and Ps-TOF (positronium time-of-flight) experiments are connected to the beamline branches, SPF-A3, SPF-A4, SPF-B1 and SPF-B2, respectively. Recent results of these stations are briefly described.

The development of novel Ytterbium fiber lasers and their applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nie, Bai

The aim of my Ph.D. research is to push the fundamental limits holding back the development of novel Yb fiber lasers with high pulse energy and short pulse duration. The purpose of developing these lasers is to use them for important applications such as multiphoton microscopy and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. My first project was to develop a short-pulse high-energy ultrafast fiber laser for multiphoton microscopy. To achieve high multiphoton efficiency and depth resolved tissue imaging, ultrashort pulse duration and high pulse energy are required. In order to achieve this, an all-normal dispersion cavity design was adopted. Output performances of the built lasers were investigated by varying several cavity parameters, such as pump laser power, fiber length and intra-cavity spectral filter bandwidth. It was found that the length of the fiber preceding the gain fiber is critical to the laser performance. Generally, the shorter the fiber is, the broader the output spectrum is. The more interesting parameter is the intra-cavity spectral filter bandwidth. Counter intuitively, laser cavities using narrower bandwidth spectral filters generated much broader spectra. It was also found that fiber lasers with very narrow spectral filters produced laser pulses with parabolic profile, which are referred to as self-similar pulses or similaritons. This type of pulse can avoid wave-breaking and is an optimal approach to generate pulses with high pulse energy and ultrashort pulse duration. With a 3nm intra-cavity spectral filter, output pulses with about 20 nJ pulse energy were produced and compressed to about 41 fs full-width-at-half-maximum (FWHM) pulse duration. Due to the loss in the compression device, the peak power of the compressed pulses is about 250 kW. It was the highest peak power generated from a fiber oscillator when this work was published. This laser was used for multiphoton microscopy on living tissues like Drosophila larva and fruit fly wings. Several imaging methods, such as two-photon-excited fluorescence, second harmonic generation, and third harmonic generation, were performed. Not only were single layers of thin tissue imaged, but also depth resolved imaging of thick samples was tested, and three-dimensional image reconstruction was demonstrated. The other project was to develop a simple fiber oscillator for laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). Laser pulses with high energy, high ablation efficiency and low ablation threshold are desirable for this application. We built a fiber laser using up to 200 m long fiber and scaled the output pulse energy up to 450 nJ. This laser was operated in an unusual mode-locking regime and produced noise-like pulses, which have a picosecond long pulse envelope containing multiple irregular femtosecond sub-pulses. This type of pulse was mostly ignored by many earlier researchers. Intra-cavity spectral filters did not affect the laser performance as much as in the similariton lasers and were removed from the laser cavity. Characteristics of our noise-like laser, such as MHz repetition rate, broad spectrum, and picosecond-long pulse envelope containing multiple femtosecond sub-pulses, were found to meet the requirement of an ideal laser source for LIBS. A simple LIBS setup using our laser was demonstrated and atomic emission spectra with very good signal-to-noise ratio were obtained. Composition detection, qualitative concentration determination, and trace detection were also tested. These tests show that our noise-like fiber laser is an ideal laser source for a low-cost and portable LIBS system.

Photothermal nanoblade for patterned cell membrane cutting

PubMed Central

Wu, Ting-Hsiang; Teslaa, Tara; Teitell, Michael A.; Chiou, Pei-Yu

2010-01-01

We report a photothermal nanoblade that utilizes a metallic nanostructure to harvest short laser pulse energy and convert it into a highly localized and specifically shaped explosive vapor bubble. Rapid bubble expansion and collapse punctures a lightly-contacting cell membrane via high-speed fluidic flows and induced transient shear stress. The membrane cutting pattern is controlled by the metallic nanostructure configuration, laser pulse polarization, and energy. Highly controllable, sub-micron sized circular hole pairs to half moon-like, or cat-door shaped, membrane cuts were realized in glutaraldehyde treated HeLa cells. PMID:21164656

Short pulse free electron laser amplifier

DOEpatents

Schlitt, Leland G.; Szoke, Abraham

1985-01-01

Method and apparatus for amplification of a laser pulse in a free electron laser amplifier where the laser pulse duration may be a small fraction of the electron beam pulse duration used for amplification. An electron beam pulse is passed through a first wiggler magnet and a short laser pulse to be amplified is passed through the same wiggler so that only the energy of the last fraction, f, (f<1) of the electron beam pulse is consumed in amplifying the laser pulse. After suitable delay of the electron beam, the process is repeated in a second wiggler magnet, a third, . . . , where substantially the same fraction f of the remainder of the electron beam pulse is consumed in amplification of the given short laser pulse in each wiggler magnet region until the useful electron beam energy is substantially completely consumed by amplification of the laser pulse.

New developments in short-pulse eye safe lasers pay the way for future LADARs and 3D mapping performances

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pasmanik, Guerman; Latone, Kevin; Shilov, Alex; Shklovsky, Eugeni; Spiro, Alex; Tiour, Larissa

2005-06-01

We have demonstrated that direct excitation of 3rd Stokes Raman emission in crystal can produce short (few nanosecond) eye-safe pulses. Produced beam has very high quality and the pulse energy can be as high as tens of millijoules. For pulsed diode pumped solid state lasers the demonstrated repetition rate was 250 Hz but higher repetition rates are certainly achievable. It is important that tested schemes do not have strict requirements on laser pump parameters, namely beam divergence and frequency bandwidth. The obtained results are very relevant to the development of eye-safe lasers, such as the new generation of rangefinders, target designators, and laser tracking and pin-pointing devices, as well as remote 2D and 3D imaging systems.

Broadband spectroscopy of dynamic impedances with short chirp pulses.

PubMed

Min, M; Land, R; Paavle, T; Parve, T; Annus, P; Trebbels, D

2011-07-01

An impedance spectrum of dynamic systems is time dependent. Fast impedance changes take place, for example, in high throughput microfluidic devices and in operating cardiovascular systems. Measurements must be as short as possible to avoid significant impedance changes during the spectrum analysis, and as long as possible for enlarging the excitation energy and obtaining a better signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The authors propose to use specific short chirp pulses for excitation. Thanks to the specific properties of the chirp function, it is possible to meet the needs for a spectrum bandwidth, measurement time and SNR so that the most accurate impedance spectrogram can be obtained. The chirp wave excitation can include thousands of cycles when the impedance changes slowly, but in the case of very high speed changes it can be shorter than a single cycle, preserving the same excitation bandwidth. For example, a 100 kHz bandwidth can be covered by the chirp pulse with durations from 10 µs to 1 s; only its excitation energy differs also 10(5) times. After discussing theoretical short chirp properties in detail, the authors show how to generate short chirps in the microsecond range with a bandwidth up to a few MHz by using digital synthesis architectures developed inside a low-cost standard field programmable gate array.

Dual sub-picosecond and sub-nanosecond laser system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Xinglong; Liu, Fengqiao; Yang, Jingxin; Yang, Xin; Li, Meirong; Xue, Zhiling; Gao, Qi; Guan, Fuyi; Zhang, Weiqing; Huang, Guanlong; Zhuang, Yifei; Han, Aimei; Lin, Zunqi

2003-11-01

A high power laser system delivering a 20-TW, 0.5 - 0.8 ps ultra-short laser pulse and a 20-J, 500-ps long pulse simultaneously in one shot is completed. This two-beam laser operates at the wavelength of 1053 nm and uses Nd doped glass as the gain media of the main amplification chain. The chirped-pulse amplification (CPA) technology is used to compress the stretched laser pulse. After compression, the ultrashort laser pulse is measured: energy above 16.0 J, S/N contrast ratio ~ 10^(5) : 1, filling factor ~>52.7%. Another long pulse beam is a non-compressed chirped laser pulse, which is measured: energy ~ 20 J, pulse duration 500 ps. The two beams are directed onto the target surface at an angle of 15°.

Ultrashort high-brightness pulses from storage rings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khan, Shaukat

2017-09-01

The brightness of short-wavelength radiation from accelerator-based sources can be increased by coherent emission in which the radiation intensity scales with the number of contributing electrons squared. This requires a microbunched longitudinal electron distribution, which is the case in free-electron lasers. The brightness of light sources based on electron storage rings was steadily improved, but could profit further from coherent emission. The modulation of the electron energy by a continuous-wave laser field may provide steady-state microbunching in the infrared regime. For shorter wavelengths, the energy modulation can be converted into a temporary density modulation by a dispersive chicane. One particular goal is coherent emission from a very short "slice" within an electron bunch in order to produce ultrashort radiation pulses with high brightness.

Nondegenerate parametric generation of 2.2-mJ, few-cycle 2.05-μm pulses using a mixed phase matching scheme

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xu, Guibao; Wandel, Scott F.; Jovanovic, Igor, E-mail: ijovanovic@psu.edu

2014-02-15

We describe the production of 2.2-mJ, ∼6 optical-cycle-long mid-infrared laser pulses with a carrier wavelength of 2.05 μm in a two-stage β-BaB{sub 2}O{sub 4} nondegenerate optical parametric amplifier design with a mixed phase matching scheme, which is pumped by a standard Ti:sapphire chirped-pulse amplification system. It is demonstrated that relatively high pulse energies, short pulse durations, high stability, and excellent beam profiles can be obtained using this simple approach, even without the use of optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification.

New laser glass for short pulsed laser applications: the BLG80 (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

George, Simi A.

2017-03-01

For achieving highest peak powers in a solid state laser (SSL) system, significant energy output and short pulses are necessary. For mode-locked lasers, it is well-known from the Fourier theorem that the largest gain bandwidths produce the narrowest pulse-widths; thus are transform limited. For an inhomogeneously broadened line width of a laser medium, if the intensity of pulses follow a Gaussian function, then the resulting mode-locked pulse will have a Gaussian shape with the emission bandwidth/pulse duration relationship of pulse ≥ 0.44?02/c. Thus, for high peak power SSL systems, laser designers incorporate gain materials capable of broad emission bandwidths. Available energy outputs from a phosphate glass host doped with rare-earth ions are unparalleled. Unfortunately, the emission bandwidths achievable from glass based gain materials are typically many factors smaller when compared to the Ti:Sapphire crystal. In order to overcome this limitation, a hybrid "mixed" laser glass amplifier - OPCPA approach was developed. The Texas petawatt laser that is currently in operation at the University of Texas-Austin and producing high peak powers uses this hybrid architecture. In this mixed-glass laser design, a phosphate and a silicate glass is used in series to achieve a broader bandwidth required before compression. Though proven, this technology is still insufficient for the future compact petawatt and exawatt systems capable of producing high energies and shorter pulse durations. New glasses with bandwidths that are two and three times larger than what is now available from glass hosts is needed if there is to be an alternative to Ti:Sapphire for laser designers. In this paper, we present new materials that may meet the necessary characteristics and demonstrate the laser and emission characteristics these through the internal and external studies.

Control of laser pulse waveform in longitudinally excited CO2 laser by adjustment of excitation circuit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uno, Kazuyuki; Jitsuno, Takahisa

2018-05-01

In a longitudinally excited CO2 laser that had a 45 cm-long discharge tube with a 1:1:2 mixture of CO2/N2/He gas at a pressure of 3.0 kPa, we realized the generation of a short laser pulse with a spike pulse width of about 200 ns and a pulse tail length of several tens of microseconds, control of the energy ratio of the spike pulse part to the pulse tail part in the short laser pulse, the generation of a long laser pulse with a pulse width of several tens of microseconds, and control of the pulse width in the long laser pulse, by using four types of excitation circuits in which the capacitance was adjusted. In the short laser pulse, the energy ratio was in the range 1:14-1:112. In the long laser pulse, the pulse width was in the range 25.7-82.7 μs.

500 MW peak power degenerated optical parametric amplifier delivering 52 fs pulses at 97 kHz repetition rate.

PubMed

Rothhardt, J; Hädrich, S; Röser, F; Limpert, J; Tünnermann, A

2008-06-09

We present a high peak power degenerated parametric amplifier operating at 1030 nm and 97 kHz repetition rate. Pulses of a state-of-the art fiber chirped-pulse amplification (FCPA) system with 840 fs pulse duration and 410 microJ pulse energy are used as pump and seed source for a two stage optical parametric amplifier. Additional spectral broadening of the seed signal in a photonic crystal fiber creates enough bandwidth for ultrashort pulse generation. Subsequent amplification of the broadband seed signal in two 1 mm BBO crystals results in 41 microJ output pulse energy. Compression in a SF 11 prism compressor yields 37 microJ pulses as short as 52 fs. Thus, pulse shortening of more than one order of magnitude is achieved. Further scaling in terms of average power and pulse energy seems possible and will be discussed, since both concepts involved, the fiber laser and the parametric amplifier have the reputation to be immune against thermo-optical effects.

A design of energy detector for ArF excimer lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Zebin; Han, Xiaoquan; Zhou, Yi; Bai, Lujun

2017-08-01

ArF excimer lasers with short wavelength and high photon energy are widely applied in the field of integrated circuit lithography, material processing, laser medicine, and so on. Excimer laser single pulse energy is a very important parameter in the application. In order to detect the single pulse energy on-line, one energy detector based on photodiode was designed. The signal processing circuit connected to the photodiode was designed so that the signal obtained by the photodiode was amplified and the pulse width was broadened. The amplified signal was acquired by a data acquisition card and stored in the computer for subsequent data processing. The peak of the pulse signal is used to characterize the single pulse energy of ArF excimer laser. In every condition of deferent pulse energy value levels, a series of data about laser pulses energy were acquired synchronously using the Ophir energy meter and the energy detector. A data set about the relationship between laser pulse energy and the peak of the pulse signal was acquired. Then, by using the data acquired, a model characterizing the functional relationship between the energy value and the peak value of the pulse was trained based on an algorithm of machine learning, Support Vector Regression (SVR). By using the model, the energy value can be obtained directly from the energy detector designed in this project. The result shows that the relative error between the energy obtained by the energy detector and by the Ophir energy meter is less than 2%.

Laser-Matter Interaction in Dielectrics: Insight from Picosecond-Pulsed Second-Harmonic Generation in Periodically Poled LiTaO3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Louchev, Oleg A.; Wada, Satoshi; Panchenko, Vladislav Ya.

2017-08-01

We develop a modified two-temperature (2T) model of laser-matter interaction in dielectrics based on experimental insight from picosecond-pulsed high-frequency temperature-controlled second-harmonic (515 nm) generation in periodically poled stoichiometric LiTaO3 crystal and required for computational treatment of short-pulsed nonlinear optics and materials processing applications. We show that the incorporation of an extended set of recombination-kinetics-related energy-release and heat-exchange processes following short-pulsed photoionization by two-photon absorption of the second harmonic allows accurate simulation of the electron-lattice relaxation dynamics and electron-lattice temperature evolution in LiTaO3 crystal in nonlinear laser-frequency conversion. Our experimentally confirmed model and detailed simulation study show that two-photon ionization with the recombination mechanism via ion-electron-lattice interaction followed by a direct transfer of the recombination energy to the lattice is the main laser-matter energy-transfer pathway responsible for the majority of the crystal lattice heating (approximately 90%) continuing for approximately 50 ps after laser-pulse termination and competing with effect of electron-phonon energy transfer from the free electrons. This time delay is due to a recombination bottleneck which hinders faster relaxation to thermal equilibrium in photoionized dielectric crystal. Generally, our study suggests that in dielectrics photoionized by short-pulsed radiation with intensity range used in nonlinear laser-frequency conversion, the electron-lattice relaxation period is defined by the recombination-stage bottleneck of a few tens of picoseconds and not by the time of the electron-phonon energy transfer. This modification of the 2T model can be applied to a broad range of processes involving laser-matter interactions in dielectrics and semiconductors for charge density reaching the range of 1021- 1022 cm-3 .

High-pulse-energy passively Q-switched quasi-monolithic microchip lasers operating in the sub-100-ps pulse regime.

PubMed

Nodop, D; Limpert, J; Hohmuth, R; Richter, W; Guina, M; Tünnermann, A

2007-08-01

We present passively Q-switched microchip lasers with items bonded by spin-on-glass glue. Passive Q-switching is obtained by a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror. The laser medium is a Nd:YVO(4) crystal. These lasers generate pulse peak powers up to 20 kW at a pulse duration as short as 50 ps and pulse repetition rates of 166 kHz. At 1064 nm, a linear polarized transversal and longitudinal single-mode beam is emitted. To the best of our knowledge, these are the shortest pulses in the 1 microJ energy range ever obtained with passively Q-switched microchip lasers. The quasi-monolithic setup ensures stable and reliable performance.

Laser radiography forming bremsstrahlung radiation to image an object

DOEpatents

Perry, Michael D.; Sefcik, Joseph A.

2004-01-13

A method of imaging an object by generating laser pulses with a short-pulse, high-power laser. When the laser pulse strikes a conductive target, bremsstrahlung radiation is generated such that hard ballistic high-energy electrons are formed to penetrate an object. A detector on the opposite side of the object detects these electrons. Since laser pulses are used to form the hard x-rays, multiple pulses can be used to image an object in motion, such as an exploding or compressing object, by using time gated detectors. Furthermore, the laser pulses can be directed down different tubes using mirrors and filters so that each laser pulse will image a different portion of the object.

All-Fiber, Directly Chirped Laser Source for Chirped-Pulse-Amplification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xin, Ran

Chirped-pulse-amplification (CPA) technology is widely used to produce ultra-short optical pulses (sub picosecond to femtoseconds) with high pulse energy. A chirped pulse laser source with flexible dispersion control is highly desirable as a CPA seed. This thesis presents an all-fiber, directly chirped laser source (DCLS) that produces nanosecond, linearly-chirped laser pulses at 1053 nm for seeding high energy CPA systems. DCLS produces a frequency chirp on an optical pulse through direct temporal phase modulation. DCLS provides programmable control for the temporal phase of the pulse, high pulse energy and diffraction-limited beam performance, which are beneficial for CPA systems. The DCLS concept is first described. Its key enabling technologies are identified and their experimental demonstration is presented. These include high-precision temporal phase control using an arbitrary waveform generator, multi-pass phase modulation to achieve high modulation depth, regenerative amplification in a fiber ring cavity and a negative feedback system that controls the amplifier cavity dynamics. A few technical challenges that arise from the multi-pass architecture are described and their solutions are presented, such as polarization management and gain-spectrum engineering in the DCLS fiber cavity. A DCLS has been built and its integration into a high energy OPCPA system is demonstrated. DCLS produces a 1-ns chirped pulse with a 3-nm bandwidth. The temporal phase and group delay dispersion on the DCLS output pulse is measured using temporal interferometry. The measured temporal phase has an ˜1000 rad amplitude and is close to a quadratic shape. The chirped pulse is amplified from 0.9 nJ to 76 mJ in an OPCPA system. The amplified pulse is compressed to close to its Fourier transform limit, producing an intensity autocorrelation trace with a 1.5-ps width. Direct compressed-pulse duration control by adjusting the phase modulation drive amplitude is demonstrated. Limitation to pulse compression is investigated using numerical simulation.

Feasibility study on a short-pulsed IR wavelength for effective calculus fragmentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, Hyun Wook

2015-05-01

Laser-induced lithotripsy has been used for a minimally-invasive surgery to treat kidney-stone disease associated with urinary obstruction. A short-pulsed Tm:YAG laser (λ = 2.01 µm) was developed to improve fragmentation efficiency and was evaluated with a Ho:YAG laser (λ = 2.12 μm) as to its ablation feature and mass removal rate. Application of a train of sub-microsecond pulses with a lower energy at a frequency of 500 Hz created multiple events of cavitation that accompanied strong acoustic transients. During Tm:YAG irradiation, both high light absorption and secondary photomechanical impacts readily fragmented the calculus into small pieces (< 3 mm) and removed them 130 times faster than photothermal Ho:YAG lithotripsy. The proposed short-pulsed Tm:YAG approach may be an effective lithotripter for treating calculus disease.

First demonstration of multi-MeV proton acceleration from a cryogenic hydrogen ribbon target

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kraft, Stephan D.; Obst, Lieselotte; Metzkes-Ng, Josefine; Schlenvoigt, Hans-Peter; Zeil, Karl; Michaux, Sylvain; Chatain, Denis; Perin, Jean-Paul; Chen, Sophia N.; Fuchs, Julien; Gauthier, Maxence; Cowan, Thomas E.; Schramm, Ulrich

2018-04-01

We show efficient laser driven proton acceleration up to 14 MeV from a 62 μm thick cryogenic hydrogen ribbon. Pulses of the short pulse laser ELFIE at LULI with a pulse length of ≈350 fs at an energy of 8 J per pulse are directed onto the target. The results are compared to proton spectra from metal and plastic foils with different thicknesses and show a similarly good performance both in maximum energy as well as in proton number. Thus, this target type is a promising candidate for experiments with high repetition rate laser systems.

First demonstration of multi-MeV proton acceleration from a cryogenic hydrogen ribbon target

DOE PAGES

Kraft, Stephan; Obst, Lieselotte; Metzkes-Ng, Josefine; ...

2018-02-09

We show efficient laser driven proton acceleration up to 14 MeV from a 50 μm thick cryogenic hydrogen ribbon. Pulses of the short pulse laser ELFIE at LULI with a pulse length of ≈ 350 fs at an energy of 8 J per pulse are directed onto the target. The results were then compared to proton spectra from metal and plastic foils with different thicknesses and show a similar good performance both in maximum energy as well as in proton number. Thus, this target type is a promising candidate for experiments with high repetition rate laser systems.

First demonstration of multi-MeV proton acceleration from a cryogenic hydrogen ribbon target

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kraft, Stephan; Obst, Lieselotte; Metzkes-Ng, Josefine

We show efficient laser driven proton acceleration up to 14 MeV from a 50 μm thick cryogenic hydrogen ribbon. Pulses of the short pulse laser ELFIE at LULI with a pulse length of ≈ 350 fs at an energy of 8 J per pulse are directed onto the target. The results were then compared to proton spectra from metal and plastic foils with different thicknesses and show a similar good performance both in maximum energy as well as in proton number. Thus, this target type is a promising candidate for experiments with high repetition rate laser systems.

Femtosecond dynamics of energetic electrons in high intensity laser-matter interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pompili, R.; Anania, M. P.; Bisesto, F.; Botton, M.; Castellano, M.; Chiadroni, E.; Cianchi, A.; Curcio, A.; Ferrario, M.; Galletti, M.; Henis, Z.; Petrarca, M.; Schleifer, E.; Zigler, A.

2016-10-01

Highly energetic electrons are generated at the early phases of the interaction of short-pulse high-intensity lasers with solid targets. These escaping particles are identified as the essential core of picosecond-scale phenomena such as laser-based acceleration, surface manipulation, generation of intense magnetic fields and electromagnetic pulses. Increasing the number of the escaping electrons facilitate the late time processes in all cases. Up to now only indirect evidences of these important forerunners have been recorded, thus no detailed study of the governing mechanisms was possible. Here we report, for the first time, direct time-dependent measurements of energetic electrons ejected from solid targets by the interaction with a short-pulse high-intensity laser. We measured electron bunches up to 7 nanocoulombs charge, picosecond duration and 12 megaelectronvolts energy. Our ’snapshots’ capture their evolution with an unprecedented temporal resolution, demonstrat- ing a significant boost in charge and energy of escaping electrons when increasing the geometrical target curvature. These results pave the way toward significant improvement in laser acceleration of ions using shaped targets allowing the future development of small scale laser-ion accelerators.

Two-dimensional angular energy spectrum of electrons accelerated by the ultra-short relativistic laser pulse

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Borovskiy, A. V.; Galkin, A. L.; Department of Physics of MBF, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, 1 Ostrovitianov Street, Moscow 117997

The new method of calculating energy spectra of accelerated electrons, based on the parameterization by their initial coordinates, is proposed. The energy spectra of electrons accelerated by Gaussian ultra-short relativistic laser pulse at a selected angle to the axis of the optical system focusing the laser pulse in a low density gas are theoretically calculated. The two-peak structure of the electron energy spectrum is obtained. Discussed are the reasons for its appearance as well as an applicability of other models of the laser field.

Exploring the limits to energy scaling and distant-target delivery of high-intensity midinfrared pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panagiotopoulos, Paris; Kolesik, Miroslav; Moloney, Jerome V.

2016-09-01

We numerically investigate the scaling behavior of midinfrared filaments at extremely high input energies. It is shown that, given sufficient power, kilometer-scale, low-loss atmospheric filamentation is attainable by prechirping the pulse. Fully resolved four-dimensional (x y z t ) simulations show that, while in a spatially imperfect beam the modulation instability can lead to multiple hot-spot formation, the individual filaments are still stabilized by the recently proposed mechanism that relies on the temporal walk-off of short-wavelength radiation.

Effects of front-surface target structures on properties of relativistic laser-plasma electrons.

PubMed

Jiang, S; Krygier, A G; Schumacher, D W; Akli, K U; Freeman, R R

2014-01-01

We report the results of a study of the role of prescribed geometrical structures on the front of a target in determining the energy and spatial distribution of relativistic laser-plasma electrons. Our three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation studies apply to short-pulse, high-intensity laser pulses, and indicate that a judicious choice of target front-surface geometry provides the realistic possibility of greatly enhancing the yield of high-energy electrons while simultaneously confining the emission to narrow (<5°) angular cones.

Target charging in short-pulse-laser-plasma experiments.

PubMed

Dubois, J-L; Lubrano-Lavaderci, F; Raffestin, D; Ribolzi, J; Gazave, J; Compant La Fontaine, A; d'Humières, E; Hulin, S; Nicolaï, Ph; Poyé, A; Tikhonchuk, V T

2014-01-01

Interaction of high-intensity laser pulses with solid targets results in generation of large quantities of energetic electrons that are the origin of various effects such as intense x-ray emission, ion acceleration, and so on. Some of these electrons are escaping the target, leaving behind a significant positive electric charge and creating a strong electromagnetic pulse long after the end of the laser pulse. We propose here a detailed model of the target electric polarization induced by a short and intense laser pulse and an escaping electron bunch. A specially designed experiment provides direct measurements of the target polarization and the discharge current in the function of the laser energy, pulse duration, and target size. Large-scale numerical simulations describe the energetic electron generation and their emission from the target. The model, experiment, and numerical simulations demonstrate that the hot-electron ejection may continue long after the laser pulse ends, enhancing significantly the polarization charge.

Electromagnetic cascade in high-energy electron, positron, and photon interactions with intense laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bulanov, S. S.; Schroeder, C. B.; Esarey, E.; Leemans, W. P.

2013-06-01

The interaction of high-energy electrons, positrons, and photons with intense laser pulses is studied in head-on collision geometry. It is shown that electrons and/or positrons undergo a cascade-type process involving multiple emissions of photons. These photons can consequently convert into electron-positron pairs. As a result charged particles quickly lose their energy developing an exponentially decaying energy distribution, which suppresses the emission of high-energy photons, thus reducing the number of electron-positron pairs being generated. Therefore, this type of interaction suppresses the development of the electromagnetic avalanche-type discharge, i.e., the exponential growth of the number of electrons, positrons, and photons does not occur in the course of interaction. The suppression will occur when three-dimensional effects can be neglected in the transverse particle orbits, i.e., for sufficiently broad laser pulses with intensities that are not too extreme. The final distributions of electrons, positrons, and photons are calculated for the case of a high-energy e-beam interacting with a counterstreaming, short intense laser pulse. The energy loss of the e-beam, which requires a self-consistent quantum description, plays an important role in this process, as well as provides a clear experimental observable for the transition from the classical to quantum regime of interaction.

Development and testing of a pulsed helium ion source for probing materials and warm dense matter studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, Q.; Seidl, P. A.; Waldron, W. L.; Takakuwa, J. H.; Friedman, A.; Grote, D. P.; Persaud, A.; Barnard, J. J.; Schenkel, T.

2016-02-01

The neutralized drift compression experiment was designed and commissioned as a pulsed, linear induction accelerator to drive thin targets to warm dense matter (WDM) states with peak temperatures of ˜1 eV using intense, short pulses (˜1 ns) of 1.2 MeV lithium ions. At that kinetic energy, heating a thin target foil near the Bragg peak energy using He+ ions leads to more uniform energy deposition of the target material than Li+ ions. Experiments show that a higher current density of helium ions can be delivered from a plasma source compared to Li+ ions from a hot plate type ion source. He+ beam pulses as high as 200 mA at the peak and 4 μs long were measured from a multi-aperture 7-cm-diameter emission area. Within ±5% variation, the uniform beam area is approximately 6 cm across. The accelerated and compressed pulsed ion beams can be used for materials studies and isochoric heating of target materials for high energy density physics experiments and WDM studies.

Development and testing of a pulsed helium ion source for probing materials and warm dense matter studies.

PubMed

Ji, Q; Seidl, P A; Waldron, W L; Takakuwa, J H; Friedman, A; Grote, D P; Persaud, A; Barnard, J J; Schenkel, T

2016-02-01

The neutralized drift compression experiment was designed and commissioned as a pulsed, linear induction accelerator to drive thin targets to warm dense matter (WDM) states with peak temperatures of ∼1 eV using intense, short pulses (∼1 ns) of 1.2 MeV lithium ions. At that kinetic energy, heating a thin target foil near the Bragg peak energy using He(+) ions leads to more uniform energy deposition of the target material than Li(+) ions. Experiments show that a higher current density of helium ions can be delivered from a plasma source compared to Li(+) ions from a hot plate type ion source. He(+) beam pulses as high as 200 mA at the peak and 4 μs long were measured from a multi-aperture 7-cm-diameter emission area. Within ±5% variation, the uniform beam area is approximately 6 cm across. The accelerated and compressed pulsed ion beams can be used for materials studies and isochoric heating of target materials for high energy density physics experiments and WDM studies.

Development and testing of a pulsed helium ion source for probing materials and warm dense matter studies

DOE PAGES

Ji, Q.; Seidl, P. A.; Waldron, W. L.; ...

2015-11-12

In this paper, the neutralized drift compression experiment was designed and commissioned as a pulsed, linear induction accelerator to drive thin targets to warm dense matter (WDM) states with peak temperatures of ~1 eV using intense, short pulses (~1 ns) of 1.2 MeV lithium ions. At that kinetic energy, heating a thin target foil near the Bragg peak energy using He + ions leads to more uniform energy deposition of the target material than Li + ions. Experiments show that a higher current density of helium ions can be delivered from a plasma source compared to Li + ions frommore » a hot plate type ion source. He + beam pulses as high as 200 mA at the peak and 4 μs long were measured from a multi-aperture 7-cm-diameter emission area. Within ±5% variation, the uniform beam area is approximately 6 cm across. Finally, the accelerated and compressed pulsed ion beams can be used for materials studies and isochoric heating of target materials for high energy density physics experiments and WDM studies.« less

Nonlinear pulse propagation and phase velocity of laser-driven plasma waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benedetti, Carlo; Rossi, Francesco; Schroeder, Carl; Esarey, Eric; Leemans, Wim

2014-10-01

We investigate and characterize the laser evolution and plasma wave excitation by a relativistically intense, short-pulse laser propagating in a preformed parabolic plasma channel, including the effects of pulse steepening, frequency redshifting, and energy depletion. We derived in 3D, and in the weakly relativistic intensity regime, analytical expressions for the laser energy depletion, the pulse self-steepening rate, the laser intensity centroid velocity, and the phase velocity of the plasma wave. Analytical results have been validated numerically using the 2D-cylindrical, ponderomotive code INF&RNO. We also discuss the extension of these results to the nonlinear regime, where an analytical theory of the nonlinear wake phase velocity is lacking. Work supported by the Office of Science, Office of High Energy Physics, of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231.

Cavity-dumped femtosecond optical parametric oscillator based on periodically poled stoichiometric lithium tantalate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoon, E.; Joo, T.

2016-03-01

A synchronously pumped cavity-dumped femtosecond optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on a periodically poled stoichiometric lithium tantalate (PPSLT) crystal is reported. The OPO runs in positive group velocity dispersion (GVD) mode to deliver high pulse energy at high repetition rate. It delivers pulse energy over 130 nJ up to 500 kHz and 70 nJ at 1 MHz of repetition rate at 1100 nm. Pulse duration is as short as 42 fs, and the OPO is tunable in the near infrared region from 1050 to 1200 nm. Dispersion property of the OPO was also explored. The cavity-dumped output carries a positive GVD, which can be compensated easily by an external prism pair, and large negative third order dispersion (TOD), which results in a pedestal in the pulse shape. Approaches to obtain clean pulse shape by reducing the large TOD are proposed.

Brillouin Scattering of Picosecond Laser Pulses in Preformed, Short-Scale-Length Plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaeris, A. C.; Fisher, Y.; Delettrez, J. A.; Meyerhofer, D. D.

1996-11-01

Brillouin scattering (BS) has been studied in short-scale-length, preformed plasmas. The backscattered and specularly reflected light resulting from the interaction of high-power picosecond pulses with preformed silicon plasmas has been measured. A first laser pulse forms a short-scale-length plasma -- without significant BS -- while a second delayed pulse interacts with an expanded, drifting underdense region of the plasma with density scale length (0 <= Ln <= 600 λ _L). The pulses are generated at λ L = 1054 nm, with intensities up to 10^16 W/cm^2. The backscattered light spectra, threshold intensities, and enhanced reflectivities have been determined for different plasma-density scale lengths and are compared to Liu, Rosenbluth, and White's(C. S. Liu, M. N. Rosenbluth, and R. B. White, Phys. Fluids 17, 1211 (1974).) WKB treatment of stimulated Brillouin scattering in inhomogeneous drifting plasmas. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Inertial Confinement Fusion under Cooperative Agreement No. DE-FC03-92SF19460.

Bremsstrahlung Dose Yield for High-Intensity Short-Pulse Laser–Solid Experiments

DOE PAGES

Liang, Taiee; Bauer, Johannes M.; Liu, James C.; ...

2016-12-01

A bremsstrahlung source term has been developed by the Radiation Protection (RP) group at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory for high-intensity short-pulse laser–solid experiments between 10 17 and 10 22 W cm –2. This source term couples the particle-in-cell plasma code EPOCH and the radiation transport code FLUKA to estimate the bremsstrahlung dose yield from laser–solid interactions. EPOCH characterizes the energy distribution, angular distribution, and laser-to-electron conversion efficiency of the hot electrons from laser–solid interactions, and FLUKA utilizes this hot electron source term to calculate a bremsstrahlung dose yield (mSv per J of laser energy on target). The goal of thismore » paper is to provide RP guidelines and hazard analysis for high-intensity laser facilities. In conclusion, a comparison of the calculated bremsstrahlung dose yields to radiation measurement data is also made.« less

Bremsstrahlung Dose Yield for High-Intensity Short-Pulse Laser–Solid Experiments

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liang, Taiee; Bauer, Johannes M.; Liu, James C.

A bremsstrahlung source term has been developed by the Radiation Protection (RP) group at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory for high-intensity short-pulse laser–solid experiments between 10 17 and 10 22 W cm –2. This source term couples the particle-in-cell plasma code EPOCH and the radiation transport code FLUKA to estimate the bremsstrahlung dose yield from laser–solid interactions. EPOCH characterizes the energy distribution, angular distribution, and laser-to-electron conversion efficiency of the hot electrons from laser–solid interactions, and FLUKA utilizes this hot electron source term to calculate a bremsstrahlung dose yield (mSv per J of laser energy on target). The goal of thismore » paper is to provide RP guidelines and hazard analysis for high-intensity laser facilities. In conclusion, a comparison of the calculated bremsstrahlung dose yields to radiation measurement data is also made.« less

Giant collimated gamma-ray flashes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benedetti, Alberto; Tamburini, Matteo; Keitel, Christoph H.

2018-06-01

Bright sources of high-energy electromagnetic radiation are widely employed in fundamental research, industry and medicine1,2. This motivated the construction of Compton-based facilities planned to yield bright gamma-ray pulses with energies up to3 20 MeV. Here, we demonstrate a novel mechanism based on the strongly amplified synchrotron emission that occurs when a sufficiently dense ultra-relativistic electron beam interacts with a millimetre-thickness conductor. For electron beam densities exceeding approximately 3 × 1019 cm-3, electromagnetic instabilities occur, and the ultra-relativistic electrons travel through self-generated electromagnetic fields as large as 107-108 gauss. This results in the production of a collimated gamma-ray pulse with peak brilliance above 1025 photons s-1 mrad-2 mm-2 per 0.1% bandwidth, photon energies ranging from 200 keV to gigaelectronvolts and up to 60% electron-to-photon energy conversion efficiency. These findings pave the way to compact, high-repetition-rate (kilohertz) sources of short (≲30 fs), collimated (milliradian) and high-flux (>1012 photons s-1) gamma-ray pulses.

Source of coherent short wavelength radiation

DOEpatents

Villa, Francesco

1990-01-01

An apparatus for producing coherent radiation ranging from X-rays to the far ultraviolet (i.e., 1 Kev to 10 eV) utilizing the Compton scattering effect. A photon beam from a laser is scattered on a high energy electron bunch from a pulse power linac. The short wavelength radiation produced by such scattering has sufficient intensity and spatial coherence for use in high resolution applications such as microscopy.

Ballistic phonon and thermal radiation transport across a minute vacuum gap in between aluminum and silicon thin films: Effect of laser repetitive pulses on transport characteristics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yilbas, B. S.; Ali, H.

2016-08-01

Short-pulse laser heating of aluminum and silicon thin films pair with presence of a minute vacuum gap in between them is considered and energy transfer across the thin films pair is predicted. The frequency dependent Boltzmann equation is used to predict the phonon intensity distribution along the films pair for three cycles of the repetitive short-pulse laser irradiation on the aluminum film surface. Since the gap size considered is within the Casimir limit, thermal radiation and ballistic phonon contributions to energy transfer across the vacuum gap is incorporated. The laser irradiated field is formulated in line with the Lambert's Beer law and it is considered as the volumetric source in the governing equations of energy transport. In order to assess the phonon intensity distribution in the films pair, equivalent equilibrium temperature is introduced. It is demonstrated that thermal separation of electron and lattice sub-systems in the aluminum film, due to the short-pulse laser irradiation, takes place and electron temperature remains high in the aluminum film while equivalent equilibrium temperature for phonons decays sharply in the close region of the aluminum film interface. This behavior is attributed to the phonon boundary scattering at the interface and the ballistic phonon transfer to the silicon film across the vacuum gap. Energy transfer due to the ballistic phonon contribution is significantly higher than that of the thermal radiation across the vacuum gap.

Energetics of oriented nuclei in laser-produced plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belyaev, Vadim S.

2004-06-01

The report presents principal theoretical and experimental results obtained during the first year of the ISTC project # 2155 realization. The mechanisms of high-energy electrons formation in high intensity and short laser pulse interaction with solid targets has been suggested and investigated. Neutron generation (reaction D + D --> 3He + n) from laser-produced plasma at 1017 W/cm2 intensity has been investigated. Neutron yield more than 104 per pulse was received.

Characterization of short-pulse laser-produced x-rays for diagnosing magnetically driven cylindrical isentropic compression

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sawada, Hiroshi; Daykin, Tyler; Bauer, Bruno; Beg, Farhat

2017-10-01

We have developed an experimental platform to study material properties of magnetically compressed cylinder using a 1 MA pulsed power generator Zebra and a 50 TW subpicosecond short-pulse laser Leopard at the UNR's Nevada Terawatt Facility. According to a MHD simulation, strong magnetic fields generated by 100 ns rise time Zebra current can quasi-isentropically compress a material to the strongly coupled plasma regime. Taking advantage of the cylindrical geometry, a metal rod can be brought to higher pressures than that in the planar geometry. To diagnose the compressed rod with high precision x-ray measurements, an initial laser-only experiment was carried out to characterize laser-produced x-rays. Interaction of a high-intensity, short-pulse laser with solids produces broadband and monochromatic x-rays with photon energies high enough to probe dense metal rods. Bremsstrahlung was measured with Imaging plate-based filter stack spectrometers and monochromatic 8.0 keV Cu K-alpha was recorded with an absolutely calibrated Bragg crystal spectrometer. The broadband x-ray source was applied to radiography of thick metal objects and different filter materials were tested. The experimental results and a design of a coupled experiment will be presented.

Downhole pulse radar

DOEpatents

Chang, Hsi-Tien

1989-01-01

A borehole logging tool generates a fast rise-time, short duration, high peak-power radar pulse having broad energy distribution between 30 MHz and 300 MHz through a directional transmitting and receiving antennas having barium titanate in the electromagnetically active region to reduce the wavelength to within an order of magnitude of the diameter of the antenna. Radar returns from geological discontinuities are sampled for transmission uphole.

Isolated few-cycle radiation from chirped-pulse compression of a superradiant free-electron laser

DOE PAGES

Huang, Yen -Chieh; Zhang, Zhen; Chen, Chia -Hsiang; ...

2015-08-31

When a short electron bunch traverses an undulator to radiate a wavelength longer than the bunch length, intense superradiance from the electron bunch can quickly deplete the electron’s kinetic energy and lead to generation of an isolated chirped radiation pulse. Here, we develop a theory to describe this novel chirped pulse radiation in a superradiant free-electron laser and show the opportunity to generate isolated few-cycle high-power radiation through chirped-pulse compression after the undulator. The theory is completely characterized by how fast the electron energy is depleted for a given length of an undulator. We further present two design examples atmore » the THz and extreme-ultraviolet wavelengths and numerically generate isolated three- and nine-cycle radiation pulses, respectively.« less

Optimization of interaction conditions for efficient short laser pulse amplification by stimulated Brillouin scattering in the strongly coupled regime

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chiaramello, M.; Riconda, C.; Amiranoff, F.

Plasma amplification of low energy, a short (∼100–500 fs) laser pulse by an energetic long (∼10 ps) pulse via strong coupling Stimulated Brillouin Backscattering is investigated with an extensive analysis of one-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. Parameters relevant to nowadays experimental conditions are investigated. The obtained seed pulse spectra are analyzed as a function of the interaction conditions such as plasma profile, pulses delay, and seed or pulse duration. The factors affecting the amount of energy transferred are determined, and the competition between Brillouin-based amplification and parasitic Raman backscattering is analyzed, leading to the optimization of the interaction conditions.

Femtosecond Fiber Lasers Based on Dissipative Processes for Nonlinear Microscopy.

PubMed

Wise, Frank W

2012-01-01

Recent progress in the development of femtosecond-pulse fiber lasers with parameters appropriate for nonlinear microscopy is reviewed. Pulse-shaping in lasers with only normal-dispersion components is briefly described, and the performance of the resulting lasers is summarized. Fiber lasers based on the formation of dissipative solitons now offer performance competitive with that of solid-state lasers, but with the benefits of the fiber medium. Lasers based on self-similar pulse evolution in the gain section of a laser also offer a combination of short pulse duration and high pulse energy that will be attractive for applications in nonlinear bioimaging.

Sequentially pulsed traveling wave accelerator

DOEpatents

Caporaso, George J [Livermore, CA; Nelson, Scott D [Patterson, CA; Poole, Brian R [Tracy, CA

2009-08-18

A sequentially pulsed traveling wave compact accelerator having two or more pulse forming lines each with a switch for producing a short acceleration pulse along a short length of a beam tube, and a trigger mechanism for sequentially triggering the switches so that a traveling axial electric field is produced along the beam tube in synchronism with an axially traversing pulsed beam of charged particles to serially impart energy to the particle beam.

Quasi-CW diode-pumped self-starting adaptive laser with self-Q-switched output.

PubMed

Smith, G; Damzen, M J

2007-05-14

An investigation is made into a quasi-CW (QCW) diode-pumped holographic adaptive laser utilising an ultra high gain (approximately 10(4)) Nd:YVO(4) bounce amplifier. The laser produces pulses at 1064 nm with energy approximately 0.6 mJ, duration <3 ns and peak power approximately 200 kW, with high stability, via self-Q-switching effects due to the transient dynamics of the writing and replay of the gain hologram for each pump pulse. The system produces a near-diffraction-limited output with M(2)<1.3 and operates with a single longitudinal mode. In a further adaptive laser configuration, the output was amplified to obtain pulses of approximately 5.6 mJ energy, approximately 7 ns duration and approximately 1 MW peak power. The output spatial quality is also M(2)<1.3 with SLM operation. Up to 2.9 mJ pulse energy of frequency doubled green (532 nm) radiation is obtained, using an LBO crystal, representing approximately 61% conversion efficiency. This work shows that QCW diode-pumped self-adaptive holographic lasers can provide a useful source of high peak power, short duration pulses with excellent spatial quality and narrow linewidth spectrum.

Healing of damaged metal by a pulsed high-energy electromagnetic field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kukudzhanov, K. V.; Levitin, A. L.

2018-04-01

The processes of defect (intergranular micro-cracks) transformation are investigated for metal samples in a high-energy short-pulsed electromagnetic field. This investigation is based on a numerical coupled model of the impact of high-energy electromagnetic field on the pre-damaged thermal elastic-plastic material with defects. The model takes into account the melting and evaporation of the metal and the dependence of its physical and mechanical properties on the temperature. The system of equations is solved numerically by finite element method with an adaptive mesh using the arbitrary Euler–Lagrange method. The calculations show that the welding of the crack and the healing of micro-defects under treatment by short pulses of the current takes place. For the macroscopic description of the healing process, the healing and damage parameters of the material are introduced. The healing of micro-cracks improves the material healing parameter and reduces its damage. The micro-crack shapes practically do not affect the time-dependence of the healing and damage under the treatment by the current pulses. These changes are affected only by the value of the initial damage of the material and the initial length of the micro-crack. The time-dependence of the healing and the damage is practically the same for all different shapes of micro-defects, provided that the initial lengths of micro-cracks and the initial damages are the same for these different shapes of defects.

Working group summary report on effects of pulsed operation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gabriel, T.A.; Ni, L.

1996-06-01

In a short pulsed spallation neutron source, extremely high energy ({approx_gt}1 GeV) proton beam pulses are injected into a liquid metal target in a very short period of time ({approximately}1 {mu}sec) at a high repetition rate ({approximately}50 Hertz). The beam energy will be deposited in the target materials (such as mercury or lead) and converted into heat. It causes a sudden temperature rise and resulting pressure wave. This pressure wave travels through the liquid, reaches the steel container wall and may possibly lead to material damage due to induced stress. Almost all participants agreed that the shock problem due tomore » the short pulse operation in the liquid metal target could be serious and could present a challenging problem. It was determined that the following points need to be addressed: (1) equation of state for mercury (2) code validation and benchmark experiments (3) shock effects on the entire target system (4) two phase flow by gas injection. All these investigations should be carried out in the framework of international cooperation. Two small scaled Hg pressure pulse tests are planned at ORNL to provide insight into the pressure wave propagation and thermal shock effects. One experiment will use exploding wires to generate the pulse pressure, the other the electron beam at ORELA. Also PSI, LANL, CERN (ISOLDE facility), INR and IPPE could contribute to the experimental methods for producing shock. The necessary R&D for bubble injection might be performed at PSI, RIGA, ORNL or Ben-Gurion University. All of the above experiments can possibly yield benchmarking data which is absolutely necessary for code validation.« less

Demonstration of a neonlike argon soft-x-ray laser with a picosecond-laser-irradiated gas puff target.

PubMed

Fiedorowicz, H; Bartnik, A; Dunn, J; Smith, R F; Hunter, J; Nilsen, J; Osterheld, A L; Shlyaptsev, V N

2001-09-15

We demonstrate a neonlike argon-ion x-ray laser, using a short-pulse laser-irradiated gas puff target. The gas puff target was formed by pulsed injection of gas from a high-pressure solenoid valve through a nozzle in the form of a narrow slit and irradiated with a combination of long, 600-ps and short, 6-ps high-power laser pulses with a total of 10 J of energy in a traveling-wave excitation scheme. Lasing was observed on the 3p (1)S(0)?3s (1)P(1) transition at 46.9 nm and the 3d (1)P(1)?3p (1)P(1) transition at 45.1 nm. A gain of 11 cm(-1) was measured on these transitions for targets up to 0.9 cm long.

High speed, high current pulsed driver circuit

DOEpatents

Carlen, Christopher R.

2017-03-21

Various technologies presented herein relate to driving a LED such that the LED emits short duration pulses of light. This is accomplished by driving the LED with short duration, high amplitude current pulses. When the LED is driven by short duration, high amplitude current pulses, the LED emits light at a greater amplitude compared to when the LED is driven by continuous wave current.

High power parallel ultrashort pulse laser processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gillner, Arnold; Gretzki, Patrick; Büsing, Lasse

2016-03-01

The class of ultra-short-pulse (USP) laser sources are used, whenever high precession and high quality material processing is demanded. These laser sources deliver pulse duration in the range of ps to fs and are characterized with high peak intensities leading to a direct vaporization of the material with a minimum thermal damage. With the availability of industrial laser source with an average power of up to 1000W, the main challenge consist of the effective energy distribution and disposition. Using lasers with high repetition rates in the MHz region can cause thermal issues like overheating, melt production and low ablation quality. In this paper, we will discuss different approaches for multibeam processing for utilization of high pulse energies. The combination of diffractive optics and conventional galvometer scanner can be used for high throughput laser ablation, but are limited in the optical qualities. We will show which applications can benefit from this hybrid optic and which improvements in productivity are expected. In addition, the optical limitations of the system will be compiled, in order to evaluate the suitability of this approach for any given application.

Spatio-temporal modeling and optimization of a deformable-grating compressor for short high-energy laser pulses

DOE PAGES

Qiao, Jie; Papa, J.; Liu, X.

2015-09-24

Monolithic large-scale diffraction gratings are desired to improve the performance of high-energy laser systems and scale them to higher energy, but the surface deformation of these diffraction gratings induce spatio-temporal coupling that is detrimental to the focusability and compressibility of the output pulse. A new deformable-grating-based pulse compressor architecture with optimized actuator positions has been designed to correct the spatial and temporal aberrations induced by grating wavefront errors. An integrated optical model has been built to analyze the effect of grating wavefront errors on the spatio-temporal performance of a compressor based on four deformable gratings. Moreover, a 1.5-meter deformable gratingmore » has been optimized using an integrated finite-element-analysis and genetic-optimization model, leading to spatio-temporal performance similar to the baseline design with ideal gratings.« less

Method of defining features on materials with a femtosecond laser

DOEpatents

Roos, Edward Victor [Los Altos, CA; Roeske, Franklin [Livermore, CA; Lee, Ronald S [Livermore, CA; Benterou, Jerry J [Livermore, CA

2006-05-23

The invention relates to a pulsed laser ablation method of metals and/or dielectric films from the surface of a wafer, printed circuit board or a hybrid substrate. By utilizing a high-energy ultra-short pulses of laser light, such a method can be used to manufacture electronic circuits and/or electro-mechanical assemblies without affecting the material adjacent to the ablation zone.

Downhole pulse radar

DOEpatents

Chang, Hsi-Tien

1987-09-28

A borehole logging tool generates a fast rise-time, short duration, high peak-power radar pulse having broad energy distribution between 30 MHz and 300 MHz through a directional transmitting and receiving antennas having barium titanate in the electromagnetically active region to reduce the wavelength to within an order of magnitude of the diameter of the antenna. Radar returns from geological discontinuities are sampled for transmission uphole. 7 figs.

GINGER simulations of short-pulse effects in the LEUTL FEL

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huang, Z.; Fawley, W.M.

While the long-pulse, coasting beam model is often used in analysis and simulation of self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) free-electron lasers (FELs), many current SASE demonstration experiments employ relatively short electron bunches whose pulse length is on the order of the radiation slippage length. In particular, the low-energy undulator test line (LEUTL) FEL at the Advanced Photon Source has recently lased and nominally saturated in both visible and near-ultraviolet wavelength regions with a sub-ps pulse length that is somewhat shorter than the total slippage length in the 22-m undulator system. In this paper we explore several characteristics of the short pulsemore » regime for SASE FELs with the multidimensional, time-dependent simulation code GINGER, concentrating on making a direct comparison with the experimental results from LEUTL. Items of interest include the radiation gain length, pulse energy, saturation position, and spectral bandwidth. We address the importance of short-pulse effects when scaling the LEUTL results to proposed x-ray FELs and also briefly discuss the possible importance of coherent spontaneous emission at startup.« less

Self-Calibration and Laser Energy Monitor Validations for a Double-Pulsed 2-Micron CO2 Integrated Path Differential Absorption Lidar Application

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Refaat, Tamer F.; Singh, Upendra N.; Petros, Mulugeta; Remus, Ruben; Yu, Jirong

2015-01-01

Double-pulsed 2-micron integrated path differential absorption (IPDA) lidar is well suited for atmospheric CO2 remote sensing. The IPDA lidar technique relies on wavelength differentiation between strong and weak absorbing features of the gas normalized to the transmitted energy. In the double-pulse case, each shot of the transmitter produces two successive laser pulses separated by a short interval. Calibration of the transmitted pulse energies is required for accurate CO2 measurement. Design and calibration of a 2-micron double-pulse laser energy monitor is presented. The design is based on an InGaAs pin quantum detector. A high-speed photo-electromagnetic quantum detector was used for laser-pulse profile verification. Both quantum detectors were calibrated using a reference pyroelectric thermal detector. Calibration included comparing the three detection technologies in the single-pulsed mode, then comparing the quantum detectors in the double-pulsed mode. In addition, a self-calibration feature of the 2-micron IPDA lidar is presented. This feature allows one to monitor the transmitted laser energy, through residual scattering, with a single detection channel. This reduces the CO2 measurement uncertainty. IPDA lidar ground validation for CO2 measurement is presented for both calibrated energy monitor and self-calibration options. The calibrated energy monitor resulted in a lower CO2 measurement bias, while self-calibration resulted in a better CO2 temporal profiling when compared to the in situ sensor.

5.5-7.5 MeV Proton Generation by a Moderate-Intensity Ultrashort-Pulse Laser Interaction with H2O Nanowire Targets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zigler, A.; Palchan, T.; Bruner, N.; Schleifer, E.; Eisenmann, S.; Botton, M.; Henis, Z.; Pikuz, S. A.; Faenov, A. Y., Jr.; Gordon, D.; Sprangle, P.

2011-04-01

We report on the first generation of 5.5-7.5 MeV protons by a moderate-intensity short-pulse laser (˜5×1017W/cm2, 40 fsec) interacting with frozen H2O nanometer-size structure droplets (snow nanowires) deposited on a sapphire substrate. In this setup, the laser intensity is locally enhanced by the snow nanowire, leading to high spatial gradients. Accordingly, the nanoplasma is subject to enhanced ponderomotive potential, and confined charge separation is obtained. Electrostatic fields of extremely high intensities are produced over the short scale length, and protons are accelerated to MeV-level energies.

Evolution of metastable state molecules N2(A3 Σu+) in a nanosecond pulsed discharge: A particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collisions simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Liang; Sun, Jizhong; Feng, Chunlei; Bai, Jing; Ding, Hongbin

2012-01-01

A particle-in-cell plus Monte Carlo collisions method has been employed to investigate the nitrogen discharge driven by a nanosecond pulse power source. To assess whether the production of the metastable state N2(A3 Σu+) can be efficiently enhanced in a nanosecond pulsed discharge, the evolutions of metastable state N2(A3 Σu+) density and electron energy distribution function have been examined in detail. The simulation results indicate that the ultra short pulse can modulate the electron energy effectively: during the early pulse-on time, high energy electrons give rise to quick electron avalanche and rapid growth of the metastable state N2(A3 Σu+) density. It is estimated that for a single pulse with amplitude of -9 kV and pulse width 30 ns, the metastable state N2(A3 Σu+) density can achieve a value in the order of 109 cm-3. The N2(A3 Σu+) density at such a value could be easily detected by laser-based experimental methods.

Pulsed Power Supply Based on Magnetic Energy Storage for Non-Destructive High Field Magnets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aubert, G.; Defoug, S.; Joss, W.; Sala, P.; Dubois, M.; Kuchinsk, V.

2004-11-01

The first test results of a recently built pulsed power supply based on magnetic energy storage will be described. The system consists of the 16 kV shock alternator with a short-circuit power of 3600 MVA of the VOLTA Testing Center of the Schneider Electric SA company, a step-down transformer with a ratio of 1/24, a three-phase diode bridge designed for a current rising exponentially to 120 kA, and a big, 10 ton, heavy, 10 mH aluminum storage coil. The system is designed to store 72 MJ, normal operation will be at 50 MJ, and will work with voltages up to 20 kV. A transfer of 20% of the stored energy into the high field coil should be possible. Special making switches and interrupters have been developed to switch the high currents in a very short time. For safety and redundancy two independent monitoring systems control the energy transfer. A sequencing control system operates the switches on the ac side and protective switches on the dc side, a specially developed real-time control-monitoring system checks several currents and voltages and commands the dc circuit breakers and making switches.

Simulations of a FIR Oscillator with Large Slippage parameter at Jefferson Lab for FIR/UV pump-probe experiments

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Benson, Stephen V.; Campbell, L. T.; McNeil, B.W.T.

We previously proposed a dual FEL configuration on the UV Demo FEL at Jefferson Lab that would allow simultaneous lasing at FIR and UV wavelengths. The FIR source would be an FEL oscillator with a short wiggler providing diffraction-limited pulses with pulse energy exceeding 50 microJoules, using the exhaust beam from a UVFEL as the input electron beam. Since the UV FEL requires very short pulses, the input to the FIR FEL is extremely short compared to a slippage length and the usual Slowly Varying Envelope Approximation (SVEA) does not apply. We use a non-SVEA code to simulate this systemmore » both with a small energy spread (UV laser off) and with large energy spread (UV laser on).« less

Femtosecond Fiber Lasers Based on Dissipative Processes for Nonlinear Microscopy

PubMed Central

Wise, Frank W.

2012-01-01

Recent progress in the development of femtosecond-pulse fiber lasers with parameters appropriate for nonlinear microscopy is reviewed. Pulse-shaping in lasers with only normal-dispersion components is briefly described, and the performance of the resulting lasers is summarized. Fiber lasers based on the formation of dissipative solitons now offer performance competitive with that of solid-state lasers, but with the benefits of the fiber medium. Lasers based on self-similar pulse evolution in the gain section of a laser also offer a combination of short pulse duration and high pulse energy that will be attractive for applications in nonlinear bioimaging. PMID:23869163

Laser or charged-particle-beam fusion reactor with direct electric generation by magnetic flux compression

DOEpatents

Lasche, G.P.

1983-09-29

The invention is a laser or particle-beam-driven fusion reactor system which takes maximum advantage of both the very short pulsed nature of the energy release of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) and the very small volumes within which the thermonuclear burn takes place. The pulsed nature of ICF permits dynamic direct energy conversion schemes such as magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) generation and magnetic flux compression; the small volumes permit very compact blanket geometries. By fully exploiting these characteristics of ICF, it is possible to design a fusion reactor with exceptionally high power density, high net electric efficiency, and low neutron-induced radioactivity. The invention includes a compact blanket design and method and apparatus for obtaining energy utilizing the compact blanket.

Electromagnetic emission from terrestrial lightning in the 0.1-30 MHz frequency range

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karashtin, A. N.; Gurevich, A. V.

Results of measurements carried out at SURA facility of Radiophisical Research Institute and at Tien-Shan Mountain Scientific Station of Lebedev Physical Institute using specially designed installations for short electromagnetic pulse observation in the frequency range from 0.1 to 30 MHz are presented. Specific attention is paid to initial stage of the lightning discharge. It is shown that lightning can be initiated by extensive atmospheric showers caused by high energy cosmic ray particles. Analysis of emission of few thousand lightning discharges showed that • Short wave radio emission of lightning consists of a series of short pulses with duration from less than 100 nanoseconds to several microseconds separated well longer gaps. • Background noise between lightning discharges is not differ from one observed without thunderstorm activity (at given sensitivity). Usually it is the same between lightning pulses at least at the initial stage. • Each lightning discharge radio emission starts with a number of very short (less than 100 nanoseconds at 0.7 level) bi-polar pulses. Gaps between initial pulses vary from several microseconds to few hundreds of microseconds. No radio emission was observed before the first pulse during at least 500 milliseconds. Both positive and negative polarity of the first pulses occur in approximately equal proportion in different lightning discharges while the polarity was the same in any individual lightning. • First pulse amplitude, width and waveform are consistent with predicted by the theory of combined action of runaway breakdown and extensive atmospheric shower caused by cosmic ray particle of 1016 eV energy. Lightning discharges at other planets can be initiated by cosmic ray particles as well. This work was partly supported by ISTC grant # 2236p. The work of one of the authors (A. N. Karashtin) was also partly supported by INTAS grant # 03-51-5727.

Controllable robust laser driven ion acceleration from near-critical density relativistic self-transparent plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Bin; Meyer-Ter-Vehn, Juergen; Ruhl, Hartmut

2017-10-01

We introduce an alternative approach for laser driven self-injected high quality ion acceleration. We call it ion wave breaking acceleration. It operates in relativistic self-transparent plasma for ultra-intense ultra-short laser pulses. Laser propagating in a transparent plasma excites an electron wave as well as an ion wave. When the ion wave breaks, a fraction of ions is self-injected into the positive part of the laser driven wake. This leads to a superior ion pulse with peaked energy spectra; in particular in realistic three-dimensional geometry, the injection occurs localized close to the laser axis producing highly directed bunches. A theory is developed to investigate the ion wave breaking dynamics. Three dimensional Particle-in-Cell simulations with pure-gaussian laser pulses and pre-expanded near-critical density plasma targets have been done to verify the theoretical results. It is shown that hundreds of MeV, easily controllable and manipulable, micron-scale size, highly collimated and quasi-mono-energetic ion beams can be produced by using ultra-intense ultra-short laser pulses with total laser energies less than 10 Joules. Such ion beams may find important applications in tumour therapy. B. Liu acknowledges support from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. B. Liu and H. Ruhl acknowledge supports from the Gauss Centre for Supercomputing (GCS), and the Cluster-of-Excellence Munich Centre for Advanced Photonics (MAP).

High-energy, ceramic-disk Yb:LuAG laser amplifier.

PubMed

Siebold, M; Loeser, M; Roeser, F; Seltmann, M; Harzendorf, G; Tsybin, I; Linke, S; Banerjee, S; Mason, P D; Phillips, P J; Ertel, K; Collier, J C; Schramm, U

2012-09-24

We report the first short-pulse amplification results to several hundred millijoule energies in ceramic Yb:LuAG. We have demonstrated ns-pulse output from a diode-pumped Yb:LuAG amplifier at a maximum energy of 580 mJ and a peak optical-to-optical efficiency of 28% at 550 mJ. In cavity dumped operation of a nanosecond oscillator we obtained 1 mJ at up to 100 Hz repetition rate. A gain bandwidth of 5.4 nm was achieved at room temperature by measuring the small-signal single-pass gain. Furthermore, we compared our results with Yb:YAG within the same amplifier system.

On the feasibility of increasing the energy of laser-accelerated protons by using low-density targets

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brantov, A. V., E-mail: brantov@lebedev.ru; Bychenkov, V. Yu., E-mail: bychenk@lebedev.ru

2015-06-15

Optimal regimes of proton acceleration in the interaction of short high-power laser pulses with thin foils and low-density targets are determined by means of 3D numerical simulation. It is demonstrated that the maximum proton energy can be increased by using low-density targets in which ions from the front surface of the target are accelerated most efficiently. It is shown using a particular example that, for the same laser pulse, the energy of protons accelerated from a low-density target can be increased by one-third as compared to a solid-state target.

Compression of Intense Laser Pulses in Plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fisch, Nathaniel J.; Malkin, Vladimir M.; Shvets, Gennady

2001-10-01

A counterpropagating short pulse can absorb the energy of a long laser pulse in plasma, resulting in pulse compression. For processing very high power and very high total energy, plasma is an ideal medium. Thus, in plasma one can contemplate the compression of micron light pulses to exawatts per square cm or fluences to kilojoules per square cm, prior to the vacuum focus. Two nonlinear plasma effects have recently been proposed to accomplish compression at very high power in counterpropagating geometry: One is compression by means of Compton or so-called superradiant scattering, where the nonlinear interaction of the plasma electrons with the lasers dominates the plasma restoring motion due to charge imbalance [G. Shvets, N. J. Fisch, A. Pukhov, and J. Meyer-ter-Vehn, Phys. Rev. Lett. v. 81, 4879 (1998)]. The second is fast compression by means of stimulated backward Raman scattering (SBRS), where the amplification process outruns deleterious processes associated with the ultraintense pulse [V. M. Malkin, G. Shvets, N. J. Fisch, Phys. Rev. Lett., v. 82, 4448 (1999)]. In each of these regimes, in a realistic plasma, there are technological challenges that must be met and competing effects that must be kept smaller than the desired interaction.

Free electron laser

DOEpatents

Villa, Francesco

1990-01-01

A high gain, single-pass free electron laser formed of a high brilliance electron injector source, a linear accelerator which imparts high energy to the electron beam, and an undulator capable of extremely high magnetic fields, yet with a very short period. The electron injector source is the first stage (gap) of the linear accelerator or a radial line transformer driven by fast circular switch. The linear accelerator is formed of a plurality of accelerating gaps arranged in series. These gaps are energized in sequence by releasing a single pulse of energy which propagates simultaneously along a plurality of transmission lines, each of which feeds the gaps. The transmission lines are graduated in length so that pulse power is present at each gap as the accelerated electrons pass therethrough. The transmission lines for each gap are open circuited at their ends. The undualtor has a structure similar to the accelerator, except that the transmission lines for each gap are substantially short circuited at their ends, thus converting the electric field into magnetic field. A small amount of resistance is retained in order to generate a small electric field for replenishing the electron bunch with the energy lost as it traverses through the undulator structure.

Flying radio frequency undulator

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kuzikov, S. V.; Vikharev, A. A.; Savilov, A. V.

2014-07-21

A concept for the room-temperature rf undulator, designed to produce coherent X-ray radiation by means of a relatively low-energy electron beam and pulsed mm-wavelength radiation, is proposed. The “flying” undulator is a high-power short rf pulse co-propagating together with a relativistic electron bunch in a helically corrugated waveguide. The electrons wiggle in the rf field of the −1st spatial harmonic with the phase velocity directed in the opposite direction in respect to the bunch velocity, so that particles can irradiate high-frequency Compton's photons. A high group velocity (close to the speed of light) ensures long cooperative motion of the particlesmore » and the co-propagating rf pulse.« less

Pulsed high energy synthesis of fine metal powders

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Witherspoon, F. Douglas (Inventor); Massey, Dennis W. (Inventor)

1999-01-01

Repetitively pulsed plasma jets generated by a capillary arc discharge at high stagnation pressure (>15,000 psi) and high temperature (>10,000 K) are utilized to produce 0.1-10 .mu.m sized metal powders and decrease cost of production. The plasma jets impact and atomize melt materials to form the fine powders. The melt can originate from a conventional melt stream or from a pulsed arc between two electrodes. Gas streams used in conventional gas atomization are replaced with much higher momentum flux plasma jets. Delivering strong incident shocks aids in primary disintegration of the molten material. A series of short duration, high pressure plasma pulses fragment the molten material. The pulses introduce sharp velocity gradients in the molten material which disintegrates into fine particles. The plasma pulses have peak pressures of approximately one kilobar. The high pressures improve the efficiency of disintegration. High gas flow velocities and pressures are achieved without reduction in gas density. Repetitively pulsed plasma jets will produce powders with lower mean size and narrower size distribution than conventional atomization techniques.

5.5-7.5 MeV Proton Generation by a Moderate-Intensity Ultrashort-Pulse Laser Interaction with H{sub 2}O Nanowire Targets

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zigler, A.; Palchan, T.; Bruner, N.

We report on the first generation of 5.5-7.5 MeV protons by a moderate-intensity short-pulse laser ({approx}5x10{sup 17} W/cm{sup 2}, 40 fsec) interacting with frozen H{sub 2}O nanometer-size structure droplets (snow nanowires) deposited on a sapphire substrate. In this setup, the laser intensity is locally enhanced by the snow nanowire, leading to high spatial gradients. Accordingly, the nanoplasma is subject to enhanced ponderomotive potential, and confined charge separation is obtained. Electrostatic fields of extremely high intensities are produced over the short scale length, and protons are accelerated to MeV-level energies.

Overview of laser systems for the Orion facility at the AWE.

PubMed

Hopps, Nicholas; Danson, Colin; Duffield, Stuart; Egan, David; Elsmere, Stephen; Girling, Mark; Harvey, Ewan; Hillier, David; Norman, Michael; Parker, Stefan; Treadwell, Paul; Winter, David; Bett, Thomas

2013-05-20

The commissioning of the Orion laser facility at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) in the UK has recently been completed. The facility is a twelve beam Nd:glass-based system for studying high energy density physics. It consists of ten frequency-tripled beam-lines operating with nanosecond pulses, synchronized with two beam-lines with subpicosecond pulses, each capable of delivering 500 J to target. One of the short pulse beams has the option of frequency doubling, at reduced aperture, to yield up to 100 J at 527 nm in a subpicosecond pulse with high temporal contrast. An extensive array of target diagnostics is provided. This article describes the laser design and commissioning and presents key performance data of the facility's laser systems.

Temperature field analysis of single layer TiO2 film components induced by long-pulse and short-pulse lasers.

PubMed

Wang, Bin; Zhang, Hongchao; Qin, Yuan; Wang, Xi; Ni, Xiaowu; Shen, Zhonghua; Lu, Jian

2011-07-10

To study the differences between the damaging of thin film components induced by long-pulse and short-pulse lasers, a model of single layer TiO(2) film components with platinum high-absorptance inclusions was established. The temperature rises of TiO(2) films with inclusions of different sizes and different depths induced by a 1 ms long-pulse and a 10 ns short-pulse lasers were analyzed based on temperature field theory. The results show that there is a radius range of inclusions that corresponds to high temperature rises. Short-pulse lasers are more sensitive to high-absorptance inclusions and long-pulse lasers are more easily damage the substrate. The first-damage decision method is drawn from calculations. © 2011 Optical Society of America

Transmission line pulse system for avalanche characterization of high power semiconductor devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riccio, Michele; Ascione, Giovanni; De Falco, Giuseppe; Maresca, Luca; De Laurentis, Martina; Irace, Andrea; Breglio, Giovanni

2013-05-01

Because of the increasing in power density of electronic devices for medium and high power application, reliabilty of these devices is of great interest. Understanding the avalanche behaviour of a power device has become very important in these last years because it gives an indication of the maximum energy ratings which can be seen as an index of the device ruggedness. A good description of this behaviour is given by the static IV blocking characteristc. In order to avoid self heating, very relevant in high power devices, very short pulses of current have to be used, whose value can change from few milliamps up to tens of amps. The most used method to generate short pulses is the TLP (Transmission Line Pulse) test, which is based on charging the equivalent capacitance of a transmission line to high value of voltage and subsequently discharging it onto a load. This circuit let to obtain very short square pulses but it is mostly used for evaluate the ESD capability of semiconductor and, in this environment, it generates pulses of low amplitude which are not high enough to characterize the avalanche behaviour of high power devices . Advanced TLP circuit able to generate high current are usually very expensive and often suffer of distorption of the output pulse. In this article is proposed a simple, low cost circuit, based on a boosted-TLP configuration, which is capable to produce very square pulses of about one hundreds of nanosecond with amplitude up to some tens of amps. A prototype is implemented which can produce pulses up to 20A of amplitude with 200 ns of duration which can characterize power devices up to 1600V of breakdown voltage. Usage of microcontroller based logic make the circuit very flexible. Results of SPICE simulation are provided, together with experimental results. To prove the effectiveness of the circuit, the I-V blocking characteristics of two commercial devices, namely a 600V PowerMOS and a 1200V Trench-IGBT, are measured at different operating temperature.

Pulse shape measurements using single shot-frequency resolved optical gating for high energy (80 J) short pulse (600 fs) laser

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Palaniyappan, S.; Johnson, R.; Shimada, T.

2010-10-15

Relevant to laser based electron/ion accelerations, a single shot second harmonic generation frequency resolved optical gating (FROG) system has been developed to characterize laser pulses (80 J, {approx}600 fs) incident on and transmitted through nanofoil targets, employing relay imaging, spatial filter, and partially coated glass substrates to reduce spatial nonuniformity and B-integral. The device can be completely aligned without using a pulsed laser source. Variations of incident pulse shape were measured from durations of 613 fs (nearly symmetric shape) to 571 fs (asymmetric shape with pre- or postpulse). The FROG measurements are consistent with independent spectral and autocorrelation measurements.

Influence of chirp on laser-pulse amplification in Brillouin backscattering schemes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lehmann, Goetz; Schluck, Friedrich; Spatschek, Karl-Heinz

2015-11-01

Plasma-based amplification of laser pulses is currently discussed as a key component for the next generation of high-intensity laser systems, possibly enabling the generation of ultra-short pulses in the exawatt-zetawatt regime. In these scenarios the energy of a long pump pulse (several ps to ns of duration) is transferred to a short seed pulse via a plasma oscillation. Weakly- and strongly-coupled (sc) Brillouin backscattering have been identified as potential candidates for robust amplification scenarios. With the help of three-wave interaction models, we investigate the influence of a chirp of the pump beam on the seed amplification. We show that chirp can mitigate deleterious spontaneous Raman backscattering of the pump off noise and that at the same time the amplification dynamics due to Brillouin scattering is still intact. For the experimentally very interesting case of sc-Brillouin we find a dependence of the efficiency on the sign of the chirp. Funding provided by project B10 of SFB TR18 of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).

Laser beam delivery at ELI-NP

DOE PAGES

Ursescu, Daniel; Cheriaux, G.; Audebert, P.; ...

2017-01-01

The Laser Beam Delivery (LBD) system technical design report covers the interface between the High Power Laser System (HPLS) and the experiments, together with the pulse quality management. Here, the laser transport part of the LBD has a number of subsystems as follows: the beam transport lines for the six main outputs of HPLS, the additional short and long pulses and the synchronization system including the timing of the laser pulses with the Gamma Beam System (GBS) and the experiments on femtosecond timescale. Pulse quality management, discussed further here, consist in the generation and delivery of multiple HPLS pulses, coherentmore » combining of the HPLS arms, laser pulse diagnostics on target, laser beam dumps, shutters and output energy adaption.« less

Surface modification of steels and magnesium alloy by high current pulsed electron beam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hao, Shengzhi; Gao, Bo; Wu, Aimin; Zou, Jianxin; Qin, Ying; Dong, Chuang; An, Jian; Guan, Qingfeng

2005-11-01

High current pulsed electron beam (HCPEB) is now developing as a useful tool for surface modification of materials. When concentrated electron flux transferring its energy into a very thin surface layer within a short pulse time, superfast processes such as heating, melting, evaporation and consequent solidification, as well as dynamic stress induced may impart the surface layer with improved physico-chemical and mechanical properties. This paper presents our research work on surface modification of steels and magnesium alloy with HCPEB of working parameters as electron energy 27 keV, pulse duration ∼1 μs and energy density ∼2.2 J/cm2 per pulse. Investigations performed on carbon steel T8, mold steel D2 and magnesium alloy AZ91HP have shown that the most pronounced changes of phase-structure state and properties occurring in the near-surface layers, while the thickness of the modified layer with improved microhardness (several hundreds of micrometers) is significantly greater than that of the heat-affected zone. The formation mechanisms of surface cratering and non-stationary hardening effect in depth are discussed based on the elucidation of non-equilibrium temperature filed and different kinds of stresses formed during pulsed electron beam melting treatment. After the pulsed electron beam treatments, samples show significant improvements in measurements of wear and corrosion resistance.

The use of lasers for achieving extreme conditions of matter, and fusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roberts, P. D.

2012-05-01

Since the early'70s AWE has focussed on indirect drive as a means of accessing high energy density regimes. We give a brief historical perspective of this work and the rationale for the construction of the ORION laser. This laser is currently in commissioning and is scheduled to commence experiments in 2012. The ORION laser is configured to provide long pulses (~ 1ns) with a high degree of pulse shape flexibility, together with synchronised short pulse (~1ps) irradiation. The paper describes how this combination should enable pressures in excess of 1 Gb and temperatures of greater than 500 eV to be achieved. The ability to access and diagnose such conditions has applications in many fields; examples are given in planetary science, astrophysics and inertial fusion energy. For these applications we first describe the approach to measuring equation of state and opacity properties in the high energy density regime. Such properties are then incorporated into integrated computer simulation codes and validated against laser experiments, some of which have been conducted recently at the OMEGA laser at the University of Rochester. The paper concludes with a discussion of inertial fusion energy and the new high energy density regimes that this would access, if successful.

High-power ultrashort fiber laser for solar cells micromachining

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lecourt, J.-B.; Duterte, C.; Liegeois, F.; Lekime, D.; Hernandez, Y.; Giannone, D.

2012-02-01

We report on a high-power ultra-short fiber laser for thin film solar cells micromachining. The laser is based on Chirped Pulse Amplification (CPA) scheme. The pulses are stretched to hundreds of picoseconds prior to amplification and can be compressed down to picosecond at high energy. The repetition rate is adjustable from 100 kHz to 1 MHz and the optical average output power is close to 13 W (before compression). The whole setup is fully fibred, except the compressor achieved with bulk gratings, resulting on a compact and reliable solution for cold ablation.

Emission Characteristics of Laser-Induced Plasma Using Collinear Long and Short Dual-Pulse Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS).

PubMed

Wang, Zhenzhen; Deguchi, Yoshihiro; Liu, Renwei; Ikutomo, Akihiro; Zhang, Zhenzhen; Chong, Daotong; Yan, Junjie; Liu, Jiping; Shiou, Fang-Jung

2017-09-01

Collinear long and short dual-pulse laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (DP-LIBS) was employed to clarify the emission characteristics from laser-induced plasma. The plasma was sustained and became stable by the long pulse-width laser with the pulse width of 60 μs under free running (FR) conditions as an external energy source. Comparing the measurement results of stainless steel in air using single-pulse LIBS (SP-LIBS) and DP-LIBS, the emission intensity was markedly enhanced using DP-LIBS. The temperature of plasma induced by DP-LIBS was maintained at a higher temperature under different gate delay time and short pulse-width laser power conditions compared with those measured using short SP-LIBS. Moreover, the variation rates of plasma temperatures measured using DP-LIBS were also lower. The superior detection ability was verified by the measurement of aluminum sample in water. The spectra were clearly detected using DP-LIBS, whereas it cannot be identified using SP-LIBS of short and long pulse widths. The effects of gate delay time and short pulse-width laser power were also discussed. These results demonstrate the feasibility and enhanced detection ability of the proposed collinear long and short DP-LIBS method.

Acute damage threshold for infrared neural stimulation of the cochlea: functional and histological evaluation.

PubMed

Goyal, Vinay; Rajguru, Suhrud; Matic, Agnella I; Stock, Stuart R; Richter, Claus-Peter

2012-11-01

This article provides a mini review of the current state of infrared neural stimulation (INS), and new experimental results concerning INS damage thresholds. INS promises to be an attractive alternative for neural interfaces. With this method, one can attain spatially selective neural stimulation that is not possible with electrical stimulation. INS is based on the delivery of short laser pulses that result in a transient temperature increase in the tissue and depolarize the neurons. At a high stimulation rate and/or high pulse energy, the method bears the risk of thermal damage to the tissue from the instantaneous temperature increase or from potential accumulation of thermal energy. With the present study, we determined the injury thresholds in guinea pig cochleae for acute INS using functional measurements (compound action potentials) and histological evaluation. The selected laser parameters for INS were the wavelength (λ = 1,869 nm), the pulse duration (100 μs), the pulse repetition rate (250 Hz), and the radiant energy (0-127 μJ/pulse). For up to 5 hr of continuous irradiation at 250 Hz and at radiant energies up to 25 μJ/pulse, we did not observe any functional or histological damage in the cochlea. Functional loss was observed for energies above 25 μJ/pulse and the probability of injury to the target tissue resulting in functional loss increased with increasing radiant energy. Corresponding cochlear histology from control animals and animals exposed to 98 or 127 μJ/pulse at 250 Hz pulse repetition rate did not show a loss of spiral ganglion cells, hair cells, or other soft tissue structures of the organ of Corti. Light microscopy did not reveal any structural changes in the soft tissue either. Additionally, microcomputed tomography was used to visualize the placement of the optical fiber within the cochlea. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

An advanced optical system for laser ablation propulsion in space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bergstue, Grant; Fork, Richard; Reardon, Patrick

2014-03-01

We propose a novel space-based ablation driven propulsion engine concept utilizing transmitted energy in the form of a series of ultra-short optical pulses. Key differences are generating the pulses at the transmitting spacecraft and the safe delivery of that energy to the receiving spacecraft for propulsion. By expanding the beam diameter during transmission in space, the energy can propagate at relatively low intensity and then be refocused and redistributed to create an array of ablation sites at the receiver. The ablation array strategy allows greater control over flight dynamics and eases thermal management. Research efforts for this transmission and reception of ultra-short optical pulses include: (1) optical system design; (2) electrical system requirements; (3) thermal management; (4) structured energy transmission safety. Research has also been focused on developing an optical switch concept for the multiplexing of the ultra-short pulses. This optical switch strategy implements multiple reflectors polished into a rotating momentum wheel device to combine the pulses from different laser sources. The optical system design must minimize the thermal load on any one optical element. Initial specifications and modeling for the optical system are being produced using geometrical ray-tracing software to give a better understanding of the optical requirements. In regards to safety, we have advanced the retro-reflective beam locking strategy to include look-ahead capabilities for long propagation distances. Additional applications and missions utilizing multiplexed pulse transmission are also presented. Because the research is in early development, it provides an opportunity for new and valuable advances in the area of transmitted energy for propulsion as well as encourages joint international efforts. Researchers from different countries can cooperate in order to find constructive and safe uses of ordered pulse transmission for propulsion in future space-based missions.

Laser-driven ultrafast antiproton beam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Shun; Pei, Zhikun; Shen, Baifei; Xu, Jiancai; Zhang, Lingang; Zhang, Xiaomei; Xu, Tongjun; Yu, Yong; Bu, Zhigang

2018-02-01

Antiproton beam generation is investigated based on the ultra-intense femtosecond laser pulse by using two-dimensional particle-in-cell and Geant4 simulations. A high-flux proton beam with an energy of tens of GeV is generated in sequential radiation pressure and bubble regime and then shoots into a high-Z target for producing antiprotons. Both yield and energy of the antiproton beam increase almost linearly with the laser intensity. The generated antiproton beam has a short pulse duration of about 5 ps and its flux reaches 2 × 10 20 s - 1 at the laser intensity of 2.14 × 10 23 W / cm 2 . Compared to conventional methods, this new method based on the ultra-intense laser pulse is able to provide a compact, tunable, and ultrafast antiproton source, which is potentially useful for quark-gluon plasma study, all-optical antihydrogen generation, and so on.

Isochoric heating and strong blast wave formation driven by fast electrons in solid-density targets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santos, J. J.; Vauzour, B.; Touati, M.; Gremillet, L.; Feugeas, J.-L.; Ceccotti, T.; Bouillaud, R.; Deneuville, F.; Floquet, V.; Fourment, C.; Hadj-Bachir, M.; Hulin, S.; Morace, A.; Nicolaï, Ph; d'Oliveira, P.; Reau, F.; Samaké, A.; Tcherbakoff, O.; Tikhonchuk, V. T.; Veltcheva, M.; Batani, D.

2017-10-01

We experimentally investigate the fast (< 1 {ps}) isochoric heating of multi-layer metallic foils and subsequent high-pressure hydrodynamics induced by energetic electrons driven by high-intensity, high-contrast laser pulses. The early-time temperature profile inside the target is measured from the streaked optical pyrometry of the target rear side. This is further characterized from benchmarked simulations of the laser-target interaction and the fast electron transport. Despite a modest laser energy (< 1 {{J}}), the early-time high pressures and associated gradients launch inwards a strong compression wave developing over ≳ 10 ps into a ≈ 140 {Mbar} blast wave, according to hydrodynamic simulations, consistent with our measurements. These experimental and numerical findings pave the way to a short-pulse-laser-based platform dedicated to high-energy-density physics studies.

Compact sub-nanosecond pulse seed source with diode laser driven by a high-speed circuit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xiaoqian; Wang, Bo; Wang, Junhua; Cheng, Wenyong

2018-06-01

A compact sub-nanosecond pulse seed source with 1550 nm diode laser (DL) was obtained by employing a high-speed circuit. The circuit mainly consisted of a short pulse generator and a short pulse driver. The short pulse generator, making up of a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a level translator, two programmable delay chips and an AND gate chip, output a triggering signal to control metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) switch of the short pulse driver. The MOSFET switch with fast rising time and falling time both shorter than 1 ns drove the DL to emit short optical pulses. Performances of the pulse seed source were tested. The results showed that continuously adjustable repetition frequency ranging from 500 kHz to 100 MHz and pulse duration in the range of 538 ps to 10 ns were obtained, respectively. 537 μW output was obtained at the highest repetition frequency of 100 MHz with the shortest pulse duration of 538 ps. These seed pulses were injected into an fiber amplifier, and no optical pulse distortions were found.

High resolution data acquisition

DOEpatents

Thornton, G.W.; Fuller, K.R.

1993-04-06

A high resolution event interval timing system measures short time intervals such as occur in high energy physics or laser ranging. Timing is provided from a clock, pulse train, and analog circuitry for generating a triangular wave synchronously with the pulse train (as seen in diagram on patent). The triangular wave has an amplitude and slope functionally related to the time elapsed during each clock pulse in the train. A converter forms a first digital value of the amplitude and slope of the triangle wave at the start of the event interval and a second digital value of the amplitude and slope of the triangle wave at the end of the event interval. A counter counts the clock pulse train during the interval to form a gross event interval time. A computer then combines the gross event interval time and the first and second digital values to output a high resolution value for the event interval.

High resolution data acquisition

DOEpatents

Thornton, Glenn W.; Fuller, Kenneth R.

1993-01-01

A high resolution event interval timing system measures short time intervals such as occur in high energy physics or laser ranging. Timing is provided from a clock (38) pulse train (37) and analog circuitry (44) for generating a triangular wave (46) synchronously with the pulse train (37). The triangular wave (46) has an amplitude and slope functionally related to the time elapsed during each clock pulse in the train. A converter (18, 32) forms a first digital value of the amplitude and slope of the triangle wave at the start of the event interval and a second digital value of the amplitude and slope of the triangle wave at the end of the event interval. A counter (26) counts the clock pulse train (37) during the interval to form a gross event interval time. A computer (52) then combines the gross event interval time and the first and second digital values to output a high resolution value for the event interval.

Characterization of the high-energy neutron beam of the PRISMA beamline using a diamond detector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cazzaniga, C.; Frost, C. D.; Minniti, T.; Schooneveld, E.; Perelli Cippo, E.; Tardocchi, M.; Rebai, M.; Gorini, G.

2016-07-01

The high-energy neutron component (En > 10 MeV) of the neutron spectrum of PRISMA, a beam-line at the ISIS spallation source, has been characterized for the first time. Neutron measurements using a Single-crystal Diamond Detector at a short-pulse source are obtained by a combination of pulse height and time of flight analysis. An XY scan provides a 2D map of the high-energy neutron beam which has a diameter of about 40 mm. The high neutron flux, that has been found to be (3.8 ± 0.7) · 105 cm-2s-1 for En > 10 MeV in the centre, opens up for a possible application of the beam-line as a high-energy neutron irradiation position. Results are of interest for the development of the ChipIR beam-line, which will feature an atmospheric-like neutron spectrum for chip irradiation experiment. Furthermore, these results demonstrate that diamond detectors can be used at spallation sources to investigate the transport of high-energy neutrons down instruments which is of interest in general to designers as high-energy neutrons are a source of background in thermal beamlines.

Research on High-Intensity Picosecond Pump Laser in Short Pulse Optical Parametric Amplification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Xue; Peng, Yu-Jie; Wang, Jiang-Feng; Lu, Xing-Hua; Ouyang, Xiao-Ping; Chen, Jia-Lin; Jiang, You-En; Fan, Wei; Li, Xue-Chun

2013-01-01

A 527 nm pump laser generating 1.7 mJ energy with peak power of more than 0.12 GW is demonstrated. The theoretical simulation result shows that it has 106 gain in the picosecond-pump optical parametric chirped pulse amplification when the pump laser peak power is 0.1 GW and the intensity is more than 5 GW/cm2, and that it can limit the parametric fluorescence in the picosecond time scale of pump duration. The pump laser system adopts a master-oscillator power amplifier, which integrates a more than 30 pJ fiber-based oscillator with a 150 μJ regenerative amplifier and a relay-imaged four-pass diode-pump Nd glass amplifier to generate a 1 Hz top hat spatial beam and about 14 ps temporal Guassian pulse with <2% pulse-to-pulse energy stability. The output energy of the power amplifier is limited to 4 mJ for B-integral concern, and the frequency doubling efficiency can reach 65% with input intensity 10 GW/cm2.

Crystallization and doping of amorphous silicon on low temperature plastic

DOEpatents

Kaschmitter, James L.; Truher, Joel B.; Weiner, Kurt H.; Sigmon, Thomas W.

1994-01-01

A method or process of crystallizing and doping amorphous silicon (a-Si) on a low-temperature plastic substrate using a short pulsed high energy source in a selected environment, without heat propagation and build-up in the substrate. The pulsed energy processing of the a-Si in a selected environment, such as BF3 and PF5, will form a doped micro-crystalline or poly-crystalline silicon (pc-Si) region or junction point with improved mobilities, lifetimes and drift and diffusion lengths and with reduced resistivity. The advantage of this method or process is that it provides for high energy materials processing on low cost, low temperature, transparent plastic substrates. Using pulsed laser processing a high (>900.degree. C.), localized processing temperature can be achieved in thin films, with little accompanying temperature rise in the substrate, since substrate temperatures do not exceed 180.degree. C. for more than a few microseconds. This method enables use of plastics incapable of withstanding sustained processing temperatures (higher than 180.degree. C.) but which are much lower cost, have high tolerance to ultraviolet light, have high strength and good transparency, compared to higher temperature plastics such as polyimide.

Crystallization and doping of amorphous silicon on low temperature plastic

DOEpatents

Kaschmitter, J.L.; Truher, J.B.; Weiner, K.H.; Sigmon, T.W.

1994-09-13

A method or process of crystallizing and doping amorphous silicon (a-Si) on a low-temperature plastic substrate using a short pulsed high energy source in a selected environment, without heat propagation and build-up in the substrate is disclosed. The pulsed energy processing of the a-Si in a selected environment, such as BF3 and PF5, will form a doped micro-crystalline or poly-crystalline silicon (pc-Si) region or junction point with improved mobilities, lifetimes and drift and diffusion lengths and with reduced resistivity. The advantage of this method or process is that it provides for high energy materials processing on low cost, low temperature, transparent plastic substrates. Using pulsed laser processing a high (>900 C), localized processing temperature can be achieved in thin films, with little accompanying temperature rise in the substrate, since substrate temperatures do not exceed 180 C for more than a few microseconds. This method enables use of plastics incapable of withstanding sustained processing temperatures (higher than 180 C) but which are much lower cost, have high tolerance to ultraviolet light, have high strength and good transparency, compared to higher temperature plastics such as polyimide. 5 figs.

Short-pulse, compressed ion beams at the Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment

DOE PAGES

Seidl, P. A.; Barnard, J. J.; Davidson, R. C.; ...

2016-05-01

We have commenced experiments with intense short pulses of ion beams on the Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment (NDCX-II) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, with 1-mm beam spot size within 2.5 ns full-width at half maximum. The ion kinetic energy is 1.2 MeV. To enable the short pulse duration and mm-scale focal spot radius, the beam is neutralized in a 1.5-meter-long drift compression section following the last accelerator cell. A short-focal-length solenoid focuses the beam in the presence of the volumetric plasma that is near the target. In the accelerator, the line-charge density increases due to the velocity ramp imparted onmore » the beam bunch. The scientific topics to be explored are warm dense matter, the dynamics of radiation damage in materials, and intense beam and beam-plasma physics including select topics of relevance to the development of heavy-ion drivers for inertial fusion energy. Below the transition to melting, the short beam pulses offer an opportunity to study the multi-scale dynamics of radiation-induced damage in materials with pump-probe experiments, and to stabilize novel metastable phases of materials when short-pulse heating is followed by rapid quenching. First experiments used a lithium ion source; a new plasma-based helium ion source shows much greater charge delivered to the target.« less

Review of controlled fusion research using laser heating.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hertzberg, A.

1973-01-01

Development of methods for generating high laser pulse energy has stimulated research leading to new ideas for practical controlled thermonuclear fusion machines. A review is presented of some important efforts in progress, and two different approaches have been selected as examples for discussion. One involves the concept of very short pulse lasers with power output tailored, in time, to obtain a nearly isentropic compression of a deuterium-tritium pellet to very high densities and temperatures. A second approach utilizing long wavelength, long pulse, efficient gas lasers to heat a column of plasma contained in a solenoidal field is also discussed. The working requirements of the laser and various magnetic field geometries of this approach are described.

Programmable diffractive optic for multi-beam processing: applications and limitations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gretzki, Patrick; Gillner, Arnold

2017-08-01

In the field of laser ablation, especially in the field of micro-structuring, the current challenge is the improvement of productivity. While many applications, e.g. surface fictionalization and structuring, drilling and thin film ablation, use relatively low pulse energies, industrial laser sources provide considerably higher average powers and pulse energies. The main challenge consist of the effective energy distribution and depositions. There are essential two complementary approaches for the up-scaling of (ultra) short pulse laser processes: Higher repetition frequency or higher pulse energies. Using lasers with high repetition rates in the MHz region can cause thermal issues like overheating, melt production and low ablation quality. In this paper we pursuit the second approach by using diffractive optics for parallel processing. We will discuss, which technologies can be used and which applications will benefit from the multi-beam approach and which increase in productivity can be expected. Additionally we will show, which quality attributes can be used to rate the performance of a diffractive optic and and which limitations and restrictions this technology has.

The use of short and wide x-ray pulses for time-of-flight x-ray Compton Scatter Imaging in cargo security

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Calvert, Nick; Betcke, Marta M.; Cresswell, John R.; Deacon, Alick N.; Gleeson, Anthony J.; Judson, Daniel S.; Mason, Peter; McIntosh, Peter A.; Morton, Edward J.; Nolan, Paul J.; Ollier, James; Procter, Mark G.; Speller, Robert D.

2015-05-01

Using a short pulse width x-ray source and measuring the time-of-flight of photons that scatter from an object under inspection allows for the point of interaction to be determined, and a profile of the object to be sampled along the path of the beam. A three dimensional image can be formed by interrogating the entire object. Using high energy x rays enables the inspection of cargo containers with steel walls, in the search for concealed items. A longer pulse width x-ray source can also be used with deconvolution techniques to determine the points of interaction. We present time-of-flight results from both short (picosecond) width and long (hundreds of nanoseconds) width x-ray sources, and show that the position of scatter can be localised with a resolution of 2 ns, equivalent to 30 cm, for a 3 cm thick plastic test object.

Phonon transport in a curved aluminum thin film due to laser short pulse irradiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mansoor, Saad Bin; Yilbas, Bekir Sami

2018-05-01

Laser short-pulse heating of a curved aluminum thin film is investigated. The Boltzmann transport equation is incorporated to formulate the heating situation. A Gaussian laser intensity distribution is considered along the film arc and time exponentially decaying of pulse intensity is incorporated in the analysis. The governing equations of energy transport in the electron and lattice sub-systems are coupled through the electron-phonon coupling parameter. To quantify the phonon intensity distribution in the thin film, equivalent equilibrium temperature is introduced, which is associated with the average energy of all phonons around a local point when the phonon energies are redistributed adiabatically to an equilibrium state. It is found the numerical simulations that electron temperature follows similar trend to the spatial distribution of the laser pulse intensity at the film edge. Temporal variation of electron temperature does not follow the laser pulse intensity distribution. The rise of temperature in the electron sub-system is fast while it remains slow in the lattice sub-system.

Optimal Pulse Processing, Pile-Up Decomposition, and Applications of Silicon Drift Detectors at LCLS

DOE PAGES

Blaj, G.; Kenney, C. J.; Dragone, A.; ...

2017-10-11

Silicon drift detectors (SDDs) revolutionized spectroscopy in fields as diverse as geology and dentistry. For a subset of experiments at ultrafast, X-ray free-electron lasers (FELs), SDDs can make substantial contributions. Often the unknown spectrum is interesting, carrying science data, or the background measurement is useful to identify unexpected signals. Many measurements involve only several discrete photon energies known a priori, allowing single-event decomposition of pile-up and spectroscopic photon counting. We designed a pulse function and demonstrated that the signal amplitude (i.e., proportional to the detected energy and obtained from fitting with the pulse function), rise time, and pulse height aremore » interrelated, and at short peaking times, the pulse height and pulse area are not optimal estimators for detected energy; instead, the signal amplitude and rise time are obtained for each pulse by fitting, thus removing the need for pulse shaping. By avoiding pulse shaping, rise times of tens of nanoseconds resulted in reduced pulse pile-up and allowed decomposition of remaining pulse pile-up at photon separation times down to hundreds of nanoseconds while yielding time-of-arrival information with the precision of 10 ns. Waveform fitting yields simultaneously high energy resolution and high counting rates (two orders of magnitude higher than current digital pulse processors). At pulsed sources or high photon rates, photon pile-up still occurs. We showed that pile-up spectrum fitting is relatively simple and preferable to pile-up spectrum deconvolution. We then developed a photon pile-up statistical model for constant intensity sources, extended it to variable intensity sources (typical for FELs), and used it to fit a complex pileup spectrum. We subsequently developed a Bayesian pile-up decomposition method that allows decomposing pile-up of single events with up to six photons from six monochromatic lines with 99% accuracy. The usefulness of SDDs will continue into the X-ray FEL era of science. Their successors, the ePixS hybrid pixel detectors, already offer hundreds of pixels, each with a similar performance to an SDD, in a compact, robust and affordable package.« less

Optimal Pulse Processing, Pile-Up Decomposition, and Applications of Silicon Drift Detectors at LCLS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Blaj, G.; Kenney, C. J.; Dragone, A.

Silicon drift detectors (SDDs) revolutionized spectroscopy in fields as diverse as geology and dentistry. For a subset of experiments at ultrafast, X-ray free-electron lasers (FELs), SDDs can make substantial contributions. Often the unknown spectrum is interesting, carrying science data, or the background measurement is useful to identify unexpected signals. Many measurements involve only several discrete photon energies known a priori, allowing single-event decomposition of pile-up and spectroscopic photon counting. We designed a pulse function and demonstrated that the signal amplitude (i.e., proportional to the detected energy and obtained from fitting with the pulse function), rise time, and pulse height aremore » interrelated, and at short peaking times, the pulse height and pulse area are not optimal estimators for detected energy; instead, the signal amplitude and rise time are obtained for each pulse by fitting, thus removing the need for pulse shaping. By avoiding pulse shaping, rise times of tens of nanoseconds resulted in reduced pulse pile-up and allowed decomposition of remaining pulse pile-up at photon separation times down to hundreds of nanoseconds while yielding time-of-arrival information with the precision of 10 ns. Waveform fitting yields simultaneously high energy resolution and high counting rates (two orders of magnitude higher than current digital pulse processors). At pulsed sources or high photon rates, photon pile-up still occurs. We showed that pile-up spectrum fitting is relatively simple and preferable to pile-up spectrum deconvolution. We then developed a photon pile-up statistical model for constant intensity sources, extended it to variable intensity sources (typical for FELs), and used it to fit a complex pileup spectrum. We subsequently developed a Bayesian pile-up decomposition method that allows decomposing pile-up of single events with up to six photons from six monochromatic lines with 99% accuracy. The usefulness of SDDs will continue into the X-ray FEL era of science. Their successors, the ePixS hybrid pixel detectors, already offer hundreds of pixels, each with a similar performance to an SDD, in a compact, robust and affordable package.« less

Non-Lethal Weapons: Opportunities for R&D

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-12-01

from a technology watch to active NLW R&D. The knowledge gained in blunt trauma, operational medicine, directed energy and the human response to... from these sources are very high , the duration of the pulse is very short. As a result, the total amount of energy deposited in a particular time is...recommended that DRDC change from the position it took in 1996 to maintain only a

rf design of a pulse compressor with correction cavity chain for klystron-based compact linear collider

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Ping; Zha, Hao; Syratchev, Igor; Shi, Jiaru; Chen, Huaibi

2017-11-01

We present an X-band high-power pulse compression system for a klystron-based compact linear collider. In this system design, one rf power unit comprises two klystrons, a correction cavity chain, and two SLAC Energy Doubler (SLED)-type X-band pulse compressors (SLEDX). An rf pulse passes the correction cavity chain, by which the pulse shape is modified. The rf pulse is then equally split into two ways, each deploying a SLEDX to compress the rf power. Each SLEDX produces a short pulse with a length of 244 ns and a peak power of 217 MW to power four accelerating structures. With the help of phase-to-amplitude modulation, the pulse has a dedicated shape to compensate for the beam loading effect in accelerating structures. The layout of this system and the rf design and parameters of the new pulse compressor are described in this work.

Laser damage resistant nematic liquid crystal cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raszewski, Z.; Piecek, W.; Jaroszewicz, L.; Soms, L.; Marczak, J.; Nowinowski-Kruszelnicki, E.; Perkowski, P.; Kedzierski, J.; Miszczyk, E.; Olifierczuk, M.; Morawiak, P.; Mazur, R.

2013-08-01

There exists a problem in diagnostics of a dense plasma (so-called Thomson diagnostics). For this purpose, the plasma is illuminated by series of high energy laser pulses. Such pulses are generated by several independent lasers operating sequentially, and these pulses are to be directed along an exactly the same optical path. In this case, the energy of each separate pulse is as large as 3 J, so it is impossible to generate a burst of such pulses by a single laser. In this situation, several independent lasers have to be used. To form optical path with λ = 1.064 μm and absolute value of the energy of laser pulse through of 3 J, a special refractive index matched twisted Nematic Liquid Crystal Cell (NLCC) of type LCNP2 with switching on time τON smaller than 5 μs might be applied. High laser damage resistance of NLCC and short τON can be fulfilled by preparation of liquid crystal cells with Liquid Crystal Mixture (LCM), well tuned to twisted nematic electro-optical effect, and well tuned all optical interfaces (Air - Antireflection - Quartz Plate - Electrode - Blocking Film - Aligning Layer - LCM - Aligning Layer - Blocking Film - Electrode - Quartz Plate - Antireflection - Air). In such LCNP2 cell, the transmission is higher than 97% at λ = 1.064 μm, as it is presented by Gooch and Tarry [J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 8, 1575 (1975)]. The safe laser density energy is about 0.6 J/cm2 for a train of laser pulses (λ = 1.064 μm, pulse duration 10 ns FWHM, pulse repetition rate 100 pps, train duration 10 s), so the area of liquid crystal cell tolerating 3 J through it shall be as large as 5 cm2. Due to the presence of two blocking film layers between electrodes, LCNP2 can be driven by high voltages. Switching on time smaller than τON = 5 μs was obtained under 200 V switching voltage.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shiraga, H.; Nagatomo, H.; Theobald, W.

Here, integrated fast ignition experiments were performed at ILE, Osaka, and LLE, Rochester, in which a nanosecond driver laser implodes a deuterated plastic shell in front of the tip of a hollow metal cone and an intense ultrashort-pulse laser is injected through the cone to heat the compressed plasma. Based on the initial successful results of fast electron heating of cone-in-shell targets, large-energy short-pulse laser beam lines were constructed and became operational: OMEGA-EP at Rochester and LFEX at Osaka. Neutron enhancement due to heating with a ~kJ short-pulse laser has been demonstrated in the integrated experiments at Osaka and Rochester.more » The neutron yields are being analyzed by comparing the experimental results with simulations. Details of the fast electron beam transport and the electron energy deposition in the imploded fuel plasma are complicated and further studies are imperative. The hydrodynamics of the implosion was studied including the interaction of the imploded core plasma with the cone tip. Theory and simulation studies are presented on the hydrodynamics of a high-gain target for a fast ignition point design.« less

Distinguishing Raman from strongly coupled Brillouin amplification for short pulses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jia, Qing; Barth, Ido; Edwards, Matthew R.

2016-05-15

Plasma-based amplification by strongly coupled Brillouin scattering has recently been suggested for the compression of a short seed laser to ultrahigh intensities in sub-quarter-critical-density plasmas. However, by employing detailed spectral analysis of particle-in-cell simulations in the same parameter regime, we demonstrate that, in fact, Raman backscattering amplification is responsible for the growth and compression of the high-intensity, leading spike, where most of the energy compression occurs, while the ion mode only affects the low-intensity tail of the amplified pulse. The critical role of the initial seed shape is identified. A number of subtleties in the numerical simulations are also pointedmore » out.« less

New amplifying laser concept for inertial fusion driver

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mourou, G. A.; Labaune, C.; Hulin, D.; Galvanauskas, A.

2008-05-01

This paper presents a new amplifying laser concept designed to produce high energy in either short or long pulses using coherent or incoherent addition of few millions fibers. These are called respectively CAN for Coherent Amplification Network and FAN for Fiber Amplification Network. The fibers would be large core or Large Mode Area (LMA) which have demonstrated up to 10, mJ output energy per fiber1. Such a system could meet the driver criteria of Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) power plants based on Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF), in particular high efficiency and high repetition rate.

Short Intense Ion Pulses for Materials and Warm Dense Matter Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seidl, Peter; Ji, Q.; Lidia, S. M.; Persaud, A.; Stettler, M.; Takakuwa, J. H.; Waldron, W. L.; Schenkel, T.; Barnard, J. J.; Friedman, A.; Grote, D. P.; Davidson, R. C.; Gilson, E. P.; Kaganovich, I. D.

2015-11-01

We have commenced experiments with intense short pulses of ion beams on the Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment-II at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, by generating beam spots size with radius r <1 mm within 2 ns FWHM and approximately 1010 ions/pulse. To enable the short pulse durations and mm-scale focal spot radii, the 1.2 MeV Li + ion beam is neutralized in a 1.6-meter drift compression section located after the last accelerator magnet. An 8-Tesla short focal length solenoid compresses the beam in the presence of the large volume plasma near the end of this section before the target. The scientific topics to be explored are warm dense matter, the dynamics of radiation damage in materials, and intense beam and beam-plasma physics including selected topics of relevance to the development of heavy-ion drivers for inertial fusion energy. We will describe the accelerator commissioning and time-resolved ionoluminescence measurements of yttrium aluminium perovskite using the fully integrated accelerator and neutralized drift compression components (arXiv:1506.05839). This work was supported by the Director, Office of Science, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231.

Impact of Pre-Plasma on Electron Generation and Transport in Laser Plasma Interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peebles, Jonathan Lee

Relativistic laser plasma interactions in conjunction with an underdense pre-plasma have been shown to generate a two temperature component electron spectrum. The lower temperature component described by "ponderomotive scaling'" is relatively well known and understood and is useful for applications such as the fast ignition inertial confinement fusion scheme. The higher energy electrons generated due to pre-plasma are denoted as "super-ponderomotive" electrons and facilitate interesting and useful applications. These include but are not limited to table top particle acceleration and generating high energy protons, x-rays and neutrons from secondary interactions. This dissertation describes experimental and particle-in-cell computational studies of the electron spectra produced from interactions between short pulse high intensity lasers and controlled pre-plasma conditions. Experiments were conducted at 3 laser labs: Texas Petawatt (University of Texas at Austin), Titan (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) and OMEGA-EP (University of Rochester). These lasers have different capabilities, and multiple experiments were carried out in order to fully understand super-ponderomotive electron generation and transport in the high intensity laser regime (I > 1018 W/cm2). In these experiments, an additional secondary long pulse beam was used to generate different scale lengths of "injected" pre-plasma while the pulse length and intensity of the short pulse beam were varied. The temperature and quantity of super-ponderomotive electrons were monitored with magnetic spectrometers and inferred via bremsstrahlung spectrometers while trajectory was estimated via Cu-Kalpha imaging. The experimental and simulation data show that super-ponderomotive electrons require pulse lengths of at least 450 fs to be accelerated and that higher intensity interactions generate large magnetic fields which cause severe deflection of the super-ponderomotive electrons. Laser incidence angle is shown to be extremely important in determining hot electron trajectory. Longer pulse length data taken on OMEGA-EP and Titan showed that super-ponderomotive electrons could be created without the need for an initial pre-plasma due to the underdense plasma created during the high intensity interaction alone.

Numerical simulations of fast-axis instability of vector solitons in mode-locked fiber lasers.

PubMed

Du, Yueqing; Shu, Xuewen; Cheng, Peiyun

2017-01-23

We demonstrate the fast-axis instability in mode-locked fiber lasers numerically for the first time. We find that the energy of the fast mode will be transferred to the slow mode when the strong pump strength makes the soliton period short. A nearly linearly polarized vector soliton along the slow-axis could be generated under certain cavity parameters. The final polarization of the vector soliton is related to the initial polarization of the seed pulse. Two regimes of energy exchanging between the slow mode and the fast mode are explored and the direction of the energy flow between two modes depends on the phase difference. The dip-type sidebands are found to be intrinsic characteristics of the mode-locked fiber lasers under high pulse energy.

Method and apparatus for producing durationally short ultraviolet or x-ray laser pulses

DOEpatents

MacGowan, B.J.; Matthews, D.L.; Trebes, J.E.

1987-05-05

A method and apparatus is disclosed for producing ultraviolet or x- ray laser pulses of short duration. An ultraviolet or x-ray laser pulse of long duration is progressively refracted, across the surface of an opaque barrier, by a streaming plasma that is produced by illuminating a solid target with a pulse of conventional line focused high power laser radiation. The short pulse of ultraviolet or x-ray laser radiation, which may be amplified to high power, is separated out by passage through a slit aperture in the opaque barrier.

Enhancing caries resistance with a short-pulsed CO2 9.3-μm laser: a laboratory study (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rechmann, Peter; Rechmann, Beate M.; Groves, William H.; Le, Charles; Rapozo-Hilo, Marcia L.; Featherstone, John D. B.

2016-02-01

The objective of this laboratory study was to test whether irradiation with a new 9.3µm microsecond short-pulsed CO2-laser enhances enamel caries resistance with and without additional fluoride applications. 101 human enamel samples were divided into 7 groups. Each group was treated with different laser parameters (Carbon-dioxide laser, wavelength 9.3µm, 43Hz pulse-repetition rate, pulse duration between 3μs to 7μs (1.5mJ/pulse to 2.9mJ/pulse). Using a pH-cycling model and cross-sectional microhardness testing determined the mean relative mineral loss delta Z (∆Z) for each group. The pH-cycling was performed with or without additional fluoride. The CO2 9.3μm short-pulsed laser energy rendered enamel caries resistant with and without additional fluoride use.

Solar burst with millimetre-wave emission at high frequency only

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaufmann, P.; Correia, E.; Costa, J. E. R.; Vaz, A. M. Z.; Dennis, B. R.

1985-01-01

The first high sensitivity and high time-resolution observations of a solar burst taken simultaneously at 90 GHz and at 30 GHz are presented. These identify a unique impulsive burst on May 21, 1984 with fast pulsed emission that was considerably more intense at 90 GHz than at lower frequencies. Hard X-ray time structures at energies above 25 keV were almost identical to the 90 GHz structures to better than 1 s. The structure of the onset of the major 90 GHz burst coincided with the hard X-ray structure to within 128 ms. All 90 GHz major time structures consisted of trains of multiple subsecond pulses with rise times as short as 0.03 s and amplitudes that were large compared with the mean flux. When detectable, the 30 GHz subsecond pulses had smaller relative amplitude and were in phase with the corresponding 90 GHz pulses.

Kilohertz Cr:forsterite regenerative amplifier.

PubMed

Evans, J M; Petri Evi, V; Alfano, R R; Fu, Q

1998-11-01

We report on a tunable regenerative amplifier that is operational in the near-infrared spectral region from 1230 to 1280 nm based on the vibronic laser material Cr:forsterite. Utilizing the technique of chirped-pulse amplification, we generated pulses as short as 150 fs at 1255 nm at a repetition rate of 1 kHz. Pulse amplification of more than 5 x 10(5) times was observed, with recorded output pulse energies of 34 muJ . Implementation of a second-harmonic generator yielded 110-fs-duration pulses of 7-muJ energy at 625 nm.

A New Strategy to Enhance Cavitational Tissue Erosion Using a High-Intensity, Initiating Sequence

PubMed Central

Xu, Zhen; Fowlkes, J. Brian; Cain, Charles A.

2009-01-01

Our previous studies have shown that pulsed ultrasound can physically remove soft tissue through cavitation. A new strategy to enhance the cavitation-induced erosion is proposed wherein tissue erosion is initiated by a short, high-intensity sequence of pulses and sustained by lower intensity pulses. We investigated effects of the initiating sequence on erosion and cavitation sustained by lower intensity pulses. Multiple three-cycle pulses at a pulse repetition frequency of 20 kHz delivered by a 788-kHz focused transducer were used for tissue erosion. Fixing the initiating sequence at ISPPA of 9000 W/cm2, 16 combinations of different numbers of pulses within the initiating sequence and different sustaining pulse intensities were tested. Results showed: the initiating sequence increases the probability of erosion occurrence and the erosion rate with only slight overall increases in propagated energy; the initiating sequence containing more pulses does not increase the sustained cavitation period; and if extinguished and reinitiated, the sustained cavitation period becomes shorter after each initiation, although the waiting time between adjacent cavitation periods is random. The high-intensity, initiating sequence enhances cavitational tissue erosion and enables erosion at intensities significantly lower than what is required to initiate erosion. PMID:16921893

Microengineering Laser Plasma Interactions at Relativistic Intensities.

PubMed

Jiang, S; Ji, L L; Audesirk, H; George, K M; Snyder, J; Krygier, A; Poole, P; Willis, C; Daskalova, R; Chowdhury, E; Lewis, N S; Schumacher, D W; Pukhov, A; Freeman, R R; Akli, K U

2016-02-26

We report on the first successful proof-of-principle experiment to manipulate laser-matter interactions on microscales using highly ordered Si microwire arrays. The interaction of a high-contrast short-pulse laser with a flat target via periodic Si microwires yields a substantial enhancement in both the total and cutoff energies of the produced electron beam. The self-generated electric and magnetic fields behave as an electromagnetic lens that confines and guides electrons between the microwires as they acquire relativistic energies via direct laser acceleration.

Microengineering Laser Plasma Interactions at Relativistic Intensities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, S.; Ji, L. L.; Audesirk, H.; George, K. M.; Snyder, J.; Krygier, A.; Poole, P.; Willis, C.; Daskalova, R.; Chowdhury, E.; Lewis, N. S.; Schumacher, D. W.; Pukhov, A.; Freeman, R. R.; Akli, K. U.

2016-02-01

We report on the first successful proof-of-principle experiment to manipulate laser-matter interactions on microscales using highly ordered Si microwire arrays. The interaction of a high-contrast short-pulse laser with a flat target via periodic Si microwires yields a substantial enhancement in both the total and cutoff energies of the produced electron beam. The self-generated electric and magnetic fields behave as an electromagnetic lens that confines and guides electrons between the microwires as they acquire relativistic energies via direct laser acceleration.

Overview on the high power excimer laser technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Jingru

2013-05-01

High power excimer laser has essential applications in the fields of high energy density physics, inertial fusion energy and industry owing to its advantages such as short wavelength, high gain, wide bandwidth, energy scalable and repetition operating ability. This overview is aimed at an introduction and evaluation of enormous endeavor of the international high power excimer laser community in the last 30 years. The main technologies of high power excimer laser are reviewed, which include the pumping source technology, angular multiplexing and pulse compressing, beam-smoothing and homogenous irradiation, high efficiency and repetitive operation et al. A high power XeCl laser system developed in NINT of China is described in detail.

Energy deposition dynamics of femtosecond pulses in water

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Minardi, Stefano, E-mail: stefano@stefanominardi.eu; Pertsch, Thomas; Milián, Carles

2014-12-01

We exploit inverse Raman scattering and solvated electron absorption to perform a quantitative characterization of the energy loss and ionization dynamics in water with tightly focused near-infrared femtosecond pulses. A comparison between experimental data and numerical simulations suggests that the ionization energy of water is 8 eV, rather than the commonly used value of 6.5 eV. We also introduce an equation for the Raman gain valid for ultra-short pulses that validates our experimental procedure.

Frequency-Domain Multiplexing Readout with a Self-Trigger System for Pulse Signals from Kinetic Inductance Detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamada, Y.; Ishino, H.; Kibayashi, A.; Kida, Y.; Hidehira, N.; Komatsu, K.; Hazumi, M.; Sato, N.; Sakai, K.; Yamamori, H.; Hirayama, F.; Kohjiro, S.

2018-04-01

We present the development of a frequency-domain multiplexing readout of kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs) for pulse signals with a self-trigger system. The KIDs consist of an array of superconducting resonators that have different resonant frequencies individually, allowing us to read out multiple channels in the frequency domain with a single wire using a microwave-frequency comb. The energy deposited to the resonators break Cooper pairs, changing the kinetic inductance and, hence, the amplitude and the phase of the probing microwaves. For some applications such as X-ray detections, the deposited energy is detected as a pulse signal shaped by the time constants of the quasiparticle lifetime, the resonator quality factor, and the ballistic phonon lifetime in the substrate, ranging from microseconds to milliseconds. A readout system commonly used converts the frequency-domain data to the time-domain data. For the short pulse signals, the data rate may exceed the data transfer bandwidth, as the short time constant pulses require us to have a high sampling rate. In order to overcome this circumstance, we have developed a KID readout system that contains a self-trigger system to extract relevant signal data and reduces the total data rate with a commercial off-the-shelf FPGA board. We have demonstrated that the system can read out pulse signals of 15 resonators simultaneously with about 10 Hz event rate by irradiating α particles from ^{241} Am to the silicon substrate on whose surface aluminum KID resonators are formed.

High Energy electron and proton acceleration by circularly polarized laser pulse from near critical density hydrogen gas target.

PubMed

Sharma, Ashutosh

2018-02-01

Relativistic electron rings hold the possibility of very high accelerating rates, and hopefully a relatively cheap and compact accelerator/collimator for ultrahigh energy proton source. In this work, we investigate the generation of helical shaped quasi-monoenergetic relativistic electron beam and high-energy proton beam from near critical density plasmas driven by petawatt-circularly polarized-short laser pulses. We numerically observe the efficient proton acceleration from magnetic vortex acceleration mechanism by using the three dimensional particle-in-cell simulations; proton beam with peak energy 350 MeV, charge ~10nC and conversion efficiency more than 6% (which implies 2.4 J proton beam out of the 40 J incident laser energy) is reported. We detailed the microphysics involved in the ion acceleration mechanism, which requires investigating the role of self-generated plasma electric and magnetic fields. The concept of efficient generation of quasi-monoenergetic electron and proton beam from near critical density gas targets may be verified experimentally at advanced high power - high repetition rate laser facilities e.g. ELI-ALPS. Such study should be an important step towards the development of high quality electron and proton beam.

Method and apparatus for combinatorial logic signal processor in a digitally based high speed x-ray spectrometer

DOEpatents

Warburton, William K.; Zhou, Zhiquing

1999-01-01

A high speed, digitally based, signal processing system which accepts a digitized input signal and detects the presence of step-like pulses in the this data stream, extracts filtered estimates of their amplitudes, inspects for pulse pileup, and records input pulse rates and system livetime. The system has two parallel processing channels: a slow channel, which filters the data stream with a long time constant trapezoidal filter for good energy resolution; and a fast channel which filters the data stream with a short time constant trapezoidal filter, detects pulses, inspects for pileups, and captures peak values from the slow channel for good events. The presence of a simple digital interface allows the system to be easily integrated with a digital processor to produce accurate spectra at high count rates and allow all spectrometer functions to be fully automated. Because the method is digitally based, it allows pulses to be binned based on time related values, as well as on their amplitudes, if desired.

Proton and Ion Acceleration using Multi-kJ Lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilks, S. C.; Ma, T.; Kemp, A. J.; Tabak, M.; Link, A. J.; Haefner, C.; Hermann, M. R.; Mariscal, D. A.; Rubenchik, S.; Sterne, P.; Kim, J.; McGuffey, C.; Bhutwala, K.; Beg, F.; Wei, M.; Kerr, S. M.; Sentoku, Y.; Iwata, N.; Norreys, P.; Sevin, A.

2017-10-01

Short (<50 ps) laser pulses are capable of accelerating protons and ions from solid (or dense gas jet) targets as demonstrated by a number of laser facilities around the world in the past 20 years accelerating protons to between 1 and 100 MeV, depending on specific laser parameters. Over this time, a distinct scaling with energy has emerged that shows a trend towards increasing maximum accelerated proton (ion) energy with increasing laser energy. We consider the physical basis underlying this scaling, and use this to estimate future results when multi-kJ laser systems begin operating in this new high energy regime. In particular, we consider the effects of laser prepulse, intensity, energy, and pulse length on the number and energy of the ions, as well as target size and composition. We also discuss potential uses of these ion beams in High Energy Density Physics Experiments. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344 and funded by the LLNL LDRD program under tracking code 17-ERD-039.

Investigation of laser pulse length and pre-plasma scale length impact on hot electron generation on OMEGA-EP

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Peebles, J.; Wei, M. S.; Arefiev, A. V.

A series of experiments studying pre-plasma’s effect on electron generation and transport due to a high intensity laser were conducted on the OMEGA-EP laser facility. A controlled pre-plasma was produced in front of an aluminum foil target prior to the arrival of the high intensity short pulse beam. Energetic electron spectra were characterized with magnetic and bremsstrahlung spectrometers. Preplasma and pulse length were shown to have a large impact on the temperature of lower energy, ponderomotive scaling electrons. Furthermore, super-ponderomotive electrons, seen in prior pre-plasma experiments with shorter pulses, were observed without any initial pre-plasma in our experiment. 2D particle-in-cellmore » and radiation-hydrodynamic simulations shed light on and validate these experimental results.« less

Investigation of laser pulse length and pre-plasma scale length impact on hot electron generation on OMEGA-EP

DOE PAGES

Peebles, J.; Wei, M. S.; Arefiev, A. V.; ...

2017-02-02

A series of experiments studying pre-plasma’s effect on electron generation and transport due to a high intensity laser were conducted on the OMEGA-EP laser facility. A controlled pre-plasma was produced in front of an aluminum foil target prior to the arrival of the high intensity short pulse beam. Energetic electron spectra were characterized with magnetic and bremsstrahlung spectrometers. Preplasma and pulse length were shown to have a large impact on the temperature of lower energy, ponderomotive scaling electrons. Furthermore, super-ponderomotive electrons, seen in prior pre-plasma experiments with shorter pulses, were observed without any initial pre-plasma in our experiment. 2D particle-in-cellmore » and radiation-hydrodynamic simulations shed light on and validate these experimental results.« less

Technical advantages of disk laser technology in short and ultrashort pulse processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graham, P.; Stollhof, J.; Weiler, S.; Massa, S.; Faisst, B.; Denney, P.; Gounaris, E.

2011-03-01

This paper demonstrates that disk-laser technology introduces advantages that increase efficiency and allows for high productivity in micro-processing in both the nanosecond (ns) and picosecond (ps) regimes. Some technical advantages of disk technology include not requiring good pump beam quality or special wavelengths for pumping of the disk, high optical efficiencies, no thermal lensing effects and a possible scaling of output power without an increase of pump beam quality. With cavity-dumping, the pulse duration of the disk laser can be specified between 30 and hundreds of nanoseconds, but is independent of frequency, thus maintaining process stability. TRUMPF uses this technology in the 750 watts average power laser TruMicro 7050. High intensity, along with fluency, is important for high ablation rates in thinfilm removal. Thus, these ns lasers show high removal rates, above 60 cm2/s, in thin-film solar cell production. In addition, recent results in paint-stripping of aerospace material prove the green credentials and high processing rates inherent with this technology as it can potentially replace toxic chemical processes. The ps disk technology meanwhile is used in, for example, scribing of solar cells, wafer dicing and drilling injector nozzles, as the pulse duration is short enough to minimize heat input in the laser-matter interaction. In the TruMicro Series 5000, the multi-pass regenerative amplifier stage combines high optical-optical efficiencies together with excellent output beam quality for pulse durations of only 6 ps and high pulse energies of up to 0.25 mJ.

The method for scanning reshaping the spectrum of chirped laser pulse based on the quadratic electro-optic effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Rong; Yin, Ming; Wu, Xianyun; Tan, Hang

2017-10-01

T A new method for scanning reshaping the spectrum of chirped laser pulse based on quadratic electro-optic effects is proposed. The scanning reshaping scheme with a two-beam interference system is designed and the spectrum reshaping properties are analyzed theoretically. For the Gaussian chirped laser pulse with central wavelength λ0=800nm, nearly flat-topped spectral profiles with wider bandwidth is obtained with the proposed scanning reshaping method, which is beneficial to compensate for the gain narrowing effect in CPA and OPCPA. Further numerical simulations show that the reshaped spectrum is sensitive to the time-delay and deviation of the voltage applied to the crystal. In order to avoid narrowing or distorting the reshaped spectrum pointing to target, it is necessary to reduce the unfavorable deviations. With the rapid and wide applications of ultra-short laser pulse supported by some latter research results including photo-associative formation of ultra-cold molecules from ultra-cold atoms[1-3], laser-induced communications[4], capsule implosions on the National Ignition Facility(NIF)[5-6], the control of the temporal and spectral profiles of laser pulse is very important and urgently need to be addressed. Generally, the control of the pulse profiles depends on practical applications, ranging from femtosecond and picosecond to nanosecond. For instance, the basic shaping setup is a Fourier transform system for ultra-short laser pulse. The most important element is a spatially patterned mask which modulates the phase or amplitude, or sometimes the polarization after the pulse is decomposed into its constituent spectral components by usually a grating and a lens[7]. One of the generation techniques of ultra-short laser pulse is the chirped pulse amplifications(CPA), which brings a new era of development for high energy and high peak intensity ultra-short laser pulse, proposed by D. Strcik and G. Mourou from the chirping radar technology in microwave region since 1985[8]. The other generation technique of ultra-short pulse is the optical parametric chirped pulse amplification(OPCPA) invented by Dubietis et al. in 1992, which combined the respective superiorities of CPA and optical parametric amplification(OPA). However, there are disadvantages for the both technologies such as gain narrowing, gain saturation effects, and even spectrum shift. The first one among the three is the most significant which narrows the spectrum after amplification so that it limits the minimum durations of ultra-short laser pulse. This paper proposed a approach for scanning reshaping the spectrum of chirped laser pulse to compensate for the gain narrowing effect, according to the characteristics of the chirped laser pulse, i.e. the frequency varies with time linearly. The spectral characteristics of the scanning reshaping was analyzed quantitatively. Furthermore, the influence of the time-delay and deviation of the controlling voltage employed on the electro-optic crystal on the reshaped spectrum was also been discussed in detail.

Ultrashort pulse laser ablation of dielectrics: Thresholds, mechanisms, role of breakdown

PubMed Central

Mirza, Inam; Bulgakova, Nadezhda M.; Tomáštík, Jan; Michálek, Václav; Haderka, Ondřej; Fekete, Ladislav; Mocek, Tomáš

2016-01-01

In this paper, we establish connections between the thresholds and mechanisms of the damage and white-light generation upon femtosecond laser irradiation of wide-bandgap transparent materials. On the example of Corning Willow glass, evolution of ablation craters, their quality, and white-light emission were studied experimentally for 130-fs, 800-nm laser pulses. The experimental results indicate co-existence of several ablation mechanisms which can be separated in time. Suppression of the phase explosion mechanism of ablation was revealed at the middle of the irradiation spots. At high laser fluences, air ionization was found to strongly influence ablation rate and quality and the main mechanisms of the influence are analysed. To gain insight into the processes triggered by laser radiation in glass, numerical simulations have been performed with accounting for the balance of laser energy absorption and its distribution/redistribution in the sample, including bremsstrahlung emission from excited free-electron plasma. The simulations have shown an insignificant role of avalanche ionization at such short durations of laser pulses while pointing to high average energy of electrons up to several dozens of eV. At multi-pulse ablation regimes, improvement of crater quality was found as compared to single/few pulses. PMID:27991543

Ultrashort pulse laser ablation of dielectrics: Thresholds, mechanisms, role of breakdown

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mirza, Inam; Bulgakova, Nadezhda M.; Tomáštík, Jan; Michálek, Václav; Haderka, Ondřej; Fekete, Ladislav; Mocek, Tomáš

2016-12-01

In this paper, we establish connections between the thresholds and mechanisms of the damage and white-light generation upon femtosecond laser irradiation of wide-bandgap transparent materials. On the example of Corning Willow glass, evolution of ablation craters, their quality, and white-light emission were studied experimentally for 130-fs, 800-nm laser pulses. The experimental results indicate co-existence of several ablation mechanisms which can be separated in time. Suppression of the phase explosion mechanism of ablation was revealed at the middle of the irradiation spots. At high laser fluences, air ionization was found to strongly influence ablation rate and quality and the main mechanisms of the influence are analysed. To gain insight into the processes triggered by laser radiation in glass, numerical simulations have been performed with accounting for the balance of laser energy absorption and its distribution/redistribution in the sample, including bremsstrahlung emission from excited free-electron plasma. The simulations have shown an insignificant role of avalanche ionization at such short durations of laser pulses while pointing to high average energy of electrons up to several dozens of eV. At multi-pulse ablation regimes, improvement of crater quality was found as compared to single/few pulses.

Ultrashort pulse laser ablation of dielectrics: Thresholds, mechanisms, role of breakdown.

PubMed

Mirza, Inam; Bulgakova, Nadezhda M; Tomáštík, Jan; Michálek, Václav; Haderka, Ondřej; Fekete, Ladislav; Mocek, Tomáš

2016-12-19

In this paper, we establish connections between the thresholds and mechanisms of the damage and white-light generation upon femtosecond laser irradiation of wide-bandgap transparent materials. On the example of Corning Willow glass, evolution of ablation craters, their quality, and white-light emission were studied experimentally for 130-fs, 800-nm laser pulses. The experimental results indicate co-existence of several ablation mechanisms which can be separated in time. Suppression of the phase explosion mechanism of ablation was revealed at the middle of the irradiation spots. At high laser fluences, air ionization was found to strongly influence ablation rate and quality and the main mechanisms of the influence are analysed. To gain insight into the processes triggered by laser radiation in glass, numerical simulations have been performed with accounting for the balance of laser energy absorption and its distribution/redistribution in the sample, including bremsstrahlung emission from excited free-electron plasma. The simulations have shown an insignificant role of avalanche ionization at such short durations of laser pulses while pointing to high average energy of electrons up to several dozens of eV. At multi-pulse ablation regimes, improvement of crater quality was found as compared to single/few pulses.

Energy coupling in short pulse laser solid interactions and its impact for space debris removal.

PubMed

Neely, David; Allott, Ric; Bingham, Bob; Collier, John; Greenhalgh, Justin; Michaelis, Max; Phillips, Jonathan; Phipps, Claude R; McKenna, Paul

2014-11-01

Significant advances have been made over the last decade to improve the performance, efficiency, and contrast of high peak and average power laser systems, driven by their use in a wide variety of fields, from the industrial to the scientific. As the contrast of the lasers has improved, interactions with contrasts of 10¹² are now routinely undertaken. At such high contrasts, there is negligible preplasma formation and the ionized surface layer created by subpicosecond-duration pulses typically forms a highly reflective "plasma mirror" capable of reflecting between 70% and 90% of the incident energy. Although such interactions are of significant interest for applications such as harmonic source production and to enable the underlying physics to be studied, their low absorption can limit their usefulness for applications such as space debris removal.

Opportunities afforded by the intense nanosecond neutron pulses from a plasma focus source for neutron capture therapy and the preliminary simulation results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giannini, G.; Gribkov, V.; Longo, F.; Ramos Aruca, M.; Tuniz, C.

2012-11-01

The use of short and powerful neutron pulses for boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) can potentially increase selectivity and reduce the total dose absorbed by the patient. The biological effects of radiation depend on the dose, the dose power and the spatial distribution of the microscopic energy deposition. A dense plasma focus (DPF) device emits very short (in the nanosecond range) and extremely intense pulses of fast neutrons (2.5 or 14 MeV neutrons—from D-D or D-T nuclear reactions) and x-rays. Optimal spectra of neutrons formed for use in BNCT must contain an epithermal part to ensure a reasonable penetration depth into tissues at high enough cross-section on boron. So the powerful nanosecond pulses of fast neutrons generated by DPF must be moderated. After this moderation, the pulse duration must be shorter compared with the duration of the reaction with free radicals, that is, ⩾1 μs. In this work we focus on the development of a detailed simulation of interaction of short-pulse radiation from a DPF with the device's materials and with different types of moderators to estimate the dose power at the cells for this dynamic case. The simulation was carried out by means of the Geant4 toolkit in two main steps: the modeling of the pulsed neutron source device itself; the study of the interaction of fast mono-energetic neutrons with a moderator specific for BNCT.

Effects of laser-polarization and wiggler magnetic fields on electron acceleration in laser-cluster interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh Ghotra, Harjit; Kant, Niti

2018-06-01

We examine the electron dynamics during laser-cluster interaction. In addition to the electrostatic field of an individual cluster and laser field, we consider an external transverse wiggler magnetic field, which plays a pivotal role in enhancing the electron acceleration. Single-particle simulation has been presented with a short pulse linearly polarized as well as circularly polarized laser pulses for electron acceleration in a cluster. The persisting Coulomb field allows the electron to absorb energy from the laser field. The stochastically heated electron finds a weak electric field at the edge of the cluster from where it is ejected. The wiggler magnetic field connects the regions of the stochastically heated, ejected electron from the cluster and high energy gain by the electron from the laser field outside the cluster. This increases the field strength and hence supports the electron to meet the phase of the laser field for enhanced acceleration. A long duration resonance appears with an optimized magnetic wiggler field of about 3.4 kG. Hence, the relativistic energy gain by the electron is enhanced up to a few 100 MeV with an intense short pulse laser with an intensity of about 1019 W cm‑2 in the presence of a wiggler magnetic field.

Partial ablation of Ti/Al nano-layer thin film by single femtosecond laser pulse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaković, B.; Tsibidis, G. D.; Skoulas, E.; Petrović, S. M.; Vasić, B.; Stratakis, E.

2017-12-01

The interaction of ultra-short laser pulses with Titanium/Aluminium (Ti/Al) nano-layered thin film was investigated. The sample composed of alternating Ti and Al layers of a few nanometres thick was deposited by ion-sputtering. A single pulse irradiation experiment was conducted in an ambient air environment using focused and linearly polarized femtosecond laser pulses for the investigation of the ablation effects. The laser induced morphological changes and the composition were characterized using several microscopy techniques and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The following results were obtained: (i) at low values of pulse energy/fluence, ablation of the upper Ti layer only was observed; (ii) at higher laser fluence, a two-step ablation of Ti and Al layers takes place, followed by partial removal of the nano-layered film. The experimental observations were supported by a theoretical model accounting for the thermal response of the multiple layered structure upon irradiation with ultra-short laser pulses.

Laser-to-hot-electron conversion limitations in relativistic laser matter interactions due to multi-picosecond dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schollmeier, M.; Sefkow, A. B.; Geissel, M.; Arefiev, A. V.; Flippo, K. A.; Gaillard, S. A.; Johnson, R. P.; Kimmel, M. W.; Offermann, D. T.; Rambo, P. K.; Schwarz, J.; Shimada, T.

2015-04-01

High-energy short-pulse lasers are pushing the limits of plasma-based particle acceleration, x-ray generation, and high-harmonic generation by creating strong electromagnetic fields at the laser focus where electrons are being accelerated to relativistic velocities. Understanding the relativistic electron dynamics is key for an accurate interpretation of measurements. We present a unified and self-consistent modeling approach in quantitative agreement with measurements and differing trends across multiple target types acquired from two separate laser systems, which differ only in their nanosecond to picosecond-scale rising edge. Insights from high-fidelity modeling of laser-plasma interaction demonstrate that the ps-scale, orders of magnitude weaker rising edge of the main pulse measurably alters target evolution and relativistic electron generation compared to idealized pulse shapes. This can lead for instance to the experimentally observed difference between 45 MeV and 75 MeV maximum energy protons for two nominally identical laser shots, due to ps-scale prepulse variations. Our results show that the realistic inclusion of temporal laser pulse profiles in modeling efforts is required if predictive capability and extrapolation are sought for future target and laser designs or for other relativistic laser ion acceleration schemes.

High-slope-efficiency 2.06 μm Ho: YLF laser in-band pumped by a fiber-coupled broadband diode.

PubMed

Ji, Encai; Liu, Qiang; Nie, Mingming; Cao, Xuezhe; Fu, Xing; Gong, Mali

2016-03-15

We first demonstrate the laser performance of a compact 2.06 μm Ho: YLF laser resonantly pumped by a broadband fiber-coupled diode. In continuous-wave (CW) operation, maximum output power of 1.63 W, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 89.2%, was obtained with a near diffraction-limited beam quality. In actively Q-switched operation, maximum pulse energy of 1.1 mJ was achieved at the repetition frequency of 100 Hz. The minimum pulse duration was 43 ns. The performance in both the CW and Q-switched regimes indicates that the current fiber-coupled diode in-band pumped Ho: YLF laser has great potential in certain conditions that require several watts of output power or several millijoules of short pulse energy.

Superpulsed carbon dioxide laser: an update on cutaneous surgical applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wheeland, Ronald G.

1990-06-01

Superpulsing the carbon dioxide laser allows delivery of high energy pulses separated by short pauses during which tissue cooling can occur.1 This new technology can provide several important advantages in cutaneous surgery over similar procedures performed with conventional continuous discharge carbon dioxide laser systems. In the excisional mode, there is a two-thirds reduction in thermal necrosis of the wound edge.2 This should translate into more rapid healing3 and increased rate of gain in tensile strength. In the vaporizational mode, precise, superficial and bloodless ablation of multiple benign appendigeal tumors is possible with less thermal damage yielding excellent cosmetic results. The establishment through additional research of accurate laser parameters, pulse duration, peak energy levels, and frequency of pulses, will help improve the specificity of the laser-tissue interaction to provide even better surgical results.

Endodontic applications of a short pulsed FR Nd:YAG dental laser: photovaporization of extruded pulpal tissue following traumatic fractures of two maxillary central incisors--a clinical trial repor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gregg, Robert H., II

1992-06-01

Historically, many techniques have been attempted in the search for a satisfactory and consistent treatment of inflamed, painful, hyperemic pulpal tissue. Present techniques attempting to achieve profound local anesthesia in such tissue, have not been satisfactory. Local anesthesia techniques acceptable to the patient with painful hyperemic pulpal tissue, has eluded previous technology. The subsequent treatment of hyperemic tissue without sufficient anesthesia primarily involves undesirable invasive mechanical/surgical procedures. Described in this clinical trial is a technique using free running (FR) pulsed, Nd:YAG laser energy to ablate soft tooth pulpal tissue--a technique employed after conventional endodontic methods failed. A free running pulsed, FR Nd:YAG dental laser was successfully used at 20 pulses per second and 1.25 watts to photovaporize endodontic pulpal tissue (pulpectomy) to allow a conventional endodontic file to extirpate the remaining soft tissue remnants and access the root apex. Also described in this paper is the 'hot-tip' effect of contact fiber laser surgery. This clinical trial achieved the immediate, short term objective of endodontic soft tissue removal via photovaporization, without pain reported by the patient. The pulsed FR Nd:YAG dental laser used as described in this clinical report appears to be a very safe and very effective technique; offers a treatment alternative to traditional therapy that suggests high patient acceptance; and is significantly less stressful for the doctor and staff than traditional treatment options. Long-term, controlled scientific and clinical studies are necessary to establish the safety and efficacy of both the helium-neon energy for visualization and the low-watt pulsed FR Nd:YAG energy for photovaporization of soft endodontic pulpal tissue within the root canal. Research is especially needed to understand the effects of a low-watt, pulsed FR, Nd:YAG laser on the activity of osteoclasts and odontoclasts and identify risks for developing external and/or internal resorption after intracanal application of pulsed FR Nd:YAG laser energy.

Impact of shock wave pattern and cavitation bubble size on tissue damage during ureteroscopic electrohydraulic lithotripsy.

PubMed

Vorreuther, R; Corleis, R; Klotz, T; Bernards, P; Engelmann, U

1995-03-01

It is known that electrohydraulic lithotripsy (EHL) during ureteroscopy may cause ureteral damage. To evaluate this trauma potential, find its mechanism and make it possible to avoid it, our research employed photographic evaluation, tissue studies, shock wave measurements and disintegration tests. The setup included a 3.3 F probe attached to an experimental generator with adjustable voltages and capacities providing energies from 25 mJ. to 1300 mJ. per pulse. In general, we distinguish between two traumatic mechanisms: (1) After placing the probe directly on the mucosa the rapid initial plasma penetrates the tissue resulting in a small, nonthermal, punched-like defect, whose depth depends on the energy applied. This trauma has minor clinical implications and is avoided by maintaining a minimum safety distance of 1 mm.; (2) According to physics, each plasma is followed by a cavitation bubble. The maximum size of this bubble depends on the energy applied and ranges from 3 mm. (25 mJ) to > 15 mm. (1300 mJ). In proportion to the bubble size, the ureteral wall may be distended or disrupted, even when the probe is not in direct contact with the mucosa. Therefore, the goal should be to obtain a low energy pressure pulse with high disintegration efficacy. Our evaluation of the pressure waves revealed that the selection of a high voltage and a low capacity leads to short and steep "laser-like" pulses. These pulses have a significant higher impact on stone disintegration than the broader pulses of the same energy provided by currently available generators.

Inertial Confinement Fusion Annual Report 1999

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kauffman, Robert L.

The ICF Program has undergone a significant change in 1999 with the decommissioning of the Nova laser and the transfer of much of the experimental program to the OMEGA laser at the University of Rochester. The Nova laser ended operations with the final experiment conducted on May 27, 1999. This marked the end to one of DOE's most successful experimental facilities. Since its commissioning in 1985, Nova performed 13,424 experiments supporting ICF, Defense Sciences, high-power laser research, and basic science research. At the time of its commissioning, Nova was the world's most powerful laser. Its early experiments demonstrated that 3ωmore » light could produce high-drive, low-preheat environment required for indirect-drive ICE. In the early 1990s, the technical program on Nova for indirect drive ignition was defined by the Nova technical contract established by National Academy Review of ICF in 1990. Successful completion of this research program contributed significantly to the recommendation by the ICF Advisory Committee in 1995 to proceed with the construction of the National Ignition Facility? Nova experiments also demonstrated the utility of high-powered lasers for studying the physics of interest to Defense Sciences. Now, high-powered lasers along with pulsed-power machines are the principal facilities for studying high energy density science in DOE's Stockpile Stewardship Program (SSP). In 1997, one beam of Nova was converted to a short pulsed beam producing a petawatt of power in subpicosecond pulses. The petawatt beam was used for pioneering research in short-pulse laser-matter interactions relevant to fast ignitor ICF and short pulsed x-ray, electron, and particle production for use as probes. Nova is being disassembled and the space is being used to support NIF construction. Nova components are being distributed to a number of other laser laboratories around the world for reuse as determined by DOE. This report summarizes the research performed by the ICF Program in FY1999. The report is divided into five sections corresponding to the major areas of program activities. These are sections on (1) ignition target physics experiments theory and modeling, (2) high energy density experimental science, (3) target development, fabrication, and handling, (4) NIF laser development, and (5) optics technology development.« less

Possibilities for Nuclear Photo-Science with Intense Lasers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Barty, C J; Hartemann, F V; McNabb, D P

2006-06-26

The interaction of intense laser light with relativistic electrons can produce unique sources of high-energy x rays and gamma rays via Thomson scattering. ''Thomson-Radiated Extreme X-ray'' (T-REX) sources with peak photon brightness (photons per unit time per unit bandwidth per unit solid angle per unit area) that exceed that available from world's largest synchrotrons by more than 15 orders of magnitude are possible from optimally designed systems. Such sources offer the potential for development of ''nuclear photo-science'' applications in which the primary photon-atom interaction is with the nucleons and not the valence electrons. Applications include isotope-specific detection and imaging ofmore » materials, inverse density radiography, transmutation of nuclear waste and fundamental studies of nuclear structure. Because Thomson scattering cross sections are small, < 1 barn, the output from a T-REX source is optimized when the laser spot size and the electron spot size are minimized and when the electron and laser pulse durations are similar and short compared to the transit time through the focal region. The principle limitation to increased x-ray or gamma-ray brightness is ability to focus the electron beam. The effects of space charge on electron beam focus decrease approximately linearly with electron beam energy. For this reason, T-REX brightness increases rapidly as a function of the electron beam energy. As illustrated in Figure 1, above 100 keV these sources are unique in their ability to produce bright, narrow-beam, tunable, narrow-band gamma rays. New, intense, short-pulse, laser technologies for advanced T-REX sources are currently being developed at LLNL. The construction of a {approx}1 MeV-class machine with this technology is underway and will be used to excite nuclear resonance fluorescence in variety of materials. Nuclear resonance fluorescent spectra are unique signatures of each isotope and provide an ideal mechanism for identification of nuclear materials. With TREX it is possible to use NRF to provide high spatial resolution (micron scale) images of the isotopic distribution of all materials in a given object. Because of the high energy of the photons, imaging through dense and/or thick objects is possible. This technology will have applicability in many arenas including the survey of cargo for the presence of clandestine nuclear materials. It is also possible to address the more general radiographic challenge of imaging low-density objects that are shielded or placed behind high density objects. In this case, it is the NRF cross section and not the electron density of the material that provides contrast. Extensions of T-REX technology will be dependent upon the evolution of short pulse laser technology to high average powers. Concepts for sources that would produce 10's of kWs of gamma-rays by utilizing MW-class average-power, diode-pumped, short pulse lasers and energy recovery LINAC technology have been developed.« less

Fully integrated Q-switch for commercial high-power resonator with solitary XLMA-fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lange, R.; Bachert, C.; Rehmann, G.; Weber, H.; Luxen, R.; Enns, H.; Schenk, M.; Hosdorf, S.; Marfels, S.; Bay, M.; Kösters, A.; Krause, V.; Giesberts, M.; Fitzau, O.; Hoffmann, H.-D.

2018-02-01

In surface processing applications the correlation of laser power to processing speed demands a further enhancement of the performance of short-pulsed laser sources with respect to the investment costs. The frequently applied concept of master oscillator power amplifier relies on a complex structure, parts of which are highly sensitive to back reflected amplified radiation. Aiming for a simpler, robust source using only a single ytterbium doped XLMA fiber in a q-switched resonator appears as promising design approach eliminating the need for subsequent amplification. This concept requires a high power-tolerant resonator which is provided by the multikilowatt laser platform of Laserline including directly water-cooled active fiber thermal management. Laserline GmbH and Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology joined their forces1 to upgrade standard high power laser sources for short-pulsed operation exceeding 1 kW of average power. Therefor a compact, modular qswitch has been developed. In this paper the implementation of a polarization independent q-switch into an off-the-shelf multi-kilowatt diodepumped continuous wave fiber source is shown. In this early step of implementation we demonstrated more than 1000 W of average power at pulse lengths below 50 ns FWHM and 7.5 mJ pulse energy. The M2 corresponds to 9.5. Reliability of the system is demonstrated based on measurements including temperature and stability records. We investigated the variation possibilities concerning pulse parameters and shape as well as upcoming challenges in power up-scaling.

Final Technical Report "Study of Efficiency of Raman Backscattering Amplification in Plasma"

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Suckewer, Szymon

2014-03-31

General : Our major scientific achievements in Raman Backscattering (RBS) amplification and compression of short laser pulses in plasma. The laser system based on RBS steps in where the current technology of chirped pulse amplification (CPA) (extremely successful in developing ultra-short and ultra-intense laser pulses in last 2 decades) becomes difficult and very expensive to apply. Good base for such RBS laser was created by our recent experiments, which were supported by GPS grants. The main objective of the present grant was: improvement efficiency of energy transfer from pump to seed. The results surpassed our expectations; we improved the efficiencymore » of energy transfer from pump to seed by a factor of 6 compared to the best of our previous results and amplified seed pulse compressed down to about 50 fsec.« less

Enhanced hole boring with two-color relativistic laser pulses in the fast ignition scheme

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yu, Changhai; Tian, Ye; Li, Wentao

A scheme of using two-color laser pulses for hole boring into overdense plasma as well as energy transfer into electron and ion beams has been studied using particle-in-cell simulations. Following an ultra-short ultra-intense hole-boring laser pulse with a short central wavelength in extreme ultra-violet range, the main infrared driving laser pulse can be guided in the hollow channel preformed by the former laser and propagate much deeper into an overdense plasma, as compared to the case using the infrared laser only. In addition to efficiently transferring the main driving laser energy into energetic electrons and ions generation deep inside themore » overdense plasma, the ion beam divergence can be greatly reduced. The results might be beneficial for the fast ignition concept of inertial confinement fusion.« less

Pulsating electrolyte flow in a full vanadium redox battery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ling, C. Y.; Cao, H.; Chng, M. L.; Han, M.; Birgersson, E.

2015-10-01

Proper management of electrolyte flow in a vanadium redox battery (VRB) is crucial to achieve high overall system efficiency. On one hand, constant flow reduces concentration polarization and by extension, energy efficiency; on the other hand, it results in higher auxiliary pumping costs, which can consume around 10% of the discharge power. This work seeks to reduce the pumping cost by adopting a novel pulsing electrolyte flow strategy while retaining high energy efficiency. The results indicate that adopting a short flow period, followed by a long flow termination period, results in high energy efficiencies of 80.5% with a pumping cost reduction of over 50%.

Ablation driven by hot electrons generated during the ignitor laser pulse in shock ignition

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Piriz, A. R.; Rodriguez Prieto, G.; Tahir, N. A.

2012-12-15

An analytical model for the ablation driven by hot electrons is presented. The hot electrons are assumed to be generated during the high intensity laser spike used to produce the ignitor shock wave in the shock ignition driven inertial fusion concept, and to carry on the absorbed laser energy in its totality. Efficient energy coupling requires to keep the critical surface sufficiently close to the ablation front and this goal can be achieved for high laser intensities provided that the laser wavelength is short enough. Scaling laws for the ablation pressure and the other relevant magnitudes of the ablation cloudmore » are found in terms of the laser and target parameters. The effect of the preformed plasma assembled by the compression pulse, previous to the ignitor, is also discussed. It is found that a minimum ratio between the compression and the ignitor pulses would be necessary for the adequate matching of the corresponding scale lengths.« less

[Flexible Guidance of Ultra-Short Laser Pulses in Ophthalmic Therapy Systems].

PubMed

Blum, J; Blum, M; Rill, M S; Haueisen, J

2017-01-01

In the last 20 years, the role of ultrashort pulsed lasers in ophthalmology has become increasingly important. However, it is still impossible to guide ultra-short laser pulses with standard glass fibres. The highly energetic femtosecond pulses would destroy the fibre material, and non-linear dispersion effects would significantly change beam parameters. In contrast, photonic crystal fibres mainly guide the laser pulses in air, so that absorption and dispersive pulse broadening have essentially no effect. This article compares classical beam guidance with mirrors, lenses and prisms with photonic crystal fibres and describes the underlying concepts and the current state of technology. A classical mirror arm possesses more variable optical properties, while the HCF (Hollow-Core Photonic Crystal Fibre) must be matched in terms of the laser energy and the laser spectrum. In contrast, the HCF has more advantages in respect of handling, system integration and costs. For applications based on photodisruptive laser-tissue interaction, the relatively low damage threshold of photonic crystal fibres compared to classic beam guiding systems is unacceptable. If, however, pulsed laser radiation has a sufficiently low peak intensity, e.g. as used for plasma-induced ablation, photonic crystal fibres can definitely be considered as an alternative solution to classic beam guidance. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Solid-density plasma expansion in intense ultra-short laser irradiation measured on nanometer scale and in real time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kluge, T.; Metzkes, J.; Pelka, A.; Laso Garcia, A.; Prencipe, I.; Bussmann, M.; Zeil, K.; Schoenherr, T.; Hartley, N.; Gutt, C.; Galtier, E.; Nam, I.; Lee, Hj; McBride, Ee; Glenzer, S.; Huebner, U.; Roedel, C.; Nakatsutsumi, M.; Roedel, M.; Rehwald, M.; Garten, M.; Zacharias, M.; Schramm, U.; Cowan, T. E.

2017-10-01

Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) is discussed to allow unprecedented direct measurements limited only by the probe X-ray wavelength and duration. Here we present the first direct in-situ measurement of intense short-pulse laser - solid interaction that allows nanometer and high temporal resolution at the same time. A 120 fs laser pulse with energy 1 J was focused on a silicon membrane. The density was probed with an X-ray beam of 49 fs duration by SAXS. Despite prepulses, we can exclude premature bulk expansion. The plasma expansion is triggered only shortly before the main pulse, when an expansion of 10 nm within less than 200 fs was measured. Analysis of scattering patterns allows the first direct verification of numerical simulations. Supported by DOE FWP 100182, SF00515; EC FP7 LASERLAB-EUROPE/CHARPAC (contract 284464); German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under Contract Number 03Z1O511; MG and MZ supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 No 654220.

High-power picosecond laser with 400W average power for large scale applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Keming; Brüning, Stephan; Gillner, Arnold

2012-03-01

Laser processing is generally known for low thermal influence, precise energy processing and the possibility to ablate every type of material independent on hardness and vaporisation temperature. The use of ultra-short pulsed lasers offers new possibilities in the manufacturing of high end products with extra high processing qualities. For achieving a sufficient and economical processing speed, high average power is needed. To scale the power for industrial uses the picosecond laser system has been developed, which consists of a seeder, a preamplifier and an end amplifier. With the oscillator/amplifier system more than 400W average power and maximum pulse energy 1mJ was obtained. For study of high speed processing of large embossing metal roller two different ps laser systems have been integrated into a cylinder engraving machine. One of the ps lasers has an average power of 80W while the other has 300W. With this high power ps laser fluencies of up to 30 J/cm2 at pulse repetition rates in the multi MHz range have been achieved. Different materials (Cu, Ni, Al, steel) have been explored for parameters like ablation rate per pulse, ablation geometry, surface roughness, influence of pulse overlap and number of loops. An enhanced ablation quality and an effective ablation rate of 4mm3/min have been achieved by using different scanning systems and an optimized processing strategy. The max. achieved volume rate is 20mm3/min.

Method and apparatus for producing durationally short ultraviolet or X-ray laser pulses

DOEpatents

MacGowan, Brian J.; Matthews, Dennis L.; Trebes, James E.

1988-01-01

A method and apparatus is disclosed for producing ultraviolet or X-ray laser pulses of short duration (32). An ultraviolet or X-ray laser pulse of long duration (12) is progressively refracted, across the surface of an opaque barrier (28), by a streaming plasma (22) that is produced by illuminating a solid target (16, 18) with a pulse of conventional line focused high power laser radiation (20). The short pulse of ultraviolet or X-ray laser radiation (32), which may be amplified to high power (40, 42), is separated out by passage through a slit aperture (30) in the opaque barrier (28).

Quasi-steady-state air plasma channel produced by a femtosecond laser pulse sequence

PubMed Central

Lu, Xin; Chen, Shi-You; Ma, Jing-Long; Hou, Lei; Liao, Guo-Qian; Wang, Jin-Guang; Han, Yu-Jing; Liu, Xiao-Long; Teng, Hao; Han, Hai-Nian; Li, Yu-Tong; Chen, Li-Ming; Wei, Zhi-Yi; Zhang, Jie

2015-01-01

A long air plasma channel can be formed by filamentation of intense femtosecond laser pulses. However, the lifetime of the plasma channel produced by a single femtosecond laser pulse is too short (only a few nanoseconds) for many potential applications based on the conductivity of the plasma channel. Therefore, prolonging the lifetime of the plasma channel is one of the key challenges in the research of femtosecond laser filamentation. In this study, a unique femtosecond laser source was developed to produce a high-quality femtosecond laser pulse sequence with an interval of 2.9 ns and a uniformly distributed single-pulse energy. The metre scale quasi-steady-state plasma channel with a 60–80 ns lifetime was formed by such pulse sequences in air. The simulation study for filamentation of dual femtosecond pulses indicated that the plasma channel left by the previous pulse was weakly affected the filamentation of the next pulse in sequence under our experimental conditions. PMID:26493279

Application of Yb:YAG short pulse laser system

DOEpatents

Erbert, Gaylen V.; Biswal, Subrat; Bartolick, Joseph M.; Stuart, Brent C.; Crane, John K.; Telford, Steve; Perry, Michael D.

2004-07-06

A diode pumped, high power (at least 20W), short pulse (up to 2 ps), chirped pulse amplified laser using Yb:YAG as the gain material is employed for material processing. Yb:YAG is used as the gain medium for both a regenerative amplifier and a high power 4-pass amplifier. A single common reflective grating optical device is used to both stretch pulses for amplification purposes and to recompress amplified pulses before being directed to a workpiece.

X-ray emission reduction and photon dose lowering by energy loss of fast electrons induced by return current during the interaction of a short-pulse high-intensity laser on a metal solid target

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Compant La Fontaine, A.

2018-04-01

During the interaction of a short-pulse high-intensity laser with the preplasma produced by the pulse's pedestal in front of a high-Z metal solid target, high-energy electrons are produced, which in turn create an X-ray source by interacting with the atoms of the converter target. The current brought by the hot electrons is almost completely neutralized by a return current j → driven by the background electrons of the conductive target, and the force exerted on the hot electrons by the electric field E → which induces Ohmic heating j → .E → , produced by the background electrons, reduces the energy of the hot electrons and thus lowers the X-ray emission and photon dose. This effect is analyzed here by means of a simple 1-D temperature model which contains the most significant terms of the relativistic Fokker-Planck equation with electron multiple scattering, and the energy equations of ions, hot, and cold electrons are then solved numerically. This Ohmic heating energy loss fraction τOh is introduced as a corrective term in an improved photon dose model. For instance, for a ps laser pulse with 10 μm spot size, the dose obtained with a tantalum target is reduced by less than about 10% to 40% by the Ohmic heating, depending upon the plasma scale length, target thickness, laser parameters, and in particular its spot size. The laser and plasma parameters may be optimized to limit the effect of Ohmic heating, for instance at a small plasma scale length or small laser spot size. Conversely, others regimes not suitable for dose production are identified. For instance, the resistive heating is enhanced in a foam target or at a long plasma scale length and high laser spot size and intensity, as the mean emission angle θ0 of the incident hot electron bunch given by the ponderomotive force is small; thus, the dose produced by a laser interacting in a gas jet may be inhibited under these circumstances. The resistive heating may also be maximized in order to reduce the X-ray emission to lower the radiation level for instance in a safety radiological goal.

Optimization of passively mode-locked quasi-continuously diode-pumped Nd:GdVO4 laser in bounce geometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frank, Milan; Jelínek, Michal; Kubeček, Václav

2015-01-01

In this paper the operation of pulsed diode-pumped Nd:GdVO4 laser oscillator in bounce geometry passively modelocked using semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SAM), generating microjoule level picosecond pulses at wavelength of 1063 nm, is reported. Optimization of the output coupling for generation either Q-switched mode locked pulse trains or cavity dumped single pulses with maximum energy was performed, which resulted in extraction of single pulses as short as 10 ps and energy of 20 uJ. In comparison with the previous results obtained with this Nd:GdVO4 oscillator and saturable absorber in transmission mode, the achieved pulse duration is five times shorter. Using different absorbers and parameters of single pulse extraction enables generation of the pulses with duration up to 100 ps with the energy in the range from 10 to 20 μJ.

Deep-tissue two-photon imaging in brain and peripheral nerve with a compact high-pulse energy ytterbium fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fontaine, Arjun K.; Kirchner, Matthew S.; Caldwell, John H.; Weir, Richard F.; Gibson, Emily A.

2018-02-01

Two-photon microscopy is a powerful tool of current scientific research, allowing optical visualization of structures below the surface of tissues. This is of particular value in neuroscience, where optically accessing regions within the brain is critical for the continued advancement in understanding of neural circuits. However, two-photon imaging at significant depths have typically used Ti:Sapphire based amplifiers that are prohibitively expensive and bulky. In this study, we demonstrate deep tissue two-photon imaging using a compact, inexpensive, turnkey operated Ytterbium fiber laser (Y-Fi, KM Labs). The laser is based on all-normal dispersion (ANDi) that provides short pulse durations and high pulse energies. Depth measurements obtained in ex vivo mouse cortex exceed those obtainable with standard two-photon microscopes using Ti:Sapphire lasers. In addition to demonstrating the capability of deep-tissue imaging in the brain, we investigated imaging depth in highly-scattering white matter with measurements in sciatic nerve showing limited optical penetration of heavily myelinated nerve tissue relative to grey matter.

Optical levitation and manipulation of stuck particles with pulsed optical tweezers.

PubMed

Ambardekar, Amol Ashok; Li, Yong-Qing

2005-07-15

We report on optical levitation and manipulation of microscopic particles that are stuck on a glass surface with pulsed optical tweezers. An infrared pulse laser at 1.06 microm was used to generate a large gradient force (up to 10(-9) N) within a short duration (approximately 45 micros) that overcomes the adhesive interaction between the particles and the glass surface. Then a low-power continuous-wave diode laser at 785 nm was used to capture and manipulate the levitated particle. We have demonstrated that both stuck dielectric and biological micrometer-sized particles, including polystyrene beads, yeast cells, and Bacillus cereus bacteria, can be levitated and manipulated with this technique. We measured the single-pulse levitation efficiency for 2.0 microm polystyrene beads as a function of the pulse energy and of the axial displacement from the stuck particle to the pulsed laser focus, which was as high as 88%.

Ultra-short pulse generator

DOEpatents

McEwan, T.E.

1993-12-28

An inexpensive pulse generating circuit is disclosed that generates ultra-short, 200 picosecond, and high voltage 100 kW, pulses suitable for wideband radar and other wideband applications. The circuit implements a nonlinear transmission line with series inductors and variable capacitors coupled to ground made from reverse biased diodes to sharpen and increase the amplitude of a high-voltage power MOSFET driver input pulse until it causes non-destructive transit time breakdown in a final avalanche shock wave diode, which increases and sharpens the pulse even more. 5 figures.

Ultra-short pulse generator

DOEpatents

McEwan, Thomas E.

1993-01-01

An inexpensive pulse generating circuit is disclosed that generates ultra-short, 200 picosecond, and high voltage 100 kW, pulses suitable for wideband radar and other wideband applications. The circuit implements a nonlinear transmission line with series inductors and variable capacitors coupled to ground made from reverse biased diodes to sharpen and increase the amplitude of a high-voltage power MOSFET driver input pulse until it causes non-destructive transit time breakdown in a final avalanche shockwave diode, which increases and sharpens the pulse even more.

High harmonic generation in underdense plasmas by intense laser pulses with orbital angular momentum

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mendonça, J. T., E-mail: josetitomend@gmail.com; Vieira, J., E-mail: jorge.vieira@ist.utl.pt

We study high harmonic generation produced by twisted laser pulses, with orbital angular momentum in the relativistic regime, for pulse propagation in underdense plasma. We consider fast time scale processes associated with an ultra-short pulse, where the ion motion can be neglected. We use both analytical models and numerical simulations using a relativistic particle-in-cell code. The present description is valid for relativistic laser intensities, when the normalized field amplitude is much larger than one, a ≫ 1. We also discuss two distinct processes associated with linear and circular polarization. Using both analytical solutions and particle-in-cell simulations, we are able tomore » show that, for laser pulses in a well defined Laguerre-Gauss mode, angular momentum conservation is observed during the process of harmonic generation. Intensity modulation of the harmonic spectrum is also verified, as imposed by the nonlinear time-scale for energy transfer between different harmonics.« less

Transient thermal and nonthermal electron and phonon relaxation after short-pulsed laser heating of metals

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Giri, Ashutosh; Hopkins, Patrick E., E-mail: phopkins@virginia.edu

2015-12-07

Several dynamic thermal and nonthermal scattering processes affect ultrafast heat transfer in metals after short-pulsed laser heating. Even with decades of measurements of electron-phonon relaxation, the role of thermal vs. nonthermal electron and phonon scattering on overall electron energy transfer to the phonons remains unclear. In this work, we derive an analytical expression for the electron-phonon coupling factor in a metal that includes contributions from equilibrium and nonequilibrium distributions of electrons. While the contribution from the nonthermal electrons to electron-phonon coupling is non-negligible, the increase in the electron relaxation rates with increasing laser fluence measured by thermoreflectance techniques cannot bemore » accounted for by only considering electron-phonon relaxations. We conclude that electron-electron scattering along with electron-phonon scattering have to be considered simultaneously to correctly predict the transient nature of electron relaxation during and after short-pulsed heating of metals at elevated electron temperatures. Furthermore, for high electron temperature perturbations achieved at high absorbed laser fluences, we show good agreement between our model, which accounts for d-band excitations, and previous experimental data. Our model can be extended to other free electron metals with the knowledge of the density of states of electrons in the metals and considering electronic excitations from non-Fermi surface states.« less

Analyzing the effect of slotted foil on radiation pulse profile in a mode locked afterburner X-ray free electron laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Sandeep; Hur, Min Sup; Chung, Moses

2017-06-01

Extremely short X-ray pulses in the attosecond (as) range are important tools for ultrafast dynamics, high resolution microscopy, and nuclear dynamics study. In this paper, we numerically examine the generation of gigawatt (GW) mode-locked (ML) multichromatic X-rays using the parameters of the Pohang Accelerator Laboratory (PAL)-X-ray free electron laser (XFEL), the Korean XFEL. In this vein, we analyze the ML-FEL [Thompson and McNeil, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 203901 (2008)] and mode-locked afterburner (MLAB) FEL [Dunning et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 104801 (2013)] schemes on the hard X-ray beamline of the PAL-XFEL. Using the ML scheme, we numerically demonstrate a train of radiation pulses in the hard X-ray (photon energy ˜12.4 keV) with 3.5 GW power and 16 as full-width half maximum (FWHM) pulse duration. On the other hand, using the MLAB scheme, a train of radiation pulses with 3 GW power and 1 as FWHM (900 zs in RMS) pulse duration has been obtained at 12.4 keV photon energy. Both schemes generate broadband, discrete, and coherent spectrum compared to the XFEL's narrowband spectrum. Furthermore, the effect of slotted foil is also studied first time on the MLAB-FEL output. Numerical comparisons show that the temporal structure of the MLAB-FEL output can be improved significantly by the use of the slotted foil. Such short X-ray pulses at XFEL facilities will allow the studies of electron-nuclear and nuclear dynamics in atoms or molecules, and the broadband radiation will substantially improve the efficiency of the experimental techniques such as X-ray crystallography and spectroscopy, paving the way for outstanding progress in biology and material science.

Ultra-powerful compact amplifiers for short laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malkin, Vladimir

1999-11-01

Laser compressors-amplifiers more powerful and compact than ones based on the currently most advanced chirped pulse amplification technique must handle ultrahigh laser intensities. The medium capable of bearing those is plasma. An interesting kinetic regime of short laser pulse amplification by Compton backscattering of counterpropagating laser pump in plasma, akin to superradiant amplification in free-electron lasers, has been proposed recently (Shvets G., Fisch N. J., Pukhov A., and Meyer-ter-Vehn J., Phys. Rev. Lett., v.81, 4879 (1998)). However, the conversion efficiency of pump energy into a short pulse appears to be higher in a transient Raman backscattering regime (Malkin V. M., Shvets G. and Fisch N. J., Phys. Rev. Lett., v.82, 4448 (1999)), where the integrity of the three-wave interaction is maintained. In this regime the pump is completely depleted through the full nonlinear stage of the interaction, so that unwanted Raman and modulational instabilities limit just the amplification time, while the efficiency is kept about 100%. For instance, a 2*10^14 W/cm^2, 1 μm-wavelength laser pump can be compressed within 5 mm length, which is less than the length for filamentation instabilities to develop, to a 30--40 fsec pulse with fluence 6 kJ/cm^2. Such an output pulse is a thousand times shorter and a million time more intensive than outputs of conventional Raman amplifiers operating in a stationary regime. Yet larger amplification distances and output energies can be achieved by suppressing filamentation instabilities. It appears (Malkin V. M., Shvets G. and Fisch N. J., Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett.) that appropriate detuning of the resonance (by plasma density gradient or/and chirping the pump laser) suppresses the Raman near-forward scattering instability of the pumped pulse, as well as the pump Raman backscattering instability to noise, while the high efficiency of the amplification still persists. The respective new class of transient amplification regimes, generalizing the classical pi-pulse regime of exactly resonant amplification, is described quantitatively. These regimes are of broad interest, being applicable also to other processes such as Brillouin scattering.

Compositional and Microstructural Evolution of Olivine Under Multiple-Cycle Pulsed Laser Irradiation as Revealed by FIB/Field-Emission TEM

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Christoffersen, R.; Loeffler, M. J.; Dukes, C. A.; Keller, L. P.; Baragiola, R. A.

2016-01-01

The use of pulsed laser irradiation to simulate the short duration, high-energy conditions characteristic of micrometeorite impacts is now an established approach in experimental space weathering studies. The laser generates both melt and vapor deposits that contain nanophase metallic Fe (npFe(sup 0)) grains with size distributions and optical properties similar to those in natural impact-generated melt and vapor deposits. There remains uncertainty, however, about how well lasers simulate the mechanical work and internal (thermal) energy partitioning that occurs in actual impacts. We are currently engaged in making a direct comparison between the products of laser irradiation and experimental/natural hypervelocity impacts. An initial step reported here is to use analytical SEM and TEM is to attain a better understanding of how the microstructure and composition of laser deposits evolve over multiple cycles of pulsed laser irradiation.

Selective laser melting of hypereutectic Al-Si40-powder using ultra-short laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ullsperger, T.; Matthäus, G.; Kaden, L.; Engelhardt, H.; Rettenmayr, M.; Risse, S.; Tünnermann, A.; Nolte, S.

2017-12-01

We investigate the use of ultra-short laser pulses for the selective melting of Al-Si40-powder to fabricate complex light-weight structures with wall sizes below 100 μ {m} combined with higher tensile strength and lower thermal expansion coefficient in comparison to standard Al-Si alloys. During the cooling process using conventional techniques, large primary silicon particles are formed which impairs the mechanical and thermal properties. We demonstrate that these limitations can be overcome using ultra-short laser pulses enabling the rapid heating and cooling in a non-thermal equilibrium process. We analyze the morphology characteristics and micro-structures of single tracks and thin-walled structures depending on pulse energy, repetition rate and scanning velocity utilizing pulses with a duration of 500 {fs} at a wavelength of 1030 {nm}. The possibility to specifically change and optimize the microstructure is shown.

Means and method for characterizing high power, ultra short laser pulses in a real time, on line manner

DOEpatents

Veligdan, J.T.

1994-03-08

An ultra short (<10 ps), high power laser pulse is temporally characterized by a system that uses a physical measurement of a wavefront that has been altered in a known manner. The system includes a first reflection switch to remove a portion of a pulse from a beam of pulses, then includes a second reflection switch, operating in a mode that is opposite to the first reflection switch, to slice off a portion of that removed portion. The sliced portion is then directed to a measuring device for physical measurement. The two reflection switches are arranged with respect to each other and with respect to the beam of ultra short pulses such that physical measurement of the sliced portion is related to the temporal measurement of the ultra short pulse by a geometric or trigonometric relationship. The reflection switches are operated by a control pulse that is directed to impinge on each of the reflection switches at a 90[degree] angle of incidence. 8 figures.

Means and method for characterizing high power, ultra short laser pulses in a real time, on line manner

DOEpatents

Veligdan, James T.

1994-01-01

An ultra short (<10 ps), high power laser pulse is temporally characterized by a system that uses a physical measurement of a wavefront that has been altered in a known manner. The system includes a first reflection switch to remove a portion of a pulse from a beam of pulses, then includes a second reflection switch, operating in a mode that is opposite to the first reflection switch, to slice off a portion of that removed portion. The sliced portion is then directed to a measuring device for physical measurement. The two reflection switches are arranged with respect to each other and with respect to the beam of ultra short pulses such that physical measurement of the sliced portion is related to the temporal measurement of the ultra short pulse by a geometric or trigonometric relationship. The reflection switches are operated by a control pulse that is directed to impinge on each of the reflection switches at a 90.degree. angle of incidence.

Measurement and calculation of ternary oxide mixtures for thin films for ultra short pulse laser optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jupé, M.; Mende, M.; Kolleck, C.; Ristau, D.; Gallais, L.; Mangote, B.

2011-12-01

The femto-second technology gains of increasing importance in industrial applications. In this context, a new generation of compact and low cost laser sources has to be provided on a commercial basis. Typical pulse durations of these sources are specified in the range from a few hundred femtoup to some pico-seconds, and typical wavelengths are centered around 1030-1080nm. As a consequence, also the demands imposed on high power optical components for these laser sources are rapidly increasing, especially in respect to their power handling capability in the ultra-short pulse range. The present contribution is dedicated to some aspects for improving this quality parameter of optical coatings. The study is based on a set of hafnia and silica mixtures with different compositions and optical band gaps. This material combination displays under ultra-short pulse laser irradiation effects, which are typically for thermal processes. For instance, melting had been observed in the morphology of damaged sides. In this context, models for a prediction of the laser damage thresholds and scaling laws are scrutinized, and have been modified calculating the energy of the electron ensemble. Furthermore, a simple first order approach for the calculation of the temperature was included.

The Influence of High-Power Ion Beams and High-Intensity Short-Pulse Implantation of Ions on the Properties of Ceramic Silicon Carbide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kabyshev, A. V.; Konusov, F. V.; Pavlov, S. K.; Remnev, G. E.

2016-02-01

The paper is focused on the study of the structural, electrical and optical characteristics of the ceramic silicon carbide before and after irradiation in the regimes of the high-power ion beams (HPIB) and high-intensity short-pulse implantation (HISPI) of carbon ions. The dominant mechanism of transport of charge carriers, their type and the energy spectrum of localized states (LS) of defects determining the properties of SiC were established. Electrical and optical characteristics of ceramic before and after irradiation are determined by the biographical and radiation defects whose band gap (BG) energy levels have a continuous energetic distribution. A dominant p-type activation component of conduction with participation of shallow acceptor levels 0.05-0.16 eV is complemented by hopping mechanism of conduction involving the defects LS with a density of 1.2T017-2.4T018 eV-Am-3 distributed near the Fermi level.The effect of radiation defects with deep levels in the BG on properties change dominates after HISPI. A new material with the changed electronic structure and properties is formed in the near surface layer of SiC after the impact of the HPIB.

Method and apparatus for combinatorial logic signal processor in a digitally based high speed x-ray spectrometer

DOEpatents

Warburton, W.K.

1999-02-16

A high speed, digitally based, signal processing system is disclosed which accepts a digitized input signal and detects the presence of step-like pulses in the this data stream, extracts filtered estimates of their amplitudes, inspects for pulse pileup, and records input pulse rates and system lifetime. The system has two parallel processing channels: a slow channel, which filters the data stream with a long time constant trapezoidal filter for good energy resolution; and a fast channel which filters the data stream with a short time constant trapezoidal filter, detects pulses, inspects for pileups, and captures peak values from the slow channel for good events. The presence of a simple digital interface allows the system to be easily integrated with a digital processor to produce accurate spectra at high count rates and allow all spectrometer functions to be fully automated. Because the method is digitally based, it allows pulses to be binned based on time related values, as well as on their amplitudes, if desired. 31 figs.

Low fuel convergence path to ignition on the NIF

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmitt, M. J.; Molvig, Kim; Gianakon, T. A.; Woods, C. N.; Krasheninnikova, N. S.; Hsu, S. C.; Schmidt, D. W.; Dodd, E. S.; Zylstra, Alex; Scheiner, B.; McKenty, P.; Campbell, E. M.; Froula, D.; Betti, R.; Michel, T.

2017-10-01

A novel concept for achieving ignition on the NIF is proposed that obviates current issues plaguing single-shell high-convergence capsules. A large directly-driven Be shell is designed to robustly implode two nested internal shells by efficiently converting 1.7MJ of laser energy from a 6 ns, low intensity laser pulse, into a 1 ns dynamic pressure pulse to ignite and burn a central liquid DT core after a fuel convergence of only 9. The short, low intensity laser pulse mitigates LPI allowing more uniform laser drive of the target and eliminates hot e-, preheat and laser zooming issues. Preliminary rad-hydro simulations predict ignition initiation with 90% maximum inner shell velocity, before deceleration Rayleigh-Taylor growth can cause significant pusher shell mix into the compressed DT fuel. The gold inner pusher shell reduces pre-ignition radiation losses from the fuel allowing ignition to occur at 2.5keV. Further 2D simulations show that the short pulse design results in a spatially uniform kinetic drive that is tolerant to variations in laser cone power. A multi-pronged effort, in collaboration with LLE, is progressing to optimize this design for NIF's PDD laser configuration. Work performed under the auspices of the U.S. Dept. of Energy by the Los Alamos National Security, LLC, Los Alamos National Laboratory under contract DE-FG02-051ER54810.

The formation of diffuse discharge by short-front nanosecond voltage pulses and the modification of dielectrics in this discharge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orlovskii, V. M.; Panarin, V. A.; Shulepov, M. A.

2014-07-01

The dynamics of diffuse discharge formation under the action of nanosecond voltage pulses with short fronts (below 1 ns) in the absence of a source of additional preionization and the influence of a dielectric film on this process have been studied. It is established that the diffuse discharge is induced by the avalanche multiplication of charge initiated by high-energy electrons and then maintained due to secondary breakdowns propagating via ionized gas channels. If a dielectric film (polyethylene, Lavsan, etc.) is placed on the anode, then multiply repeated discharge will lead to surface and bulk modification of the film material. Discharge-treated polyethylene film exhibits a change in the optical absorption spectrum in the near-IR range.

Laser-to-hot-electron conversion limitations in relativistic laser matter interactions due to multi-picosecond dynamics

DOE PAGES

Schollmeier, Marius; Sefkow, Adam B.; Geissel, Matthias; ...

2015-04-20

High-energy short-pulse lasers are pushing the limits of plasma-based particle acceleration, x-ray generation, and high-harmonic generation by creating strong electromagnetic fields at the laser focus where electrons are being accelerated to relativistic velocities. Understanding the relativistic electron dynamics is key for an accurate interpretation of measurements. We present a unified and self-consistent modeling approach in quantitative agreement with measurements and differing trends across multiple target types acquired from two separate laser systems, which differ only in their nanosecond to picosecond-scale rising edge. Insights from high-fidelity modeling of laser-plasma interaction demonstrate that the ps-scale, orders of magnitude weaker rising edge ofmore » the main pulse measurably alters target evolution and relativistic electron generation compared to idealized pulse shapes. This can lead for instance to the experimentally observed difference between 45 MeV and 75 MeV maximum energy protons for two nominally identical laser shots, due to ps-scale prepulse variations. Our results indicate that the realistic inclusion of temporal laser pulse profiles in modeling efforts is required if predictive capability and extrapolation are sought for future target and laser designs or for other relativistic laser ion acceleration schemes.« less

The dynamics of a surface plasma generated by an independent source in the field of laser emission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kovalev, A. S.; Popov, A. M.; Seleznev, B. V.; Feoktistov, V. A.

1986-09-01

A study is made of the evolution of a plasma formation generated by a high-power short pulse of an Nd laser on a metal surface, with the relatively weak emission of a CO2 laser focused on the surface. The thresholds of a sustained breakdown plasma are measured as a function of the plasma-generating pulse energy. The dynamics of plasma front propagation along the target surface and in the direction opposite to the laser beam direction is investigated. It is shown that the use of an additional laser with an energy less than that of the CO2 laser by 2-3 orders of magnitude makes it possible to generate a surface plasma capable of absorbing and transferring to the target a significantly greater fraction of the CO2 laser energy.

Waveform agile high-power fiber laser illuminators for directed-energy weapon systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Engin, Doruk; Lu, Wei; Kimpel, Frank; Gupta, Shantanu

2012-06-01

A kW-class fiber-amplifier based laser illuminator system at 1030nm is demonstrated. At 125 kHz pulse repetition rate, 1.9mJ energy per pulse (235W average power) is achieved for 100nsec pulses with >72% optical conversion efficiency, and at 250kHz repetition, >350W average power is demonstrated, limited by the available pumps. Excellent agreement is established between the experimental results and dynamic fiber amplifier simulation, for predicting the pulse shape, spectrum and ASE accumulation throughout the fiber-amplifier chain. High pulse-energy, high power fiber-amplifier operation requires careful engineering - minimize ASE content throughout the pre-amplifier stages, use of large mode area gain fiber in the final power stage for effective pulse energy extraction, and pulse pre-shaping to compensate for the laser gain-saturation induced intra-pulse and pulse-pattern dependent distortion. Such optimization using commercially available (VLMA) fibers with core size in the 30-40μm range is estimated to lead to >4mJ pulse energy for 100nsec pulse at 50kHz repetition rate. Such waveform agile high-power, high-energy pulsed fiber laser illuminators at λ=1030nm satisfies requirements for active-tracking/ranging in high-energy laser (HEL) weapon systems, and in uplink laser beacon for deep space communication.

Comparison of high-voltage ac and pulsed operation of a surface dielectric barrier discharge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williamson, James M.; Trump, Darryl D.; Bletzinger, Peter; Ganguly, Biswa N.

2006-10-01

A surface dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) in atmospheric pressure air was excited either by low frequency (0.3-2 kHz) high-voltage ac or by short, high-voltage pulses at repetition rates from 50 to 600 pulses s-1. The short-pulse excited discharge was more diffuse and did not have the pronounced bright multiple cathode spots observed in the ac excited discharge. The discharge voltage, current and average power deposited into the discharge were calculated for both types of excitation. As a measure of plasma-chemical efficiency, the ozone number density was measured by UV absorption as a function of average deposited power. The density of ozone produced by ac excitation did not increase so rapidly as that produced by short-pulse excitation as a function of average power, with a maximum measured density of ~3 × 1015 cm-3 at 25 W. The maximum ozone production achieved by short-pulse excitation was ~8.5 × 1015 cm-3 at 20 W, which was four times greater than that achieved by ac excitation at the same power level.

Measurement of energy contrast of amplified ultrashort pulses using cross-polarized wave generation and spectral interferometry.

PubMed

Iliev, Marin; Meier, Amanda K; Galloway, Benjamin; Adams, Daniel E; Squier, Jeff A; Durfee, Charles G

2014-07-28

We present a method using spectral interferometry (SI) to characterize a pulse in the presence of an incoherent background such as amplified spontaneous emission (ASE). The output of a regenerative amplifier is interfered with a copy of the pulse that has been converted using third-order cross-polarized wave generation (XPW). The ASE shows as a pedestal background in the interference pattern. The energy contrast between the short-pulse component and the ASE is retrieved. The spectra of the interacting beams are obtained through an improvement to the self-referenced spectral interferometry (SRSI) analysis.

X-ray emission from high temperature plasmas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harries, W. L.

1976-01-01

The physical processes occurring in plasma focus devices were studied. These devices produce dense high temperature plasmas, which emit X rays of hundreds of KeV energy and one to ten billion neutrons per pulse. The processes in the devices seem related to solar flare phenomena, and would also be of interest for controlled thermonuclear fusion applications. The high intensity, short duration bursts of X rays and neutrons could also possibly be used for pumping nuclear lasers.

On the properties of synchrotron-like X-ray emission from laser wakefield accelerated electron beams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McGuffey, C.; Schumaker, W.; Matsuoka, T.; Chvykov, V.; Dollar, F.; Kalintchenko, G.; Kneip, S.; Najmudin, Z.; Mangles, S. P. D.; Vargas, M.; Yanovsky, V.; Maksimchuk, A.; Thomas, A. G. R.; Krushelnick, K.

2018-04-01

The electric and magnetic fields responsible for electron acceleration in a Laser Wakefield Accelerator (LWFA) also cause electrons to radiate x-ray photons. Such x-ray pulses have several desirable properties including short duration and being well collimated with tunable high energy. We measure the scaling of this x-ray source experimentally up to laser powers greater than 100 TW. An increase in laser power allows electron trapping at a lower density as well as with an increased trapped charge. These effects resulted in an x-ray fluence that was measured to increase non-linearly with laser power. The fluence of x-rays was also compared with that produced from K-α emission resulting from a solid target interaction for the same energy laser pulse. The flux was shown to be comparable, but the LWFA x-rays had a significantly smaller source size. This indicates that such a source may be useful as a backlighter for probing high energy density plasmas with ultrafast temporal resolution.

Ultrafast Laser Techniques

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-06-05

2 Prism Dye Amplifiers .................................................................................. 2 Axicon...carried out under this project. PRISM DYE AMPLIFIERS A first effort was devoted to setting up an amplifier system for the output of a short pulse dye laser...For amplification up to pulse energies of approximately 500 p.J/pulse we chose three stages of prism amplifier cells, with diameters of 1 m, 3 mm

Efficient, High-Power Mid-Infrared Laser for National Securityand Scientific Applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kiani, Leily S.

The LLNL fiber laser group developed a unique short-wave-infrared, high-pulse energy, highaverage- power fiber based laser. This unique laser source has been used in combination with a nonlinear frequency converter to generate wavelengths, useful for remote sensing and other applications in the mid-wave infrared (MWIR). Sources with high average power and high efficiency in this MWIR wavelength region are not yet available with the size, weight, and power requirements or energy efficiency necessary for future deployment. The LLNL developed Fiber Laser Pulsed Source (FiLPS) design was adapted to Erbium doped silica fibers for 1.55 μm pumping of Cadmium Silicon Phosphidemore » (CSP). We have demonstrated, for the first time optical parametric amplification of 2.4 μm light via difference frequency generation using CSP with an Erbium doped fiber source. In addition, for efficiency comparison purposes, we also demonstrated direct optical parametric generation (OPG) as well as optical parametric oscillation (OPO).« less

Energy Recovery Linacs for Light Source Applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

George Neil

2011-04-01

Energy Recovery Linacs are being considered for applications in present and future light sources. ERLs take advantage of the continuous operation of superconducting rf cavities to accelerate high average current beams with low losses. The electrons can be directed through bends, undulators, and wigglers for high brightness x ray production. They are then decelerated to low energy, recovering power so as to minimize the required rf drive and electrical draw. When this approach is coupled with advanced continuous wave injectors, very high power, ultra-short electron pulse trains of very high brightness can be achieved. This paper will review the statusmore » of worldwide programs and discuss the technology challenges to provide such beams for photon production.« less

Process for forming retrograde profiles in silicon

DOEpatents

Weiner, K.H.; Sigmon, T.W.

1996-10-15

A process is disclosed for forming retrograde and oscillatory profiles in crystalline and polycrystalline silicon. The process consisting of introducing an n- or p-type dopant into the silicon, or using prior doped silicon, then exposing the silicon to multiple pulses of a high-intensity laser or other appropriate energy source that melts the silicon for short time duration. Depending on the number of laser pulses directed at the silicon, retrograde profiles with peak/surface dopant concentrations which vary are produced. The laser treatment can be performed in air or in vacuum, with the silicon at room temperature or heated to a selected temperature.

Development of the Fast Scintillation Detector with Programmable High Voltage Adjustment Suitable for Moessbauer Spectroscopy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Prochazka, R.; Frydrych, J.; Pechousek, J.

2010-07-13

This work is focused on a development of a compact fast scintillation detector suitable for Moessbauer spectroscopy (low energy X-ray/{gamma}-ray detection) where high counting rates are inevitable. Optimization of this part was necessary for a reliable function, better time resolution and to avoid a detector pulses pile-up effect. The pile-up effect decreases the measurement performance, significantly depends on the source activity and also on the pulse duration. Our new detection unit includes a fast scintillation crystal YAP:Ce, an R6095 photomultiplier tube, a high voltage power supply socket C9028-01 assembly, an AD5252 digital potentiometer with an I2C interface and an AD8000more » ultra fast operation preamplifier. The main advantages of this solution lie in a short pulse duration (less than 200 ns), stable operation for high activities, programmable gain of the high voltage supply and compact design in the aluminum housing.« less

Process Performances of 2 ns Pulsed Discharge Plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsumoto, Takao; Wang, Douyan; Namihira, Takao; Akiyama, Hidenori

2011-08-01

Pulsed discharge plasmas have been used to treat exhaust gases. Since pulse duration and the rise time of applied voltage to the discharge electrode has a strong influence on the energy efficiency of pollutant removal, the development of a short-pulse generator is of paramount importance for practical applications. In this work, it is demonstrated that the non thermal plasma produced by the 2 ns pulsed discharge has a higher energy efficiency than the 5 ns pulsed discharge plasma for NO removal and ozone generation. Typically, the NO removal efficiency was 1.0 mol kW-1 h-1 for 70% NO removal (initial NO concentration = 200 ppm, gas flow = 10 L/min). Meanwhile, the ozone yield was 500 g kW-1 h-1 for 20 g/m3 ozone concentration in the case of oxygen feeding. These energy efficiencies are the highest in the literature.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vannoni, M., E-mail: maurizio.vannoni@xfel.eu; Freijo Martín, I.

The European XFEL (X-ray Free Electron Laser) is a large facility under construction in Hamburg, Germany. It will provide a transversally fully coherent x-ray radiation with outstanding characteristics: high repetition rate (up to 2700 pulses with a 0.6 ms long pulse train at 10 Hz), short wavelength (down to 0.05 nm), short pulse (in the femtoseconds scale), and high average brilliance (1.6 ⋅ 10{sup 25} (photons s{sup −1} mm{sup −2} mrad{sup −2})/0.1% bandwidth). The beam has very high pulse energy; therefore, it has to be spread out on a relatively long mirror (about 1 m). Due to the very shortmore » wavelength, the mirrors need to have a high quality surface on their entire length, and this is considered very challenging even with the most advanced polishing methods. In order to measure the mirrors and to characterize their interaction with the mechanical mount, we equipped a metrology laboratory with a large aperture Fizeau interferometer. The system is a classical 100 mm diameter commercial Fizeau, with an additional expander providing a 300 mm diameter beam. Despite the commercial nature of the system, special care has been taken in the polishing of the reference flats and in the expander quality. We report the first commissioning of the instrument, its calibration, and performance characterization, together with some preliminary results with the measurement of a 950 mm silicon substrate. The intended application is to characterize the final XFEL mirrors with nanometer accuracy.« less

A compact nanosecond pulse generator for DBD tube characterization.

PubMed

Rai, S K; Dhakar, A K; Pal, U N

2018-03-01

High voltage pulses of very short duration and fast rise time are required for generating uniform and diffuse plasma under various operating conditions. Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) has been generated by high voltage pulses of short duration and fast rise time to produce diffuse plasma in the discharge gap. The high voltage pulse power generators have been chosen according to the requirement for the DBD applications. In this paper, a compact solid-state unipolar pulse generator has been constructed for characterization of DBD plasma. This pulsar is designed to provide repetitive pulses of 315 ns pulse width, pulse amplitude up to 5 kV, and frequency variation up to 10 kHz. The amplitude of the output pulse depends on the dc input voltage. The output frequency has been varied by changing the trigger pulse frequency. The pulsar is capable of generating pulses of positive or negative polarity by changing the polarity of pulse transformer's secondary. Uniform and stable homogeneous dielectric barrier discharge plasma has been produced successfully in a xenon DBD tube at 400-mbar pressure using the developed high voltage pulse generator.

A compact nanosecond pulse generator for DBD tube characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rai, S. K.; Dhakar, A. K.; Pal, U. N.

2018-03-01

High voltage pulses of very short duration and fast rise time are required for generating uniform and diffuse plasma under various operating conditions. Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) has been generated by high voltage pulses of short duration and fast rise time to produce diffuse plasma in the discharge gap. The high voltage pulse power generators have been chosen according to the requirement for the DBD applications. In this paper, a compact solid-state unipolar pulse generator has been constructed for characterization of DBD plasma. This pulsar is designed to provide repetitive pulses of 315 ns pulse width, pulse amplitude up to 5 kV, and frequency variation up to 10 kHz. The amplitude of the output pulse depends on the dc input voltage. The output frequency has been varied by changing the trigger pulse frequency. The pulsar is capable of generating pulses of positive or negative polarity by changing the polarity of pulse transformer's secondary. Uniform and stable homogeneous dielectric barrier discharge plasma has been produced successfully in a xenon DBD tube at 400-mbar pressure using the developed high voltage pulse generator.

All-optical short pulse translation through cross-phase modulation in a VO₂ thin film.

PubMed

Fardad, Shima; Das, Susobhan; Salandrino, Alessandro; Breckenfeld, Eric; Kim, Heungsoo; Wu, Judy; Hui, Rongqing

2016-01-15

VO2 is a promising material for reconfigurable photonic devices due to the ultrafast changes in electronic and optical properties associated with its dielectric-to-metal phase transition. Based on a fiber-optic, pump-probe setup at 1550 nm wavelength window, and by varying the pump-pulse duration, we show that the material phase transition is primarily caused by the pump-pulse energy. For the first time, we demonstrate that the instantaneous optical phase modulation of probe during pump leading edge can be utilized to create short optical pulses at probe wavelength, through optical frequency discrimination. This circumvents the impact of long recovery time well known for the phase transition of VO2.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nishiuchi, Mamiko; Pirozhkov, Alexander S.; Sakaki, Hironao

From the interaction between the high-contrast ({approx}more than 10{sup 10}) 130 TW Ti:sapphire laser pulse and Stainless Steel-2.5 um-thick tape target, proton beam with energies up to 23 MeV with the conversion efficiency of {approx}1% is obtained. After plasma mirror installation for contrast improvement, from the interaction between the 30 TW laser pulse and thin-foil target installed on the target holder with the hole whose shape is associated with the design of the well-known Wehnelt electrode of electron-gun, a 7 MeV intense proton beam is controlled dynamically and energy selected by the self-induced quasi-static electric field on the target holder.more » From the highly divergent beam having continuous spectrum, which are the typical features of the laser-driven proton beams from the interactions between the short-pulse laser and solid target, the spatial distribution of 7 MeV proton bunch is well manipulated to be focused to an small spots with an angular distribution of {approx}10 mrad. The number of protons included in the bunch is >10{sup 6}.« less

Generation of High-Power High-Intensity Short X-Ray Free-Electron-Laser Pulses

DOE PAGES

Guetg, Marc W.; Lutman, Alberto A.; Ding, Yuantao; ...

2018-01-03

X-ray free-electron lasers combine a high pulse power, short pulse length, narrow bandwidth, and high degree of transverse coherence. Any increase in the photon pulse power, while shortening the pulse length, will further push the frontier on several key x-ray free-electron laser applications including single-molecule imaging and novel nonlinear x-ray methods. This Letter shows experimental results at the Linac Coherent Light Source raising its maximum power to more than 300% of the current limit while reducing the photon pulse length to 10 fs. As a result, this was achieved by minimizing residual transverse-longitudinal centroid beam offsets and beam yaw andmore » by correcting the dispersion when operating over 6 kA peak current with a longitudinally shaped beam.« less

Generation of High-Power High-Intensity Short X-Ray Free-Electron-Laser Pulses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Guetg, Marc W.; Lutman, Alberto A.; Ding, Yuantao

X-ray free-electron lasers combine a high pulse power, short pulse length, narrow bandwidth, and high degree of transverse coherence. Any increase in the photon pulse power, while shortening the pulse length, will further push the frontier on several key x-ray free-electron laser applications including single-molecule imaging and novel nonlinear x-ray methods. This Letter shows experimental results at the Linac Coherent Light Source raising its maximum power to more than 300% of the current limit while reducing the photon pulse length to 10 fs. As a result, this was achieved by minimizing residual transverse-longitudinal centroid beam offsets and beam yaw andmore » by correcting the dispersion when operating over 6 kA peak current with a longitudinally shaped beam.« less

Photonuclear Contributions to SNS Pulse Shapes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McClanahan, Tucker C.; Iverson, Erik B.; Gallmeier, Franz X.

Short-pulsed sources like the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) and ISIS produce bursts of neutron pulses at rates of 10-60 Hz, with sub-microsecond proton pulses impacting on high-Z target materials. Moderators are grouped around the target to receive the fast neutrons generated from spallation reactions to moderate them effciently to thermal and sub-thermal energies and to feed narrow neutron pulses to neutron scattering instruments. The scattering instruments use the neutrons as a probe for material investigations, and make use of time-of-flight (TOF) methods for resolving the neutron energy. The energy resolution of scattering instruments depends on the narrow time-structure of themore » neutron pulses, while neutrons in the long tail of the emission time distributions can degrade the instrument performance and add undesired background to measurements. The SNS neutronics team is investigating a possible source term impacting the background at short-pulsed spallation sources. The ISIS TS2 project claims to have significantly reduced neutron scattering instrument background levels by the elimination or reduction of iron shielding in the target-moderator-reflector assembly. An alternative hypothesis, also proposed by ISIS, suggests that this apparent reduction arises from moving beamline shielding away from the neutron guide channels, reducing albedo down the beamlines. In both hypotheses, the background neutrons in question are believed to be generated by photonuclear reactions. If the background neutrons are indeed generated via photonuclear channels, then they are generated in a time-dependent fashion, since most of the high-energy photons capable of inducing photonuclear production are gone within a few microseconds following the proton pulse. To evaluate this e ect, we have enabled photonuclear reactions in a series of studies for the SNS first target station (FTS) taking advantage of its Monte Carlo model. Using a mixture of ENDF/B VII.0 and TENDL-2014 photonuclear cross sections available and the CEM03 physics model within MCNPX 2.6.0 in the simulation, we are able to estimate the impact of photoneutron production on both overall neutron production and delayed neutron production. We find that a significant number of photon-induced neutrons are produced a few milliseconds after the proton pulse, following prompt gamma emission through the capture of neutrons in the slowing-down and thermalization processes. We name these "slowing-down delayed neutrons" to distinguish them from either "activation-delayed neutrons" or "beta-delayed neutrons." The beta-delayed and activation-delayed neutrons were not part of this study, and will be addressed elsewhere. While these other delayed neutron channels result in the time-independent (constant) production of fast neutrons outside of the prompt pulse, the slowing-down delayed neutrons also a ect the shape of the pulses. Although numerically insignificant in most cases, we describe a set of scenarios related to T0-chopper operation in which the slowing-down delayed neutrons may be important.« less

Features and dosimetry of laser-inflicted retina injuries induced by short laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pustovalov, Victor K.

1996-04-01

Energy absorption, heat transfer, thermodenaturation under the action of laser radiation pulse on pigmented spherical granules in heterogeneous laminated biotissues are investigated on the base of mathematical simulation. The possibility of selective interaction between short radiation pulses and pigmented retina biotissues is noted which results in the formation of thermodenaturation microregions inside and near the melanosomes. These denaturation microregions can originate in the eye biotissue under laser radiation intensities less than about 2 - 4 times the threshold ones determined ophthalmoscopically. These microdamages can appear without being detected by the standard ophthalmoscopical methods.

Short intense ion pulses for materials and warm dense matter research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seidl, Peter A.; Persaud, Arun; Waldron, William L.; Barnard, John J.; Davidson, Ronald C.; Friedman, Alex; Gilson, Erik P.; Greenway, Wayne G.; Grote, David P.; Kaganovich, Igor D.; Lidia, Steven M.; Stettler, Matthew; Takakuwa, Jeffrey H.; Schenkel, Thomas

2015-11-01

We have commenced experiments with intense short pulses of ion beams on the Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment-II at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, by generating beam spots size with radius r<1 mm within 2 ns FWHM and approximately 1010 ions/pulse. To enable the short pulse durations and mm-scale focal spot radii, the 1.2 MeV Li+ ion beam is neutralized in a 1.6-meter drift compression section located after the last accelerator magnet. An 8-Tesla short focal length solenoid compresses the beam in the presence of the large volume plasma near the end of this section before the target. The scientific topics to be explored are warm dense matter, the dynamics of radiation damage in materials, and intense beam and beam-plasma physics including selected topics of relevance to the development of heavy-ion drivers for inertial fusion energy. Here we describe the accelerator commissioning and time-resolved ionoluminescence measurements of yttrium aluminum perovskite using the fully integrated accelerator and neutralized drift compression components.

Nike Experiment to Observe Strong Areal Mass Oscillations in a Rippled Target Hit by a Short Laser Pulse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aglitskiy, Y.; Karasik, M.; Velikovich, A. L.; Serlin, V.; Weaver, J. L.; Kessler, T. J.; Schmitt, A. J.; Obenschain, S. P.; Metzler, N.; Oh, J.

2010-11-01

When a short (sub-ns) laser pulse deposits finite energy in a target, the shock wave launched into it is immediately followed by a rarefaction wave. If the irradiated surface is rippled, theory and simulations predict strong oscillations of the areal mass perturbation amplitude in the target [A. L. Velikovich et al., Phys. Plasmas 10, 3270 (2003).] The first experiment designed to observe this effect has become possible by adding short-driving-pulse capability to the Nike laser, and has been scheduled for the fall of 2010. Simulations show that while the driving pulse of 0.3 ns is on, the areal mass perturbation amplitude grows by a factor ˜2 due to ablative Richtmyer-Meshkov instability. It then decreases, reverses phase, and reaches another maximum, also about twice its initial value, shortly after the shock breakout at the rear target surface. This signature behavior is observable with the monochromatic x-ray imaging diagnostics fielded on Nike.

Future of ePix detectors for high repetition rate FELs

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Blaj, G., E-mail: blaj@slac.stanford.edu; Caragiulo, P.; Carini, G.

2016-07-27

Free-electron lasers (FELs) made the imaging of atoms and molecules in motion possible, opening new science opportunities with high brilliance, ultra-short x-ray laser pulses at up to 120 Hz. Some new or upgraded FEL facilities will operate at greatly increased pulse rates (kHz to MHz), presenting additional requirements on detection. We will present the ePix platform for x-ray detectors and the current status of the ePix detectors: ePix100 for low noise applications, ePix10k for high dynamic range applications, and ePixS for spectroscopic applications. Then we will introduce the plans to match the ePix detectors with the requirements of currently plannedmore » high repetition rate FELs (mainly readout speed and energy range).« less

Femtosecond solid-state laser based on a few-layered black phosphorus saturable absorber.

PubMed

Su, Xiancui; Wang, Yiran; Zhang, Baitao; Zhao, Ruwei; Yang, Kejian; He, Jingliang; Hu, Qiangqiang; Jia, Zhitai; Tao, Xutang

2016-05-01

In this Letter, a high-quality, few-layered black phosphorus (BP) saturable absorber (SA) was fabricated successfully, and a femtosecond solid-state laser modulated by BP-SA was experimentally demonstrated for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. Pulses as short as 272 fs were achieved with an average output power of 0.82 W, corresponding to the pulse energy of 6.48 nJ and peak power of 23.8 MW. So far, these represent the shortest pulse duration and highest output power ever obtained with a BP-based mode-locked solid-state laser. The results indicate the promising potential of few-layered BP-SA for applications in solid-state femtosecond mode-locked lasers.

A SYNCHRONIZED FIR/VUV LIGHT SOURCE AT JEFFERSON LAB

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stephen Benson, David Douglas, George Neil, Michelle D. Shinn, Gwyn Williams

We describe a dual free-electron laser (FEL) configuration on the UV Demo FEL at Jefferson Lab that allows simultaneous lasing at FIR/THz and UV wavelengths. The FIR/THz source would be an FEL oscillator with a short wiggler providing nearly diffraction-limited pulses with pulse energy exceeding 50 microJoules. The FIR source would use the exhaust beam from a UVFEL. The coherent harmonics in the VUV from the UVFEL are out-coupled through a hole. The FIR source uses a shorter resonator with either hole or edge coupling to provide very high power FIR pulses. Simulations indicate excel-lent spectral brightness in the FIRmore » region with over 100 W/cm-1 output.« less

An overview of DREV's activities on pulsed CO2 laser transmitters: Frequency stability and lifetime aspects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cruickshank, James; Pace, Paul; Mathieu, Pierre

1987-01-01

After introducing the desired features in a transmitter for laser radar applications, the output characteristics of several configurations of frequency-stable TEA-CO2 lasers are reviewed. Based on work carried out at the Defence Research Establishment Valcartier (DREV), output pulses are examined from short cavity lasers, CW-TEA hybrid lasers, and amplifiers for low power pulses. It is concluded that the technique of injecting a low-power laser beam into a TEA laser resonator with Gaussian reflectivity mirrors should be investigated because it appears well adapted to producing high energy, single mode, low chirp pulses. Finally, a brief report on tests carried out on catalysts composed of stannic oxide and noble metals demonstrates the potential of these catalysts, operating at close to room temperature, to provide complete closed-cycle laser operation.

Laser short-pulse heating of an aluminum thin film: Energy transfer in electron and lattice sub-systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bin Mansoor, Saad; Sami Yilbas, Bekir

2015-08-01

Laser short-pulse heating of an aluminum thin film is considered and energy transfer in the film is formulated using the Boltzmann equation. Since the heating duration is short and the film thickness is considerably small, thermal separation of electron and lattice sub-systems is incorporated in the analysis. The electron-phonon coupling is used to formulate thermal communication of both sub-systems during the heating period. Equivalent equilibrium temperature is introduced to account for the average energy of all phonons around a local point when they redistribute adiabatically to an equilibrium state. Temperature predictions of the Boltzmann equation are compared with those obtained from the two-equation model. It is found that temperature predictions from the Boltzmann equation differ slightly from the two-equation model results. Temporal variation of equivalent equilibrium temperature does not follow the laser pulse intensity in the electron sub-system. The time occurrence of the peak equivalent equilibrium temperature differs for electron and lattice sub-systems, which is attributed to phonon scattering in the irradiated field in the lattice sub-system. In this case, time shift is observed for occurrence of the peak temperature in the lattice sub-system.

Atomistic material behavior at extreme pressures

DOE PAGES

Beland, Laurent K.; Osetskiy, Yury N.; Stoller, Roger E.

2016-08-05

Computer simulations are routinely performed to model the response of materials to extreme environments, such as neutron (or ion) irradiation. The latter involves high-energy collisions from which a recoiling atom creates a so-called atomic displacement cascade. These cascades involve coordinated motion of atoms in the form of supersonic shockwaves. These shockwaves are characterized by local atomic pressures >15 GPa and interatomic distances <2 Å. Similar pressures and interatomic distances are observed in other extreme environment, including short-pulse laser ablation, high-impact ballistic collisions and diamond anvil cells. Displacement cascade simulations using four different force fields, with initial kinetic energies ranging frommore » 1 to 40 keV, show that there is a direct relationship between these high-pressure states and stable defect production. An important shortcoming in the modeling of interatomic interactions at these short distances, which in turn determines final defect production, is brought to light.« less

Enhanced laser absorption from radiation pressure in intense laser plasma interactions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dollar, F.; Zulick, C.; Raymond, A.

The reflectivity of a short-pulse laser at intensities of 2 x 10 21Wcm -2 with ultra-high contrast (10 -15) on sub-micrometer silicon nitride foilswas studied experimentally using varying polarizations and target thicknesses. Furthermore, the reflected intensity and beam quality were found to be relatively constant with respect to intensity for bulk targets. For submicron targets, the measured reflectivity drops substantially without a corresponding increase in transmission, indicating increased conversion of fundamental to other wavelengths and particle heating. The experimental results and trends we observed in 3D particle-in-cell simulations emphasize the critical role of ion motion due to radiation pressure onmore » the absorption process. Ion motion during ultra-short pulses enhances the electron heating, which subsequently transfers more energy to the ions.« less

Enhanced laser absorption from radiation pressure in intense laser plasma interactions

DOE PAGES

Dollar, F.; Zulick, C.; Raymond, A.; ...

2017-06-06

The reflectivity of a short-pulse laser at intensities of 2 x 10 21Wcm -2 with ultra-high contrast (10 -15) on sub-micrometer silicon nitride foilswas studied experimentally using varying polarizations and target thicknesses. Furthermore, the reflected intensity and beam quality were found to be relatively constant with respect to intensity for bulk targets. For submicron targets, the measured reflectivity drops substantially without a corresponding increase in transmission, indicating increased conversion of fundamental to other wavelengths and particle heating. The experimental results and trends we observed in 3D particle-in-cell simulations emphasize the critical role of ion motion due to radiation pressure onmore » the absorption process. Ion motion during ultra-short pulses enhances the electron heating, which subsequently transfers more energy to the ions.« less

Nanomedical science and laser-driven particle acceleration: promising approaches in the prethermal regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gauduel, Y. A.

2017-05-01

A major challenge of spatio-temporal radiation biomedicine concerns the understanding of biophysical events triggered by an initial energy deposition inside confined ionization tracks. This contribution deals with an interdisciplinary approach that concerns cutting-edge advances in real-time radiation events, considering the potentialities of innovating strategies based on ultrafast laser science, from femtosecond photon sources to advanced techniques of ultrafast TW laser-plasma accelerator. Recent advances of powerful TW laser sources ( 1019 W cm-2) and laser-plasma interactions providing ultra-short relativistic particle beams in the energy domain 5-200 MeV open promising opportunities for the development of high energy radiation femtochemistry (HERF) in the prethermal regime of secondary low-energy electrons and for the real-time imaging of radiation-induced biomolecular alterations at the nanoscopic scale. New developments would permit to correlate early radiation events triggered by ultrashort radiation sources with a molecular approach of Relative Biological Effectiveness (RBE). These emerging research developments are crucial to understand simultaneously, at the sub-picosecond and nanometric scales, the early consequences of ultra-short-pulsed radiation on biomolecular environments or integrated biological entities. This innovating approach would be applied to biomedical relevant concepts such as the emerging domain of real-time nanodosimetry for targeted pro-drug activation and pulsed radio-chimiotherapy of cancers.

Investigation of laser dynamics, modulation and control by means of intra-cavity time varying perturbation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harris, S. E.; Siegman, A. E.; Kuizenga, D. J.; Kung, A. H.; Young, J. F.; Bekkers, G. W.; Bloom, D. M.; Newton, J. H.; Phillion, D. W.

1975-01-01

The generation of tunable visible, infrared, and ultraviolet light is examined, along with the control of this light by means of novel mode-locking and modulation techniques. Transient mode-locking of the Nd:YAG laser and generation of short tunable pulses in the visible and the alkali metal inert gas excimer laser systems were investigated. Techniques for frequency conversion of high power and high energy laser radiation are discussed, along with high average power blue and UV laser light sources.

Broadband and tunable optical parametric generator for remote detection of gas molecules in the short and mid-infrared.

PubMed

Lambert-Girard, Simon; Allard, Martin; Piché, Michel; Babin, François

2015-04-01

The development of a novel broadband and tunable optical parametric generator (OPG) is presented. The OPG properties are studied numerically and experimentally in order to optimize the generator's use in a broadband spectroscopic LIDAR operating in the short and mid-infrared. This paper discusses trade-offs to be made on the properties of the pump, crystal, and seeding signal in order to optimize the pulse spectral density and divergence while enabling energy scaling. A seed with a large spectral bandwidth is shown to enhance the pulse-to-pulse stability and optimize the pulse spectral density. A numerical model shows excellent agreement with output power measurements; the model predicts that a pump having a large number of longitudinal modes improves conversion efficiency and pulse stability.

Generation of short and intense attosecond pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khan, Sabih Ud Din

Extremely broad bandwidth attosecond pulses (which can support 16as pulses) have been demonstrated in our lab based on spectral measurements, however, compensation of intrinsic chirp and their characterization has been a major bottleneck. In this work, we developed an attosecond streak camera using a multi-layer Mo/Si mirror (bandwidth can support ˜100as pulses) and position sensitive time-of-flight detector, and the shortest measured pulse was 107.5as using DOG, which is close to the mirror bandwidth. We also developed a PCGPA based FROG-CRAB algorithm to characterize such short pulses, however, it uses the central momentum approximation and cannot be used for ultra-broad bandwidth pulses. To facilitate the characterization of such pulses, we developed PROOF using Fourier filtering and an evolutionary algorithm. We have demonstrated the characterization of pulses with a bandwidth corresponding to ˜20as using synthetic data. We also for the first time demonstrated single attosecond pulses (SAP) generated using GDOG with a narrow gate width from a multi-cycle driving laser without CE-phase lock, which opens the possibility of scaling attosecond photon flux by extending the technique to peta-watt class lasers. Further, we generated intense attosecond pulse trains (APT) from laser ablated carbon plasmas and demonstrated ˜9.5 times more intense pulses as compared to those from argon gas and for the first time demonstrated a broad continuum from a carbon plasma using DOG. Additionally, we demonstrated ˜100 times enhancement in APT from gases by switching to 400 nm (blue) driving pulses instead of 800 nm (red) pulses. We measured the ellipticity dependence of high harmonics from blue pulses in argon, neon and helium, and developed a simple theoretical model to numerically calculate the ellipticity dependence with good agreement with experiments. Based on the ellipticity dependence, we proposed a new scheme of blue GDOG which we predict can be employed to extract intense SAP from an APT driven by blue laser pulses. We also demonstrated compression of long blue pulses into >240 microJ broad-bandwidth pulses using neon filled hollow core fiber, which is the highest reported pulse energy of short blue pulses. However, compression of phase using chirp mirrors is still a technical challenge.

MOSFET-based high voltage short pulse generator for ultrasonic transducer excitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hidayat, Darmawan; Setianto, Syafei, Nendi Suhendi; Wibawa, Bambang Mukti

2018-02-01

This paper presents the generation of a high-voltage short pulse for the excitation of high frequency ultrasonic transducers. This is highly required in the purpose of various ultrasonic-based evaluations, particularly when high resolution measurement is necessary. A high voltage (+760 V) DC voltage source was pulsated by an ultrafast switching MOSFET which was driven by a pulse generator circuit consisting of an astable multivibrator, a one-shot multivibrator with Schmitt trigger input and a high current MOSFET driver. The generated pulses excited a 200-kHz and a 1-MHz ultrasonic transducers and tested in the transmission mode propagation to evaluate the performances of the generated pulse. The test results showed the generator were able to produce negative spike pulses up to -760 V voltage with the shortest time-width of 107.1 nanosecond. The transmission-received ultrasonic waves show frequency oscillation at 200 and 961 kHz and their amplitudes varied with the voltage of excitation pulse. These results conclude that the developed pulse generator is applicable to excite transducer for the generation of high frequency ultrasonic waves.

Detecting fiducials affected by trombone delay in ARC and the main laser alignment at the National Ignition Facility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Awwal, Abdul A. S.; Bliss, Erlan S.; Miller Kamm, Victoria; Leach, Richard R.; Roberts, Randy; Rushford, Michael C.; Lowe-Webb, Roger; Wilhelmsen, Karl

2015-09-01

Four of the 192 beams of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) are currently being diverted into the Advanced Radiographic Capability (ARC) system to generate a sequence of short (1-50 picoseconds) 1053 nm laser pulses. When focused onto high Z wires in vacuum, these pulses create high energy x-ray pulses capable of penetrating the dense, imploding fusion fuel plasma during ignition scale experiments. The transmitted x-rays imaged with x-ray diagnostics can create movie radiographs that are expected to provide unprecedented insight into the implosion dynamics. The resulting images will serve as a diagnostic for tuning the experimental parameters towards successful fusion reactions. Beam delays introduced into the ARC pulses via independent, free-space optical trombones create the desired x-ray image sequence, or movie. However, these beam delays cause optical distortion of various alignment fiducials viewed by alignment sensors in the NIF and ARC beamlines. This work describes how the position of circular alignment fiducials is estimated in the presence of distortion.

Breaking the Attosecond, Angstrom and TV/M Field Barriers with Ultra-Fast Electron Beams

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rosenzweig, James; Andonian, Gerard; Fukasawa, Atsushi

2012-06-22

Recent initiatives at UCLA concerning ultra-short, GeV electron beam generation have been aimed at achieving sub-fs pulses capable of driving X-ray free-electron lasers (FELs) in single-spike mode. This use of very low Q beams may allow existing FEL injectors to produce few-100 attosecond pulses, with very high brightness. Towards this end, recent experiments at the LCLS have produced {approx}2 fs, 20 pC electron pulses. We discuss here extensions of this work, in which we seek to exploit the beam brightness in FELs, in tandem with new developments in cryogenic undulator technology, to create compact accelerator-undulator systems that can lase belowmore » 0.15 {angstrom}, or be used to permit 1.5 {angstrom} operation at 4.5 GeV. In addition, we are now developing experiments which use the present LCLS fs pulses to excite plasma wakefields exceeding 1 TV/m, permitting a table-top TeV accelerator for frontier high energy physics applications.« less

Nuclear interference in the Coulomb explosion of H2+ in short vuv laser fields.

PubMed

Førre, Morten; Barmaki, Samira; Bachau, Henri

2009-03-27

We report ab initio calculations of H2+ three-photon ionization by vuv/fs 10(12) W/cm(2) laser pulses including electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom in the Born-Oppenheimer approximation. The initial nuclear wave packet of H2+(1ssigma(g)) is assumed to be equal to the H2 vibrational ground state. For pulse durations longer than 10 fs, we find an unexpected modulation in the kinetic energy spectra of the correlated fragments (H++H+). It is shown that the structures in the spectra originate from the interference between a direct and a sequential dissociation channel. While the first channel is open even for relatively short pulses, the sequential one only opens for pulse durations longer than 10 fs. In the latter case we show that interference between the two components results in a modulated kinetic energy release spectrum in the dissociation channel 3dsigma(g), which is reflected in the ionization spectrum.

Novel flashlamp-based time-resolved fluorescence microscope reduces autofluorescence for 30-fold contrast enhancement in environmental samples

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Connally, Russell; Veal, Duncan; Piper, James A.

2003-07-01

The abundance of naturally fluorescing components (autofluorophors) encountered in environmentally sourced samples can greatly hinder the detection and identification of fluorescently labeled target using fluorescence microscopy. Time-resolved fluorescence microscopy (TRFM) is a technique that reduces the effects of autofluorescence through precisely controlled time delays. Lanthanide chelates have fluorescence lifetimes many orders of magnitude greater than typical autofluorophors, and persist in their luminescence long after autofluorescence has ceased. An intense short pulse of (UV) light is used to excite fluorescence in the sample and after a short delay period the longer persisting fluorescence from the chelate is captured with an image-intensified CCD camera. The choice of pulsed excitation source for TRFM has a large impact on the price and performance of the instrument. A flashlamp with a short pulse duration was selected for our instrument because of the high spectral energy in the UV region and short pulse length. However, flash output decays with an approximate lifetime of 18μs and the TRFM requires a long-lived chelate to ensure probe fluorescence is still visible after decay of the flash plasma. We synthesized a recently reported fluorescent chelate (BHHCT) and conjugated it to a monoclonal antibody directed against the water-borne parasite Giardia lamblia. Fluorescence lifetime of the construct was determined to be 339μs +/- 14μs and provided a 45-fold enhancement of labeled Giardia over background using a gate delay of 100μs. Despite the sub-optimal decay characteristics of the light pulse, flashlamps have many advantages compared to optical chopper wheels and modulated lasers. Their low cost, lack of vibration, ease of interface and small footprint are important factors to consider in TRFM design.

Fermi Observations of GRB 090510: A Short Hard Gamma-Ray Burst with an Additional, Hard Power-Law Component from 10 keV to GeV Energies

DOE PAGES

Ackermann, M.; Asano, K.; Atwood, W. B.; ...

2010-05-27

We present detailed observations of the bright short-hard gamma-ray burst GRB 090510 made with the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) and Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi observatory. GRB 090510 is the first burst detected by the LAT that shows strong evidence for a deviation from a Band spectral fitting function during the prompt emission phase. The time-integrated spectrum is fit by the sum of a Band function with E peak = 3.9 ± 0.3 MeV, which is the highest yet measured, and a hard power-law component with photon index –1.62 ± 0.03 that dominates the emission below ≈20more » keV and above ≈100 MeV. The onset of the high-energy spectral component appears to be delayed by ~0.1 s with respect to the onset of a component well fit with a single Band function. A faint GBM pulse and a LAT photon are detected 0.5 s before the main pulse. During the prompt phase, the LAT detected a photon with energy 30.5 +5.8 –2.6 GeV, the highest ever measured from a short GRB. Observation of this photon sets a minimum bulk outflow Lorentz factor, Γ≳ 1200, using simple γγ opacity arguments for this GRB at redshift z = 0.903 and a variability timescale on the order of tens of ms for the ≈100 keV-few MeV flux. Stricter high confidence estimates imply Γ ≳ 1000 and still require that the outflows powering short GRBs are at least as highly relativistic as those of long-duration GRBs. Finally, implications of the temporal behavior and power-law shape of the additional component on synchrotron/synchrotron self-Compton, external-shock synchrotron, and hadronic models are considered.« less

Investigation of possible fs-LASIK induced retinal damage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schumacher, S.; Sander, M.; Stolte, A.; Doepke, C.; Baumgaertner, W.; Lubatschowski, H.

2006-02-01

Rapid development of new laser technologies enabled the application of ultra short lasers in refractive surgery. Focused ultra short laser pulses in near-infrared spectral range can generate a laser induced breakdown (LIB) in the cornea, which will disrupt the tissue. Cutting depth and position can be established by varying the laser focus. The fs-LASIK technique allows both flap and lenticule to be formed by using fs-pulses without the presence of any mechanical impact. During the cutting process not all of the pulse energy is deposited into the cornea; approximately half of the remaining energy propagates through the eye and reaches the retina. Though defocused, the transmitted energy can still induce damage to the retina due to absorption by the retinal pigment epithelium and the transfer of thermal energy to surrounding tissue. The fs-LASIK process was simulated with two laser systems; one continous-wave and one in the fs-regime. For the simulation the exposure time and focusing numerical aperature which defines the retinal spot size were varied. The Damage thresholds of the laser beam exposed eyes were determined in terms of ophthalmoscopic and histopathologic observations.

Experimental demonstration of a compact epithermal neutron source based on a high power laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mirfayzi, S. R.; Alejo, A.; Ahmed, H.; Raspino, D.; Ansell, S.; Wilson, L. A.; Armstrong, C.; Butler, N. M. H.; Clarke, R. J.; Higginson, A.; Kelleher, J.; Murphy, C. D.; Notley, M.; Rusby, D. R.; Schooneveld, E.; Borghesi, M.; McKenna, P.; Rhodes, N. J.; Neely, D.; Brenner, C. M.; Kar, S.

2017-07-01

Epithermal neutrons from pulsed-spallation sources have revolutionised neutron science allowing scientists to acquire new insight into the structure and properties of matter. Here, we demonstrate that laser driven fast (˜MeV) neutrons can be efficiently moderated to epithermal energies with intrinsically short burst durations. In a proof-of-principle experiment using a 100 TW laser, a significant epithermal neutron flux of the order of 105 n/sr/pulse in the energy range of 0.5-300 eV was measured, produced by a compact moderator deployed downstream of the laser-driven fast neutron source. The moderator used in the campaign was specifically designed, by the help of MCNPX simulations, for an efficient and directional moderation of the fast neutron spectrum produced by a laser driven source.

Energy and Emission Characteristics of a Short-Arc Xenon Flash Lamp Under "Saturated" Optical Brightness Conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamrukov, A. S.; Kireev, S. G.; Kozlov, N. P.; Shashkovskii, S. G.

2017-09-01

We present the results of a study of the electrical, energy, and spectral brightness characteristics of an experimental three-electrode high-pressure xenon flash lamp under conditions ensuring close to maximum possible spectral brightness for the xenon emission. We show that under saturated optical brightness conditions (brightness temperature in the visible region of the spectrum 30,000 K), emission of a pulsed discharge in xenon is quite different from the emission from an ideal blackbody: the maximum brightness temperatures are 24,000 K in the short-wavelength UV region and 19,000 K in the near IR range. The relative fraction of UV radiation in the emission spectrum of the lamp is >50%, which lets us consider such lamps as promising broadband sources of radiation with high spectral brightness for many important practical applications.

A cryo-cooled high-energy DPSSL system delivering ns-pulses at 10 J and 10 Hz

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ertel, Klaus; Banerjee, Saumyabrata; Butcher, Thomas J.; De Vido, Mariastefania; Mason, Paul D.; Phillips, P. J.; Richards, David; Shaikh, Waseem; Smith, Jodie M.; Greenhalgh, R. Justin S.; Hernandez-Gomez, Cristina; Collier, John L.

2015-02-01

Lasers generating multi-J to kJ ns-pulses are required for many types of laser-plasma interactions. Such lasers are either used directly for compressing matter to extreme densities or they serve as pump lasers for short-pulses laser chains based on large-aperture Ti:sapphire or parametric amplifiers. The thus generated high-energy fs-pulses are most useful for laser driven secondary sources of particles (electrons, protons) or photons (from THz to gamma). While proof-of-principle experiments have been carried out with flashlamp-pumped glass lasers, lasers with much higher efficiency and repetition rate are required to make this applications practically viable. We have developed a scalable new laser concept called DiPOLE (diode pumped optical laser for experiments) based on a gas-cooled ceramic Yb:YAG multi-slab architecture operating at cryogenic temperatures. While the viability of this concept has been shown earlier [1], we have now reached our target performance of 10 J pulse energy at 10 Hz repetition rate at an optical-to-optical efficiency of 21%. To the best of our knowledge, these are record values for average power and efficiency for lasers of this type. We have also upgraded the system by adding a fibre-based front-end system with arbitrary pulse shaping capability and by installing an image-relayed multipass system enabling up to eight passes of the main amplifier. We have then used this system to demonstrate frequency doubling with 65 % conversion efficiency and a long-term shot-to-shot stability of 0.5% rms over a total of nearly 2 million shots, achieved in runs extending over 4 to 6 hours.

Heterogeneity in Short Gamma-Ray Bursts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Norris, Jay P.; Gehrels Neil; Scargle, Jeffrey D.

2011-01-01

We analyze the Swift/BAT sample of short gamma-ray bursts, using an objective Bayesian Block procedure to extract temporal descriptors of the bursts' initial pulse complexes (IPCs). The sample comprises 12 and 41 bursts with and without extended emission (EE) components, respectively. IPCs of non-EE bursts are dominated by single pulse structures, while EE bursts tend to have two or more pulse structures. The medians of characteristic timescales - durations, pulse structure widths, and peak intervals - for EE bursts are factors of approx 2-3 longer than for non-EE bursts. A trend previously reported by Hakkila and colleagues unifying long and short bursts - the anti-correlation of pulse intensity and width - continues in the two short burst groups, with non-EE bursts extending to more intense, narrower pulses. In addition we find that preceding and succeeding pulse intensities are anti-correlated with pulse interval. We also examine the short burst X-ray afterglows as observed by the Swift/XRT. The median flux of the initial XRT detections for EE bursts (approx 6 X 10(exp -10) erg / sq cm/ s) is approx > 20 x brighter than for non-EE bursts, and the median X-ray afterglow duration for EE bursts (approx 60,000 s) is approx 30 x longer than for non-EE bursts. The tendency for EE bursts toward longer prompt-emission timescales and higher initial X-ray afterglow fluxes implies larger energy injections powering the afterglows. The longer-lasting X-ray afterglows of EE bursts may suggest that a significant fraction explode into more dense environments than non-EE bursts, or that the sometimes-dominant EE component efficiently p()wers the afterglow. Combined, these results favor different progenitors for EE and non-EE short bursts.

Heterogeneity in Short Gamma-Ray Bursts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Norris, Jay P.; Gehrels, Neil; Scargle, Jeffrey D.

2011-07-01

We analyze the Swift/BAT sample of short gamma-ray bursts, using an objective Bayesian Block procedure to extract temporal descriptors of the bursts' initial pulse complexes (IPCs). The sample is comprised of 12 and 41 bursts with and without extended emission (EE) components, respectively. IPCs of non-EE bursts are dominated by single pulse structures, while EE bursts tend to have two or more pulse structures. The medians of characteristic timescales—durations, pulse structure widths, and peak intervals—for EE bursts are factors of ~2-3 longer than for non-EE bursts. A trend previously reported by Hakkila and colleagues unifying long and short bursts—the anti-correlation of pulse intensity and width—continues in the two short burst groups, with non-EE bursts extending to more intense, narrower pulses. In addition, we find that preceding and succeeding pulse intensities are anti-correlated with pulse interval. We also examine the short burst X-ray afterglows as observed by the Swift/X-Ray Telescope (XRT). The median flux of the initial XRT detections for EE bursts (~6×10-10 erg cm-2 s-1) is gsim20× brighter than for non-EE bursts, and the median X-ray afterglow duration for EE bursts (~60,000 s) is ~30× longer than for non-EE bursts. The tendency for EE bursts toward longer prompt-emission timescales and higher initial X-ray afterglow fluxes implies larger energy injections powering the afterglows. The longer-lasting X-ray afterglows of EE bursts may suggest that a significant fraction explode into denser environments than non-EE bursts, or that the sometimes-dominant EE component efficiently powers the afterglow. Combined, these results favor different progenitors for EE and non-EE short bursts.

Experimental study of atmospheric-pressure micro-plasmas for the ambient sampling of conductive materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duan, Zhengchao; He, Feng; Si, Xinlu; Bradley, James W.; Ouyang, Jiting

2018-02-01

Conductive solid material sampling by micro-plasma under ambient atmosphere was studied experimentally. A high-voltage pulse generator was utilized to drive discharge between a tungsten needle and metal samples. The effects of pulse width on discharge, micro-plasma and sampling were investigated. The electrical results show that two discharge current pulses can be formed in one voltage pulse. The duration of the first current pulse is of the order of 100 ns. The duration of the second current pulse depends on the width of the voltage pulse. The electrical results also show that arc micro-plasma was generated during both current pulses. The results of the emission spectra of different sampled materials indicate that the relative emission intensity of elemental metal ions will increase with pulse width. The excitation temperature and electron density of the arc micro-plasmas increase with the voltage pulse width, which contributes to the increase of relative emission intensity of metal ions. The optical images and energy dispersive spectroscopy results of the sampling spots on metal surfaces indicate that discharge with a short voltage pulse can generate a small sputtering crater.

Compact 200 kHz HHG source driven by a few-cycle OPCPA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harth, Anne; Guo, Chen; Cheng, Yu-Chen; Losquin, Arthur; Miranda, Miguel; Mikaelsson, Sara; Heyl, Christoph M.; Prochnow, Oliver; Ahrens, Jan; Morgner, Uwe; L'Huillier, Anne; Arnold, Cord L.

2018-01-01

We present efficient high-order harmonic generation (HHG) based on a high-repetition rate, few-cycle, near infrared (NIR), carrier-envelope phase stable, optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier (OPCPA), emitting 6 fs pulses with 9 μJ pulse energy. In krypton, we reach conversion efficiencies from the NIR to the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) radiation pulse energy on the order of ˜10-6 with less than 3 μJ driving pulse energy. This is achieved by optimizing the OPCPA for a spatially and temporally clean pulse and by a specially designed high-pressure gas target. In the future, the high efficiency of the HHG source will be beneficial for high-repetition rate two-colour (NIR-XUV) pump-probe experiments, where the available pulse energy from the laser has to be distributed economically between pump and probe pulses.

An x-ray backlit Talbot-Lau deflectometer for high-energy-density electron density diagnostics.

PubMed

Valdivia, M P; Stutman, D; Stoeckl, C; Theobald, W; Mileham, C; Begishev, I A; Bromage, J; Regan, S P

2016-02-01

X-ray phase-contrast techniques can measure electron density gradients in high-energy-density plasmas through refraction induced phase shifts. An 8 keV Talbot-Lau interferometer consisting of free standing ultrathin gratings was deployed at an ultra-short, high-intensity laser system using K-shell emission from a 1-30 J, 8 ps laser pulse focused on thin Cu foil targets. Grating survival was demonstrated for 30 J, 8 ps laser pulses. The first x-ray deflectometry images obtained under laser backlighting showed up to 25% image contrast and thus enabled detection of electron areal density gradients with a maximum value of 8.1 ± 0.5 × 10(23) cm(-3) in a low-Z millimeter sized sample. An electron density profile was obtained from refraction measurements with an error of <8%. The 50 ± 15 μm spatial resolution achieved across the full field of view was found to be limited by the x-ray source-size, similar to conventional radiography.

Short-pulse laser removal of organic coatings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walters, Craig T.

2000-08-01

A major problem in the regular maintenance of aerospace systems is the removal of paint and other protective coatings from surfaces without polluting the atmosphere or endangering workers. Recent research has demonstrated that many organic coatings can be removed from surfaces efficiently using short laser pulses without the use of any chemical agents. The lasers employed in this study were repetitively-pulsed neodymium YAG devices operating at 1064 nm (15 - 30 ns, 10 - 20 Hz). The efficiency of removal can be cast in terms of an effective heat of ablation, Q* (kJ of laser energy incident per g of paint removed), although, for short pulses, the mechanism of removal is believed to be dominated more by thermo- mechanical or shock effects than by photo-ablation. Q* data were collected as a function of pulse fluence for several paint types. For many paint types, there was a fairly sharp threshold fluence per pulse near 1 J/cm2, above which Q* values dropped to levels which were a factor of four lower than those observed for long- pulse or continuous laser ablation of paint. In this regime, the coating is removed in fairly large particles or, in the case of one paint, the entire thickness of the coating was removed over the exposed area in one pulse. Hardware for implementing short-pulse laser paint stripping in the field is under development and will be highlighted in the presentation. Practical paint stripping rates achieved using the prototype hardware are presented for several paint types.

Nonlinear evolutions of an ultra-intense ultra-short laser pulse in a rarefied plasma through a new quasi-static theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yazdanpanah, J.

2018-02-01

In this paper, we present a new description of self-consistent wake excitation by an intense short laser pulse, based on applying the quasi-static approximation (slow variations of the pulse-envelope) in the instantaneous Lorentz-boosted pulse co-moving frame (PCMF), and best verify our results through comparison with particle-in-cell simulations. According to this theory, the plasma motion can be treated perturbatively in the PCMF due to its high initial-velocity and produces a quasi-static wakefield in this frame. The pulse envelope, on the other hand, is governed by a form of the Schrödinger equation in the PCMF, in which the wakefield acts as an effective potential. In this context, pulse evolutions are characterized by local conservation laws resulted from this equation and subjected to Lorentz transformation into the laboratory frame. Using these conservation laws, precise formulas are obtained for spatiotemporal pulse evolutions and related wakefield variations at initial stages, and new equations are derived for instantaneous group velocity and carrier frequency. In addition, based on properties of the Schrödinger equation, spectral-evolutions of the pulse are described and the emergence of an anomalous dispersion branch with linear relation ω ≈ ck (c is the light speed) is predicted. Our results are carefully discussed versus previous publications and the significance of our approach is described by showing almost all suggestive definitions of group-velocity based on energy arguments fail to reproduce our formula and correctly describe the instantaneous pulse-velocity.

Theoretical analysis of ozone generation by pulsed dielectric barrier discharge in oxygen

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, L. S.; Zhou, J. H.; Wang, Z. H.; Cen, K. F.

2007-08-01

The use of very short high-voltage pulses combined with a dielectric layer results in high-energy electrons that dissociate oxygen molecules into atoms, which are a prerequisite for the subsequent production of ozone by collisions with oxygen molecules and third particles. The production of ozone depends on both the electrical and the physical parameters. For ozone generation by pulsed dielectric barrier discharge in oxygen, a mathematical model, which describes the relation between ozone concentration and these parameters that are of importance in its design, is developed according to dimensional analysis theory. A formula considering the ozone destruction factor is derived for predicting the characteristics of the ozone generation, within the range of the corona inception voltage to the gap breakdown voltage. The trend showing the dependence of the concentration of ozone in oxygen on these parameters generally agrees with the experimental results, thus confirming the validity of the mathematical model.

Evaluation of the shock-wave pattern for endoscopic electrohydraulic lithotripsy.

PubMed

Vorreuther, R; Engelmann, Y

1995-01-01

We evaluated the electrical events and the resulting shock waves of the spark discharge for electrohydraulic lithotripsy at the tip of a 3.3F probe. Spark generation was achieved by variable combinations of voltage and capacity. The effective electrical output was determined by means of a high-voltage probe, a current coil, and a digital oscilloscope. Peak pressures, rise times, and pulse width of the pressure profiles were recorded using a polyvinylidene difluoride needle hydrophone in 0.9% NaCl solution at a distance of 10 mm. The peak pressure and the slope of the shock front depend solely on the voltage, while the pulse width was correlated with the capacity. Pulses of less than 1-microsecond duration can be obtained when low capacity is applied and the inductivity of the cables and plugs is kept at a low level. Using chalk as a stone model it was proven that short pulses of high peak pressure provided by a low capacity and a high voltage have a greater impact on fragmentation than the corresponding broader shock waves of lower peak pressure carrying the same energy.

Development of compact rapid charging power supply for capacitive energy storage in pulsed power drivers.

PubMed

Sharma, Surender Kumar; Shyam, Anurag

2015-02-01

High energy capacitor bank is used for primary electrical energy storage in pulsed power drivers. The capacitors used in these pulsed power drivers have low inductance, low internal resistance, and less dc life, so it has to be charged rapidly and immediately discharged into the load. A series resonant converter based 45 kV compact power supply is designed and developed for rapid charging of the capacitor bank with constant charging current up to 150 mA. It is short circuit proof, and zero current switching technique is used to commute the semiconductor switch. A high frequency resonant inverter switching at 10 kHz makes the overall size small and reduces the switching losses. The output current of the power supply is limited by constant on-time and variable frequency switching control technique. The power supply is tested by charging the 45 kV/1.67 μF and 15 kV/356 μF capacitor banks. It has charged the capacitor bank up to rated voltage with maximum charging current of 150 mA and the average charging rate of 3.4 kJ/s. The output current of the power supply is limited by reducing the switching frequency at 5 kHz, 3.3 kHz, and 1.7 kHz and tested with 45 kV/1.67 μF capacitor bank. The protection circuit is included in the power supply for over current, under voltage, and over temperature. The design details and the experimental testing results of the power supply for resonant current, output current, and voltage traces of the power supply with capacitive, resistive, and short circuited load are presented and discussed.

Method for generating high-energy and high repetition rate laser pulses from CW amplifiers

DOEpatents

Zhang, Shukui

2013-06-18

A method for obtaining high-energy, high repetition rate laser pulses simultaneously using continuous wave (CW) amplifiers is described. The method provides for generating micro-joule level energy in pico-second laser pulses at Mega-hertz repetition rates.

High-Energy Spectral and Temporal Characteristics of GRO J1008-57

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shrader, C. R.; Sutaria, F. K.; Singh, K. P.; Macomb, D. J.

1999-02-01

A transient X-ray source, GRO J1008-57, was discovered by the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) on board the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) in 1993 July. It reached a maximum intensity of about 1.4 times that of the Crab, in the 20-60 keV energy band. Pulsations in the X-ray intensity were detected at a period of 93.5 s. It has subsequently been determined to be a member of the Be star subclass of X-ray transients. In addition to BATSE, GRO J1008-57 was observed during its outburst by several pointed high-energy experiments: ROSAT, ASCA, and CGRO/OSSE. These nonsimultaneous but contemporaneous observations took place near and shortly after the peak of the outburst light curve. We report for the first time on a combined analysis of the CGRO and ASCA data sets. We have attempted to model the broadband high-energy continuum distribution and phase-resolved spectra. The broadband, phase-averaged continuum is well approximated by a power law with an exponential cutoff. Evidence for 6.4 keV line emission due to Fe is presented based on our spectral analysis. The energy dependence of the pulse profiles is examined in order to determine the energy at which the low-energy double-peaked profile detected by ASCA evolves into single-peaked pulse profile detected by BATSE. We discuss the implications of this pulse profile for the magnetic field and beam distribution for GRO J1008-57. Analysis of the BATSE and Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer/ASM flux histories suggests that Porbital~135 days. We further suggest that a transient disk is likely to form during episodes of outbursts.

All solid-state high power visible laser

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grossman, William M.

1993-01-01

The overall objective of this Phase 2 effort was to develop and deliver to NASA a high repetition rate laser-diode-pumped solid-state pulsed laser system with output in the green portion of the spectrum. The laser is for use in data communications, and high efficiency, short pulses, and low timing jitter are important features. A short-pulse 1 micron laser oscillator, a new multi-pass amplifier to boost the infrared power, and a frequency doubler to take the amplified infrared pulsed laser light into the green. This produced 1.5 W of light in the visible at a pulse repetition rate of 20 kHz in the laboratory. The pulses have a full-width at half maximum of near 1 ns. The results of this program are being commercialized.

Intense laser pulse propagation in ionizing gases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bian, Zhigang

2003-10-01

There have been considerable technological advances in the development of high intensity, short pulse lasers. However, high intensity laser pulses are subject to various laser-plasma instabilities. In this thesis, a theory is developed to study the scattering instability that occurs when a laser pulse propagates through and ionizes a gas. The instability is due to the intensity dependence of the ionization rate, which leads to a transversely structured free electron density. The instability is convective in the frame of laser pulse, but can have a relatively short growth length scaling as Lg˜k0/k2p where k0 is the laser wave number, k2p=w2p/c 2 and op is the plasma frequency. The most unstable perturbations correspond to a scattering angle for which the transverse wave number is around the plasma wave number, k p. The scattered light is frequency upshifted. The comparison between simple analytic theory and numerical simulation shows good agreement. Instabilities can drastically change the shape of the laser pulse and reduce the propagation distance of the laser pulse. Therefore, we change the propagation conditions and reduce the laser-plasma interaction possibilities in applications which require an interaction length well in excess of the Rayleigh length of the laser beam. One of the methods is to use a capillary to propagate the laser pulse. We studied the propagation of short pulses in a glass capillary. The propagation is simulated using the code WAKE, which has been modified to treat the case in which the simulation boundary is the wall of a capillary. Parameters that were examined include transmission efficiency of the waveguides as a function of gas pressure, laser intensity, and waveguide length, which is up to 40 Rayleigh lengths. The transmission efficiency decreases with waveguide length due to energy loss through the side-walls of the capillary. The loss increases with gas pressure due to ionization of the gas and scattering of the radiation. The intensity on the inner wall of the capillary is monitored to assure realistic simulations, consistent with optical breakdown of the waveguide material. Generally speaking the intensity on the wall increases with gas pressure due to the scattering of the lowest order capillary mode. Finally, the high order harmonic generation (HHG) in a capillary is investigated. The phase matching condition is studied to increase the conversion efficiency for high order harmonics generation. The phase matching occurs as a balance of the dispersion of the neutral gas, plasma and the waveguide.

Diode-pumped laser altimeter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Welford, D.; Isyanova, Y.

1993-01-01

TEM(sub 00)-mode output energies up to 22.5 mJ with 23 percent slope efficiencies were generated at 1.064 microns in a diode-laser pumped Nd:YAG laser using a transverse-pumping geometry. 1.32-micron performance was equally impressive at 10.2 mJ output energy with 15 percent slope efficiency. The same pumping geometry was successfully carried forward to several complex Q-switched laser resonator designs with no noticeable degradation of beam quality. Output beam profiles were consistently shown to have greater than 90 percent correlation with the ideal TEM(sub 00)-order Gaussian profile. A comparison study on pulse-reflection-mode (PRM), pulse-transmission-mode (PTM), and passive Q-switching techniques was undertaken. The PRM Q-switched laser generated 8.3 mJ pulses with durations as short as 10 ns. The PTM Q-switch laser generated 5 mJ pulses with durations as short as 5 ns. The passively Q-switched laser generated 5 mJ pulses with durations as short as 2.4 ns. Frequency doubling of both 1.064 microns and 1.32 microns with conversion efficiencies of 56 percent in lithium triborate and 10 percent in rubidium titanyl arsenate, respectively, was shown. Sum-frequency generation of the 1.064 microns and 1.32 microns radiations was demonstrated in KTP to generate 1.1 mJ of 0.589 micron output with 11.5 percent conversion efficiency.

Electron energy boosting in laser-wake-field acceleration with external magnetic field Bapprox1 T and laser prepulses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hosokai, Tomonao; Zhidkov, Alexei; Yamazaki, Atsushi

2010-03-22

Hundred-mega-electron-volt electron beams with quasi-monoenergetic distribution, and a transverse geometrical emittance as small as approx0.02 pi mm mrad are generated by low power (7 TW, 45 fs) laser pulses tightly focused in helium gas jets in an external static magnetic field, Bapprox1 T. Generation of monoenergetic beams strongly correlates with appearance of a straight, at least 2 mm length plasma channel in a short time before the main laser pulse and with the energy of copropagating picosecond pedestal pulses (PPP). For a moderate energy PPP, the multiple or staged electron self-injection in the channel gives several narrow peaks in themore » electron energy distribution.« less

Low Voltage Electrolytic Capacitor Pulse Forming Inductive Network for Electric Weapons

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-06-01

reliable high- current, high-energy pulses of many megawatts. Pulsed alternators potentially have the same maintenance issues as other motor ...high-energy pulses of many megawatts. Pulsed alternators potentially have the same maintenance issues as other motor -generator sets, so a solid...Rotating Flywheel) Pulse Forming Network Compensated Pulsed Alternators, or Compulsators as they are called, are essentially large motor -generator

Ultra-short pulse laser micro patterning with highest throughput by utilization of a novel multi-beam processing head

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Homburg, Oliver; Jarczynski, Manfred; Mitra, Thomas; Brüning, Stephan

2017-02-01

In the last decade much improvement has been achieved for ultra-short pulse lasers with high repetition rates. This laser technology has vastly matured so that it entered a manifold of industrial applications recently compared to mainly scientific use in the past. Compared to ns-pulse ablation ultra-short pulses in the ps- or even fs regime lead to still colder ablation and further reduced heat-affected zones. This is crucial for micro patterning when structure sizes are getting smaller and requirements are getting stronger at the same time. An additional advantage of ultra-fast processing is its applicability to a large variety of materials, e.g. metals and several high bandgap materials like glass and ceramics. One challenge for ultra-fast micro machining is throughput. The operational capacity of these processes can be maximized by increasing the scan rate or the number of beams - parallel processing. This contribution focuses on process parallelism of ultra-short pulsed lasers with high repetition rate and individually addressable acousto-optical beam modulation. The core of the multi-beam generation is a smooth diffractive beam splitter component with high uniform spots and negligible loss, and a prismatic array compressor to match beam size and pitch. The optical design and the practical realization of an 8 beam processing head in combination with a high average power single mode ultra-short pulsed laser source are presented as well as the currently on-going and promising laboratory research and micro machining results. Finally, an outlook of scaling the processing head to several tens of beams is given.

Ultrashort pulse laser deposition of thin films

DOEpatents

Perry, Michael D.; Banks, Paul S.; Stuart, Brent C.

2002-01-01

Short pulse PLD is a viable technique of producing high quality films with properties very close to that of crystalline diamond. The plasma generated using femtosecond lasers is composed of single atom ions with no clusters producing films with high Sp.sup.3 /Sp.sup.2 ratios. Using a high average power femtosecond laser system, the present invention dramatically increases deposition rates to up to 25 .mu.m/hr (which exceeds many CVD processes) while growing particulate-free films. In the present invention, deposition rates is a function of laser wavelength, laser fluence, laser spot size, and target/substrate separation. The relevant laser parameters are shown to ensure particulate-free growth, and characterizations of the films grown are made using several diagnostic techniques including electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and Raman spectroscopy.

Short-lived solar burst spectral component at f approximately 100 GHz

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaufmann, P.; Correia, E.; Costa, J. E. R.; Vaz, A. M. Z.

1986-01-01

A new kind of burst emission component was discovered, exhibiting fast and distinct pulses (approx. 60 ms durations), with spectral peak emission at f approx. 100 GHz, and onset time coincident to hard X-rays to within approx. 128 ms. These features pose serious constraints for the interpretation using current models. One suggestion assumes the f approx. 100 GHz pulses emission by synchrotron mechanism of electrons accelerated to ultrarelativistic energies. The hard X-rays originate from inverse Compton scattering of the electrons on the synchrotron photons. Several crucial observational tests are needed for the understanding of the phenomenon, requiring high sensitivity and high time resolution (approx. 1 ms) simultaneous to high spatial resolution (0.1 arcsec) at f approx. 110 GHz and hard X-rays.

A near-infrared SETI experiment: A multi-time resolution data analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tallis, Melisa; Maire, Jerome; Wright, Shelley; Drake, Frank D.; Duenas, Andres; Marcy, Geoffrey W.; Stone, Remington P. S.; Treffers, Richard R.; Werthimer, Dan; NIROSETI

2016-06-01

We present new post-processing routines which are used to detect very fast optical and near-infrared pulsed signals using the latest NIROSETI (Near-Infrared Optical Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) instrument. NIROSETI was commissioned in 2015 at Lick Observatory and searches for near-infrared (0.95 to 1.65μ) nanosecond pulsed laser signals transmitted by distant civilizations. Traditional optical SETI searches rely on analysis of coincidences that occur between multiple detectors at a fixed time resolution. We present a multi-time resolution data analysis that extends our search from the 1ns to 1ms range. This new feature greatly improves the versatility of the instrument and its search parameters for near-infrared SETI. We aim to use these algorithms to assist us in our search for signals that have varying duty cycles and pulse widths. We tested the fidelity and robustness of our algorithms using both synthetic embedded pulsed signals, as well as data from a near-infrared pulsed laser installed on the instrument. Applications of NIROSETI are widespread in time domain astrophysics, especially for high time resolution transients, and astronomical objects that emit short-duration high-energy pulses such as pulsars.

Light sources based on semiconductor current filaments

DOEpatents

Zutavern, Fred J.; Loubriel, Guillermo M.; Buttram, Malcolm T.; Mar, Alan; Helgeson, Wesley D.; O'Malley, Martin W.; Hjalmarson, Harold P.; Baca, Albert G.; Chow, Weng W.; Vawter, G. Allen

2003-01-01

The present invention provides a new type of semiconductor light source that can produce a high peak power output and is not injection, e-beam, or optically pumped. The present invention is capable of producing high quality coherent or incoherent optical emission. The present invention is based on current filaments, unlike conventional semiconductor lasers that are based on p-n junctions. The present invention provides a light source formed by an electron-hole plasma inside a current filament. The electron-hole plasma can be several hundred microns in diameter and several centimeters long. A current filament can be initiated optically or with an e-beam, but can be pumped electrically across a large insulating region. A current filament can be produced in high gain photoconductive semiconductor switches. The light source provided by the present invention has a potentially large volume and therefore a potentially large energy per pulse or peak power available from a single (coherent) semiconductor laser. Like other semiconductor lasers, these light sources will emit radiation at the wavelength near the bandgap energy (for GaAs 875 nm or near infra red). Immediate potential applications of the present invention include high energy, short pulse, compact, low cost lasers and other incoherent light sources.

Picosecond transient backward stimulated Raman scattering and pumping of femtosecond dye lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arrivo, Steven M.; Spears, Kenneth G.; Sipior, Jeffrey

1995-02-01

We report studies of transient, backward stimulated, Raman scattering (TBSRS) in solvents with a 10 Hz, 27 ps, 532 nm pump laser. The TBSRS effect was used to create pulses at 545 nm and 630 nm with durations of 2-3 ps and 5-10 μJ of energy. The duration, energy and fluctuations of the Raman pulse were studied as a function of pump energy and focal parameters. A 5 μJ Raman pulse was amplified in either a Raman amplifier or two stage dye amplifier to 1 mJ levels. A 545 nm pulse of 3 ps duration was generated in CCl 4 and was then used to pump a short cavity dye laser (SCDL). The SCDL oscillator and a 5 stage dye amplifier provided a pulse of 700 fs and 400 μJ that was tunable near 590 nm.

Attosecond electromagnetic pulse generation due to the interaction of a relativistic soliton with a breaking-wake plasma wave.

PubMed

Isanin, A V; Bulanov, S S; Kamenets, F F; Pegoraro, F

2005-03-01

During the interaction of a low-frequency relativistic soliton with the electron density modulations of a wake plasma wave, part of the electromagnetic energy of the soliton is reflected in the form of an extremely short and ultraintense electromagnetic pulse. We calculate the spectra of the reflected and of the transmitted electromagnetic pulses analytically. The reflected wave has the form of a single cycle attosecond pulse.

A new sealed RF-excited CO2 laser for enamel ablation operating at 9.4-μm with a pulse duration of 26-μs

PubMed Central

Chan, Kenneth H.; Jew, Jamison M.; Fried, Daniel

2016-01-01

Several studies over the past 20 years have shown that carbon dioxide lasers operating at wavelengths between 9.3 and 9.6-μm with pulse durations near 20-μs are ideal for hard tissue ablation. Those wavelengths are coincident with the peak absorption of the mineral phase. The pulse duration is close to the thermal relaxation time of the deposited energy of a few microseconds which is short enough to minimize peripheral thermal damage and long enough to minimize plasma shielding effects to allow efficient ablation at practical rates. The desired pulse duration near 20-μs has been difficult to achieve since it is too long for transverse excited atmospheric pressure (TEA) lasers and too short for radio-frequency (RF) excited lasers for efficient operation. Recently, Coherent Inc. (Santa Clara, CA) developed the Diamond J5-V laser for microvia drilling which can produce laser pulses greater than 100-mJ in energy at 9.4-μm with a pulse duration of 26-μs and it can achieve pulse repetition rates of 3 KHz. We report the first results using this laser to ablate dental enamel. Efficient ablation of dental enamel is possible at rates exceeding 50-μm per pulse. This laser is ideally suited for the selective ablation of carious lesions. PMID:27006521

First-principles simulation for strong and ultra-short laser pulse propagation in dielectrics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yabana, K.

2016-05-01

We develop a computational approach for interaction between strong laser pulse and dielectrics based on time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). In this approach, a key ingredient is a solver to simulate electron dynamics in a unit cell of solids under a time-varying electric field that is a time-dependent extension of the static band calculation. This calculation can be regarded as a constitutive relation, providing macroscopic electric current for a given electric field applied to the medium. Combining the solver with Maxwell equations for electromagnetic fields of the laser pulse, we describe propagation of laser pulses in dielectrics without any empirical parameters. An important output from the coupled Maxwell+TDDFT simulation is the energy transfer from the laser pulse to electrons in the medium. We have found an abrupt increase of the energy transfer at certain laser intensity close to damage threshold. We also estimate damage threshold by comparing the transferred energy with melting and cohesive energies. It shows reasonable agreement with measurements.

High energy 523 nm ND:YLF pulsed slab laser with novel pump beam waveguide design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Qi; Zhu, Xiaolei; Ma, Jian; Lu, Tingting; Ma, Xiuhua; Chen, Weibiao

2015-11-01

A laser diode pumped Nd:YLF master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) green laser system with high pulse energy and high stable output is demonstrated. At a repetition rate of 50 Hz, 840 mJ pulse energy, 9.1 ns pulse width of 1047 nm infrared laser emitting is obtained from the MOPA system. The corresponding peak power is 93 MW. Extra-cavity frequency doubling with a LiB3O5 crystal, pulse energy of 520 mJ at 523 nm wavelength is achieved. The frequency conversion efficiency reaches up to 62%. The output pulse energy instability of the laser system is less than 0.6% for one hour.

Design and development of compact pulsed power driver for electron beam experiments

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Deb, Pankaj; Sharma, S.K.; Adhikary, B.

2014-07-01

Pulsed electron beam generation requires high power pulses of fast rise, short duration pulse with flat top. With this objective we have designed a low cost compact pulsed power driver based on water dielectric transmission line. The paper describes the design aspects and construction of the pulse power driver and its experimental results. The pulsed power driver consist of a capacitor bank and its charging power supply, high voltage generator, high voltage switch and pulse compression system. (author)

Fiber-optic manipulation of urinary stone phantoms using holmium:YAG and thulium fiber lasers.

PubMed

Blackmon, Richard L; Case, Jason R; Trammell, Susan R; Irby, Pierce B; Fried, Nathaniel M

2013-02-01

Fiber-optic attraction of urinary stones during laser lithotripsy may be exploited to manipulate stone fragments inside the urinary tract without mechanical grasping tools, saving the urologist time and space in the ureteroscope working channel. We compare thulium fiber laser (TFL) high pulse rate/low pulse energy operation to conventional holmium:YAG low pulse rate/high pulse energy operation for fiber-optic suctioning of plaster-of-paris (PoP) stone phantoms. A TFL (wavelength of 1908 nm, pulse energy of 35 mJ, pulse duration of 500 μs, and pulse rate of 10 to 350 Hz) and a holmium laser (wavelength of 2120 nm, pulse energy of 35 to 360 mJ, pulse duration of 300 μs, and pulse rate of 20 Hz) were tested using 270-μm-core optical fibers. A peak drag speed of ~2.5 mm/s was measured for both TFL (35 mJ and 150 to 250 Hz) and holmium laser (210 mJ and 20 Hz). Particle image velocimetry and thermal imaging were used to track water flow for all parameters. Fiber-optic suctioning of urinary stone phantoms is feasible. TFL operation at high pulse rates/low pulse energies is preferable to holmium operation at low pulse rates/high pulse energies for rapid and smooth stone pulling. With further development, this novel technique may be useful for manipulating stone fragments in the urinary tract.

X-ray lasers and methods utilizing two component driving illumination provided by optical laser means of relatively low energy and small physical size

DOEpatents

Rosen, Mordecai D.; Matthews, Dennis L.

1991-01-01

An X-ray laser (10), and related methodology, are disclosed wherein an X-ray laser target (12) is illuminated with a first pulse of optical laser radiation (14) of relatively long duration having scarcely enough energy to produce a narrow and linear cool plasma of uniform composition (38). A second, relatively short pulse of optical laser radiation (18) is uniformly swept across the length, from end to end, of the plasma (38), at about the speed of light, to consecutively illuminate continuously succeeding portions of the plasma (38) with optical laser radiation having scarcely enough energy to heat, ionize, and invert them into the continuously succeeding portions of an X-ray gain medium. This inventive double pulse technique results in a saving of more than two orders of magnitude in driving optical laser energy, when compared to the conventional single pulse approach.

Generation of shock waves and formation of craters in a solid material irradiated by a short laser pulse

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gus'kov, Sergei Yu; Borodziuk, S; Kasperczuk, A

2004-11-30

The results of investigations are presented which are concerned with laser radiation absorption in a target, the plasma state of its ablated material, the energy transfer to the solid target material, the characteristics of the shock wave and craters on the target surface. The investigation involved irradiation of a planar target by a subnanosecond plasma-producing laser pulse. The experiments were carried out with massive aluminium targets using the PALS iodine laser, whose pulse duration (0.4 ns) was much shorter than the shock wave attenuation and on-target crater formation times (50-200 ns). The investigations were conducted for a laser radiation energymore » of 100 J at two wavelengths of 0.438 and 1.315 {mu}m. For a given pulse energy, the irradiation intensity was varied in a broad range (10{sup 13}-10{sup 16} W cm{sup -2}) by varying the radius of the laser beam. The efficiency of laser radiation-to-shock energy transfer was determined as a function of the intensity and wavelength of laser radiation; also determined were the characteristics of the plasma plume and the shock wave propagating in the solid target, including the experimental conditions under which two-dimensional effects are highly significant. (invited paper)« less

Simulations of bremsstrahlung emission in ultra-intense laser interactions with foil targets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vyskočil, Jiří; Klimo, Ondřej; Weber, Stefan

2018-05-01

Bremsstrahlung emission from interactions of short ultra-intense laser pulses with solid foils is studied using particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. A module for simulating bremsstrahlung has been implemented in the PIC loop to self-consistently account for the dynamics of the laser–plasma interaction, plasma expansion, and the emission of gamma ray photons. This module made it possible to study emission from thin targets, where refluxing of hot electrons plays an important role. It is shown that the angular distribution of the emitted photons exhibits a four-directional structure with the angle of emission decreasing with the increase of the width of the target. Additionally, a collimated forward flash consisting of high energy photons has been identified in thin targets. The conversion efficiency of the energy of the laser pulse to the energy of the gamma rays rises with both the driving pulse intensity, and the thickness of the target. The amount of gamma rays also increases with the atomic number of the target material, despite a lower absorption of the driving laser pulse. The angular spectrum of the emitted gamma rays is directly related to the increase of hot electron divergence during their refluxing and its measurement can be used in experiments to study this process.

Treatment of infantile hemangiomas with the 595-nm pulsed dye laser using different pulse widths in an Asian population.

PubMed

Tay, Yong-Kwang; Tan, Siew-Kiang

2012-02-01

The pulsed dye laser (PDL) using varying fluences and pulse durations have been used to treat hemangiomas. This study aims to examine the efficacy and safety of the 595-nm PDL for the treatment of infantile hemangiomas using short (1.5-3 milliseconds) versus long (10 milliseconds) pulse durations and high fluences. This is a retrospective study of patients with hemangiomas (n = 23) treated with the 595-nm PDL from 2003 to 2007. The parameters used for the short pulse duration group (n = 15) were 7-mm spot size, fluence 10-13.5 J/cm(2) and dynamic cooling device (DCD) spray duration of 50 milliseconds and delay of 30 milliseconds. For the long pulse duration group (n = 8), parameters were 7-mm spot size, fluence 10.5-14.5 J/cm(2) and DCD spray duration of 40 milliseconds and delay of 20 milliseconds. The number of treatments required to achieve complete or near complete resolution of the hemangioma ranged from 3 to 14 for the short pulse duration group (mean: 8) and for the long pulse duration group, 4-14 treatments (mean: 9). For both groups, more treatments were needed to achieve clearance of mixed hemangiomas (n = 13) compared to superficial hemangiomas (n = 10) (on average, 4-5 treatments more). Erythema, edema, and purpura lasted for about a week in the short pulse duration group but only 2 days in the long pulse duration group. There was no ulceration or hypertrophic scarring noted in both groups. Both short and long pulse durations using moderately high fluences are equally effective in the treatment of infantile hemangiomas. Shorter pulse durations had a slightly higher incidence of side effects compared to longer pulse duration in our patients with darker phototypes. Hemangiomas are tumors with relatively large diameter blood vessels and this provides the basis for the use of longer pulse durations. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Efficient and controllable thermal ablation induced by short-pulsed HIFU sequence assisted with perfluorohexane nanodroplets.

PubMed

Chang, Nan; Lu, Shukuan; Qin, Dui; Xu, Tianqi; Han, Meng; Wang, Supin; Wan, Mingxi

2018-07-01

A HIFU sequence with extremely short pulse duration and high pulse repetition frequency can achieve thermal ablation at a low acoustic power using inertial cavitation. Because of its cavitation-dependent property, the therapeutic outcome is unreliable when the treatment zone lacks cavitation nuclei. To overcome this intrinsic limitation, we introduced perfluorocarbon nanodroplets as extra cavitation nuclei into short-pulsed HIFU-mediated thermal ablation. Two types of nanodroplets were used with perfluorohexane (PFH) as the core material coated with bovine serum albumin (BSA) or an anionic fluorosurfactant (FS) to demonstrate the feasibility of this study. The thermal ablation process was recorded by high-speed photography. The inertial cavitation activity during the ablation was revealed by sonoluminescence (SL). The high-speed photography results show that the thermal ablation volume increased by ∼643% and 596% with BSA-PFH and FS-PFH, respectively, than the short-pulsed HIFU alone at an acoustic power of 19.5 W. Using nanodroplets, much larger ablation volumes were created even at a much lower acoustic power. Meanwhile, the treatment time for ablating a desired volume significantly reduced in the presence of nanodroplets. Moreover, by adjusting the treatment time, lesion migration towards the HIFU transducer could also be avoided. The SL results show that the thermal lesion shape was significantly dependent on the inertial cavitation in this short-pulsed HIFU-mediated thermal ablation. The inertial cavitation activity became more predictable by using nanodroplets. Therefore, the introduction of PFH nanodroplets as extra cavitation nuclei made the short-pulsed HIFU thermal ablation more efficient by increasing the ablation volume and speed, and more controllable by reducing the acoustic power and preventing lesion migration. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

System and method of infrared matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry in polyacrylamide gels

DOEpatents

Haglund, Jr., Richard F.; Ermer, David R.; Baltz-Knorr, Michelle Lee

2004-11-30

A system and method for desorption and ionization of analytes in an ablation medium. In one embodiment, the method includes the steps of preparing a sample having analytes in a medium including at least one component, freezing the sample at a sufficiently low temperature so that at least part of the sample has a phase transition, and irradiating the frozen sample with short-pulse radiation to cause medium ablation and desorption and ionization of the analytes. The method further includes the steps of selecting a resonant vibrational mode of at least one component of the medium and selecting an energy source tuned to emit radiation substantially at the wavelength of the selected resonant vibrational mode. The medium is an electrophoresis medium having polyacrylamide. In one embodiment, the energy source is a laser, where the laser can be a free electron laser tunable to generate short-pulse radiation. Alternatively, the laser can be a solid state laser tunable to generate short-pulse radiation. The laser can emit light at various ranges of wavelength.

Review of laser-driven ion sources and their applications.

PubMed

Daido, Hiroyuki; Nishiuchi, Mamiko; Pirozhkov, Alexander S

2012-05-01

For many years, laser-driven ion acceleration, mainly proton acceleration, has been proposed and a number of proof-of-principle experiments have been carried out with lasers whose pulse duration was in the nanosecond range. In the 1990s, ion acceleration in a relativistic plasma was demonstrated with ultra-short pulse lasers based on the chirped pulse amplification technique which can provide not only picosecond or femtosecond laser pulse duration, but simultaneously ultra-high peak power of terawatt to petawatt levels. Starting from the year 2000, several groups demonstrated low transverse emittance, tens of MeV proton beams with a conversion efficiency of up to several percent. The laser-accelerated particle beams have a duration of the order of a few picoseconds at the source, an ultra-high peak current and a broad energy spectrum, which make them suitable for many, including several unique, applications. This paper reviews, firstly, the historical background including the early laser-matter interaction studies on energetic ion acceleration relevant to inertial confinement fusion. Secondly, we describe several implemented and proposed mechanisms of proton and/or ion acceleration driven by ultra-short high-intensity lasers. We pay special attention to relatively simple models of several acceleration regimes. The models connect the laser, plasma and proton/ion beam parameters, predicting important features, such as energy spectral shape, optimum conditions and scalings under these conditions for maximum ion energy, conversion efficiency, etc. The models also suggest possible ways to manipulate the proton/ion beams by tailoring the target and irradiation conditions. Thirdly, we review experimental results on proton/ion acceleration, starting with the description of driving lasers. We list experimental results and show general trends of parameter dependences and compare them with the theoretical predictions and simulations. The fourth topic includes a review of scientific, industrial and medical applications of laser-driven proton or ion sources, some of which have already been established, while the others are yet to be demonstrated. In most applications, the laser-driven ion sources are complementary to the conventional accelerators, exhibiting significantly different properties. Finally, we summarize the paper.

Low energy production processes in manufacturing of silicon solar cells

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kirkpatrick, A. R.

1976-01-01

Ion implantation and pulsed energy techniques are being combined for fabrication of silicon solar cells totally under vacuum and at room temperature. Simplified sequences allow very short processing times with small process energy consumption. Economic projections for fully automated production are excellent.

Evaluation of actuator energy storage and power sources for spacecraft applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simon, William E.; Young, Fred M.

1993-01-01

The objective of this evaluation is to determine an optimum energy storage/power source combination for electrical actuation systems for existing (Solid Rocket Booster (SRB), Shuttle) and future (Advanced Launch System (ALS), Shuttle Derivative) vehicles. Characteristic of these applications is the requirement for high power pulses (50-200 kW) for short times (milliseconds to seconds), coupled with longer-term base or 'housekeeping' requirements (5-16 kW). Specific study parameters (e.g., weight, volume, etc.) as stated in the proposal and specified in the Statement of Work (SOW) are included.

Thermoacoustic Imaging and Therapy Guidance based on Ultra-short Pulsed Microwave Pumped Thermoelastic Effect Induced with Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles

PubMed Central

Wen, Liewei; Yang, Sihua; Zhong, Junping; Zhou, Quan; Xing, Da

2017-01-01

Multifunctional nanoparticle-mediated imaging and therapeutic techniques are promising modalities for accurate localization and targeted treatment of cancer in clinical settings. Thermoacoustic (TA) imaging is highly sensitive to detect the distribution of water, ions or specific nanoprobes and provides excellent resolution, good contrast and superior tissue penetrability. TA therapy is a potential non-invasive approach for the treatment of deep-seated tumors. In this study, human serum albumin (HSA)-functionalized superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle (HSA-SPIO) is used as a multifunctional nanoprobe with clinical application potential for MRI, TA imaging and treatment of tumor. In addition to be a MRI contrast agent for tumor localization, HSA-SPIO can absorb pulsed microwave energy and transform it into shockwave via the thermoelastic effect. Thereby, the reconstructed TA image by detecting TA signal is expected to be a sensitive and accurate representation of the HSA-SPIO accumulation in tumor. More importantly, owing to the selective retention of HSA-SPIO in tumor tissues and strong TA shockwave at the cellular level, HSA-SPIO induced TA effect under microwave-pulse radiation can be used to highly-efficiently kill cancer cells and inhibit tumor growth. Furthermore, ultra-short pulsed microwave with high excitation efficiency and deep penetrability in biological tissues makes TA therapy a highly-efficient anti-tumor modality on the versatile platform. Overall, HSA-SPIO mediated MRI and TA imaging would offer more comprehensive diagnostic information and enable dynamic visualization of nanoagents in the tumorous tissue thereby tumor-targeted therapy. PMID:28638483

Thermoacoustic Imaging and Therapy Guidance based on Ultra-short Pulsed Microwave Pumped Thermoelastic Effect Induced with Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles.

PubMed

Wen, Liewei; Yang, Sihua; Zhong, Junping; Zhou, Quan; Xing, Da

2017-01-01

Multifunctional nanoparticle-mediated imaging and therapeutic techniques are promising modalities for accurate localization and targeted treatment of cancer in clinical settings. Thermoacoustic (TA) imaging is highly sensitive to detect the distribution of water, ions or specific nanoprobes and provides excellent resolution, good contrast and superior tissue penetrability. TA therapy is a potential non-invasive approach for the treatment of deep-seated tumors. In this study, human serum albumin (HSA)-functionalized superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle (HSA-SPIO) is used as a multifunctional nanoprobe with clinical application potential for MRI, TA imaging and treatment of tumor. In addition to be a MRI contrast agent for tumor localization, HSA-SPIO can absorb pulsed microwave energy and transform it into shockwave via the thermoelastic effect. Thereby, the reconstructed TA image by detecting TA signal is expected to be a sensitive and accurate representation of the HSA-SPIO accumulation in tumor. More importantly, owing to the selective retention of HSA-SPIO in tumor tissues and strong TA shockwave at the cellular level, HSA-SPIO induced TA effect under microwave-pulse radiation can be used to highly-efficiently kill cancer cells and inhibit tumor growth. Furthermore, ultra-short pulsed microwave with high excitation efficiency and deep penetrability in biological tissues makes TA therapy a highly-efficient anti-tumor modality on the versatile platform. Overall, HSA-SPIO mediated MRI and TA imaging would offer more comprehensive diagnostic information and enable dynamic visualization of nanoagents in the tumorous tissue thereby tumor-targeted therapy.

Feedback-controlled laser fabrication of micromirror substrates.

PubMed

Petrak, Benjamin; Konthasinghe, Kumarasiri; Perez, Sonia; Muller, Andreas

2011-12-01

Short (40-200 μs) single focused CO(2) laser pulses of energy ≳100 μJ were used to fabricate high quality concave micromirror templates on silica and fluoride glass. The ablated features have diameters of ≈20-100 μm and average root-mean-square (RMS) surface microroughness near their center of less than 0.2 nm. Temporally monitoring the fabrication process revealed that it proceeds on a time scale shorter than the laser pulse duration. We implement a fast feedback control loop (≈20 kHz bandwidth) based on the light emitted by the sample that ensures an RMS size dispersion of less than 5% in arrays on chips or in individually fabricated features on an optical fiber tip, a significant improvement over previous approaches using longer pulses and open loop operation.

Effect of multipath laser shock processing on microhardness, surface roughness, and wear resistance of 2024-T3 Al alloy.

PubMed

Kadhim, Abdulhadi; Salim, Evan T; Fayadh, Saeed M; Al-Amiery, Ahmed A; Kadhum, Abdul Amir H; Mohamad, Abu Bakar

2014-01-01

Laser shock processing (LSP) is an innovative surface treatment technique with high peak power, short pulse, and cold hardening for strengthening metal materials. LSP is based on the application of a high intensity pulsed laser beam (I > 1 GW/cm(2); t < 50 ns) at the interface between the metallic target and the surrounding medium (a transparent confining material, normally water) forcing a sudden vaporization of the metallic surface into a high temperature and density plasma that immediately develops inducing a shock wave propagating into the material. The shock wave induces plastic deformation and a residual stress distribution in the target material. In this paper we study the increase of microhardness and surface roughness with the increase of laser pulse energy in 2024-T3 Al alloy. The influence of the thickness of the confining layer (water) on microhardness and surface roughness is also studied. In addition, the effect of LSP treatment with best conditions on wear behaviors of the alloy was investigated.

Multi-millijoule few-cycle mid-infrared pulses through nonlinear self-compression in bulk

PubMed Central

Shumakova, V.; Malevich, P.; Ališauskas, S.; Voronin, A.; Zheltikov, A. M.; Faccio, D.; Kartashov, D.; Baltuška, A.; Pugžlys, A.

2016-01-01

The physics of strong-field applications requires driver laser pulses that are both energetic and extremely short. Whereas optical amplifiers, laser and parametric, boost the energy, their gain bandwidth restricts the attainable pulse duration, requiring additional nonlinear spectral broadening to enable few or even single cycle compression and a corresponding peak power increase. Here we demonstrate, in the mid-infrared wavelength range that is important for scaling the ponderomotive energy in strong-field interactions, a simple energy-efficient and scalable soliton-like pulse compression in a mm-long yttrium aluminium garnet crystal with no additional dispersion management. Sub-three-cycle pulses with >0.44 TW peak power are compressed and extracted before the onset of modulation instability and multiple filamentation as a result of a favourable interplay between strong anomalous dispersion and optical nonlinearity around the wavelength of 3.9 μm. As a manifestation of the increased peak power, we show the evidence of mid-infrared pulse filamentation in atmospheric air. PMID:27620117

Short Pulse High Brightness X-ray Production with the PLEIADES Thomson Scattering Source

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Anderson, S G; Barty, C P J; Betts, S M

2003-07-01

We describe PLEIADES, a compact, tunable, high-brightness, ultra-short pulse, Thomson x-ray source. The peak brightness of the source is expected to exceed 10{sup 20} photons/s/0.1% bandwidth/mm{sup 2}/mrad{sup 2}. Initial results are reported and compared to theoretical calculations.

Traceability validation of a high speed short-pulse testing method used in LED production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Revtova, Elena; Vuelban, Edgar Moreno; Zhao, Dongsheng; Brenkman, Jacques; Ulden, Henk

2017-12-01

Industrial processes of LED (light-emitting diode) production include LED light output performance testing. Most of them are monitored and controlled by optically, electrically and thermally measuring LEDs by high speed short-pulse measurement methods. However, these are not standardized and a lot of information is proprietary that it is impossible for third parties, such as NMIs, to trace and validate. It is known, that these techniques have traceability issue and metrological inadequacies. Often due to these, the claimed performance specifications of LEDs are overstated, which consequently results to manufacturers experiencing customers' dissatisfaction and a large percentage of failures in daily use of LEDs. In this research a traceable setup is developed to validate one of the high speed testing techniques, investigate inadequacies and work out the traceability issues. A well-characterised short square pulse of 25 ms is applied to chip-on-board (CoB) LED modules to investigate the light output and colour content. We conclude that the short-pulse method is very efficient in case a well-defined electrical current pulse is applied and the stabilization time of the device is "a priori" accurately determined. No colour shift is observed. The largest contributors to the measurement uncertainty include badly-defined current pulse and inaccurate calibration factor.

Plasma x-ray radiation source.

PubMed

Popkov, N F; Kargin, V I; Ryaslov, E A; Pikar', A S

1995-01-01

This paper gives the results of studies on a plasma x-ray source, which enables one to obtain a 2.5-krad radiation dose per pulse over an area of 100 cm2 in the quantum energy range from 20 to 500 keV. Pulse duration is 100 ns. Spectral radiation distributions from a diode under various operation conditions of a plasma are obtained. A Marx generator served as an initial energy source of 120 kJ with a discharge time of T/4 = 10-6 s. A short electromagnetic pulse (10-7 s) was shaped using plasma erosion opening switches.

Word and frame synchronization with verification for PPM optical communications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marshall, William K.

1986-01-01

A method for obtaining word and frame synchronization in pulse position modulated optical communication systems is described. The method uses a short sync sequence inserted at the beginning of each data frame and a verification procedure to distinguish between inserted and randomly occurring sequences at the receiver. This results in an easy to implement sync system which provides reliable synchronization even at high symbol error rates. Results are given for the application of this approach to a highly energy efficient 256-ary PPM test system.

Potential clinical impact of laser-accelerated beams in cancer ion therapy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Obcemea, Ceferino

2016-09-01

In this article, I present three advantages of plasma-accelerated ion beams for cancer therapy. I discuss how: 1. low-emittance and well-collimated beams are advantageous in proximal normal tissue-sparing; 2. highly-peaked quasi-monoenergetic beams are ideal for fast energy selection and switching in Pencil Beam Scanning (PBS) as a treatment delivery; 3. high fluence and ultra-short pulse delivery produce collective excitations in the medium and enhance the stopping power. This in turn produces denser ionization track signatures (spurs, blobs, etc.) in target tumors, higher linear energy transfer, higher Bragg peak, and higher radiobiological effectiveness at the micro-level.

Short intense ion pulses for materials and warm dense matter research

DOE PAGES

Seidl, Peter A.; Persaud, Arun; Waldron, William L.; ...

2015-08-14

We have commenced experiments with intense short pulses of ion beams on the Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment-II at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, by generating beam spots size with radius r<1 mm within 2 ns FWHM and approximately 10 10 ions/pulse. To enable the short pulse durations and mm-scale focal spot radii, the 1.2 MeV Li + ion beam is neutralized in a 1.6-meter drift compression section located after the last accelerator magnet. An 8-Tesla short focal length solenoid compresses the beam in the presence of the large volume plasma near the end of this section before the target. The scientificmore » topics to be explored are warm dense matter, the dynamics of radiation damage in materials, and intense beam and beam-plasma physics including selected topics of relevance to the development of heavy-ion drivers for inertial fusion energy. Finally, we describe the accelerator commissioning and time-resolved ionoluminescence measurements of yttrium aluminum perovskite using the fully integrated accelerator and neutralized drift compression components.« less

Optical control of hard X-ray polarization by electron injection in a laser wakefield accelerator

PubMed Central

Schnell, Michael; Sävert, Alexander; Uschmann, Ingo; Reuter, Maria; Nicolai, Maria; Kämpfer, Tino; Landgraf, Björn; Jäckel, Oliver; Jansen, Oliver; Pukhov, Alexander; Kaluza, Malte Christoph; Spielmann, Christian

2013-01-01

Laser-plasma particle accelerators could provide more compact sources of high-energy radiation than conventional accelerators. Moreover, because they deliver radiation in femtosecond pulses, they could improve the time resolution of X-ray absorption techniques. Here we show that we can measure and control the polarization of ultra-short, broad-band keV photon pulses emitted from a laser-plasma-based betatron source. The electron trajectories and hence the polarization of the emitted X-rays are experimentally controlled by the pulse-front tilt of the driving laser pulses. Particle-in-cell simulations show that an asymmetric plasma wave can be driven by a tilted pulse front and a non-symmetric intensity distribution of the focal spot. Both lead to a notable off-axis electron injection followed by collective electron–betatron oscillations. We expect that our method for an all-optical steering is not only useful for plasma-based X-ray sources but also has significance for future laser-based particle accelerators. PMID:24026068

Experimental Investigation of Airbreathing Laser Propulsion Engines: CO2TEA vs. EDL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mori, Koichi; Sasoh, Akihiro; Myrabo, Leik N.

2005-04-01

Single pulse laboratory experiments were carried out with a high-power CO2 Transversely-Exited Atmospheric (TEA) laser using parabolic laser propulsion (LP) engines of historic interest: 1) an original Pirri/ AERL bell engine, and 2) a scaled-up 11-cm diameter version with identical geometry. The objective was to quantify the effects of pulse duration upon the impulse coupling coefficient performance — with pulse energy as the parametric variable. Performance data from the TEA laser are contrasted with former results derived from AVCO Everett Research Laboratory and PLVTS CO2 electron discharge lasers (EDL). The `short-pulse' 2-microsecond TEA laser tests generated results that were distinctively different from that of the `long-pulse' EDL sources. The TC-300 TEA laser employed an unstable resonator to deliver up to 380 joules, and the square output beam measured 15-cm on a side, with a hollow 8-cm center. A standard ballistic pendulum was employed to measure the performance.

High-energy infrared femtosecond pulses generated by dual-chirped optical parametric amplification.

PubMed

Fu, Yuxi; Takahashi, Eiji J; Midorikawa, Katsumi

2015-11-01

We demonstrate high-energy infrared femtosecond pulse generation by a dual-chirped optical parametric amplification (DC-OPA) scheme [Opt. Express19, 7190 (2011)]. By employing a 100 mJ pump laser, a signal pulse energy exceeding 20 mJ at a wavelength of 1.4 μm was achieved before dispersion compensation. A total output energy of 33 mJ was recorded. Under a further energy scaling condition, the signal pulse was compressed to an almost transform-limited duration of 27 fs using a fused silica prism compressor. Since the DC-OPA scheme is efficient and energy scalable, design parameters for obtaining 100 mJ level infrared pulses are presented, which are suitable as driver lasers for the energy scaling of high-order harmonic generation with sub-keV photon energy.

Three-photon excitation source at 1250 nm generated in a dual zero dispersion wavelength nonlinear fiber

DOE PAGES

Domingue, Scott R.; Bartels, Randy A.

2014-12-04

Here, we demonstrate 1250 nm pulses generated in dual-zero dispersion photonic crystal fiber capable of three-photon excitation fluorescence microscopy. The total power conversion efficiency from the 28 fs seed pulse centered at 1075 nm to pulses at 1250 nm, including coupling losses from the nonlinear fiber, is 35%, with up to 67% power conversion efficiency of the fiber coupled light. Frequency-resolved optical gating measurements characterize 1250 nm pulses at 0.6 nJ and 2 nJ, illustrating the change in nonlinear spectral phase accumulation with pulse energy even for nonlinear fiber lengths < 50 mm. The 0.6 nJ pulse has a 26more » fs duration and is the shortest nonlinear fiber derived 1250 nm pulse yet reported (to the best of our knowledge). The short pulse durations and energies make these pulses a viable route to producing light at 1250 nm for multiphoton microscopy, which we we demonstrate here, via a three-photon excitation fluorescence microscope.« less

Coaxial-type water load for measuring high voltage, high current and short pulse of a compact Marx system for a high power microwave source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Jaeeun; Kim, Jung-ho; Park, Sang-duck; Yoon, Moohyun; Park, Soo Yong; Choi, Do Won; Shin, Jin Woo; So, Joon Ho

2009-11-01

A coaxial-type water load was used to measure the voltage output from a Marx generator for a high power microwave source. This output had a rise time of 20 ns, a pulse duration of a few hundred ns, and an amplitude up to 500 kV. The design of the coaxial water load showed that it is an ideal resistive divider and can also accurately measure a short pulse. Experiments were performed to test the performance of the Marx generator with the calibrated coaxial water load.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ULTRASHORT HIGH-ENERGY RADIATION AND MATTER

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wootton, A J

2004-01-15

The workshop is intended as a forum to discuss the latest experimental, theoretical and computational results related to the interaction of high energy radiation with matter. High energy is intended to mean soft x-ray and beyond, but important new results from visible systems will be incorporated. The workshop will be interdisciplinary amongst scientists from many fields, including: plasma physics; x-ray physics and optics; solid state physics and material science; biology ; quantum optics. Topics will include, among other subjects: understanding damage thresholds for x-ray interactions with matter developing {approx} 5 keV x-ray sources to investigate damage; developing {approx} 100 keVmore » Thomsom sources for material studies; developing short pulse (100 fs and less) x-ray diagnostics; developing novel X-ray optics; and developing models for the response of biological samples to ultra intense, sub ps x-rays high-energy radiation.« less

Laser acceleration of quasi-monoenergetic MeV ion beams.

PubMed

Hegelich, B M; Albright, B J; Cobble, J; Flippo, K; Letzring, S; Paffett, M; Ruhl, H; Schreiber, J; Schulze, R K; Fernández, J C

2006-01-26

Acceleration of particles by intense laser-plasma interactions represents a rapidly evolving field of interest, as highlighted by the recent demonstration of laser-driven relativistic beams of monoenergetic electrons. Ultrahigh-intensity lasers can produce accelerating fields of 10 TV m(-1) (1 TV = 10(12) V), surpassing those in conventional accelerators by six orders of magnitude. Laser-driven ions with energies of several MeV per nucleon have also been produced. Such ion beams exhibit unprecedented characteristics--short pulse lengths, high currents and low transverse emittance--but their exponential energy spectra have almost 100% energy spread. This large energy spread, which is a consequence of the experimental conditions used to date, remains the biggest impediment to the wider use of this technology. Here we report the production of quasi-monoenergetic laser-driven C5+ ions with a vastly reduced energy spread of 17%. The ions have a mean energy of 3 MeV per nucleon (full-width at half-maximum approximately 0.5 MeV per nucleon) and a longitudinal emittance of less than 2 x 10(-6) eV s for pulse durations shorter than 1 ps. Such laser-driven, high-current, quasi-monoenergetic ion sources may enable significant advances in the development of compact MeV ion accelerators, new diagnostics, medical physics, inertial confinement fusion and fast ignition.

Efficient optical pulse stacker system

DOEpatents

Seppala, Lynn G.; Haas, Roger A.

1982-01-01

Method and apparatus for spreading and angle-encoding each pulse of a multiplicity of small area, short pulses into several temporally staggered pulses by use of appropriate beam splitters, with the optical elements being arranged so that each staggered pulse is contiguous with one or two other such pulses, and the entire sequence of stacked pulses comprising a single, continuous long pulse. The single long pulse is expanded in area, and then doubly passed through a nonstorage laser amplifier such as KrF. After amplification, the physically separated, angle-encoded and temporally staggered pulses are recombined into a single pulse of short duration. This high intensity output beam is well collimated and may be propagated over long distance, or used for irradiating inertial confinement fusion targets.

Fiber-optic manipulation of urinary stone phantoms using holmium:YAG and thulium fiber lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blackmon, Richard L.; Case, Jason R.; Trammell, Susan R.; Irby, Pierce B.; Fried, Nathaniel M.

2013-02-01

Fiber-optic attraction of urinary stones during laser lithotripsy may be exploited to manipulate stone fragments inside the urinary tract without mechanical grasping tools, saving the urologist time and space in the ureteroscope working channel. We compare thulium fiber laser (TFL) high pulse rate/low pulse energy operation to conventional holmium:YAG low pulse rate/high pulse energy operation for fiber-optic suctioning of plaster-of-paris (PoP) stone phantoms. A TFL (wavelength of 1908 nm, pulse energy of 35 mJ, pulse duration of 500 μs, and pulse rate of 10 to 350 Hz) and a holmium laser (wavelength of 2120 nm, pulse energy of 35 to 360 mJ, pulse duration of 300 μs, and pulse rate of 20 Hz) were tested using 270-μm-core optical fibers. A peak drag speed of ˜2.5 mm/s was measured for both TFL (35 mJ and 150 to 250 Hz) and holmium laser (210 mJ and 20 Hz). Particle image velocimetry and thermal imaging were used to track water flow for all parameters. Fiber-optic suctioning of urinary stone phantoms is feasible. TFL operation at high pulse rates/low pulse energies is preferable to holmium operation at low pulse rates/high pulse energies for rapid and smooth stone pulling. With further development, this novel technique may be useful for manipulating stone fragments in the urinary tract.

Thin film beam splitter multiple short pulse generation for enhanced Ni-like Ag x-ray laser emission.

PubMed

Cojocaru, Gabriel V; Ungureanu, Razvan G; Banici, Romeo A; Ursescu, Daniel; Delmas, Olivier; Pittman, Moana; Guilbaud, Olivier; Kazamias, Sophie; Cassou, Kevin; Demailly, Julien; Neveu, Olivier; Baynard, Elsa; Ros, David

2014-04-15

An alternative, novel multiple pulse generation scheme was implemented directly after the optical compressor output of an x-ray pump laser. The new method uses a polarization sensitive thin film beam splitter and a half-wavelength wave plate for tuning the energy ratio in the multiple short pulses. Based on this method, an extensive study was made of the running parameters for a grazing incidence pumped silver x-ray laser (XRL) pumped with a long pulse of 145 mJ in 6 ns at 532 nm and up to 1.45 J in few picoseconds at 810 nm. Fivefold enhancement in the emission of the silver XRL was demonstrated using the new pump method.

Generation of short electron bunches by a laser pulse crossing a sharp boundary of inhomogeneous plasma

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kuznetsov, S. V., E-mail: svk-IVTAN@yandex.ru

The formation of short electron bunches during the passage of a laser pulse of relativistic intensity through a sharp boundary of semi-bounded plasma has been analytically studied. It is shown in one-dimensional geometry that one physical mechanism that is responsible for the generation of electron bunches is their self-injection into the wake field of a laser pulse, which occurs due to the mixing of electrons during the action of the laser pulse on plasma. Simple analytic relationships are obtained that can be used for estimating the length and charge of an electron bunch and the spread of electron energies inmore » the bunch. The results of the analytical investigation are confirmed by data from numerical simulations.« less

Ion acceleration in electrostatic field of charged cavity created by ultra-short laser pulses of 1020-1021 W/cm2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bychenkov, V. Yu.; Singh, P. K.; Ahmed, H.; Kakolee, K. F.; Scullion, C.; Jeong, T. W.; Hadjisolomou, P.; Alejo, A.; Kar, S.; Borghesi, M.; Ter-Avetisyan, S.

2017-01-01

Ion acceleration resulting from the interaction of ultra-high intensity and ultra-high contrast (˜10-10) laser pulses with thin A l foil targets at 30° angle of laser incidence is studied. Proton maximum energies of 30 and 18 MeV are measured along the target normal rear and front sides, respectively, showing intensity scaling as Ib . For the target front bf r o n t= 0.5-0.6 and for the target rear br e a r= 0.7-0.8 is observed in the intensity range 1020-1021 W/cm2. The fast scaling from the target rear ˜I0.75 can be attributed enhancement of laser energy absorption as already observed at relatively low intensities. The backward acceleration of the front side protons with intensity scaling as ˜I0.5 can be attributed to the to the formation of a positively charged cavity at the target front via ponderomotive displacement of the target electrons at the interaction of relativistic intense laser pulses with a solid target. The experimental results are in a good agreement with theoretical predictions.

Laser induced mortality of Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keller, Matthew D.; Leahy, David J.; Norton, Bryan J.; Johanson, Threeric; Mullen, Emma R.; Marvit, Maclen; Makagon, Arty

2016-02-01

Small, flying insects continue to pose great risks to both human health and agricultural production throughout the world, so there remains a compelling need to develop new vector and pest control approaches. Here, we examined the use of short (<25 ms) laser pulses to kill or disable anesthetized female Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes, which were chosen as a representative species. The mortality of mosquitoes exposed to laser pulses of various wavelength, power, pulse duration, and spot size combinations was assessed 24 hours after exposure. For otherwise comparable conditions, green and far-infrared wavelengths were found to be more effective than near- and mid-infrared wavelengths. Pulses with larger laser spot sizes required lower lethal energy densities, or fluence, but more pulse energy than for smaller spot sizes with greater fluence. Pulse duration had to be reduced by several orders of magnitude to significantly lower the lethal pulse energy or fluence required. These results identified the most promising candidates for the lethal laser component in a system being designed to identify, track, and shoot down flying insects in the wild.

Comparison of equilibrium ohmic and nonequilibrium swarm models for monitoring conduction electron evolution in high-altitude EMP calculations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pusateri, Elise N.; Morris, Heidi E.; Nelson, Eric

2016-10-17

Here, atmospheric electromagnetic pulse (EMP) events are important physical phenomena that occur through both man-made and natural processes. Radiation-induced currents and voltages in EMP can couple with electrical systems, such as those found in satellites, and cause significant damage. Due to the disruptive nature of EMP, it is important to accurately predict EMP evolution and propagation with computational models. CHAP-LA (Compton High Altitude Pulse-Los Alamos) is a state-of-the-art EMP code that solves Maxwell inline images equations for gamma source-induced electromagnetic fields in the atmosphere. In EMP, low-energy, conduction electrons constitute a conduction current that limits the EMP by opposing themore » Compton current. CHAP-LA calculates the conduction current using an equilibrium ohmic model. The equilibrium model works well at low altitudes, where the electron energy equilibration time is short compared to the rise time or duration of the EMP. At high altitudes, the equilibration time increases beyond the EMP rise time and the predicted equilibrium ionization rate becomes very large. The ohmic model predicts an unphysically large production of conduction electrons which prematurely and abruptly shorts the EMP in the simulation code. An electron swarm model, which implicitly accounts for the time evolution of the conduction electron energy distribution, can be used to overcome the limitations exhibited by the equilibrium ohmic model. We have developed and validated an electron swarm model previously in Pusateri et al. (2015). Here we demonstrate EMP damping behavior caused by the ohmic model at high altitudes and show improvements on high-altitude, upward EMP modeling obtained by integrating a swarm model into CHAP-LA.« less

Comparison of equilibrium ohmic and nonequilibrium swarm models for monitoring conduction electron evolution in high-altitude EMP calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pusateri, Elise N.; Morris, Heidi E.; Nelson, Eric; Ji, Wei

2016-10-01

Atmospheric electromagnetic pulse (EMP) events are important physical phenomena that occur through both man-made and natural processes. Radiation-induced currents and voltages in EMP can couple with electrical systems, such as those found in satellites, and cause significant damage. Due to the disruptive nature of EMP, it is important to accurately predict EMP evolution and propagation with computational models. CHAP-LA (Compton High Altitude Pulse-Los Alamos) is a state-of-the-art EMP code that solves Maxwell's equations for gamma source-induced electromagnetic fields in the atmosphere. In EMP, low-energy, conduction electrons constitute a conduction current that limits the EMP by opposing the Compton current. CHAP-LA calculates the conduction current using an equilibrium ohmic model. The equilibrium model works well at low altitudes, where the electron energy equilibration time is short compared to the rise time or duration of the EMP. At high altitudes, the equilibration time increases beyond the EMP rise time and the predicted equilibrium ionization rate becomes very large. The ohmic model predicts an unphysically large production of conduction electrons which prematurely and abruptly shorts the EMP in the simulation code. An electron swarm model, which implicitly accounts for the time evolution of the conduction electron energy distribution, can be used to overcome the limitations exhibited by the equilibrium ohmic model. We have developed and validated an electron swarm model previously in Pusateri et al. (2015). Here we demonstrate EMP damping behavior caused by the ohmic model at high altitudes and show improvements on high-altitude, upward EMP modeling obtained by integrating a swarm model into CHAP-LA.

ICPP: Relativistic Plasma Physics with Ultra-Short High-Intensity Laser Pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meyer-Ter-Vehn, Juergen

2000-10-01

Recent progress in generating ultra-short high-intensity laser pulses has opened a new branch of relativistic plasma physics, which is discussed in this talk in terms of particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. These pulses create small plasma volumes of high-density plasma with plasma fields above 10^12 V/m and 10^8 Gauss. At intensities beyond 10^18 W/cm^2, now available from table-top systems, they drive relativistic electron currents in self-focussing plasma channels. These currents are close to the Alfven limit and allow to study relativistic current filamentation. A most remarkable feature is the generation of well collimated relativistic electron beams emerging from the channels with energies up to GeV. In dense matter they trigger cascades of gamma-rays, e^+e^- pairs, and a host of nuclear and particle processes. One of the applications may be fast ignition of compressed inertial fusion targets. Above 10^23 W/cm^2, expected to be achieved in the future, solid-density matter becomes relativistically transparent for optical light, and the acceleration of protons to multi-GeV energies is predicted in plasma layers less than 1 mm thick. These results open completely new perspectives for plasma-based accelerator schemes. Three-dimensional PIC simulations turn out to be the superior tool to explore the relativistic plasma kinetics at such intensities. Results obtained with the VLPL code [1] are presented. Different mechanisms of particle acceleration are discussed. Both laser wakefield and direct laser acceleration in plasma channels (by a mechanism similar to inverse free electron lasers) have been identified. The latter describes recent MPQ experimental results. [1] A. Pukhov, J. Plasma Physics 61, 425 - 433 (1999): Three-dimensional electromagnetic relativistic particle-in-cell code VLPL (Virtual Laser Plasma Laboratory).

Extremely short relativistic-electron-bunch generation in the laser wakefield via novel bunch injection scheme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khachatryan, A. G.; van Goor, F. A.; Boller, K.-J.; Reitsma, A. J.; Jaroszynski, D. A.

2004-12-01

Recently a new electron-bunch injection scheme for the laser wakefield accelerator has been proposed [

Above scaling short-pulse ion acceleration from flat foil and ``Pizza-top Cone'' targets at the Trident laser facility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flippo, Kirk; Hegelich, B. Manuel; Cort Gautier, D.; Johnson, J. Randy; Kline, John L.; Shimada, Tsutomu; Fernández, Juan C.; Gaillard, Sandrine; Rassuchine, Jennifer; Le Galloudec, Nathalie; Cowan, Thomas E.; Malekos, Steve; Korgan, Grant

2006-10-01

Ion-driven Fast Ignition (IFI) has certain advantages over electron-driven FI due to a possible large reduction in the amount of energy required. Recent experiments at the Los Alamos National Laboratory's Trident facility have yielded ion energies and efficiencies many times in excess of recent published scaling laws, leading to even more potential advantages of IFI. Proton energies in excess of 35 MeV have been observed from targets produced by the University of Nevada, Reno - dubbed ``Pizza-top Cone'' targets - at intensities of only 1x10^19 W/cm^2 with 20 joules in 600 fs. Energies in excess of 24 MeV were observed from simple flat foil targets as well. The observed energies, above any published scaling laws, are attributed to target production, preparation, and shot to shot monitoring of many laser parameters, especially the laser ASE prepulse level and laser pulse duration. The laser parameters are monitored in real-time to keep the laser in optimal condition throughout the run providing high quality, reproducible shots.

Numerical Simulation of Energy Conversion Mechanism in Electric Explosion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wanjun, Wang; Junjun, Lv; Mingshui, Zhu; Qiubo, Fu; EFIs Integration R&D Group Team

2017-06-01

Electric explosion happens when micron-scale metal films such as copper film is stimulated by short-time current pulse, while generating high temperature and high pressure plasma. The expansion process of the plasma plays an important role in the study of the generation of shock waves and the study of the EOS of matter under high pressure. In this paper, the electric explosion process is divided into two stages: the energy deposition stage and the quasi-isentropic expansion stage, and a dynamic EOS of plasma considering the energy replenishment is established. On this basis, flyer driven by plasma is studied numerically, the pressure and the internal energy of plasma in the energy deposition stage and the quasi - isentropic expansion stage are obtained by comparing the velocity history of the flyer with the experimental results. An energy conversion model is established, and the energy conversion efficiency of each process is obtained, and the influence of impedance matching relationship between flyer and metal plasma on the energy conversion efficiency is proposed in this paper.

Generation of an isolated sub-40-as pulse using two-color laser pulses: Combined chirp effects

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Feng, Liqiang; Chu, Tianshu; Institute for Computational Sciences and Engineering, Laboratory of New Fiber Materials and Modern Textile, the Growing Base for State Key Laboratory, Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266071

2011-11-15

In this paper, we theoretically discuss the combined chirp effects on the isolated attosecond generation when a model Ar is exposed to an intense 5-fs, 800-nm fundamental chirped pulse combined with a weak 10-fs, 1200-nm controlling chirped pulse. It shows that for the case of the chirp parameters {beta}{sub 1} = 6.1 (corresponding to the 800-nm field) and {beta}{sub 2} = 4.0 (corresponding to the 1200-nm field), both the harmonic cutoff energy and the supercontinuum can be remarkably extended resulting in a 663-eV bandwidth. Moreover, due to the introduction of the chirps, the short quantum path is selected to contributemore » to the harmonic spectrum. Finally, by superposing a properly selected harmonic spectrum in the supercontinuum region, an isolated pulse as short as 31 as (5 as) is generated without (with) phase compensation.« less

Two-stage Raman compression of laser pulses with controllable phase fronts

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Balakin, A. A.; Fraiman, G. M.; State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod

2015-05-15

The phase front of an ultrashort laser pulse undergoing Raman amplification and compression in inhomogeneous plasma can be controlled such that it is unaffected by density gradients and thus remains focusable. This is achieved by performing the Raman backscattering in two stages. At the first stage, the standard nonlinear Raman compression of a seed wave takes place and produces a short ultraintense pulse, which yet may be poorly focusable. At the second stage, this amplified pulse is scattered again, now serving as a pump, off a second copy of the initial seed. This stage, which utilizes a denser and shortermore » plasma, is intended not for compression but rather for passing a significant fraction of the energy to the second seed quickly. Then, the output pulse that is produced is not just short and ultraintense, but also has the smooth phase front of the original seed.« less

Microwave-triggered laser switch

DOEpatents

Piltch, M.S.

1982-05-19

A high-repetition rate switch is described for delivering short duration, high-powered electrical pulses from a pulsed-charged dc power supply. The present invention utilizes a microwave-generating device such as a magnetron that is capable of producing high-power pulses at high-pulse repetition rates and fast-pulse risetimes for long periods with high reliability. The rail-gap electrodes provide a large surface area that reduces induction effects and minimizes electrode erosion. Additionally, breakdown is initiated in a continuous geometric fashion that also increases operating lifetime of the device.

Microwave-triggered laser switch

DOEpatents

Piltch, Martin S.

1984-01-01

A high-repetition rate switch for delivering short duration, high-power electrical pulses from a pulsed-charged dc power supply. The present invention utilizes a microwave-generating device such as a magnetron that is capable of producing high-power pulses at high-pulse repetition rates and fast-pulse risetimes for long periods with high reliability. The rail-gap electrodes provide a large surface area that reduces induction effects and minimizes electrode erosion. Additionally, breakdown is initiated in a continuous geometric fashion that also increases operating lifetime of the device.

Thermoacoustic sound projector: exceeding the fundamental efficiency of carbon nanotubes.

PubMed

Aliev, Ali E; Codoluto, Daniel; Baughman, Ray H; Ovalle-Robles, Raquel; Inoue, Kanzan; Romanov, Stepan A; Nasibulin, Albert G; Kumar, Prashant; Priya, Shashank; Mayo, Nathanael K; Blottman, John B

2018-08-10

The combination of smooth, continuous sound spectra produced by a sound source having no vibrating parts, a nanoscale thickness of a flexible active layer and the feasibility of creating large, conformal projectors provoke interest in thermoacoustic phenomena. However, at low frequencies, the sound pressure level (SPL) and the sound generation efficiency of an open carbon nanotube sheet (CNTS) is low. In addition, the nanoscale thickness of fragile heating elements, their high sensitivity to the environment and the high surface temperatures practical for thermoacoustic sound generation necessitate protective encapsulation of a freestanding CNTS in inert gases. Encapsulation provides the desired increase of sound pressure towards low frequencies. However, the protective enclosure restricts heat dissipation from the resistively heated CNTS and the interior of the encapsulated device. Here, the heat dissipation issue is addressed by short pulse excitations of the CNTS. An overall increase of energy conversion efficiency by more than four orders (from 10 -5 to 0.1) and the SPL of 120 dB re 20 μPa @ 1 m in air and 170 dB re 1 μPa @ 1 m in water were demonstrated. The short pulse excitation provides a stable linear increase of output sound pressure with substantially increased input power density (>2.5 W cm -2 ). We provide an extensive experimental study of pulse excitations in different thermodynamic regimes for freestanding CNTSs with varying thermal inertias (single-walled and multiwalled with varying diameters and numbers of superimposed sheet layers) in vacuum and in air. The acoustical and geometrical parameters providing further enhancement of energy conversion efficiency are discussed.

Acceleration Modes and Transitions in Pulsed Plasma Accelerators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Polzin, Kurt A.; Greve, Christine M.

2018-01-01

Pulsed plasma accelerators typically operate by storing energy in a capacitor bank and then discharging this energy through a gas, ionizing and accelerating it through the Lorentz body force. Two plasma accelerator types employing this general scheme have typically been studied: the gas-fed pulsed plasma thruster and the quasi-steady magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) accelerator. The gas-fed pulsed plasma accelerator is generally represented as a completely transient device discharging in approximately 1-10 microseconds. When the capacitor bank is discharged through the gas, a current sheet forms at the breech of the thruster and propagates forward under a j (current density) by B (magnetic field) body force, entraining propellant it encounters. This process is sometimes referred to as detonation-mode acceleration because the current sheet representation approximates that of a strong shock propagating through the gas. Acceleration of the initial current sheet ceases when either the current sheet reaches the end of the device and is ejected or when the current in the circuit reverses, striking a new current sheet at the breech and depriving the initial sheet of additional acceleration. In the quasi-steady MPD accelerator, the pulse is lengthened to approximately 1 millisecond or longer and maintained at an approximately constant level during discharge. The time over which the transient phenomena experienced during startup typically occur is short relative to the overall discharge time, which is now long enough for the plasma to assume a relatively steady-state configuration. The ionized gas flows through a stationary current channel in a manner that is sometimes referred to as the deflagration-mode of operation. The plasma experiences electromagnetic acceleration as it flows through the current channel towards the exit of the device. A device that had a short pulse length but appeared to operate in a plasma acceleration regime different from the gas-fed pulsed plasma accelerators was developed by Cheng, et al. The Coaxial High ENerGy (CHENG) thruster operated on the 10-microseconds timescales of pulsed plasma thrusters, but claimed high thrust density, high efficiency and low electrode erosion rates, which are more consistent with the deflagration mode of acceleration. Separate work on gas-fed pulsed plasma thrusters (PPTs) by Ziemer, et al. identified two separate regimes of performance. The regime at higher mass bits (termed Mode I in that work) possessed relatively constant thrust efficiency (ratio of jet kinetic energy to input electrical energy) as a function of mass bit. In the second regime at very low mass bits (termed Mode II), the efficiency increased with decreasing mass bit. Work by Poehlmann et al. and by Sitaraman and Raja sought to understand the performance of the CHENG thruster and the Mode I / Mode II performance in PPTs by modeling the acceleration using the Hugoniot Relation, with the detonation and deflagration modes representing two distinct sets of solutions to the relevant conservation laws. These works studied the proposal that, depending upon the values of the various controllable parameters, the accelerator would operate in either the detonation or deflagration mode. In the present work, we propose a variation on the explanation for the differences in performance between the various pulsed plasma accelerators. Instead of treating the accelerator as if it were only operating in one mode or the other during a pulse, we model the initial stage of the discharge in all cases as an accelerating current sheet (detonation mode). If the current sheet reaches the exit of the accelerator before the discharge is completed, the acceleration mode transitions to the deflagration mode type found in the quasi-steady MPD thrusters. This modeling method is used to demonstrate that standard gas-fed pulsed plasma accelerators, the CHENG thruster, and the quasi-steady MPD accelerator are variations of the same device, with the overall acceleration of the plasma depending upon the behavior of the plasma discharge during initial transient phase and the relative lengths of the detonation and deflagration modes of operation.

Diversified pulse generation from frequency shifted feedback Tm-doped fibre lasers.

PubMed

Chen, He; Chen, Sheng-Ping; Jiang, Zong-Fu; Hou, Jing

2016-05-19

Pulsed fibre lasers operating in the eye-safe 2 μm spectral region have numerous potential applications in areas such as remote sensing, medicine, mid-infrared frequency conversion, and free-space communication. Here, for the first time, we demonstrate versatile 2 μm ps-ns pulses generation from Tm-based fibre lasers based on frequency shifted feedback and provide a comprehensive report of their special behaviors. The lasers are featured with elegant construction and the unparalleled capacity of generating versatile pulses. The self-starting mode-locking is initiated by an intra-cavity acousto-optical frequency shifter. Diversified mode-locked pulse dynamics were observed by altering the pump power, intra-cavity polarization state and cavity structure, including as short as 8 ps single pulse sequence, pulse bundle state and up to 12 nJ, 3 ns nanosecond rectangular pulse. A reflective nonlinear optical loop mirror was introduced to successfully shorten the pulses from 24 ps to 8 ps. Beside the mode-locking operation, flexible Q-switching and Q-switched mode-locking operation can also be readily achieved in the same cavity. Up to 78 μJ high energy nanosecond pulse can be generated in this regime. Several intriguing pulse dynamics are characterized and discussed.

Fiber optic suctioning of urinary stone phantoms during laser lithotripsy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blackmon, Richard L.; Case, Jason R.; Trammell, Susan R.; Irby, Pierce B.; Fried, Nathaniel M.

2013-03-01

Fiber optic attraction of urinary stones during laser lithotripsy has been previously observed, and this phenomenon may potentially be exploited to pull stones inside the urinary tract without mechanical grasping tools, thus saving the urologist valuable time and space in the ureteroscope's single working channel. In this study, Thulium fiber laser (TFL) high-pulse-rate/low-pulse-energy operation and Holmium:YAG low-pulse-rate/high-pulse-energy operation are compared for fiber optic "suctioning" of Plaster-of-Paris stone phantoms. A TFL with wavelength of 1908 nm, pulse energy of 35 mJ, pulse duration of 500 μs, and pulse rate of 10-350 Hz, and Holmium laser with wavelength of 2120 nm, pulse energy of 35-360 mJ, pulse duration of 300 μs, and pulse rate of 20 Hz were tested using 270-μm-core fibers. A peak "pull" speed of 2.5 mm/s was measured for both TFL (35 mJ and 150-250 Hz) and Holmium laser (210 mJ and 20 Hz). Particle image velocimetry and thermal imaging were used to track water flow for all parameters. Fiber optic suctioning of urinary stone phantoms is feasible for both lasers. However, TFL operation at high-pulse-rates/low-pulse-energies provides faster, smoother stone pulling than Holmium operation at low-pulserates/ high-pulse-energies. After further study, this method may be used to manipulate urinary stones in the clinic.

Fiber Bragg grating Fabry-Perot cavity sensor based on pulse laser demodulation technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Fangfang; Chen, Jianfeng; Liu, Yunqi; Wang, Tingyun

2011-12-01

We demonstrate a fiber laser sensing technique based on fiber Bragg grating Fabry-Perot (FBG-FP) cavity interrogated by pulsed laser, where short pulses generated from active mode-locked erbium-doped fiber ring laser and current modulated DFB laser are adopted. The modulated laser pulses launched into the FBG-FP cavity produce a group of reflected pulses. The optical loss in the cavity can be determined from the power ratio of the first two pulses reflected from the cavity. This technique does not require high reflectivity FBGs and is immune to the power fluctuation of the light source. Two short pulse laser sources were compared experimentally with each other on pulse width, pulse stability, pulse chirp and sensing efficiency.

1W frequency-doubled VCSEL-pumped blue laser with high pulse energy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Van Leeuwen, Robert; Chen, Tong; Watkins, Laurence; Xu, Guoyang; Seurin, Jean-Francois; Wang, Qing; Zhou, Delai; Ghosh, Chuni

2015-02-01

We report on a Q-switched VCSEL side-pumped 946 nm Nd:YAG laser that produces high average power blue light with high pulse energy after frequency doubling in BBO. The gain medium was water cooled and symmetrically pumped by three 1 kW 808 nm VCSEL pump modules. More than 1 W blue output was achieved at 210 Hz with 4.9 mJ pulse energy and at 340 Hz with 3.2 mJ pulse energy, with 42% and 36% second harmonic conversion efficiency respectively. Higher pulse energy was obtained at lower repetition frequencies, up to 9.3 mJ at 70 Hz with 52% conversion efficiency.

Development of a cryogenic hydrogen microjet for high-intensity, high-repetition rate experiments

DOE PAGES

Kim, J. B.; Göde, S.; Glenzer, S. H.

2016-08-19

The advent of high-intensity, high-repetition-rate lasers has led to the need for replenishing targets of interest for high energy density sciences. We describe the design and characterization of a cryogenic microjet source, which can deliver a continuous stream of liquid hydrogen with a diameter of a few microns. The jet has been imaged at 1 μm resolution by shadowgraphy with a short pulse laser. In conclusion, the pointing stability has been measured at well below a mrad, for a stable free-standing filament of solid-density hydrogen.

Diffraction based method to reconstruct the spectrum of the Thomson scattering x-ray source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chi, Zhijun; Yan, Lixin; Zhang, Zhen; Zhou, Zheng; Zheng, Lianmin; Wang, Dong; Tian, Qili; Wang, Wei; Nie, Zan; Zhang, Jie; Du, Yingchao; Hua, Jianfei; Shi, Jiaru; Pai, Chihao; Lu, Wei; Huang, Wenhui; Chen, Huaibi; Tang, Chuanxiang

2017-04-01

As Thomson scattering x-ray sources based on the collision of intense laser and relativistic electrons have drawn much attention in various scientific fields, there is an increasing demand for the effective methods to reconstruct the spectrum information of the ultra-short and high-intensity x-ray pulses. In this paper, a precise spectrum measurement method for the Thomson scattering x-ray sources was proposed with the diffraction of a Highly Oriented Pyrolytic Graphite (HOPG) crystal and was demonstrated at the Tsinghua Thomson scattering X-ray source. The x-ray pulse is diffracted by a 15 mm (L) ×15 mm (H)× 1 mm (D) HOPG crystal with 1° mosaic spread. By analyzing the diffraction pattern, both x-ray peak energies and energy spectral bandwidths at different polar angles can be reconstructed, which agree well with the theoretical value and simulation. The higher integral reflectivity of the HOPG crystal makes this method possible for single-shot measurement.

Diffraction based method to reconstruct the spectrum of the Thomson scattering x-ray source.

PubMed

Chi, Zhijun; Yan, Lixin; Zhang, Zhen; Zhou, Zheng; Zheng, Lianmin; Wang, Dong; Tian, Qili; Wang, Wei; Nie, Zan; Zhang, Jie; Du, Yingchao; Hua, Jianfei; Shi, Jiaru; Pai, Chihao; Lu, Wei; Huang, Wenhui; Chen, Huaibi; Tang, Chuanxiang

2017-04-01

As Thomson scattering x-ray sources based on the collision of intense laser and relativistic electrons have drawn much attention in various scientific fields, there is an increasing demand for the effective methods to reconstruct the spectrum information of the ultra-short and high-intensity x-ray pulses. In this paper, a precise spectrum measurement method for the Thomson scattering x-ray sources was proposed with the diffraction of a Highly Oriented Pyrolytic Graphite (HOPG) crystal and was demonstrated at the Tsinghua Thomson scattering X-ray source. The x-ray pulse is diffracted by a 15 mm (L) ×15 mm (H)× 1 mm (D) HOPG crystal with 1° mosaic spread. By analyzing the diffraction pattern, both x-ray peak energies and energy spectral bandwidths at different polar angles can be reconstructed, which agree well with the theoretical value and simulation. The higher integral reflectivity of the HOPG crystal makes this method possible for single-shot measurement.

Erbium:YAG laser contouring of the nasal dorsum: a preliminary investigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Truong, Mai T.; Majaron, Boris; Pandoh, Nidhi S.; Wong, Brian J.

2001-05-01

In conventional aesthetic rhinoplasty operations, manual or powered rasps are used to reduce the osseo-cartilagenous nasal dorsum. This tactile method requires palpation of the instrument and the dorsum during surgery to estimate the degree of volume reduction, and often requires forceful manipulation of the dorsum which may illicit pain during surgery and contribute to post-operative edema and echymosis. In this preliminary study, we investigated the use of the Erbium:YAG laser ((lambda) equals294 micrometers ) to reduce bone and cartilage using ex-vivo porcine nasal dorsum and human cadaveric tissues. The short pulsed length and high absorption of this laser in biologic tissues results in minimization of thermal injury which are ideal for non- contact optical contouring of osseous and cartilagenous tissues in the face. Two Erbium:YAG lasers were used to ablate fresh porcine nasal bone and compared for their use. One Erbium:YAG laser, the Fidelis Laser, Fontana Medical Lasers, Ljubljana, Slovenija with variable pulse repetition rates (2 to 50 Hz), pulse energy (80 to 1000 mJ), and pulse duration (100, 300, 750 and 1000 microsecond(s) ) was used and compared to the Ultrafine Erbium:YAG laser, Coherent Inc., Santa Clara California, with variable pulse repetition rate (2 to 10 Hz), pulse energy (2-16 J/cm2), and spot diameter (2-6 mm). Only laser parameters approximating the conditions for thermal confinement were evaluated.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cammarata, Marco; Eybert, Laurent; Ewald, Friederike

A chopper system for time resolved pump-probe experiments with x-ray beams from a synchrotron is described. The system has three parts: a water-cooled heatload chopper, a high-speed chopper, and a millisecond shutter. The chopper system, which is installed in beamline ID09B at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, provides short x-ray pulses for pump-probe experiments with ultrafast lasers. The chopper system can produce x-ray pulses as short as 200 ns in a continuous beam and repeat at frequencies from 0 to 3 kHz. For bunch filling patterns of the synchrotron with pulse separations greater than 100 ns, the high-speed chopper canmore » isolate single 100 ps x-ray pulses that are used for the highest time resolution. A new rotor in the high-speed chopper is presented with a single pulse (100 ps) and long pulse (10 {mu}s) option. In white beam experiments, the heatload of the (noncooled) high-speed chopper is lowered by a heatload chopper, which absorbs 95% of the incoming power without affecting the pulses selected by the high speed chopper.« less

Q-switched all-fiber laser with short pulse duration based on tungsten diselenide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Wenyi; OuYang, Yuyi; Ma, Guoli; Liu, Mengli; Liu, Wenjun

2018-05-01

Fiber lasers are widely used in industrial processing, sensing, medical and communications applications due to their simple structure, good stability and low cost. With the rapid development of fiber lasers and the sustained improvement of industrial laser quality requirements, researchers in ultrafast optics focus on how to get laser pulses with high output power and narrow pulse duration. Q-switched technology is one of the most effective techniques to generate ultrashort pulses. In this paper, a tungsten diselenide saturable absorber with 16.82% modulation depth is prepared by chemical vapor deposition. Experimental results show that when the pump power changes from 115.7 mW to 630 mW, the all-fiber laser can achieve a stable Q-switched pulse output. The repetition rate of the output pulse varies from 80.32 kHz to 204.2 kHz, the pulse duration is 581 ns, the maximum output power is 17.1 mW and the maximum pulse energy is 83.7 nJ. Results in this paper show that tungsten diselenide can be applied to ultrafast optics, which is a kind of saturable absorption material with excellent properties.

Magnetic Flux Compression Concept for Aerospace Propulsion and Power

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Litchford, Ron J.; Robertson, Tony; Hawk, Clark W.; Turner, Matt; Koelfgen, Syri

2000-01-01

The objective of this research is to investigate system level performance and design issues associated with magnetic flux compression devices for aerospace power generation and propulsion. The proposed concept incorporates the principles of magnetic flux compression for direct conversion of nuclear/chemical detonation energy into electrical power. Specifically a magnetic field is compressed between an expanding detonation driven diamagnetic plasma and a stator structure formed from a high temperature superconductor (HTSC). The expanding plasma cloud is entirely confined by the compressed magnetic field at the expense of internal kinetic energy. Electrical power is inductively extracted, and the detonation products are collimated and expelled through a magnetic nozzle. The long-term development of this highly integrated generator/propulsion system opens up revolutionary NASA Mission scenarios for future interplanetary and interstellar spacecraft. The unique features of this concept with respect to future space travel opportunities are as follows: ability to implement high energy density chemical detonations or ICF microfusion bursts as the impulsive diamagnetic plasma source; high power density system characteristics constrain the size, weight, and cost of the vehicle architecture; provides inductive storage pulse power with a very short pulse rise time; multimegajoule energy bursts/terawatt power bursts; compact pulse power driver for low-impedance dense plasma devices; utilization of low cost HTSC material and casting technology to increase magnetic flux conservation and inductive energy storage; improvement in chemical/nuclear-to-electric energy conversion efficiency and the ability to generate significant levels of thrust with very high specific impulse; potential for developing a small, lightweight, low cost, self-excited integrated propulsion and power system suitable for space stations, planetary bases, and interplanetary and interstellar space travel; potential for attaining specific impulses approaching 10 (exp 6) seconds, which would enable missions to the outer planets within ten years and missions at interstellar distances within fifty years.

Neutron imaging with the short-pulse laser driven neutron source at the TRIDENT Laser Facility

DOE PAGES

Guler, Nevzat; Volegov, Petr Lvovich; Favalli, Andrea; ...

2016-10-17

Emerging approaches to short-pulse laser-driven neutron production offer a possible gateway to compact, low cost, and intense broad spectrum sources for a wide variety of applications. They are based on energetic ions, driven by an intense short-pulse laser, interacting with a converter material to produce neutrons via breakup and nuclear reactions. Recent experiments performed with the high-contrast laser at the Trident laser facility of Los Alamos National Laboratory have demonstrated a laser-driven ion acceleration mechanism operating in the regime of relativistic transparency, featuring a volumetric laser-plasma interaction. This mechanism is distinct from previously studied ones that accelerate ions at themore » laser-target surface. The Trident experiments produced an intense beam of deuterons with an energy distribution extending above 100 MeV. This deuteron beam, when directed at a beryllium converter, produces a forward-directed neutron beam with ~5x10 9 n/sr, in a single laser shot, primarily due to deuteron breakup. The neutron beam has a pulse duration on the order of a few nanoseconds with an energy distribution extending from a few hundreds of keV to almost 80 MeV. For the experiments on neutron-source spot-size measurements, our gated neutron imager was setup to select neutrons in the energy range of 2.5 to 35 MeV. The spot size of neutron emission at the converter was measured by two different imaging techniques, using a knife-edge and a penumbral aperture, in two different experimental campaigns. The neutron-source spot size is measured ~1 mm for both experiments. The measurements and analysis reported here give a spatial characterization for this type of neutron source for the first time. In addition, the forward modeling performed provides an empirical estimate of the spatial characteristics of the deuteron ion-beam. Finally, these experimental observations, taken together, provide essential yet unique data to benchmark and verify theoretical work into the basic acceleration mechanism, which remains an ongoing challenge.« less

Neutron imaging with the short-pulse laser driven neutron source at the TRIDENT Laser Facility

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Guler, Nevzat; Volegov, Petr Lvovich; Favalli, Andrea

Emerging approaches to short-pulse laser-driven neutron production offer a possible gateway to compact, low cost, and intense broad spectrum sources for a wide variety of applications. They are based on energetic ions, driven by an intense short-pulse laser, interacting with a converter material to produce neutrons via breakup and nuclear reactions. Recent experiments performed with the high-contrast laser at the Trident laser facility of Los Alamos National Laboratory have demonstrated a laser-driven ion acceleration mechanism operating in the regime of relativistic transparency, featuring a volumetric laser-plasma interaction. This mechanism is distinct from previously studied ones that accelerate ions at themore » laser-target surface. The Trident experiments produced an intense beam of deuterons with an energy distribution extending above 100 MeV. This deuteron beam, when directed at a beryllium converter, produces a forward-directed neutron beam with ~5x10 9 n/sr, in a single laser shot, primarily due to deuteron breakup. The neutron beam has a pulse duration on the order of a few nanoseconds with an energy distribution extending from a few hundreds of keV to almost 80 MeV. For the experiments on neutron-source spot-size measurements, our gated neutron imager was setup to select neutrons in the energy range of 2.5 to 35 MeV. The spot size of neutron emission at the converter was measured by two different imaging techniques, using a knife-edge and a penumbral aperture, in two different experimental campaigns. The neutron-source spot size is measured ~1 mm for both experiments. The measurements and analysis reported here give a spatial characterization for this type of neutron source for the first time. In addition, the forward modeling performed provides an empirical estimate of the spatial characteristics of the deuteron ion-beam. Finally, these experimental observations, taken together, provide essential yet unique data to benchmark and verify theoretical work into the basic acceleration mechanism, which remains an ongoing challenge.« less

Accreting, highly magnetized neutron stars at the Eddington limit: a study of the 2016 outburst of SMC X-3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koliopanos, Filippos; Vasilopoulos, Georgios

2018-06-01

Aims: We study the temporal and spectral characteristics of SMC X-3 during its recent (2016) outburst to probe accretion onto highly magnetized neutron stars (NSs) at the Eddington limit. Methods: We obtained XMM-Newton observations of SMC X-3 and combined them with long-term observations by Swift. We performed a detailed analysis of the temporal and spectral behavior of the source, as well as its short- and long-term evolution. We have also constructed a simple toy-model (based on robust theoretical predictions) in order to gain insight into the complex emission pattern of SMC X-3. Results: We confirm the pulse period of the system that has been derived by previous works and note that the pulse has a complex three-peak shape. We find that the pulsed emission is dominated by hard photons, while at energies below 1 keV, the emission does not pulsate. We furthermore find that the shape of the pulse profile and the short- and long-term evolution of the source light-curve can be explained by invoking a combination of a "fan" and a "polar" beam. The results of our temporal study are supported by our spectroscopic analysis, which reveals a two-component emission, comprised of a hard power law and a soft thermal component. We find that the latter produces the bulk of the non-pulsating emission and is most likely the result of reprocessing the primary hard emission by optically thick material that partly obscures the central source. We also detect strong emission lines from highly ionized metals. The strength of the emission lines strongly depends on the phase. Conclusions: Our findings are in agreement with previous works. The energy and temporal evolution as well as the shape of the pulse profile and the long-term spectra evolution of the source are consistent with the expected emission pattern of the accretion column in the super-critical regime, while the large reprocessing region is consistent with the analysis of previously studied X-ray pulsars observed at high accretion rates. This reprocessing region is consistent with recently proposed theoretical and observational works that suggested that highly magnetized NSs occupy a considerable fraction of ultraluminous X-ray sources.

Comparison of holmium:YAG and thulium fiber laser lithotripsy: ablation thresholds, ablation rates, and retropulsion effects.

PubMed

Blackmon, Richard L; Irby, Pierce B; Fried, Nathaniel M

2011-07-01

The holmium:YAG (Ho:YAG) laser lithotriptor is capable of operating at high pulse energies, but efficient operation is limited to low pulse rates (∼10 Hz) during lithotripsy. On the contrary, the thulium fiber laser (TFL) is limited to low pulse energies, but can operate efficiently at high pulse rates (up to 1000 Hz). This study compares stone ablation threshold, ablation rate, and retropulsion for the two different Ho:YAG and TFL operation modes. The TFL (λ = 1908 nm) was operated with pulse energies of 5 to 35 mJ, 500-μs pulse duration, and pulse rates of 10 to 400 Hz. The Ho:YAG laser (λ = 2120 nm) was operated with pulse energies of 30 to 550 mJ, 350-μs pulse duration, and a pulse rate of 10 Hz. Laser energy was delivered through 200- and 270-μm-core optical fibers in contact mode with human calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) stones for ablation studies and plaster-of-Paris stone phantoms for retropulsion studies. The COM stone ablation threshold for Ho:YAG and TFL measured 82.6 and 20.8 J∕cm(2), respectively. Stone retropulsion with the Ho:YAG laser linearly increased with pulse energy. Retropulsion with TFL was minimal at pulse rates less than 150 Hz, then rapidly increased at higher pulse rates. For minimal stone retropulsion, Ho:YAG operation at pulse energies less than 175 mJ at 10 Hz and TFL operation at 35 mJ at 100 Hz is recommended, with both lasers producing comparable ablation rates. Further development of a TFL operating with both high pulse energies of 100 to 200 mJ and high pulse rates of 100 to 150 Hz may also provide an alternative to the Ho:YAG laser for higher ablation rates, when retropulsion is not a primary concern.

Method and apparatus for electrical cable testing by pulse-arrested spark discharge

DOEpatents

Barnum, John R.; Warne, Larry K.; Jorgenson, Roy E.; Schneider, Larry X.

2005-02-08

A method for electrical cable testing by Pulse-Arrested Spark Discharge (PASD) uses the cable response to a short-duration high-voltage incident pulse to determine the location of an electrical breakdown that occurs at a defect site in the cable. The apparatus for cable testing by PASD includes a pulser for generating the short-duration high-voltage incident pulse, at least one diagnostic sensor to detect the incident pulse and the breakdown-induced reflected and/or transmitted pulses propagating from the electrical breakdown at the defect site, and a transient recorder to record the cable response. The method and apparatus are particularly useful to determine the location of defect sites in critical but inaccessible electrical cabling systems in aging aircraft, ships, nuclear power plants, and industrial complexes.

Forward voltage short-pulse technique for measuring high power laser array junction temperature

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meadows, Byron L. (Inventor); Amzajerdian, Frazin (Inventor); Barnes, Bruce W. (Inventor); Baker, Nathaniel R. (Inventor)

2012-01-01

The present invention relates to a method of measuring the temperature of the P-N junction within the light-emitting region of a quasi-continuous-wave or pulsed semiconductor laser diode device. A series of relatively short and low current monitor pulses are applied to the laser diode in the period between the main drive current pulses necessary to cause the semiconductor to lase. At the sufficiently low current level of the monitor pulses, the laser diode device does not lase and behaves similar to an electronic diode. The voltage across the laser diode resulting from each of these low current monitor pulses is measured with a high degree of precision. The junction temperature is then determined from the measured junction voltage using their known linear relationship.

Microscale heat transfer in fusion welding of glass by ultra-short pulse laser using dual phase lag effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bag, Swarup

2018-04-01

The heat transfer in microscale has very different physical basis than macroscale where energy transport depends on collisions among energy carriers (electron and phonon), mean free path for the lattice (~ 10 – 100 nm) and mean free time between energy carriers. The heat transport is described on the basis of different types of energy carriers averaging over the grain scale in space and collations between them in time scale. The physical bases of heat transfer are developed by phonon-electron interaction for metals and alloys and phonon scattering for insulators and dielectrics. The non-Fourier effects in heating become more and more predominant as the duration of heating pulse becomes extremely small that is comparable with mean free time of the energy carriers. The mean free time for electron – phonon and phonon-phonon interaction is of the order of 1 and 10 picoseconds, respectively. In the present study, the mathematical formulation of the problem is defined considering dual phase lag i.e. two relaxation times in heat transport assuming a volumetric heat generation for ultra-short pulse laser interaction with dielectrics. The relaxation times are estimated based on phonon scattering model. A three dimensional finite element model is developed to find transient temperature distribution using quadruple ellipsoidal heat source model. The analysis is performed for single and multiple pulses to generate the time temperature history at different location and at different instant of time. The simulated results are validated with experiments reported in independent literature. The effect of two relaxation times and pulse width on the temperature profile is studied through numerical simulation.

Fifteen terawatt picosecond CO2 laser system.

PubMed

Haberberger, D; Tochitsky, S; Joshi, C

2010-08-16

The generation of a record peak-power of 15 TW (45 J, 3 ps) in a single CO(2) laser beam is reported. Using a master oscillator-power amplifier laser system, it is shown that up to 100 J of energy can be extracted in a train of 3 ps laser pulses separated by 18 ps, a characteristic time of the CO(2) molecule. The bandwidth required for amplifying the short injected laser pulse train in a 2.5 atm final CO(2) amplifier is provided by field broadening of the medium at intensities of up to 140 GW/cm(2). The measured saturation energy for 3 ps pulses is 120 mJ/cm(2) which confirms that energy is simultaneously extracted from six rovibrational lines.

Short-range optical air data measurements for aircraft control using rotational Raman backscatter.

PubMed

Fraczek, Michael; Behrendt, Andreas; Schmitt, Nikolaus

2013-07-15

A first laboratory prototype of a novel concept for a short-range optical air data system for aircraft control and safety was built. The measurement methodology was introduced in [Appl. Opt. 51, 148 (2012)] and is based on techniques known from lidar detecting elastic and Raman backscatter from air. A wide range of flight-critical parameters, such as air temperature, molecular number density and pressure can be measured as well as data on atmospheric particles and humidity can be collected. In this paper, the experimental measurement performance achieved with the first laboratory prototype using 532 nm laser radiation of a pulse energy of 118 mJ is presented. Systematic measurement errors and statistical measurement uncertainties are quantified separately. The typical systematic temperature, density and pressure measurement errors obtained from the mean of 1000 averaged signal pulses are small amounting to < 0.22 K, < 0.36% and < 0.31%, respectively, for measurements at air pressures varying from 200 hPa to 950 hPa but constant air temperature of 298.95 K. The systematic measurement errors at air temperatures varying from 238 K to 308 K but constant air pressure of 946 hPa are even smaller and < 0.05 K, < 0.07% and < 0.06%, respectively. A focus is put on the system performance at different virtual flight altitudes as a function of the laser pulse energy. The virtual flight altitudes are precisely generated with a custom-made atmospheric simulation chamber system. In this context, minimum laser pulse energies and pulse numbers are experimentally determined, which are required using the measurement system, in order to meet measurement error demands for temperature and pressure specified in aviation standards. The aviation error margins limit the allowable temperature errors to 1.5 K for all measurement altitudes and the pressure errors to 0.1% for 0 m and 0.5% for 13000 m. With regard to 100-pulse-averaged temperature measurements, the pulse energy using 532 nm laser radiation has to be larger than 11 mJ (35 mJ), regarding 1-σ (3-σ) uncertainties at all measurement altitudes. For 100-pulse-averaged pressure measurements, the laser pulse energy has to be larger than 95 mJ (355 mJ), respectively. Based on these experimental results, the laser pulse energy requirements are extrapolated to the ultraviolet wavelength region as well, resulting in significantly lower pulse energy demand of 1.5 - 3 mJ (4-10 mJ) and 12-27 mJ (45-110 mJ) for 1-σ (3-σ) 100-pulse-averaged temperature and pressure measurements, respectively.

Toward Generation of High Power Ultrafast White Light Laser Using Femtosecond Terawatt Laser in a Gas-Filled Hollow-Core Fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tawfik, Walid

2015-06-01

In this work, we could experimentally achieved the generation of white-light laser pulses of few-cycle fs pulses using a neon-filled hollow-core fiber. The observed pulses reached 6-fs at at repetition rate of 1 kHz using 2.5 mJ of 31 fs femtosecond pulses. The pulse compressing achieved by the supercontinuum produced in static neon-filled hollow fibers while the dispersion compensation is achieved by five pairs of chirped mirrors. We showed that gas pressure can be used to continuously vary the bandwidth from 350 nm to 900 nm. Furthermore, the applied technique allows for a straightforward tuning of the pulse duration via the gas pressure whilst maintaining near-transform-limited pulses with constant output energy, thereby reducing the complications introduced by chirped pulses. Through measurements of the transmission through the fiber as a function of gas pressure, a high throughput exceeding 60% was achieved. Adaptive pulse compression is achieved by using the spectral phase obtained from a spectral phase interferometry for direct electric field reconstruction (SPIDER) measurement as feedback for a liquid crystal spatial light modulator (SLM). The spectral phase of these supercontinua is found to be extremely stable over several hours. This allowed us to demonstrate successful compression to pulses as short as 5.2 fs with controlled wide spectral bandwidth, which could be used to excite different states in complicated molecules at once.

Air and water cooled modulator

DOEpatents

Birx, Daniel L.; Arnold, Phillip A.; Ball, Don G.; Cook, Edward G.

1995-01-01

A compact high power magnetic compression apparatus and method for delivering high voltage pulses of short duration at a high repetition rate and high peak power output which does not require the use of environmentally unacceptable fluids such as chlorofluorocarbons either as a dielectric or as a coolant, and which discharges very little waste heat into the surrounding air. A first magnetic switch has cooling channels formed therethrough to facilitate the removal of excess heat. The first magnetic switch is mounted on a printed circuit board. A pulse transformer comprised of a plurality of discrete electrically insulated and magnetically coupled units is also mounted on said printed board and is electrically coupled to the first magnetic switch. The pulse transformer also has cooling means attached thereto for removing heat from the pulse transformer. A second magnetic switch also having cooling means for removing excess heat is electrically coupled to the pulse transformer. Thus, the present invention is able to provide high voltage pulses of short duration at a high repetition rate and high peak power output without the use of environmentally unacceptable fluids and without discharging significant waste heat into the surrounding air.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hagen, E. C.; Lowe, D. R.; O'Brien, R.

Dense Plasma Focus (DPF) machines are in use worldwide or a wide variety of applications; one of these is to produce intense, short bursts of fusion via r-Z pinch heating and compression of a working gas. We have designed and constructed a series of these, ranging from portable to a maximum energy storage capacity of 2 MJ. Fusion rates from 5 DPF pulsed fusion generators have been measured in a single laboratory using calibrated activation detectors. Measured rates range from ~ 1015 to more than 1019 fusions per second have been measured. Fusion rates from the intense short (20 –more » 50 ns) periods of production were inferred from measurement of neutron production using both calibrated activation detectors and scintillator-PMT neutron time of flight (NTOF) detectors. The NTOF detectors are arranged to measure neutrons versus time over flight paths of 30 Meters. Fusion rate scaling versus energy and current will be discussed. Data showing observed fusion cutoff at D-D fusion yield levels of approximately 1*1012, and corresponding tube currents of ~ 3 MA will be shown. Energy asymmetry of product neutrons will also be discussed. Data from the NTOF lines of sight have been used to measure energy asymmetries of the fusion neutrons. From this, center of mass energies for the D(d,n)3He reaction are inferred. A novel re-entrant chamber that allows extremely high single pulse neutron doses (> 109 neutrons/cm2 in 50 ns) to be supplied to samples will be described. Machine characteristics and detector types will be discussed.« less

Laser-driven electron beam acceleration and future application to compact light sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hafz, N.; Jeong, T. M.; Lee, S. K.; Pae, K. H.; Sung, J. H.; Choi, I. W.; Yu, T. J.; Jeong, Y. U.; Lee, J.

2009-07-01

Laser-driven plasma accelerators are gaining much attention by the advanced accelerator community due to the potential these accelerators hold in miniaturizing future high-energy and medium-energy machines. In the laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA), the ponderomotive force of an ultrashort high intensity laser pulse excites a longitudinal plasma wave or bubble. Due to huge charge separation, electric fields created in the plasma bubble can be several orders of magnitude higher than those available in conventional microwave and RF-based accelerator facilities which are limited (up to ˜100 MV/m) by material breakdown. Therefore, if an electron bunch is injected into the bubble in phase with its field, it will gain relativistic energies within an extremely short distance. Here, in the LWFA we show the generation of high-quality and high-energy electron beams up to the GeV-class within a few millimeters of gas-jet plasmas irradiated by tens of terawatt ultrashort laser pulses. Thus we realize approximately four orders of magnitude acceleration gradients higher than available by conventional technology. As a practical application of the stable high-energy electron beam generation, we are planning on injecting the electron beams into a few-meters long conventional undulator in order to realize compact X-ray synchrotron (immediate) and FEL (future) light sources. Stable laser-driven electron beam and radiation devices will surely open a new era in science, medicine and technology and will benefit a larger number of users in those fields.

Stable propagation of mechanical signals in soft media using stored elastic energy.

PubMed

Raney, Jordan R; Nadkarni, Neel; Daraio, Chiara; Kochmann, Dennis M; Lewis, Jennifer A; Bertoldi, Katia

2016-08-30

Soft structures with rationally designed architectures capable of large, nonlinear deformation present opportunities for unprecedented, highly tunable devices and machines. However, the highly dissipative nature of soft materials intrinsically limits or prevents certain functions, such as the propagation of mechanical signals. Here we present an architected soft system composed of elastomeric bistable beam elements connected by elastomeric linear springs. The dissipative nature of the polymer readily damps linear waves, preventing propagation of any mechanical signal beyond a short distance, as expected. However, the unique architecture of the system enables propagation of stable, nonlinear solitary transition waves with constant, controllable velocity and pulse geometry over arbitrary distances. Because the high damping of the material removes all other linear, small-amplitude excitations, the desired pulse propagates with high fidelity and controllability. This phenomenon can be used to control signals, as demonstrated by the design of soft mechanical diodes and logic gates.

Stable propagation of mechanical signals in soft media using stored elastic energy

PubMed Central

Raney, Jordan R.; Nadkarni, Neel; Daraio, Chiara; Lewis, Jennifer A.; Bertoldi, Katia

2016-01-01

Soft structures with rationally designed architectures capable of large, nonlinear deformation present opportunities for unprecedented, highly tunable devices and machines. However, the highly dissipative nature of soft materials intrinsically limits or prevents certain functions, such as the propagation of mechanical signals. Here we present an architected soft system composed of elastomeric bistable beam elements connected by elastomeric linear springs. The dissipative nature of the polymer readily damps linear waves, preventing propagation of any mechanical signal beyond a short distance, as expected. However, the unique architecture of the system enables propagation of stable, nonlinear solitary transition waves with constant, controllable velocity and pulse geometry over arbitrary distances. Because the high damping of the material removes all other linear, small-amplitude excitations, the desired pulse propagates with high fidelity and controllability. This phenomenon can be used to control signals, as demonstrated by the design of soft mechanical diodes and logic gates. PMID:27519797

ECH Technology Development

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Temkin, Richard

2014-12-24

Electron Cyclotron Heating (ECH) is needed for plasma heating, current drive, plasma stability control, and other applications in fusion energy sciences research. The program of fusion energy sciences supported by U. S. DOE, Office of Science, Fusion Energy Sciences relies on the development of ECH technology to meet the needs of several plasma devices working at the frontier of fusion energy sciences research. The largest operating ECH system in the world is at DIII-D, consisting of six 1 MW, 110 GHz gyrotrons capable of ten second pulsed operation, plus two newer gyrotrons. The ECH Technology Development research program investigated themore » options for upgrading the DIII-D 110 GHz ECH system. Options included extending present-day 1 MW technology to 1.3 – 1.5 MW power levels or developing an entirely new approach to achieve up to 2 MW of power per gyrotron. The research consisted of theoretical research and designs conducted by Communication and Power Industries of Palo Alto, CA working with MIT. Results of the study would be validated in a later phase by research on short pulse length gyrotrons at MIT and long pulse / cw gyrotrons in industry. This research follows a highly successful program of development that has led to the highly reliable, six megawatt ECH system at the DIII-D tokamak. Eventually, gyrotrons at the 1.5 megawatt to multi-megawatt power level will be needed for heating and current drive in large scale plasmas including ITER and DEMO.« less

Status of the laboratory infrastructure for detector calibration and characterization at the European XFEL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raab, N.; Ballak, K.-E.; Dietze, T.; Ekmedzič, M.; Hauf, S.; Januschek, F.; Kaukher, A.; Kuster, M.; Lang, P. M.; Münnich, A.; Schmitt, R.; Sztuk-Dambietz, J.; Turcato, M.

2016-12-01

The European X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL.EU) will provide unprecedented peak brilliance and ultra-short and spatially coherent X-ray pulses in an energy range of 0.25 to 25 keV . The pulse timing structure is unique with a burst of 2700 pulses of 100 fs length at a temporal distance of 220 ns followed by a 99.4 ms gap. To make optimal use of this timing structure and energy range a great variety of detectors are being developed for use at XFEL.EU, including 2D X-ray imaging cameras that are able to detect images at a rate of 4.5 MHz, provide dynamic ranges up to 105 photons per pulse per pixel under different operating conditions and covering a large range of angular resolution \\cite{requirements,Markus}. In order to characterize, commission and calibrate this variety of detectors and for testing of detector prototypes the XFEL.EU detector group is building up an X-ray test laboratory that allows testing of detectors with X-ray photons under conditions that are as similar to the future beam line conditions at the XFEL.EU as is possible with laboratory sources [1]. A total of four test environments provide the infrastructure for detector tests and calibration: two portable setups that utilize low power X-ray sources and radioactive isotopes, a test environment where a commercial high power X-ray generator is in use, and a pulsed X-ray/electron source which will provide pulses as short as 25 ns in XFEL.EU burst mode combined with target anodes of different materials. The status of the test environments, three of which are already in use while one is in commissioning phase, will be presented as well as first results from performance tests and characterization of the sources.

Analysis of laser damage tests on coatings designed for broad bandwidth high reflection of femtosecond pulses

DOE PAGES

Bellum, John Curtis; Winstone, Trevor; Lamaignere, Laurent; ...

2016-08-25

We designed an optical coating based on TiO 2/SiO 2 layer pairs for broad bandwidth high reflection (BBHR) at 45-deg angle of incidence (AOI), P polarization of femtosecond (fs) laser pulses of 900-nm center wavelength, and produced the coatings in Sandia’s large optics coater by reactive, ion-assisted e-beam evaporation. This paper reports on laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) tests of these coatings. The broad HR bands of BBHR coatings pose challenges to LIDT tests. An ideal test would be in a vacuum environment appropriate to a high energy, fs-pulse, petawatt-class laser, with pulses identical to its fs pulses. Short of thismore » would be tests over portions of the HR band using nanosecond or sub-picosecond pulses produced by tunable lasers. Such tests could, e.g., sample 10-nm-wide wavelength intervals with center wavelengths tunable over the broad HR band. Alternatively, the coating’s HR band could be adjusted by means of wavelength shifts due to changing the AOI of the LIDT tests or due to the coating absorbing moisture under ambient conditions. In conclusion, we had LIDT tests performed on the BBHR coatings at selected AOIs to gain insight into their laser damage properties and analyze how the results of the different LIDT tests compare.« less

Analysis of laser damage tests on coatings designed for broad bandwidth high reflection of femtosecond pulses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bellum, John Curtis; Winstone, Trevor; Lamaignere, Laurent

We designed an optical coating based on TiO 2/SiO 2 layer pairs for broad bandwidth high reflection (BBHR) at 45-deg angle of incidence (AOI), P polarization of femtosecond (fs) laser pulses of 900-nm center wavelength, and produced the coatings in Sandia’s large optics coater by reactive, ion-assisted e-beam evaporation. This paper reports on laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) tests of these coatings. The broad HR bands of BBHR coatings pose challenges to LIDT tests. An ideal test would be in a vacuum environment appropriate to a high energy, fs-pulse, petawatt-class laser, with pulses identical to its fs pulses. Short of thismore » would be tests over portions of the HR band using nanosecond or sub-picosecond pulses produced by tunable lasers. Such tests could, e.g., sample 10-nm-wide wavelength intervals with center wavelengths tunable over the broad HR band. Alternatively, the coating’s HR band could be adjusted by means of wavelength shifts due to changing the AOI of the LIDT tests or due to the coating absorbing moisture under ambient conditions. In conclusion, we had LIDT tests performed on the BBHR coatings at selected AOIs to gain insight into their laser damage properties and analyze how the results of the different LIDT tests compare.« less

Quantum Path Control of Harmonic Emission and Isolated Attosecond Pulse Generation by Using the Asymmetric Inhomogeneous Mid-Infrared Field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, L. Q.; Li, W. L.; Castle, R. S.

2018-03-01

High-order harmonic generation (HHG) from the He atom driven by the asymmetric inhomogeneous mid-infrared field, produced by a metallic nanostructure, has been investigated. It is found that due to the asymmetric enhancement of the laser intensity in space, not only the harmonic cutoff can be extended, but also the single harmonic emission event with the single short quantum path contribution can be obtained. Further, by properly adding a terahertz (THz) controlling pulse, the harmonic cutoff can be further extended, showing a 1208 eV super-bandwidth with the intensity enhancement of two orders of magnitude. Finally, by properly superposing the harmonics, a series of the isolated 33 as pulses with the photon energies from 123 eV (10 nm) to 1256 eV (1 nm) can be obtained.

The diagnostics of ultra-short pulse laser-produced plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roth, Markus

2011-09-01

Since the invention of the laser, coherent light has been used to break down solid or gaseous material and transform it into a plasma. Over the last three decades two things have changed. Due to multiple advancements and design of high power lasers it is now possible to increase the electric and magnetic field strength that pushed the electron motion towards the regime of relativistic plasma physics. Moreover, due to the short pulse duration of the driving laser the underlying physics has become so transient that concepts like thermal equilibrium (even a local one) or spatial isotropy start to fail. Consequently short pulse laser-driven plasmas have become a rich source of new phenomena that we are just about beginning to explore. Such phenomena, like particle acceleration, nuclear laser-induced reactions, the generation of coherent secondary radiation ranging from THz to high harmonics and the production of attosecond pulses have excited an enormous interest in the study of short pulse laser plasmas. The diagnostics of such ultra-short pulse laser plasmas is a challenging task that involves many and different techniques compared to conventional laser-produced plasmas. While this review cannot cover the entire field of diagnostics that has been developed over the last years, we will try to give a summarizing description of the most important techniques that are currently being used.

Interference-Free and Interference-Dominated Photoionization: Synthesis of Ultrashort and Coherent Single-Electron Wave Packets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cajiao Vélez, F.; Kamiński, J. Z.; Krajewska, K.

2018-04-01

Ionization of hydrogen-like ions driven by intense, short, and circularly-polarized laser pulses is considered under the scope of the relativistic strong-field approximation. We show that the energy spectra of photoelectrons can exhibit two types of structures, i.e., interference-dominated or interference-free ones. These structures are analyzed in connection to the time-dependent ponderomotive energy of electrons in the laser field. A possibility of synthesis of ultrashort single-electron pulses from those structures is also investigated.

NRL 2003 Review

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-06-01

Sadananda, R.L. Holtz, and A.K. Vasudevan 59 Filamentation and Propagation of Ultra-Short, Intense Laser Pulses in Air A.C. Ting, D.F. Gordon, C.K...This facility is made up of 56 laser beams and is single- pulsed (4-nanosecond pulse ). This facility provides intense radiation for studying inertial...Plasma Physics A state-of-the-art short- pulse (0.4 ps), high- intensity Table-Top Terawatt (T3) laser currently operates at 10 TW and 2 ¥ 1019 W/cm2 for

Shock implosion of a small homogeneous pellet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fujimoto, Yasuichi; Mishkin, Eli A.; Alejaldre, Carlos

1985-10-01

A small spherical, or cylindrical, pellet is imploded by an intensive, evenly distributed, short energy pulse. At the surface of the pellet the matter ionizes, its temperature and pressure rapidly rise, and the ablated plasma, by reaction, implodes the inner nucleus of the pellet. The involved structure of the energy absorbing zone is idealized and a sharp deflagration front is considered. With an almost square energy pulse, slightly dropping with time, the solution of the mass, momentum, and energy conservation equations of the compressed matter, is self-similar. The differential equation of the nondimensional position of the deflagration front, its integral, and the magnitude and shape of the outside energy pulse are derived. The process of ablation is shown to depend solely on the nondimensional velocity of the gas just ahead of the deflagration front, minus the speed of sound, or the ratio of the gas densities across the deflagration front.

Study of the heavy ion bunch compression in CSRm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, Da-Yu; Liu, Yong; Yuan, You-Jing; Yang, Jian-Cheng; Li, Peng; Li, Jie; Chai, Wei-Ping; Sha, Xiao-Ping

2013-05-01

The feasibility of attaining nanosecond pulse length heavy ion beam is studied in the main ring (CSRm) of the Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou. Such heavy ion beam can be produced by non-adiabatic compression, and it is implemented by a fast rotation in the longitudinal phase space. In this paper, the possible beam parameters during longitudinal bunch compression are studied with the envelope model and Particle in Cell simulation, and the results are compared. The result shows that the short bunch 238U28+ with the pulse duration of about 50 ns at the energy of 200 MeV/u can be obtained which can satisfy the research of high density plasma physics experiment.

Synaptic plasticity and oscillation at zinc tin oxide/silver oxide interfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murdoch, Billy J.; McCulloch, Dougal G.; Partridge, James G.

2017-02-01

Short-term plasticity, long-term potentiation, and pulse interval dependent plasticity learning/memory functions have been observed in junctions between amorphous zinc-tin-oxide and silver-oxide. The same junctions exhibited current-controlled negative differential resistance and when connected in an appropriate circuit, they behaved as relaxation oscillators. These oscillators produced voltage pulses suitable for device programming. Transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and electrical measurements suggest that the characteristics of these junctions arise from Ag+/O- electromigration across a highly resistive interface layer. With memory/learning functions and programming spikes provided in a single device structure, arrays of similar devices could be used to form transistor-free neuromorphic circuits.

High-Energy-Density Electrolytic Capacitors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yen, Shiao-Ping S.; Lewis, Carol R.

1993-01-01

Reductions in weight and volume make new application possible. Supercapacitors and improved ultracapacitors advanced electrolytic capacitors developed for use as electric-load-leveling devices in such applications as electric vehicle propulsion systems, portable power tools, and low-voltage pulsed power supplies. One primary advantage: offer power densities much higher than storage batteries. Capacitors used in pulse mode, with short charge and discharge times. Derived from commercially available ultracapacitors. Made of lightweight materials; incorporate electrode/electrolyte material systems capable of operation at voltages higher than previous electrode/electrolyte systems. By use of innovative designs and manufacturing processes, made in wide range of rated capacitances and in rated operating potentials ranging from few to several hundred volts.

An x-ray backlit Talbot-Lau deflectometer for high-energy-density electron density diagnostics

DOE PAGES

Valdivia, M. P.; Stutman, D.; Stoeckl, C.; ...

2016-02-10

X-ray phase-contrast techniques can measure electron density gradients in high-energy-density plasmas through refraction induced phase shifts. An 8 keV Talbot-Lau interferometer consisting of free standing ultrathin gratings was deployed at an ultra-short, high-intensity laser system using K-shell emission from a 1-30 J, 8 ps laser pulse focused on thin Cu foil targets. Grating survival was demonstrated for 30 J, 8 ps laser pulses. The first x-ray deflectometry images obtained under laser backlighting showed up to 25% image contrast and thus enabled detection of electron areal density gradients with a maximum value of 8.1 ± 0.5 × 10 23 cm ₋3more » in a low-Z millimeter sized sample. An electron density profile was obtained from refraction measurements with an error of <8%. We found the 50 ± 15 μm spatial resolution achieved across the full field of view was limited by the x-ray source-size, similar to conventional radiography.« less

Ultrashort-Pulse Child-Langmuir Law in the Quantum and Relativistic Regimes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ang, L. K.; Zhang, P.

This Letter presents a consistent quantum and relativistic model of short-pulse Child-Langmuir (CL) law, of which the pulse length {tau} is less than the electron transit time in a gap of spacing D and voltage V. The classical value of the short-pulse CL law is enhanced by a large factor due to quantum effects when the pulse length and the size of the beam are, respectively, in femtosecond duration and nanometer scale. At high voltage larger than the electron rest mass, relativistic effects will suppress the enhancement of short-pulse CL law, which is confirmed by particle-in-cell simulation. When the pulsemore » length is much shorter than the gap transit time, the current density is proportional to V, and to the inverse power of D and {tau}.« less

The influence of erbium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser ablation with variable pulse width on morphology and microleakage of composite restorations.

PubMed

Navarro, Ricardo Scarparo; Gouw-Soares, Sheila; Cassoni, Alessandra; Haypek, Patricia; Zezell, Denise Maria; de Paula Eduardo, Carlos

2010-11-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of various pulse widths with different energy parameters of erbium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Er:YAG) laser (2.94 mum) on the morphology and microleakage of cavities restored with composite resin. Identically sized class V cavities were prepared on the buccal surfaces of 54 bovine teeth by high-speed drill (n = 6, control, group 1) and prepared by Er:YAG laser (Fidelis 320A, Fotona, Slovenia) with irradiation parameters of 350 mJ/ 4 Hz or 400 mJ/2 Hz and pulse width: group 2, very short pulse (VSP); group 3, short pulse (SP); group 4, long pulse (LP); group 5, very long pulse (VLP). All cavities were filled with composite resin (Z-250-3 M), stored at 37 degrees C in distilled water, polished after 24 h, and thermally stressed (700 cycles/5-55 degrees C). The teeth were impermeabilized, immersed in 50% silver nitrate solution for 8 h, sectioned longitudinally, and exposed to Photoflood light for 10 min to reveal the stain. The leakage was evaluated under stereomicroscope by three different examiners, in a double-blind fashion, and scored (0-3). The results were analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis test (P > 0.05) and showed that there was no significant differences between the groups tested. Under scanning electron microscopy (SEM) the morphology of the cavities prepared by laser showed irregular enamel margins and dentin internal walls, and a more conservative pattern than that of conventional cavities. The different power settings and pulse widths of Er:YAG laser in cavity preparation had no influence on microleakage of composite resin restorations.

LASER APPLICATIONS AND OTHER TOPICS IN QUANTUM ELECTRONICS: Gas-dynamic effects in the interaction of a motionless optical pulsating discharge with gas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tishchenko, V. N.; Grachev, G. N.; Pavlov, A. A.; Smirnov, A. L.; Pavlov, A. A.; Golubev, M. P.

2008-01-01

The effect of energy removal from the combustion zone of a motionless optical pulsating discharge in the horizontal direction along the axis of a repetitively pulsed laser beam producing the discharge is discovered. The directivity diagram of a hot gas flow is formed during the action of hundreds of pulses. The effect is observed for short pulse durations, when the discharge efficiently generates shock waves. For long pulse durations, the heated gas propagates upward, as in a thermal source.

Generation of 360 ps laser pulse with 3 J energy by stimulated Brillouin scattering with a nonfocusing scheme.

PubMed

Zhu, Xuehua; Wang, Yulei; Lu, Zhiwei; Zhang, Hengkang

2015-09-07

A new technique for generating high energy sub-400 picosecond laser pulses is presented in this paper. The temporally super-Gaussian-shaped laser pulses are used as light source. When the forward pump is reflected by the rear window of SBS cell, the frequency component that fulfills Brillouin frequency shift in its sideband spectrum works as a seed and excites SBS, which results in efficient compression of the incident pump pulse. First the pulse compression characteristics of 20th-order super-Gaussian temporally shaped pulses with 5 ns duration are analyzed theoretically. Then experiment is carried out with a narrow-band high power Nd:glass laser system at the double-frequency and wavelength of 527 nm which delivers 5 ns super-Gaussian temporally shaped pulses with single pulse energy over 10 J. FC-40 is used as the active SBS medium for its brief phonon lifetime and high power capacity. In the experiment, the results agree well with the numerical calculations. With pump energy of 5.36J, the compression of pulse duration from 5 ns to 360 ps is obtained. The output energy is 3.02 J and the peak-power is magnified 8.3 times. Moreover, the compressed pulse shows a high stability because it is initiated by the feedback of rear window rather than the thermal noise distributing inside the medium. This technique of generating high energy hundred picosecond laser pulses has simple structure and is easy to operate, and it also can be scaled to higher energy pulse compression in the future. Meanwhile, it should also be taken into consideration that in such a nonfocusing scheme, the noise-initiated SBS would increase the distortion on the wavefront of Stokes beam to some extent, and the pump energy should be controlled below the threshold of noise-initiated SBS.

Mitigation of Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Effects from Short-Pulse Lasers and Fusion Neutrons

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Eder, D C; Throop, A; Brown, Jr., C G

2009-03-06

Our research focused on obtaining a fundamental understanding of the source and properties of EMP at the Titan PW(petawatt)-class laser facility. The project was motivated by data loss and damage to components due to EMP, which can limit diagnostic techniques that can be used reliably at short-pulse PW-class laser facilities. Our measurements of the electromagnetic fields, using a variety of probes, provide information on the strength, time duration, and frequency dependence of the EMP. We measure electric field strengths in the 100's of kV/m range, durations up to 100 ns, and very broad frequency response extending out to 5 GHzmore » and possibly beyond. This information is being used to design shielding to mitigate the effects of EMP on components at various laser facilities. We showed the need for well-shielded cables and oscilloscopes to obtain high quality data. Significant work was invested in data analysis techniques to process this data. This work is now being transferred to data analysis procedures for the EMP diagnostics being fielded on the National Ignition Facility (NIF). In addition to electromagnetic field measurements, we measured the spatial and energy distribution of electrons escaping from targets. This information is used as input into the 3D electromagnetic code, EMSolve, which calculates time dependent electromagnetic fields. The simulation results compare reasonably well with data for both the strength and broad frequency bandwidth of the EMP. This modeling work required significant improvements in EMSolve to model the fields in the Titan chamber generated by electrons escaping the target. During dedicated Titan shots, we studied the effects of varying laser energy, target size, and pulse duration on EMP properties. We also studied the effect of surrounding the target with a thick conducting sphere and cube as a potential mitigation approach. System generated EMP (SGEMP) in coaxial cables does not appear to be a significant at Titan. Our results are directly relevant to planned short-pulse ARC (advanced radiographic capability) operation on NIF.« less

Combination ring cavity and backward Raman waveguide amplifier

DOEpatents

Kurnit, Norman A.

1983-01-01

A combination regenerative ring and backward Raman waveguide amplifier and a combination regenerative ring oscillator and backward Raman waveguide amplifier which produce Raman amplification, pulse compression, and efficient energy extraction from the CO.sub.2 laser pump signal for conversion into a Stokes radiation signal. The ring cavity configuration allows the CO.sub.2 laser pump signal and Stokes signal to copropagate through the Raman waveguide amplifier. The backward Raman waveguide amplifier configuration extracts a major portion of the remaining energy from the CO.sub.2 laser pump signal for conversion to Stokes radiation. Additionally, the backward Raman amplifier configuration produces a Stokes radiation signal which has a high intensity and a short duration. Adjustment of the position of overlap of the Stokes signal and the CO.sub.2 laser pump signal in the backward Raman waveguide amplifiers alters the amount of pulse compression which can be achieved.

A new class of solar burst with MM-wave emission but only at the highest frequency (90 GHz)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaufmann, P.; Correia, E.; Costa, J. E. R.; Vaz, A. M. Z.; Dennis, B. R.

1984-01-01

High sensitivity and high time resolution solar observations at 90 GHz (lambda = 3.3 mm) have identified a unique impulsive burst on May 21, 1984 with emission that was more intense at this frequency than at lower frequencies. The first major time structure of the burst was over 10 times more intense at 90 GHz than at 30 GHz, 7 GHz, or 2.8 GHz.Only 6 seconds later, the 30 GHz impulsive structures started to be observed but still with lower intensity than at 90 GHz. Hard X-ray time structures at energies above 25 keV were almost identical to the 90 GHZ structures (to better than one second). All 90 GHz major time structures consisted of trains of multiple subsecond pulses with rise times as short as 0.03 sec and amplitudes large compared to the mean flux. When detectable, the 30 GHz subsecond pulses had smaller relative amplitude and were in phase with the corresponding 90 GHz pulses.

Investigations of high-speed digital imaging of low-light-level events using pulsed near-infrared laser light sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jantzen, Connie; Slagle, Rick

1997-05-01

The distinction between exposure time and sample rate is often the first point raised in any discussion of high speed imaging. Many high speed events require exposure times considerably shorter than those that can be achieved solely by the sample rate of the camera, where exposure time equals 1/sample rate. Gating, a method of achieving short exposure times in digital cameras, is often difficult to achieve for exposure time requirements shorter than 100 microseconds. This paper discusses the advantages and limitations of using the short duration light pulse of a near infrared laser with high speed digital imaging systems. By closely matching the output wavelength of the pulsed laser to the peak near infrared response of current sensors, high speed image capture can be accomplished at very low (visible) light levels of illumination. By virtue of the short duration light pulse, adjustable to as short as two microseconds, image capture of very high speed events can be achieved at relatively low sample rates of less than 100 pictures per second, without image blur. For our initial investigations, we chose a ballistic subject. The results of early experimentation revealed the limitations of applying traditional ballistic imaging methods when using a pulsed infrared lightsource with a digital imaging system. These early disappointing results clarified the need to further identify the unique system characteristics of the digital imager and pulsed infrared combination. It was also necessary to investigate how the infrared reflectance and transmittance of common materials affects the imaging process. This experimental work yielded a surprising, successful methodology which will prove useful in imaging ballistic and weapons tests, as well as forensics, flow visualizations, spray pattern analyses, and nocturnal animal behavioral studies.

Combining Raman and laser induced breakdown spectroscopy by double pulse lasing.

PubMed

Lednev, Vasily N; Pershin, Sergey M; Sdvizhenskii, Pavel A; Grishin, Mikhail Ya; Fedorov, Alexander N; Bukin, Vladimir V; Oshurko, Vadim B; Shchegolikhin, Alexander N

2018-01-01

A new approach combining Raman spectrometry and laser induced breakdown spectrometry (LIBS) within a single laser event was suggested. A pulsed solid state Nd:YAG laser running in double pulse mode (two frequency-doubled sequential nanosecond laser pulses with dozens microseconds delay) was used to combine two spectrometry methods within a single instrument (Raman/LIBS spectrometer). First, a low-energy laser pulse (power density far below ablation threshold) was used for Raman measurements while a second powerful laser pulse created the plasma suitable for LIBS analysis. A short time delay between two successive pulses allows measuring LIBS and Raman spectra at different moments but within a single laser flash-lamp pumping. Principal advantages of the developed instrument include high quality Raman/LIBS spectra acquisition (due to optimal gating for Raman/LIBS independently) and absence of target thermal alteration during Raman measurements. A series of high quality Raman and LIBS spectra were acquired for inorganic salts (gypsum, anhydrite) as well as for pharmaceutical samples (acetylsalicylic acid). To the best of our knowledge, the quantitative analysis feasibility by combined Raman/LIBS instrument was demonstrated for the first time by calibration curves construction for acetylsalicylic acid (Raman) and copper (LIBS) in gypsum matrix. Combining ablation pulses and Raman measurements (LIBS/Raman measurements) within a single instrument makes it an efficient tool for identification of samples hidden by non-transparent covering or performing depth profiling analysis including remote sensing. Graphical abstract Combining Raman and laser induced breakdown spectroscopy by double pulse lasing.

High Energy Directly Pumped Ho:YLF Laser

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Petros, Mulugeta; Yu, Ji-Rong; Singh, Upendra N.; Barnes, Norman P.

2000-01-01

The most commonly used crystal architecture to produce 2 micrometer laser is co-doping Ho and Tm into a single host crystal. In this method, the stored energy transfer from the Tm (3)F4 to the Ho (5)I7 manifold is not fast enough to warrant high efficiency for short pulse applications. By separating the Ho and the Tm ions and doping the Tm in YALO3 and the Ho in YLF, we were able to directly pump the Ho (5)I7 manifold with 1.94 micrometers. The Ho:YLF laser has produced 33 mJ at 2.062 micrometers with a quantum efficiency of 0.88. The performance of each laser will be presented.

Simple ps microchip Nd:YVO4 laser with 3.3-ps pulses at 0.2 to 1.4 MHz and single-stage amplification to the microjoule level

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Türkyilmaz, Erdal; Lohbreier, Jan; Günther, Christian; Mehner, Eva; Kopf, Daniel; Giessen, Harald; Braun, Bernd

2016-06-01

Commercial picosecond sources have found widespread applications. Typical system parameters are pulse widths below 20 ps, repetition rates between 0.1 and 2 MHz, and microjoule level pulse energies. Most systems are based on short pulse mode-locked oscillators, regenerative amplifiers, and pockel cells as active beam switches. In contrast, we present a completely passive system, consisting of a passively Q-switched microchip laser, a single-stage amplifier, and a pulse compressor. The Q-switched microchip laser has a 50-μm-long Nd:YVO4 gain material optically bonded to a 4.6-mm-thick undoped YVO4 crystal. It delivers pulse widths of 40 ps and repetition rates of 0.2 to 1.4 MHz at a wavelength of 1.064 μm. The pulse energy is a few nanojoule. These 40-ps pulses are spectrally broadened in a standard single-mode fiber and then compressed in a 24-mm-long chirped Bragg grating to as low as 3.3 ps. The repetition rate can be tuned from ˜0.2 to 1.4 MHz by changing the pump power, while the pulse width and the pulse energy from the microchip laser are unchanged. The spectral broadening in the fiber is observed throughout the pulse repetition rate, supporting sub-10-ps pulses. Finally, the pulses are amplified in a single-stage Nd:YVO4 amplifier up to the microjoule level (up to 4 μJ pulse energy). As a result, the system delivers sub-10-ps pulses at a microjoule level with about 1 MHz repetition rate, and thus fulfills the requirements for ps-micromachining. It does not contain any active switching elements and can be integrated in a very compact setup.

Simple ps microchip Nd:YVO4 laser with 3.3 ps pulses at 0.2 - 1.4 MHz and single-stage amplification to the microjoule level

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Türkyilmaz, Erdal; Lohbreier, Jan; Günther, Christian; Mehner, Eva; Kopf, Daniel; Giessen, Harald; Braun, Bernd

2016-03-01

Commercial picosecond sources have found widespread applications. Typical system parameters are pulse widths below 20 ps, repetition rates between 0.1 to 2 MHz, and micro Joule level pulse energies. Most systems are based on short pulse modelocked oscillators, regenerative amplifiers, and pockel cells as active beam switches. In contrast we present a completely passive system, consisting of a passively Q-switched microchip laser, a single-stage amplifier, and a pulse compressor. The Q-switched microchip laser has a 50 μm long Nd:YVO4-gain material optically bonded to a 4.6 mm thick undoped YVO4-crystal. It delivers pulse widths of 40 ps and repetition rates of 0.2 - 1.4 MHz at a wavelength of 1.064 μm. The pulse energy is a few nJ. These 40-ps pulses are spectrally broadened in a standard single mode fibre and then compressed in a 24 mm long chirped Bragg grating to as low as 3.3 ps. The repetition rate can be tuned from app. 0.2 to 1.4 MHz by changing the pump power while the pulse width and the pulse energy from the microchip laser are unchanged. The spectral broadening in the fibre is observed throughout the pulse repetition rate, supporting sub-10- ps pulses. Finally, the pulses are amplified in a single-stage Nd:YVO4-amplifier up to the microjoule level (up to 4 μJ pulse energy). As a result the system delivers sub-10-ps pulses at a microjoule level with about 1 MHz repetition rate, and thus fulfills the requirements for ps-micromachining. It does not contain any active switching elements and can be integrated in a very compact setup.

Comparison of retina damage thresholds simulating the femtosecond-laser in situ keratomileusis (fs-LASIK) process with two laser systems in the CW- and fs-regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sander, M.; Minet, O.; Zabarylo, U.; Müller, M.; Tetz, M. R.

2012-04-01

The femtosecond-laser in situ keratomileusis procedure affords the opportunity to correct ametropia by cutting transparent corneal tissue with ultra-short laser pulses. Thereby the tissue cut is generated by a laser-induced optical breakdown in the cornea with ultra-short laser pulses in the near-infrared range. Compared to standard procedures such as photorefractive keratectomy and laser in-situ keratomileusis with the excimer laser, where the risk potential for the eye is low due to the complete absorption of ultraviolet irradiation from corneal tissue, only a certain amount of the pulse energy is deposited in the cornea during the fs-LASIK process. The remaining energy propagates through the eye and interacts with the retina and the strong absorbing tissue layers behind. The objective of the presented study was to determine and compare the retina damage thresholds during the fs-LASIK process simulated with two various laser systems in the CW- and fs-regime.

Status of the development of Delhi Light Source (DLS) at IUAC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghosh, S.; Joshi, V.; Urakawa, J.; Terunuma, N.; Aryshev, A.; Fukuda, S.; Fukuda, M.; Sahu, B. K.; Patra, P.; Abhilash, S. R.; Karmakar, J.; Karmakar, B.; Kabiraj, D.; Kumar, N.; Sharma, A.; Chaudhari, G. K.; Pandey, A.; Tripathi, S.; Deshpande, A.; Naik, V.; Roy, A.; Rao, T.; Bhandari, R. K.; Kanjilal, D.

2017-07-01

A project to construct a compact pre-bunched Free Electron Laser by using a normal conducting photocathode electron gun has been undertaken at Inter University Accelerator Centre (IUAC), New Delhi, India. In this facility, the short laser pulses from a high power laser system will be split into many pulses (2-16) commonly known as 'Comb beam' and will strike the photocathode material (metal and semiconductor) to produce electron beam bunches. The electrons will be accelerated up to an energy of ∼8 MeV by a copper cavity operated at a frequency of 2860 MHz and the beam will be injected into a compact, planar permanent undulator magnet to produce THz radiation. The radiation frequency designed to be tuned in the range of 0.15-3 THz by varying the magnetic field of the undulator and/or changing the energy of the electron. The separation of the laser micro-pulses will be varied by adjusting the path length difference to alter the separation of the electron micro-bunches and to maximise the radiation intensity.

Controlled Ultrasound Tissue Erosion

PubMed Central

Xu, Zhen; Ludomirsky, Achiau; Eun, Lucy Y.; Hall, Timothy L.; Tran, Binh C.; Fowlkes, J. Brian; Cain, Charles A.

2009-01-01

The ability of ultrasound to produce highly controlled tissue erosion was investigated. This study is motivated by the need to develop a noninvasive procedure to perforate the neonatal atrial septum as the first step in treatment of hypoplastic left heart syndrome. A total of 232 holes were generated in 40 pieces of excised porcine atrial wall by a 788 kHz single-element transducer. The effects of various parameters [e.g., pulse repetition frequency (PRF), pulse duration (PD), and gas content of liquid] on the erosion rate and energy efficiency were explored. An Isppa of 9000 W/cm2, PDs of 3, 6, 12, and 24 cycles; PRFs between 1.34 kHz and 66.7 kHz; and gas saturation of 40–55% and 79–85% were used. The results show that very short pulses delivered at certain PRFs could maximize the erosion rate and energy efficiency. We show that well-defined perforations can be precisely located in the atrial wall through the controlled ultrasound tissue erosion (CUTE) process. A preliminary in vivo experiment was conducted on a canine subject, and the atrial septum was perforated using CUTE. PMID:15244286

Kinetic study of terahertz generation based on the interaction of two-color ultra-short laser pulses with molecular hydrogen gas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Soltani Gishini, M. S.; Ganjovi, A., E-mail: Ganjovi@kgut.ac.ir; Saeed, M.

In this work, using a two dimensional particle in cell-Monte Carlo collision simulation scheme, interaction of two-color ultra-short laser pulses with the molecular hydrogen gas (H{sub 2}) is examined. The operational laser parameters, i.e., its pulse shape, duration, and waist, are changed and, their effects on the density and kinetic energy of generated electrons, THz electric field, intensity, and spectrum are studied. It is seen that the best pulse shape generating the THz signal radiation with the highest intensity is a trapezoidal pulse, and the intensity of generated THz radiation is increased at the higher pulse durations and waists. Formore » all the operational laser parameters, the maximum value of emitted THz signal frequency always remains lower than 5 THz. The intensity of applied laser pulses is taken about 10{sup 14} w/cm{sup 2}, and it is observed that while a small portion of the gaseous media gets ionized, the radiated THz signal is significant.« less

Method and Apparatus for Reading Two Dimensional Identification Symbols Using Radar Techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schramm, Harry F., Jr. (Inventor); Roxby, Donald L. (Inventor)

2003-01-01

A method and apparatus are provided for sensing two-dimensional identification marks provided on a substrate or embedded within a substrate below a surface of the substrate. Micropower impulse radar is used to transmit a high risetime, short duration pulse to a focussed radar target area of the substrate having the two dimensional identification marks. The method further includes the steps of listening for radar echoes returned from the identification marks during a short listening period window occurring a predetermined time after transmission of the radar pulse. If radar echoes are detected, an image processing step is carried out. If no radar echoes are detected, the method further includes sequentially transmitting further high risetime, short duration pulses, and listening for radar echoes from each of said further pulses after different elapsed times for each of the further pulses until radar echoes are detected. When radar echoes are detected, data based on the detected echoes is processed to produce an image of the identification marks.

Respiratory terminal oxidases alleviate photo-oxidative damage in photosystem I during repetitive short-pulse illumination in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803.

PubMed

Shimakawa, Ginga; Miyake, Chikahiro

2018-03-08

Oxygenic phototrophs are vulnerable to damage by reactive oxygen species (ROS) that are produced in photosystem I (PSI) by excess photon energy over the demand of photosynthetic CO 2 assimilation. In plant leaves, repetitive short-pulse (rSP) illumination produces ROS to inactivate PSI. The production of ROS is alleviated by oxidation of the reaction center chlorophyll in PSI, P700, during the illumination with the short-pulse light, which is supported by flavodiiron protein (FLV). In this study, we found that in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 P700 was oxidized and PSI was not inactivated during rSP illumination even in the absence of FLV. Conversely, the mutant deficient in respiratory terminal oxidases was impaired in P700 oxidation during the illumination with the short-pulse light to suffer from photo-oxidative damage in PSI. Interestingly, the other cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 could not oxidize P700 without FLV during rSP illumination. These data indicate that respiratory terminal oxidases are critical to protect PSI from ROS damage during rSP illumination in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 but not Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002.

Assessment of Proton Deflectometry for Exploding Wire Experiments

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Beg, Farhat Nadeem

2013-09-25

This project provides the first demonstration of the application of proton deflectometry for the diagnosis of electromagnetic field topology and current-carrying regions in Z-pinch plasma experiments. Over the course of this project several milestones were achieved. High-energy proton beam generation was demonstrated on the short-pulse high-intensity Leopard laser, (10 Joules in ~350 femtoseconds, and the proton beam generation was shown to be reproducible. Next, protons were used to probe the electromagnetic field structure of short circuit loads in order to benchmark the two numerical codes, the resistive-magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) code, Gorgon, and the hybrid particle-in-cell code, LSP for the interpretation ofmore » results. Lastly, the proton deflectometry technique was used to map the magnetic field structure of pulsed-power-driven plasma loads including wires and supersonic jets formed with metallic foils. Good agreement between the modeling and experiments has been obtained. The demonstrated technique holds great promise to significantly improve the understanding of current flow and electromagnetic field topology in pulsed power driven high energy density plasmas. Proton probing with a high intensity laser was for the first time implemented in the presence of the harsh debris and x-ray producing z-pinch environment driven by a mega-ampere-scale pulsed-power machine. The intellectual merit of the program was that it investigated strongly driven MHD systems and the influence of magnetic field topology on plasma evolution in pulsed power driven plasmas. The experimental program involved intense field-matter interaction in the generation of the proton probe, as well as the generation of plasma subjected to 1 MegaGauss scale magnetic fields. The computational aspect included two well-documented codes, in combination for the first time to provide accurate interpretation of the experimental results. The broader impact included the support of 2 graduate students, one at UCSD and one at NTF, who were exposed to both the experimental physics work, the MHD and PIC modeling of the system. A first generation college undergraduate student was employed to assist in experiments and data analysis throughout the project. Data resulting from the research program were broadly disseminated by publication in scientific journals, and presentation at international and national conferences and workshops.« less

A high-rate 10B-loaded liquid scintillation detector for parity-violation studies in neutron resonances

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yen, Yi-Fen; Bowman, J. D.; Bolton, R. D.; Crawford, B. E.; Delheij, P. P. J.; Hart, G. W.; Haseyama, T.; Frankle, C. M.; Iinuma, M.; Knudson, J. N.; Masaike, A.; Masuda, Y.; Matsuda, Y.; Mitchell, G. E.; Penttilä, S. I.; Roberson, N. R.; Seestrom, S. J.; Sharapov, E.; Shimizu, H. M.; Smith, D. A.; Stephenson, S. L.; Szymanski, J. J.; Yoo, S. H.; Yuan, V. W.

2000-06-01

We have developed a large-area 10B-loaded liquid scintillation detector for parity-violation studies in neutron resonances with high instantaneous neutron fluxes from the LANSCE short-pulse spallation source. The detector has an efficiency of 95%, 85% and 71% at neutron energies of 10, 100 and 1000 eV, respectively. The neutron mean capture time in the detector is (416±5) ns. We describe the detector and the current-mode signal processing system, that can handle neutron rates up to 500 MHz.

Operational experience on the generation and control of high brightness electron bunch trains at SPARC-LAB

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mostacci, A.; Alesini, D.; Anania, M. P.; Bacci, A.; Bellaveglia, M.; Biagioni, A.; Cardelli, F.; Castellano, Michele; Chiadroni, Enrica; Cianchi, Alessandro; Croia, M.; Di Giovenale, Domenico; Di Pirro, Giampiero; Ferrario, Massimo; Filippi, Francesco; Gallo, Alessandro; Gatti, Giancarlo; Giribono, Anna; Innocenti, L.; Marocchino, A.; Petrarca, M.; Piersanti, L.; Pioli, S.; Pompili, Riccardo; Romeo, Stefano; Rossi, Andrea Renato; Shpakov, V.; Scifo, J.; Vaccarezza, Cristina; Villa, Fabio; Weiwei, L.

2015-05-01

Sub-picosecond, high-brightness electron bunch trains are routinely produced at SPARC-LAB via the velocity bunching technique. Such bunch trains can be used to drive multi-color Free Electron Lasers (FELs) and plasma wake field accelerators. In this paper we present recent results at SPARC-LAB on the generation of such beams, highlighting the key points of our scheme. We will discuss also the on-going machine upgrades to allow driving FELs with plasma accelerated beams or with short electron pulses at an increased energy.

High-Energy, High-Pulse-Rate Light Sources for Enhanced Time-Resolved Tomographic PIV of Unsteady and Turbulent Flows

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-07-31

Report: High-Energy, High-Pulse-Rate Light Sources for Enhanced Time -Resolved Tomographic PIV of Unsteady & Turbulent Flows The views, opinions and/or...reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching...High-Energy, High-Pulse-Rate Light Sources for Enhanced Time -Resolved Tomographic PIV of Unsteady & Turbulent Flows Report Term: 0-Other Email

Peak holding circuit for extremely narrow pulses

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oneill, R. W. (Inventor)

1975-01-01

An improved pulse stretching circuit comprising: a high speed wide-band amplifier connected in a fast charge integrator configuration; a holding circuit including a capacitor connected in parallel with a discharging network which employs a resistor and an FET; and an output buffer amplifier. Input pulses of very short duration are applied to the integrator charging the capacitor to a value proportional to the input pulse amplitude. After a predetermined period of time, conventional circuitry generates a dump pulse which is applied to the gate of the FET making a low resistance path to ground which discharges the capacitor. When the dump pulse terminates, the circuit is ready to accept another pulse to be stretched. The very short input pulses are thus stretched in width so that they may be analyzed by conventional pulse height analyzers.

The Laser Mega-Joule : LMJ & PETAL status and Program Overview

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miquel, J.-L.; Lion, C.; Vivini, P.

2016-03-01

The laser Megajoule (LMJ), developed by the French Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA), will be a cornerstone of the French Simulation Program, which combines improvement of physics models, high performance numerical simulation, and experimental validation. The LMJ facility is under construction at CEA CESTA near Bordeaux and will provide the experimental capabilities to study High-Energy Density Physics (HEDP). One of its goals is to obtain ignition and burn of DT-filled capsules imploded, through indirect drive scheme, inside rugby-shape hohlraum. The PETAL project consists in the addition of one short-pulse (ps) ultra-high-power, high-energy beam (kJ) to the LMJ facility. PETAL will offer a combination of a very high intensity multi-petawatt beam, synchronized with the nanosecond beams of the LMJ. This combination will expand the LMJ experimental field on HEDP. This paper presents an update of LMJ & PETAL status, together with the development of the overall program including targets, plasma diagnostics and simulation tools.

Attosecond nonlinear optics using gigawatt-scale isolated attosecond pulses

PubMed Central

Takahashi, Eiji J.; Lan, Pengfei; Mücke, Oliver D.; Nabekawa, Yasuo; Midorikawa, Katsumi

2013-01-01

High-energy isolated attosecond pulses required for the most intriguing nonlinear attosecond experiments as well as for attosecond-pump/attosecond-probe spectroscopy are still lacking at present. Here we propose and demonstrate a robust generation method of intense isolated attosecond pulses, which enable us to perform a nonlinear attosecond optics experiment. By combining a two-colour field synthesis and an energy-scaling method of high-order harmonic generation, the maximum pulse energy of the isolated attosecond pulse reaches as high as 1.3 μJ. The generated pulse with a duration of 500 as, as characterized by a nonlinear autocorrelation measurement, is the shortest and highest-energy pulse ever with the ability to induce nonlinear phenomena. The peak power of our tabletop light source reaches 2.6 GW, which even surpasses that of an extreme-ultraviolet free-electron laser. PMID:24158092

Ion Sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haseroth, Helmut; Hora, Heinrich

1993-03-01

Ion sources for accelerators are based on plasma configurations with an extraction system in order to gain a very high number of ions within an appropriately short pulse and of sufficiently high charge number Z for advanced research. Beginning with the duoplasmatron, all established ion sources are based on low-density plasmas, of which the electron beam ionization source (EBIS) and the electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) source are the most advanced; for example they result in pulses of nearly 6 × 108 fully stripped sulfur ions per pulse in the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) at CERN with energies of 200 GeV/u. As an example of a forthcoming development, we are reporting about the lead ion source for the same purpose. Contrary to these cases of low-density plasmas, where a rather long time is always necessary to generate sufficiently high charge states, the laser ion source uses very high density plasmas and therefore produced, for example in 1983, single shots of Au51+ ions of high directivity with energies above 300 MeV within 2 ns irradiation time of a gold target with a medium-to-large CO2 laser. Experiments at Dubna and Moscow, using small-size lasers, produced up to one million shots with 1 Hz sequence. After acceleration by a linac or otherwise, ion pulses of up to nearly 5 × 1010 ions of C4+ or Mg12+ with energies in the synchrotrons of up to 2 GeV/u were produced. The physics of the laser generation of the ions is most complex, as we know from laser fusion studies, including non-linear dynamic and dielectric effects, resonances, self-focusing, instabilities, double layers, and an irregular pulsation in the 20 ps range. This explains not only what difficulties are implied with the laser ion source, but also why it opens up a new direction of ion sources.

All-Solid-State UV Transmitter Development for Ozone Sensing Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prasad, Narasimha S.; Singh, Upendra N.; Armstrong, Darrell Jr.

2009-01-01

In this paper, recent progress made in the development of an all-solid-state UV transmitter suitable for ozone sensing applications from space based platforms is discussed. A nonlinear optics based UV setup based on Rotated Image Singly Resonant Twisted Rectangle (RISTRA) optical parametric oscillator (OPO) module was effectively coupled to a diode pumped, single longitudinal mode, conductively cooled, short-pulsed, high-energy Nd:YAG laser operating at 1064 nm with 50 Hz PRF. An estimated 10 mJ/pulse with 10% conversion efficiency at 320 nm has been demonstrated limited only by the pump pulse spatial profile. The current arrangement has the potential for obtaining greater than 200 mJ/pulse. Previously, using a flash-lamp pumped Nd:YAG laser with round, top-hat profile, up to 24% IR-UV conversion efficiency was achieved with the same UV module. Efforts are underway to increase the IR-UV conversion efficiency of the all solid-state setup by modifying the pump laser spatial profile along with incorporating improved OPO crystals.

High contrast ion acceleration at intensities exceeding 10{sup 21} Wcm{sup −2}

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dollar, F.; Zulick, C.; Matsuoka, T.

2013-05-15

Ion acceleration from short pulse laser interactions at intensities of 2×10{sup 21}Wcm{sup −2} was studied experimentally under a wide variety of parameters, including laser contrast, incidence angle, and target thickness. Trends in maximum proton energy were observed, as well as evidence of improvement in the acceleration gradients by using dual plasma mirrors over traditional pulse cleaning techniques. Extremely high efficiency acceleration gradients were produced, accelerating both the contaminant layer and high charge state ions from the bulk of the target. Two dimensional particle-in-cell simulations enabled the study of the influence of scale length on submicron targets, where hydrodynamic expansion affectsmore » the rear surface as well as the front. Experimental evidence of larger electric fields for sharp density plasmas is observed in simulation results as well for such targets, where target ions are accelerated without the need for contaminant removal.« less

Synaptic characteristics with strong analog potentiation, depression, and short-term to long-term memory transition in a Pt/CeO2/Pt crossbar array structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Hyung Jun; Park, Daehoon; Yang, Paul; Beom, Keonwon; Kim, Min Ju; Shin, Chansun; Kang, Chi Jung; Yoon, Tae-Sik

2018-06-01

A crossbar array of Pt/CeO2/Pt memristors exhibited the synaptic characteristics such as analog, reversible, and strong resistance change with a ratio of ∼103, corresponding to wide dynamic range of synaptic weight modulation as potentiation and depression with respect to the voltage polarity. In addition, it presented timing-dependent responses such as paired-pulse facilitation and the short-term to long-term memory transition by increasing amplitude, width, and repetition number of voltage pulse and reducing the interval time between pulses. The memory loss with a time was fitted with a stretched exponential relaxation model, revealing the relation of memory stability with the input stimuli strength. The resistance change was further enhanced but its stability got worse as increasing measurement temperature, indicating that the resistance was changed as a result of voltage- and temperature-dependent electrical charging and discharging to alter the energy barrier for charge transport. These detailed synaptic characteristics demonstrated the potential of crossbar array of Pt/CeO2/Pt memristors as artificial synapses in highly connected neuron-synapse network.

Synaptic characteristics with strong analog potentiation, depression, and short-term to long-term memory transition in a Pt/CeO2/Pt crossbar array structure.

PubMed

Kim, Hyung Jun; Park, Daehoon; Yang, Paul; Beom, Keonwon; Kim, Min Ju; Shin, Chansun; Kang, Chi Jung; Yoon, Tae-Sik

2018-06-29

A crossbar array of Pt/CeO 2 /Pt memristors exhibited the synaptic characteristics such as analog, reversible, and strong resistance change with a ratio of ∼10 3 , corresponding to wide dynamic range of synaptic weight modulation as potentiation and depression with respect to the voltage polarity. In addition, it presented timing-dependent responses such as paired-pulse facilitation and the short-term to long-term memory transition by increasing amplitude, width, and repetition number of voltage pulse and reducing the interval time between pulses. The memory loss with a time was fitted with a stretched exponential relaxation model, revealing the relation of memory stability with the input stimuli strength. The resistance change was further enhanced but its stability got worse as increasing measurement temperature, indicating that the resistance was changed as a result of voltage- and temperature-dependent electrical charging and discharging to alter the energy barrier for charge transport. These detailed synaptic characteristics demonstrated the potential of crossbar array of Pt/CeO 2 /Pt memristors as artificial synapses in highly connected neuron-synapse network.

Effect of Multipath Laser Shock Processing on Microhardness, Surface Roughness, and Wear Resistance of 2024-T3 Al Alloy

PubMed Central

Kadhim, Abdulhadi; Salim, Evan T.; Fayadh, Saeed M.; Al-Amiery, Ahmed A.; Kadhum, Abdul Amir H.; Mohamad, Abu Bakar

2014-01-01

Laser shock processing (LSP) is an innovative surface treatment technique with high peak power, short pulse, and cold hardening for strengthening metal materials. LSP is based on the application of a high intensity pulsed laser beam (I > 1 GW/cm2; t < 50 ns) at the interface between the metallic target and the surrounding medium (a transparent confining material, normally water) forcing a sudden vaporization of the metallic surface into a high temperature and density plasma that immediately develops inducing a shock wave propagating into the material. The shock wave induces plastic deformation and a residual stress distribution in the target material. In this paper we study the increase of microhardness and surface roughness with the increase of laser pulse energy in 2024-T3 Al alloy. The influence of the thickness of the confining layer (water) on microhardness and surface roughness is also studied. In addition, the effect of LSP treatment with best conditions on wear behaviors of the alloy was investigated. PMID:24737973

Prediction of scaling physics laws for proton acceleration with extended parameter space of the NIF ARC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhutwala, Krish; Beg, Farhat; Mariscal, Derek; Wilks, Scott; Ma, Tammy

2017-10-01

The Advanced Radiographic Capability (ARC) laser at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is the world's most energetic short-pulse laser. It comprises four beamlets, each of substantial energy ( 1.5 kJ), extended short-pulse duration (10-30 ps), and large focal spot (>=50% of energy in 150 µm spot). This allows ARC to achieve proton and light ion acceleration via the Target Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA) mechanism, but it is yet unknown how proton beam characteristics scale with ARC-regime laser parameters. As theory has also not yet been validated for laser-generated protons at ARC-regime laser parameters, we attempt to formulate the scaling physics of proton beam characteristics as a function of laser energy, intensity, focal spot size, pulse length, target geometry, etc. through a review of relevant proton acceleration experiments from laser facilities across the world. These predicted scaling laws should then guide target design and future diagnostics for desired proton beam experiments on the NIF ARC. This work performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344 and funded by the LLNL LDRD program under tracking code 17-ERD-039.

Dental hard tissue drilling by longitudinally excited CO2 laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uno, Kazuyuki; Yamamoto, Takuya; Akitsu, Tetsuya; Jitsuno, Takahisa

2017-07-01

We developed a longitudinally excited CO2 laser with a long optical cavity and investigated the drilling characteristics of dental hard tissue. The CO2 laser was very simple and consisted of a 45-cm-long alumina ceramic pipe with an inner diameter of 13 mm, a pulse power supply, a step-up transformer, a storage capacitance, a spark gap, and a long optical cavity with a cavity length of 175 cm. The CO2 laser produced a short pulse that had a spike pulse with the width of 337 ns and the energy of 1.9 mJ, a pulse tail with the length of 180 μs and the energy of 37.6 mJ, and a doughnut-like beam. In the investigation, a sample was a natural drying human tooth (enamel and dentine). In a processing system, a ZnSe focusing lens with the focal length of 50 mm was used and the location of the focal plane was that of the sample surface. In 1 pulse irradiation, the drilling characteristics depended on the fluence was investigated. In the enamel and dentin drilling, the drilling depth increased with the fluence. The 1 pulse irradiation with the fluence of 21.5 J/cm2 produced the depth of 79.3 μm in the enamel drilling, and the depth of 152.7 μm in the dentin drilling. The short-pulse CO2 laser produced a deeper drilling depth at a lower fluence than long-pulse CO2 lasers in dental hard tissue processing.

Electron energy and electron trajectories in an inverse free-electron laser accelerator based on a novel electrostatic wiggler

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nikrah, M.; Jafari, S.

2016-06-01

We expand here a theory of a high-gradient laser-excited electron accelerator based on an inverse free-electron laser (inverse-FEL), but with innovations in the structure and design. The electrostatic wiggler used in our scheme, namely termed the Paul wiggler, is generated by segmented cylindrical electrodes with applied oscillatory voltages {{V}\\text{osc}}(t) over {{90}\\circ} segments. The inverse-FEL interaction can be described by the equations that govern the electron motion in the combined fields of both the laser pulse and Paul wiggler field. A numerical study of electron energy and electron trajectories has been made using the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. The results indicate that the electron attains a considerable energy at short distances in this device. It is found that if the electron has got sufficient suitable wiggler amplitude intensities, it can not only gain higher energy in longer distances, but also can retain it even after the passing of the laser pulse. In addition, the results reveal that the electron energy gains different peaks for different initial axial velocities, so that a suitable small initial axial velocity of e-beam produces substantially high energy gain. With regard to the transverse confinement of the electron beam in a Paul wiggler, there is no applied axial guide magnetic field in this device.

Air and water cooled modulator

DOEpatents

Birx, D.L.; Arnold, P.A.; Ball, D.G.; Cook, E.G.

1995-09-05

A compact high power magnetic compression apparatus and method are disclosed for delivering high voltage pulses of short duration at a high repetition rate and high peak power output which does not require the use of environmentally unacceptable fluids such as chlorofluorocarbons either as a dielectric or as a coolant, and which discharges very little waste heat into the surrounding air. A first magnetic switch has cooling channels formed therethrough to facilitate the removal of excess heat. The first magnetic switch is mounted on a printed circuit board. A pulse transformer comprised of a plurality of discrete electrically insulated and magnetically coupled units is also mounted on said printed board and is electrically coupled to the first magnetic switch. The pulse transformer also has cooling means attached thereto for removing heat from the pulse transformer. A second magnetic switch also having cooling means for removing excess heat is electrically coupled to the pulse transformer. Thus, the present invention is able to provide high voltage pulses of short duration at a high repetition rate and high peak power output without the use of environmentally unacceptable fluids and without discharging significant waste heat into the surrounding air. 9 figs.

Fluid dynamics analysis of a gas attenuator for X-ray FELs under high-repetition-rate operation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yang, Bo; Wu, Juhao; Raubenheimer, Tor O.

Newtonian fluid dynamics simulations were performed using the Navier–Stokes–Fourier formulations to elucidate the short time-scale (µs and longer) evolution of the density and temperature distributions in an argon-gas-filled attenuator for an X-ray free-electron laser under high-repetition-rate operation. Both hydrodynamic motions of the gas molecules and thermal conductions were included in a finite-volume calculation. It was found that the hydrodynamic wave motions play the primary role in creating a density depression (also known as a filament) by advectively transporting gas particles away from the X-ray laser–gas interaction region, where large pressure and temperature gradients have been built upon the initial energymore » depositionviaX-ray photoelectric absorption and subsequent thermalization. Concurrent outward heat conduction tends to reduce the pressure in the filament core region, generating a counter gas flow to backfill the filament, but on an initially slower time scale. If the inter-pulse separation is sufficiently short so the filament cannot recover, the depth of the filament progressively increases as the trailing pulses remove additional gas particles. Since the rate of hydrodynamic removal decreases while the rate of heat conduction back flow increases as time elapses, the two competing mechanisms ultimately reach a dynamic balance, establishing a repeating pattern for each pulse cycle. Finally, by performing simulations at higher repetition rates but lower per pulse energies while maintaining a constant time-averaged power, the amplitude of the hydrodynamic motion per pulse becomes smaller, and the evolution of the temperature and density distributions approach asymptotically towards, as expected, those calculated for a continuous-wave input of the equivalent power.« less

Fluid dynamics analysis of a gas attenuator for X-ray FELs under high-repetition-rate operation

DOE PAGES

Yang, Bo; Wu, Juhao; Raubenheimer, Tor O.; ...

2017-05-01

Newtonian fluid dynamics simulations were performed using the Navier–Stokes–Fourier formulations to elucidate the short time-scale (µs and longer) evolution of the density and temperature distributions in an argon-gas-filled attenuator for an X-ray free-electron laser under high-repetition-rate operation. Both hydrodynamic motions of the gas molecules and thermal conductions were included in a finite-volume calculation. It was found that the hydrodynamic wave motions play the primary role in creating a density depression (also known as a filament) by advectively transporting gas particles away from the X-ray laser–gas interaction region, where large pressure and temperature gradients have been built upon the initial energymore » depositionviaX-ray photoelectric absorption and subsequent thermalization. Concurrent outward heat conduction tends to reduce the pressure in the filament core region, generating a counter gas flow to backfill the filament, but on an initially slower time scale. If the inter-pulse separation is sufficiently short so the filament cannot recover, the depth of the filament progressively increases as the trailing pulses remove additional gas particles. Since the rate of hydrodynamic removal decreases while the rate of heat conduction back flow increases as time elapses, the two competing mechanisms ultimately reach a dynamic balance, establishing a repeating pattern for each pulse cycle. Finally, by performing simulations at higher repetition rates but lower per pulse energies while maintaining a constant time-averaged power, the amplitude of the hydrodynamic motion per pulse becomes smaller, and the evolution of the temperature and density distributions approach asymptotically towards, as expected, those calculated for a continuous-wave input of the equivalent power.« less

Semiconductor laser-based optoelectronics oscillators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, X. S.; Maleki, Lute; Wu, Chi; Davis, Lawrence J.; Forouhar, Siamak

1998-08-01

We demonstrate the realization of coupled opto-electronic oscillators (COEO) with different semiconductor lasers, including a ring laser, a Fabry-Perot laser, and a colliding pulse mode-locked laser. Each COEO can simultaneously generate short optical pulses and spectrally pure RF signals. With these devices, we obtained optical pulses as short as 6 picoseconds and RF signals as high in frequency as 18 GHz with a spectral purity comparable with a HP8561B synthesizer. These experiments demonstrate that COEOs are promising compact sources for generating low jitter optical pulses and low phase noise RF/millimeter wave signals.

Beam modulation: A novel ToF-technique for high resolution diffraction at the Beamline for European Materials Engineering Research (BEER)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rouijaa, M.; Kampmann, R.; Šaroun, J.; Fenske, J.; Beran, P.; Müller, M.; Lukáš, P.; Schreyer, A.

2018-05-01

The Beamline for European Materials Engineering Research (BEER) is under construction at the European Spallation Source (ESS) in Lund, Sweden. A basic requirement on BEER is to make best use of the long ESS pulse (2.86 ms) for engineering investigations. High-resolution diffraction, however, demands timing resolution up to 0.1% corresponding to a pulse length down to about 70 μs for the case of thermal neutrons (λ ∼ 1.8 Å). Such timing resolution can be achieved by pulse shaping techniques cutting a short section out of the long pulse, and thus paying for resolution by strong loss of intensity. In contrast to this, BEER proposes a novel operation mode called pulse modulation technique based on a new chopper design, which extracts several short pulses out of the long ESS pulse, and hence leads to a remarkable gain of intensity compared to nowadays existing conventional pulse shaping techniques. The potential of the new technique can be used with full advantage for investigating strains and textures of highly symmetric materials. Due to its instrument design and the high brilliance of the ESS pulse, BEER is expected to become the European flagship for engineering research for strain mapping and texture analysis.

High Efficiency, 100 mJ per pulse, Nd:YAG Oscillator Optimized for Space-Based Earth and Planetary Remote Sensing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Coyle, D. Barry; Stysley, Paul R.; Poulios, Demetrios; Fredrickson, Robert M.; Kay, Richard B.; Cory, Kenneth C.

2014-01-01

We report on a newly solid state laser transmitter, designed and packaged for Earth and planetary space-based remote sensing applications for high efficiency, low part count, high pulse energy scalability/stability, and long life. Finally, we have completed a long term operational test which surpassed 2 Billion pulses with no measured decay in pulse energy.

Investigation of longitudinal proton acceleration in exploded targets irradiated by intense short-pulse laser

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gauthier, M.; CEA, DAM, DIF, 91297 Arpajon; Lévy, A.

2014-01-15

It was recently shown that a promising way to accelerate protons in the forward direction to high energies is to use under-dense or near-critical density targets instead of solids. Simulations have revealed that the acceleration process depends on the density gradients of the plasma target. Indeed, under certain conditions, the most energetic protons are predicted to be accelerated by a collisionless shock mechanism that significantly increases their energy. We report here the results of a recent experiment dedicated to the study of longitudinal ion acceleration in partially exploded foils using a high intensity (∼5 × 10{sup 18} W/cm{sup 2}) picosecond laser pulse. Wemore » show that protons accelerated using targets having moderate front and rear plasma gradients (up to ∼8 μm gradient length) exhibit similar maximum proton energy and number compared to proton beams that are produced, in similar laser conditions, from solid targets, in the well-known target normal sheath acceleration regime. Particle-In-Cell simulations, performed in the same conditions as the experiment and consistent with the measurements, allow laying a path for further improvement of this acceleration scheme.« less

Room-temperature Q-switched Tm:BaY2F8 laser pumped by CW diode laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coluccelli, Nicola; Galzerano, Gianluca; Laporta, Paolo; Parisi, Daniela; Toncelli, Alessandra; Tonelli, Mauro

2006-02-01

We report on the realization of CW diode-pumped Tm:BaY2F8 Q-switched laser at 1.93 µm. Active Q-switching was obtained by means of an intracavity Pockels cell. A functional characterization of the laser performance is presented with particular attention to output energy, pulse duration, pulse stability, and wavelength tunability. Pulses with time duration as short as 170 ns were demonstrated at the minimum repetition rate of 5 Hz with an energy of 3.2 mJ (corresponding to a peak power of 19 kW). A wavelength tunability range from 1905 nm to 1990 nm has been observed.

Non-periodic multi-slit masking for a single counter rotating 2-disc chopper and channeling guides for high resolution and high intensity neutron TOF spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bartkowiak, M.; Hofmann, T.; Stüßer, N.

2017-02-01

Energy resolution is an important design goal for time-of-flight instruments and neutron spectroscopy. For high-resolution applications, it is required that the burst times of choppers be short, going down to the μs-range. To produce short pulses while maintaining high neutron flux, we propose beam masks with more than two slits on a counter-rotating 2-disc chopper, behind specially adapted focusing multi-channel guides. A novel non-regular arrangement of the slits ensures that the beam opens only once per chopper cycle, when the masks are congruently aligned. Additionally, beam splitting and intensity focusing by guides before and after the chopper position provide high intensities even for small samples. Phase-space analysis and Monte Carlo simulations on examples of four-slit masks with adapted guide geometries show the potential of the proposed setup.

Long-term nitrogen addition affects the phylogenetic turnover of soil microbial community responding to moisture pulse

DOE PAGES

Liu, Chi; Yao, Minjie; Stegen, James C.; ...

2017-12-13

How press disturbance (long-term) influences the phylogenetic turnover of soil microbial communities responding to pulse disturbances (short-term) is not fully known. Understanding the complex connections between the history of environmental conditions, assembly processes and microbial community dynamics is necessary to predict microbial response to perturbation. Here, we started by investigating phylogenetic spatial turnover (based on DNA) of soil prokaryotic communities after long-term nitrogen (N) deposition and temporal turnover (based on RNA) of communities responding to pulse by conducting short-term rewetting experiments. The results showed that moderate N addition increased ecological stochasticity and phylogenetic diversity. In contrast, high N addition slightlymore » increased homogeneous selection and decreased phylogenetic diversity. Examining the system with higher phylogenetic resolution revealed a moderate contribution of variable selection across the whole N gradient. The moisture pulse experiment showed that high N soils had higher rates of phylogenetic turnover across short phylogenetic distances and significant changes in community compositions through time. Long-term N input history influenced spatial turnover of microbial communities, but the dominant community assembly mechanisms differed across different N deposition gradients. We further revealed an interaction between press and pulse disturbances whereby deterministic processes were particularly important following pulse disturbances in high N soils.« less

Long-term nitrogen addition affects the phylogenetic turnover of soil microbial community responding to moisture pulse

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, Chi; Yao, Minjie; Stegen, James C.

How press disturbance (long-term) influences the phylogenetic turnover of soil microbial communities responding to pulse disturbances (short-term) is not fully known. Understanding the complex connections between the history of environmental conditions, assembly processes and microbial community dynamics is necessary to predict microbial response to perturbation. Here, we started by investigating phylogenetic spatial turnover (based on DNA) of soil prokaryotic communities after long-term nitrogen (N) deposition and temporal turnover (based on RNA) of communities responding to pulse by conducting short-term rewetting experiments. The results showed that moderate N addition increased ecological stochasticity and phylogenetic diversity. In contrast, high N addition slightlymore » increased homogeneous selection and decreased phylogenetic diversity. Examining the system with higher phylogenetic resolution revealed a moderate contribution of variable selection across the whole N gradient. The moisture pulse experiment showed that high N soils had higher rates of phylogenetic turnover across short phylogenetic distances and significant changes in community compositions through time. Long-term N input history influenced spatial turnover of microbial communities, but the dominant community assembly mechanisms differed across different N deposition gradients. We further revealed an interaction between press and pulse disturbances whereby deterministic processes were particularly important following pulse disturbances in high N soils.« less

Long-term nitrogen addition affects the phylogenetic turnover of soil microbial community responding to moisture pulse.

PubMed

Liu, Chi; Yao, Minjie; Stegen, James C; Rui, Junpeng; Li, Jiabao; Li, Xiangzhen

2017-12-13

How press disturbance (long-term) influences the phylogenetic turnover of soil microbial communities responding to pulse disturbances (short-term) is not fully known. Understanding the complex connections between the history of environmental conditions, assembly processes and microbial community dynamics is necessary to predict microbial response to perturbation. We started by investigating phylogenetic spatial turnover (based on DNA) of soil prokaryotic communities after long-term nitrogen (N) deposition and temporal turnover (based on RNA) of communities responding to pulse by conducting short-term rewetting experiments. The results showed that moderate N addition increased ecological stochasticity and phylogenetic diversity. In contrast, high N addition slightly increased homogeneous selection and decreased phylogenetic diversity. Examining the system with higher phylogenetic resolution revealed a moderate contribution of variable selection across the whole N gradient. The moisture pulse experiment showed that high N soils had higher rates of phylogenetic turnover across short phylogenetic distances and significant changes in community compositions through time. Long-term N input history influenced spatial turnover of microbial communities, but the dominant community assembly mechanisms differed across different N deposition gradients. We further revealed an interaction between press and pulse disturbances whereby deterministic processes were particularly important following pulse disturbances in high N soils.

Pressure waves in liquid mercury target from pulsed heat loads and the possible way controlling their effects

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ni, L.; Skala, K.

1996-06-01

In ESS project liquid metals are selected as the main target for the pulsed spallation neutron source. Since the very high instantaneous energy is deposited on the heavy molten target in a very short period time, pressure waves are generated. They travel through the liquid and cause high stress in the container. Also, additional stress should be considered in the wall which is the result of direct heating of the target window. These dynamic processes were simulated with computational codes with the static response being analized first. The total resulting dynamic wall stress has been found to have exceeded themore » design stress for the selected container material. Adding a small amount of gas bubbles in the liquid could be a possible way to reduce the pressure waves.« less

Ultrashort pulsed laser ablation for decollation of solid state lithium-ion batteries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hördemann, C.; Anand, H.; Gillner, A.

2017-08-01

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries with liquid electrolytes are the main energy source for many electronic devices that we use in our everyday lives. However, one of the main drawbacks of this energy storage technology is the use of liquid electrolyte, which can be hazardous to the user as well as the environment. Moreover, lithium-ion batteries are limited in voltage, energy density and operating temperature range. One of the most novel and promising battery technologies available to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks is the Solid-State Lithium-Ion Battery (SSLB). This battery type can be produced without limitations to the geometry and is also bendable, which is not possible with conventional batteries1 . Additionally, SSLBs are characterized by high volumetric and gravimetric energy density and are intrinsically safe since no liquid electrolyte is used2-4. Nevertheless, the manufacturing costs of these batteries are still high. The existing production-technologies are comparable to the processes used in the semiconductor industry and single cells are produced in batches with masked-deposition at low deposition rates. In order to decrease manufacturing costs and to move towards continuous production, Roll2Roll production methods are being proposed5, 6. These methods offer the possibility of producing large quantities of substrates with deposited SSLB-layers. From this coated substrate, single cells can be cut out. For the flexible decollation of SSLB-cells from the substrate, new manufacturing technologies have to be developed since blade-cutting, punching or conventional laser-cutting processes lead to short circuiting between the layers. Here, ultra-short pulsed laser ablation and cutting allows the flexible decollation of SSLBs. Through selective ablation of individual layers, an area for the cutting kerf is prepared to ensure a shortcut-free decollation.

Rangefinder, Laser AN/GVS-5( )

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-06-01

capacitor, which is proportional to optical energy, is compared to two reference voltages. One comparison is made in the LO power comparator (U1-A...and the other in the NORMAL power comparator (U1-B). 108 OSC. FREQ. RANGE S1A ADJ. ADJ.SB O OSCILLATOR RANGE TIMER MLII:T 2 ELECTRON ICS BOARD PULSE (2...RCVR 1 PULSE and RCVR 2 PULSE modes an oscillator (U4A) is turned on by removal of a short across an integrator. This oscillator triggers the range timer

Nonperturbative measurement of the local magnetic field using pulsed polarimetry for fusion reactor conditions (invited)a)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Roger J.

2008-10-01

A novel diagnostic technique for the remote and nonperturbative sensing of the local magnetic field in reactor relevant plasmas is presented. Pulsed polarimetry [Patent No. 12/150,169 (pending)] combines optical scattering with the Faraday effect. The polarimetric light detection and ranging (LIDAR)-like diagnostic has the potential to be a local Bpol diagnostic on ITER and can achieve spatial resolutions of millimeters on high energy density (HED) plasmas using existing lasers. The pulsed polarimetry method is based on nonlocal measurements and subtle effects are introduced that are not present in either cw polarimetry or Thomson scattering LIDAR. Important features include the capability of simultaneously measuring local Te, ne, and B∥ along the line of sight, a resiliency to refractive effects, a short measurement duration providing near instantaneous data in time, and location for real-time feedback and control of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities and the realization of a widely applicable internal magnetic field diagnostic for the magnetic fusion energy program. The technique improves for higher neB∥ product and higher ne and is well suited for diagnosing the transient plasmas in the HED program. Larger devices such as ITER and DEMO are also better suited to the technique, allowing longer pulse lengths and thereby relaxing key technology constraints making pulsed polarimetry a valuable asset for next step devices. The pulsed polarimetry technique is clarified by way of illustration on the ITER tokamak and plasmas within the magnetized target fusion program within present technological means.

Optimisation of cascaded Yb fiber amplifier chains using numerical-modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, F.; Price, J. H.; Vu, K. T.; Malinowski, A.; Sahu, J. K.; Richardson, D. J.

2006-12-01

We show that it is possible to adapt existing software packages developed originally for modeling telecommunication devices and systems to reliably predict and optimize the performance of high-power Ytterbium-doped fiber amplifier and laser systems. The ready availability of a flexible, user-friendly design tool should be of considerable practical interest to scientists and engineers working with this important new laser technology since Ytterbium amplifier and amplifier cascades are often difficult to optimize experimentally due to the three-level nature of the Ytterbium laser transition. As examples of the utility and accuracy of the software, as well as the complexity of the systems and amplifier properties that can be successfully modeled, we present a comparison of experimental and theoretical results for individual core and cladding pumped amplifiers, and also for an ultra-short pulse four-stage amplifier system optimized both to provide a broad gain bandwidth and to minimize nonlinear effects. We also show how high energy 100 ns pulses with complex user definable temporal profiles can be created in a gain-saturated amplifier by suitable pre-shaping of the low-energy input pulses. Furthermore, with appropriate modifications the same software package can be applied to fiber amplifiers based on other rare-earth elements and glass hosts.

Pure-phase selective excitation in fast-relaxing systems.

PubMed

Zangger, K; Oberer, M; Sterk, H

2001-09-01

Selective pulses have been used frequently for small molecules. However, their application to proteins and other macromolecules has been limited. The long duration of shaped-selective pulses and the short T(2) relaxation times in proteins often prohibited the use of highly selective pulses especially on larger biomolecules. A very selective excitation can be obtained within a short time by using the selective excitation sequence presented in this paper. Instead of using a shaped low-intensity radiofrequency pulse, a cluster of hard 90 degrees pulses, delays of free precession, and pulsed field gradients can be used to selectively excite a narrow chemical shift range within a relatively short time. Thereby, off-resonance magnetization, which is allowed to evolve freely during the free precession intervals, is destroyed by the gradient pulses. Off-resonance excitation artifacts can be removed by random variation of the interpulse delays. This leads to an excitation profile with selectivity as well as phase and relaxation behavior superior to that of commonly used shaped-selective pulses. Since the evolution of scalar coupling is inherently suppressed during the double-selective excitation of two different scalar-coupled nuclei, the presented pulse cluster is especially suited for simultaneous highly selective excitation of N-H and C-H fragments. Experimental examples are demonstrated on hen egg white lysozyme (14 kD) and the bacterial antidote ParD (19 kD). Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

Propagation of ultrashort laser pulses in water: linear absorption and onset of nonlinear spectral transformation.

PubMed

Sokolov, Alexei V; Naveira, Lucas M; Poudel, Milan P; Strohaber, James; Trendafilova, Cynthia S; Buck, William C; Wang, Jieyu; Strycker, Benjamin D; Wang, Chao; Schuessler, Hans; Kolomenskii, Alexandre; Kattawar, George W

2010-01-20

We study propagation of short laser pulses through water and use a spectral hole filling technique to essentially perform a sensitive balanced comparison of absorption coefficients for pulses of different duration. This study is motivated by an alleged violation of the Bouguer-Lambert-Beer law at low light intensities, where the pulse propagation is expected to be linear, and by a possible observation of femtosecond optical precursors in water. We find that at low intensities, absorption of laser light is determined solely by its spectrum and does not directly depend on the pulse duration, in agreement with our earlier work and in contradiction to some work of others. However, as the laser fluence is increased, interaction of light with water becomes nonlinear, causing energy exchange among the pulse's spectral components and resulting in peak-intensity dependent (and therefore pulse-duration dependent) transmission. For 30 fs pulses at 800 nm center wavelength, we determine the onset of nonlinear propagation effects to occur at a peak value of about 0.12 mJ/cm(2) of input laser energy fluence.

Femtosecond parabolic pulse shaping in normally dispersive optical fibers.

PubMed

Sukhoivanov, Igor A; Iakushev, Sergii O; Shulika, Oleksiy V; Díez, Antonio; Andrés, Miguel

2013-07-29

Formation of parabolic pulses at femtosecond time scale by means of passive nonlinear reshaping in normally dispersive optical fibers is analyzed. Two approaches are examined and compared: the parabolic waveform formation in transient propagation regime and parabolic waveform formation in the steady-state propagation regime. It is found that both approaches could produce parabolic pulses as short as few hundred femtoseconds applying commercially available fibers, specially designed all-normal dispersion photonic crystal fiber and modern femtosecond lasers for pumping. The ranges of parameters providing parabolic pulse formation at the femtosecond time scale are found depending on the initial pulse duration, chirp and energy. Applicability of different fibers for femtosecond pulse shaping is analyzed. Recommendation for shortest parabolic pulse formation is made based on the analysis presented.

Optical chirped beam amplification and propagation

DOEpatents

Barty, Christopher P.

2004-10-12

A short pulse laser system uses dispersive optics in a chirped-beam amplification architecture to produce high peak power pulses and high peak intensities without the potential for intensity dependent damage to downstream optical components after amplification.

Performance of large aperture tapered fiber phase conjugate mirror with high pulse energy and 1-kHz repetition rate.

PubMed

Zhao, Zhigang; Dong, Yantao; Pan, Sunqiang; Liu, Chong; Chen, Jun; Tong, Lixin; Gao, Qingsong; Tang, Chun

2012-01-16

A large aperture fused silica tapered fiber phase conjugate mirror is presented with a maximum 70% stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) reflectivity, which is obtained with 1 kHz repetition rate, 15 ns pulse width and 38 mJ input pulse energy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest SBS reflectivity ever reported by using optical fiber as a phase conjugate mirror for such high pulse repetition rate (1 kHz) and several tens of millijoule (mJ) input pulse energy. The influences of fiber end surface quality and pump pulse widths on SBS reflectivity are investigated experimentally. The results show that finer fiber end surface quality and longer input pulse widths are preferred for obtaining higher SBS reflectivity with higher input pulse energy. Double passing amplification experiments are also performed. 52 mJ pulse energy is achieved at 1 kHz repetition rate, with a reflected SBS pulse width of 1.5 ns and a M(2) factor of 2.3. The corresponding peak power reaches 34.6 MW. Obvious beam quality improvement is observed.

Two-Color Laser High-Harmonic Generation in Cavitated Plasma Wakefields

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schroeder, Carl; Benedetti, Carlo; Esarey, Eric

2016-10-03

A method is proposed for producing coherent x-rays via high-harmonic generation using a laser interacting with highly-stripped ions in cavitated plasma wakefields. Two laser pulses of different colors are employed: a long-wavelength pulse for cavitation and a short-wavelength pulse for harmonic generation. This method enables efficient laser harmonic generation in the sub-nm wavelength regime.

Three electron beams from a laser-plasma wakefield accelerator and the energy apportioning question

PubMed Central

Yang, X.; Brunetti, E.; Gil, D. Reboredo; Welsh, G. H.; Li, F. Y.; Cipiccia, S.; Ersfeld, B.; Grant, D. W.; Grant, P. A.; Islam, M. R.; Tooley, M. P.; Vieux, G.; Wiggins, S. M.; Sheng, Z. M.; Jaroszynski, D. A.

2017-01-01

Laser-wakefield accelerators are compact devices capable of delivering ultra-short electron bunches with pC-level charge and MeV-GeV energy by exploiting the ultra-high electric fields arising from the interaction of intense laser pulses with plasma. We show experimentally and through numerical simulations that a high-energy electron beam is produced simultaneously with two stable lower-energy beams that are ejected in oblique and counter-propagating directions, typically carrying off 5–10% of the initial laser energy. A MeV, 10s nC oblique beam is ejected in a 30°–60° hollow cone, which is filled with more energetic electrons determined by the injection dynamics. A nC-level, 100s keV backward-directed beam is mainly produced at the leading edge of the plasma column. We discuss the apportioning of absorbed laser energy amongst the three beams. Knowledge of the distribution of laser energy and electron beam charge, which determine the overall efficiency, is important for various applications of laser-wakefield accelerators, including the development of staged high-energy accelerators. PMID:28281679

Dedicated Laboratory Setup for CO{sub 2} TEA Laser Propulsion Experiments at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Salvador, Israel I.; Kenoyer, David; Myrabo, Leik N.

Laser propulsion research progress has traditionally been hindered by the scarcity of photon sources with desirable characteristics, as well as integrated specialized flow facilities in a dedicated laboratory environment. For TEA CO{sub 2} lasers, the minimal requirements are time-average powers of >100 W), and pulse energies of >10 J pulses with short duration (e.g., 0.1 to 1 {mu}s); furthermore, for the advanced pulsejet engines of interest here, the laser system must simulate pulse repetition frequencies of 1-10 kilohertz or more, at least for two (carefully sequenced) pulses. A well-equipped laser propulsion laboratory should have an arsenal of sensor and diagnosticsmore » tools (such as load cells, thrust stands, moment balances, pressure and heat transfer gages), Tesla-level electromagnet and permanent magnets, flow simulation facilities, and high-speed visualization systems, in addition to other related equipment, such as optics and gas supply systems. In this paper we introduce a cutting-edge Laser Propulsion Laboratory created at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, one of the very few in the world to be uniquely set up for beamed energy propulsion (BEP) experiments. The present BEP research program is described, along with the envisioned research strategy that will exploit current and expanded facilities in the near future.« less

Enhanced erosion of tungsten plasma-facing components subject to simultaneous heat pulses and deuterium plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Umstadter, K. R.; Doerner, R.; Tynan, G.

2009-04-01

When an ELM occurs in tokamaks, up to 30% of the pedestal energy can be deposited on the wall of the tokamak causing heating and material loss due to sublimation/evaporation and melt layer splashing of plasma-facing components (PFCs) and expansion of the ejected material into the plasma. A short-pulse laser system capable of reproducing the thermal load of an ELM heat pulse has been integrated into the existing PFC research program in PISCES, a laboratory facility capable of reproducing plasma-materials interactions expected during normal operation of large tokamaks. An Nd:YAG laser capable of delivering up to 1 J of energy over a 7 ns pulsewidth is used for the experiments. Laser heat pulse only, H +/D + plasma only, and laser plus plasma experiments were conducted and initial results indicate enhanced erosion of tungsten exposed to simultaneous plasma and heat pulses, as compared to exposure to separate plasma-only or heat pulse-only conditions.

Generation and parametric amplification of broadband chirped pulses in the near-infrared

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marcinkevičiūtė, A.; Michailovas, K.; Butkus, R.

2018-05-01

We demonstrate generation and optical parametric amplification of broadband chirped pulses in the range of 1.8- 2 . 5 μm. The setup is built around Ti:sapphire oscillator as a seed source and 1 kHz Nd:YAG laser system as a pump source. Visible broadband seed pulses are temporally stretched and amplified in a non-collinear optical parametric amplifier before being mixed with fundamental harmonic of the pump laser. Difference frequency generation between positively-chirped broadband pulses centered at 0 . 7 μm and non-chirped narrowband pulses at 1064 nm produces negatively-chirped wide spectral bandwidth pulses in the infrared. After subsequent parametric amplification, pulses with more than 0.5 mJ energy were obtained with spectral bandwidth supporting transform-limited pulse durations as short as 23 fs.

Photoionization in the time and frequency domain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Isinger, M.; Squibb, R. J.; Busto, D.; Zhong, S.; Harth, A.; Kroon, D.; Nandi, S.; Arnold, C. L.; Miranda, M.; Dahlström, J. M.; Lindroth, E.; Feifel, R.; Gisselbrecht, M.; L'Huillier, A.

2017-11-01

Ultrafast processes in matter, such as the electron emission after light absorption, can now be studied using ultrashort light pulses of attosecond duration (10-18 seconds) in the extreme ultraviolet spectral range. The lack of spectral resolution due to the use of short light pulses has raised issues in the interpretation of the experimental results and the comparison with theoretical calculations. We determine photoionization time delays in neon atoms over a 40-electron volt energy range with an interferometric technique combining high temporal and spectral resolution. We spectrally disentangle direct ionization from ionization with shake-up, in which a second electron is left in an excited state, and obtain excellent agreement with theoretical calculations, thereby solving a puzzle raised by 7-year-old measurements.

Laser plasma source for soft x-ray imaging in CIOM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shao, Zhongxing; Wang, Zhanshan; Xu, Fengming; Lu, Junxia; Chen, Xingdan

1997-10-01

We previously reported 18 nm Schwartzchild microscope by using a laser plasma source. Now we are planning to improve our Nd:YAG laser system and the multilayers mirror of Mo/B4C instead of Mo/Si, for producing shorter wavelength radiation and developing a new soft x-ray imaging setup. To compress the pulse width of the laser, the SBS (Stimulated Brillouin Scattering) cells is available. To short the wavelength to the 4th harmonics of the laser with high as 0.4 J energy per pulse, the hindrance is the low, less than 20%, nonlinear conversion efficiency. In this paper we are going to briefly introduce the new method to overcome the hindrance and the configuration of the SBS cell.

Proton acceleration measurements using fs laser irradiation of foils in the target normal sheath acceleration regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Batani, D.; Boutoux, G.; Burgy, F.; Jakubowska, K.; Ducret, J. E.

2018-05-01

We present experimental results obtained at the CELIA laboratory using the laser ECLIPSE to study proton acceleration from ultra-intense laser pulses. Several types of targets were irradiated with different laser conditions (focusing and prepulse level). Proton emission was characterized using time-of-flight detectors (SiC and diamond) and a Thomson parabola spectrometer. In all cases, the maximum energy of observed protons was of the order of 260 keV with a large energy spectrum. Such characteristics are typical of protons emitted following the target normal sheath acceleration mechanism for low-energy short-pulse lasers like ECLIPSE.

Conductive graphene as passive saturable absorber with high instantaneous peak power and pulse energy in Q-switched regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zuikafly, Siti Nur Fatin; Khalifa, Ali; Ahmad, Fauzan; Shafie, Suhaidi; Harun, SulaimanWadi

2018-06-01

The Q-switched pulse regime is demonstrated by integrating conductive graphene as passive saturable absorber producing relatively high instantaneous peak power and pulse energy. The fabricated conductive graphene is investigated using Raman spectroscopy. The single wavelength Q-switching operates at 1558.28 nm at maximum input pump power of 151.47 mW. As the pump power is increased from threshold power of 51.6 mW to 151.47 mW, the pulse train repetition rate increases proportionally from 47.94 kHz to 67.8 kHz while the pulse width is reduced from 9.58 μs to 6.02 μs. The generated stable pulse produced maximum peak power and pulse energy of 32 mW and 206 nJ, respectively. The first beat node of the measured signal-to-noise ratio is about 62 dB indicating high pulse stability.

Betatron x-ray radiation in the self-modulated wakefield acceleration regime (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Albert, Felicie

2017-05-01

Betatron x-ray radiation, driven by electrons from laser-wakefield acceleration, has unique properties to probe high energy density (HED) plasmas and warm dense matter. Betatron radiation is produced when relativistic electrons oscillate in the plasma wake of a laser pulse. Its properties are similar to those of synchrotron radiation, with a 1000 fold shorter pulse. This presentation will focus on the experimental challenges and results related to the development of betatron radiation in the self modulated regime of laser wakefield acceleration. We observed multi keV Betatron x-rays from a self-modulated laser wakefield accelerator. The experiment was performed at the Jupiter Laser Facility, LLNL, by focusing the Titan short pulse beam (4-150 J, 1 ps) onto the edge of a Helium gas jet at electronic densities around 1019 cm-3. For the first time on this laser system, we used a long focal length optic, which produced a laser normalized potential a0 in the range 1-3. Under these conditions, electrons are accelerated by the plasma wave created in the wake of the light pulse. As a result, intense Raman satellites, which measured shifts depend on the electron plasma density, were observed on the laser spectrum transmitted through the target. Electrons with energies up to 200 MeV, as well as Betatron x-rays with critical energies around 20 keV, were measured. OSIRIS 2D PIC simulations confirm that the electrons gain energy both from the plasma wave and from their interaction with the laser field.

Investigations to improve laser induced lithrotripsy (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eisel, Max; Ulaganathan, Keerthanan; Strittmatter, Frank; Pongratz, Thomas; Sroka, Ronald

2017-02-01

Laser lithotripsy is the preferred application for the destruction of ureteral and kidney stones. Clinically Ho:YAG lasers (λ=2.1μm) are used due to high absorption by water to induce thermomechanical ablation. This study focussed on the investigation of different laser parameters in relation to the stone dusting efficiency. The term dusting was defined when the ablated fragments were d<1mm in diameter while fragmentation is defined to pieces of d> 1mm. The discussion about fragment-size showed advantages like reduced surgery time. Experiments were performed using clinical available Ho:YAG laser energy transferred via a standard fibre (Ø: 365μm) onto phantom calculi (Bego-Stones of different hardness) in a water filled vessel. Dusting can be reached most efficient by using low energy/pulse (approx. 0.5J/pulse) and repetition rate of around 40 Hz. Higher energy/pulse showed strong repulsion and thereby increased mobility, while using lower repetition rates result in longer ablation times. With regard to the hardness of the phantoms it can be derived that on soft calculi or calculi with a very rugged surface dusting can be observed less because the stone breaks into large fragments after a short time of laser application. For hard calculi the ablation process takes a much longer time compared to soft stones. In the following will be shown that dusting and fragmentation process depends not only on the energy/pulse and repetition rate of a Ho:YAG-laser, but also there are differences between Ho:YAG-laser systems according to the dusting efficiency.

A new high intensity and short-pulse molecular beam valve

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, B.; Claus, P. F. H.; van Oorschot, B. G. M.; Gerritsen, L.; Eppink, A. T. J. B.; van de Meerakker, S. Y. T.; Parker, D. H.

2013-02-01

In this paper, we report on the design and performance of a new home-built pulsed gas valve, which we refer to as the Nijmegen Pulsed Valve (NPV). The main output characteristics include a short pulse width (as short as 20 μs) combined with operating rates up to 30 Hz. The operation principle of the NPV is based on the Lorentz force created by a pulsed current passing through an aluminum strip located within a magnetic field, which opens the nozzle periodically. The amplitude of displacement of the opening mechanism is sufficient to allow the use of nozzles with up to 1.0 mm diameter. To investigate the performance of the valve, several characterizations were performed with different experimental methods. First, a fast ionization gauge was used to measure the beam intensity of the free jet emanating from the NPV. We compare free jets from the NPV with those from several other pulsed valves in current use in our laboratory. Results showed that a high intensity and short pulse-length beam could be generated by the new valve. Second, the NPV was tested in combination with a skimmer, where resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization combined with velocity map imaging was used to show that the NPV was able to produce a pulsed molecular beam with short pulse duration (˜20 μs using 0.1% NO/He at 6 bars) and low rotational temperature (˜1 K using 0.5% NO/Ar at 6 bars). Third, a novel two-point pump-probe method was employed which we label double delay scan. This method allows a full kinematic characterization of the molecular beam, including accurate speed ratios at different temporal positions. It was found that the speed ratio was maximum (S = 50 using 0.1% NO/He at 3 bars) at the peak position of the molecular beam and decreased when it was on the leading or falling edge.

Improvements to laser wakefield accelerated electron beam stability, divergence, and energy spread using three-dimensional printed two-stage gas cell targets

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vargas, M.; Schumaker, W.; He, Z.-H.

2014-04-28

High intensity, short pulse lasers can be used to accelerate electrons to ultra-relativistic energies via laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) [T. Tajima and J. M. Dawson, Phys. Rev. Lett. 43, 267 (1979)]. Recently, it was shown that separating the injection and acceleration processes into two distinct stages could prove beneficial in obtaining stable, high energy electron beams [Gonsalves et al., Nat. Phys. 7, 862 (2011); Liu et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 035001 (2011); Pollock et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 045001 (2011)]. Here, we use a stereolithography based 3D printer to produce two-stage gas targets for LWFA experiments on themore » HERCULES laser system at the University of Michigan. We demonstrate substantial improvements to the divergence, pointing stability, and energy spread of a laser wakefield accelerated electron beam compared with a single-stage gas cell or gas jet target.« less

An all-reflective polarization rotator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bohus, J.; Budai, Judit; Kalashnikov, M.; Osvay, K.

2017-05-01

The conceptual design and proof of principle experimental results of a polarization rotator based on mirrors are presented. The device is suitable for any-angle, online rotation of the plane of polarization of high peak intensity ultrashort laser pulses. Controllable rotation of the polarization vector of short laser pulses with a broad bandwidth requires achromatic retarding plates which have a limited scalability and the substantial plate thickness can lead to pulse broadening and inaccurate polarization rotation. Polarization rotators based on reflective optical elements are preferable alternatives to wave plates especially when used in high average power or high peak intensity ultra-short laser systems. The control of the polarization state is desirable in many laser-matter interaction experiments e.g., high harmonic and attosecond pulse generation, electron, proton and ion acceleration, electron-positron pair creating, vacuum nonlinear polarization effect. The device can also serve as a beam attenuator, in combination with a linear polarizer.

ZnO sublimation using a polyenergetic pulsed electron beam source: numerical simulation and validation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tricot, S.; Semmar, N.; Lebbah, L.; Boulmer-Leborgne, C.

2010-02-01

This paper details the electro-thermal study of the sublimation phase on a zinc oxide surface. This thermodynamic process occurs when a ZnO target is bombarded by a pulsed electron beam source composed of polyenergetic electrons. The source delivers short pulses of 180 ns of electrons with energies up to 16 keV. The beam total current reaches 800 A and is focused onto a spot area 2 mm in diameter. The Monte Carlo CASINO program is used to study the first stage of the interaction and to define the heat source space distribution inside the ZnO target. Simulation of the second stage of interaction is developed in a COMSOL multiphysics project. The simulated thermal field induced by space and time heat conduction is presented. Typically for a pulsed electron beam 2 mm in diameter of electrons having energies up to 16 keV, the surface temperature reaches a maximum of 7000 K. The calculations are supported by SEM pictures of the target irradiated by various beam energies and numbers of pulses.

Comparisons of angularly and spectrally resolved Bremsstrahlung measurements to two-dimensional multi-stage simulations of short-pulse laser-plasma interactions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, C. D.; Kemp, A. J.; Pérez, F.

2013-05-15

A 2-D multi-stage simulation model incorporating realistic laser conditions and a fully resolved electron distribution handoff has been developed and compared to angularly and spectrally resolved Bremsstrahlung measurements from high-Z planar targets. For near-normal incidence and 0.5-1 × 10{sup 20} W/cm{sup 2} intensity, particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations predict the existence of a high energy electron component consistently directed away from the laser axis, in contrast with previous expectations for oblique irradiation. Measurements of the angular distribution are consistent with a high energy component when directed along the PIC predicted direction, as opposed to between the target normal and laser axis asmore » previously measured.« less

Development of a compact generator for gigawatt, nanosecond high-voltage pulses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhou, Lin, E-mail: zhoulin-2003@163.com; Jiang, Zhanxing; Liang, Chuan

2016-03-15

A compact generator producing 2.2-ns 1.5 GW high-voltage pulses was developed. The generator employed a 27.6 Ω, 0.9 ns pulse-forming-line (PFL), which was charged by an iron core transformer with a turn ratio of 2:33.5 and a coefficient of 0.94. A 1.2 μF, 20 kV capacitor and a hydrogen thyratron were used in the primary circuit. When the thyratron closed at 14.5 kV, 3.4% of the energy stored in the capacitor was delivered to the PFL in 850 ns, producing a peak voltage of up to ∼500 kV. In addition, the principle of triple resonance transformation was employed by addingmore » a 50 pF tuning capacitor and a 1.15 mH inductor between the transformer and the PFL, which led to a significant reduction of the duration and peak value of the transformer voltage without reducing that in the PFL. Meanwhile, an adjustable self-break oil switch was applied. By using transmission lines with impedance overmatched to that of the PFL, the generator delivered a 512 kV pulse across an electron beam diode, generating radiation with a dose of 20 mR/pulse at 20 cm ahead of the diode. The generator provides an excellent ultra-short radiation pulse source for the studies on radiation physics.« less

Development of a compact generator for gigawatt, nanosecond high-voltage pulses.

PubMed

Zhou, Lin; Jiang, Zhanxing; Liang, Chuan; Li, Mingjia; Wang, Wenchuan; Li, Zhenghong

2016-03-01

A compact generator producing 2.2-ns 1.5 GW high-voltage pulses was developed. The generator employed a 27.6 Ω, 0.9 ns pulse-forming-line (PFL), which was charged by an iron core transformer with a turn ratio of 2:33.5 and a coefficient of 0.94. A 1.2 μF, 20 kV capacitor and a hydrogen thyratron were used in the primary circuit. When the thyratron closed at 14.5 kV, 3.4% of the energy stored in the capacitor was delivered to the PFL in 850 ns, producing a peak voltage of up to ∼500 kV. In addition, the principle of triple resonance transformation was employed by adding a 50 pF tuning capacitor and a 1.15 mH inductor between the transformer and the PFL, which led to a significant reduction of the duration and peak value of the transformer voltage without reducing that in the PFL. Meanwhile, an adjustable self-break oil switch was applied. By using transmission lines with impedance overmatched to that of the PFL, the generator delivered a 512 kV pulse across an electron beam diode, generating radiation with a dose of 20 mR/pulse at 20 cm ahead of the diode. The generator provides an excellent ultra-short radiation pulse source for the studies on radiation physics.

Low-density plasma formation in aqueous biological media using sub-nanosecond laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Genc, Suzanne L.; Ma, Huan; Venugopalan, Vasan

2014-08-01

We demonstrate the formation of low- and high-density plasmas in aqueous media using sub-nanosecond laser pulses delivered at low numerical aperture (NA = 0.25). We observe two distinct regimes of plasma formation in deionized water, phosphate buffered saline, Minimum Essential Medium (MEM), and MEM supplemented with phenol red. Optical breakdown is first initiated in a low-energy regime and characterized by bubble formation without plasma luminescence with threshold pulse energies in the range of Ep ≈ 4-5 μJ, depending on media formulation. The onset of this regime occurs over a very narrow interval of pulse energies and produces small bubbles (Rmax = 2-20 μm) due to a tiny conversion (η < 0.01%) of laser energy to bubble energy EB. The lack of visible plasma luminescence, sharp energy onset, and low bubble energy conversion are all hallmarks of low-density plasma (LDP) formation. At higher pulse energies (Ep = 11-20 μJ), the process transitions to a second regime characterized by plasma luminescence and large bubble formation. Bubbles formed in this regime are 1-2 orders of magnitude larger in size ( R max ≳ 100 μ m ) due to a roughly two-order-of-magnitude increase in bubble energy conversion (η ≳ 3%). These characteristics are consistent with high-density plasma formation produced by avalanche ionization and thermal runaway. Additionally, we show that supplementation of MEM with fetal bovine serum (FBS) limits optical breakdown to this high-energy regime. The ability to produce LDPs using sub-nanosecond pulses focused at low NA in a variety of cell culture media formulations without FBS can provide for cellular manipulation at high throughput with precision approaching that of femtosecond pulses delivered at high NA.

Birefringence profile adjustment by spatial overlap of nanogratings induced by ultra-short laser pulses inside fused silica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arabanian, Atoosa Sadat; Najafi, Somayeh; Ajami, Aliasghar; Husinsky, Wolfgang; Massudi, Reza

2018-02-01

We have succeeded in realizing a method to control the spatial distribution of optical retardation as a result of nanogratings in bulk-fused silica induced by ultrashort laser pulses. A colorimetry-based retardation measurement (CBRM) based on the Michel-Levy interference color chart using a polarization microscope is used to determine the profiles of the optical retardation. Effects of the spatial overlap of written regions as well as the energy and polarization of the writing pulses on the induced retardations are studied. It has been found that the spatial overlap of lines written by pulse trains with different energies and polarizations can result in an adjustment of the induced birefringence in the overlap region. This approach offers the possibility of designing polarization-sensitive components with a desired birefringence profile.

The Spiral of Life

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cajiao Vélez, F.; Kamiński, J. Z.; Krajewska, K.

2018-04-01

High-energy photoionization driven by short and circularly-polarized laser pulses is studied in the framework of the relativistic strong-field approximation. The saddle-point analysis of the integrals defining the probability amplitude is used to determine the general properties of the probability distributions. Additionally, an approximate solution to the saddle-point equation is derived. This leads to the concept of the three-dimensional spiral of life in momentum space, around which the ionization probability distribution is maximum. We demonstrate that such spiral is also obtained from a classical treatment.

Energy scaling of terahertz-wave parametric sources.

PubMed

Tang, Guanqi; Cong, Zhenhua; Qin, Zengguang; Zhang, Xingyu; Wang, Weitao; Wu, Dong; Li, Ning; Fu, Qiang; Lu, Qingming; Zhang, Shaojun

2015-02-23

Terahertz-wave parametric oscillators (TPOs) have advantages of room temperature operation, wide tunable range, narrow line-width, good coherence. They have also disadvantage of small pulse energy. In this paper, several factors preventing TPOs from generating high-energy THz pulses and the corresponding solutions are analyzed. A scheme to generate high-energy THz pulses by using the combination of a TPO and a Stokes-pulse-injected terahertz-wave parametric generator (spi-TPG) is proposed and demonstrated. A TPO is used as a source to generate a seed pulse for the surface-emitted spi-TPG. The time delay between the pump and Stokes pulses is adjusted to guarantee they have good temporal overlap. The pump pulses have a large pulse energy and a large beam size. The Stokes beam is enlarged to make its size be larger than the pump beam size to have a large effective interaction volume. The experimental results show that the generated THz pulse energy from the spi-TPG is 1.8 times as large as that obtained from the TPO for the same pumping pulse energy density of 0.90 J/cm(2) and the same pumping beam size of 3.0 mm. When the pumping beam sizes are 5.0 and 7.0 mm, the enhancement times are 3.7 and 7.5, respectively. The spi-TPG here is similar to a difference frequency generator; it can also be used as a Stokes pulse amplifier.

The LEBIT ion cooler and buncher

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwarz, S.; Bollen, G.; Ringle, R.; Savory, J.; Schury, P.

2016-04-01

This paper presents a detailed description of the ion cooler and buncher, installed at the Low Energy Beam and Ion Trap Facility (LEBIT) at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL). NSCL uses gas stopping to provide rare isotopes from projectile fragmentation for its low-energy physics program and to the re-accelerator ReA. The LEBIT ion buncher converts the continuous rare-isotope beam, delivered from the gas stopping cell, into short, low-emittance ion pulses, required for high-precision mass measurements with a 9.4 T Penning trap mass spectrometer. Operation at cryogenic temperatures, a simplified electrode structure and dedicated rugged electronics contribute to the high performance and reliability of the device, which have been essential to the successful LEBIT physics program since 2005.

Generation and application of ultrashort coherent mid-infrared electromagnetic radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wandel, Scott

Particle accelerators are useful instruments that help address critical issues for the future development of nuclear energy. Current state-of-the-art accelerators based on conventional radio-frequency (rf) cavities are too large and expensive for widespread commercial use, and alternative designs must be considered for supplying relativistic beams to small-scale applications, including medical imaging, secu- rity screening, and scientific research in a university-scale laboratory. Laser-driven acceleration using micro-fabricated dielectric photonic structures is an attractive approach because such photonic microstructures can support accelerating fields that are 10 to 100 times higher than that of rf cavity-based accelerators. Dielectric laser accelerators (DLAs) use commercial lasers as a driving source, which are smaller and less expensive than the klystrons used to drive current rf-based accelerators. Despite the apparent need for compact and economical laser sources for laser-driven acceleration, the availability of suitable high-peak-power lasers that cover a broad spectral range is currently limited. To address the needs of several innovative acceleration mechanisms like DLA, it is proposed to develop a coherent source of mid-infrared (IR) electromagnetic radiation that can be implemented as a driving source of laser accelerators. The use of ultrashort mid-IR high peak power laser systems in various laser-driven acceleration schemes has shown the potential to greatly reduce the optical pump intensities needed to realize high acceleration gradients. The optical intensity needed to achieve a given ponderomotive potential is 25 times less when using a 5-mum mid-IR laser as compared to using a 1-mum near-IR solid-state laser. In addition, dielectric structure breakdown caused by multiphoton ionization can be avoided by using longer-wavelength driving lasers. Current mid-IR laser sources do not produce sufficiently short pulse durations, broad spectral bandwidths, or high energies as required by certain accelerator applications. The use of a high-peak-power mid-IR laser system in DLA could enable tabletop accelerators on the MeV to GeV scale for security scanners, medical therapy devices, and compact x-ray light sources. This dissertation reports on the design and construction of a simple and robust, short-pulse parametric source operating at a center wavelength of 5 mum. The design and construction of a high-energy, short-pulse 2-mum parametric source is also presented, which serves as a surrogate pumping source for the 5-mum source. An elegant method for mid-IR pulse characterization is demonstrated, which makes use of ubiquitous silicon photodetectors, traditionally reserved for the characterization of near-IR radiation. In addition, a dual-chirped parametric amplification technique is extended into the mid-IR spectral region, producing a bandwidth-tunable mid-IR source in a simple design without sacrificing conversion efficiency. The design and development of a compact single-shot mid-IR prism spectrometer is also reported, and its implementation in a number of condensed matter studies at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center is discussed. Rapid tuning and optimization of a high-energy parametric laser system using the mid-IR spectrometer is demonstrated, which significantly enhances the capabilities of performing optical measurements on superconducting materials using the LCLS instrument. All of the laser sources and optical technologies presented in this dissertation were developed using relatively simple designs to provide compact and cost-e ective systems to address some of the challenges facing accelerator and IR spectroscopy technologies. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.).

Performance of a green propellant thruster with discharge plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shindo, Takahiro; Wada, Asato; Maeda, Hiroshi; Watanabe, Hiroki; Takegahara, Haruki

2017-02-01

A discharge plasma was applied to initiate the combustion of a hydroxylammonium nitrate-based propellant as a substitute for the catalysts that are typically employed. The resulting thrust and thrust-to-power ratio during short interval firing tests as well as the chamber pressure with a single pulse discharge were evaluated. A 1.5-s firing test generated a maximum thrust of 322 mN along with a thrust-to-power ratio of 0.95 mN/W. During the single-pulse discharge trials, pulsed discharge capacitor energies of 5.4, 10.8, and 16.4 J were assessed, and the maximum chamber pressure was found to increase as the energy was raised. The maximum chamber pressures varied widely between experimental trials, and a 16.4-J energy value resulted in the highest chamber pressure of over 1 MPaG. The time spans between the pulsed discharge and the peak chamber pressure were in the range of 1-2 ms, representing a chamber pressure increase rate much higher than those obtained with standard catalysts.

Pulsed high-energy gamma rays from PSR 1055-52

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fierro, J. M.; Bertsch, D. L.; Brazier, K. T.; Chiang, J.; D'Amico, N.; Fichtel, C. E.; Hartman, R. C.; Hunter, S. D.; Johnston, S.; Kanbach, G.

1993-01-01

The Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) aboard the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory has detected a high-energy gamma-ray source at a position coincident with that of the radio pulsar PSR 1055-52. Analysis of the EGRET data at the radio pulsar period of 197 ms has revealed pulsed gamma-radiation at energies above 300 MeV, making PSR 1055-52 the fifth detected high-energy gamma-ray pulsar. The pulsed radiation from PSR 1055-52 has a very hard photon spectral index of -1.18 +/- 0.16 and a high efficiency for converting its rotational energy into gamma-rays. No unpulsed emission was observed.

Hadronic vs. electromagnetic pulse shape discrimination in CsI(Tl) for high energy physics experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Longo, S.; Roney, J. M.

2018-03-01

Pulse shape discrimination using CsI(Tl) scintillators to perform neutral hadron particle identification is explored with emphasis towards application at high energy electron-positron collider experiments. Through the analysis of the pulse shape differences between scintillation pulses from photon and hadronic energy deposits using neutron and proton data collected at TRIUMF, it is shown that the pulse shape variations observed for hadrons can be modelled using a third scintillation component for CsI(Tl), in addition to the standard fast and slow components. Techniques for computing the hadronic pulse amplitudes and shape variations are developed and it is shown that the intensity of the additional scintillation component can be computed from the ionization energy loss of the interacting particles. These pulse modelling and simulation methods are integrated with GEANT4 simulation libraries and the predicted pulse shape for CsI(Tl) crystals in a 5 × 5 array of 5 × 5 × 30 cm3 crystals is studied for hadronic showers from 0.5 and 1 GeV/c KL0 and neutron particles. Using a crystal level and cluster level approach for photon vs. hadron cluster separation we demonstrate proof-of-concept for neutral hadron detection using CsI(Tl) pulse shape discrimination in high energy electron-positron collider experiments.

High Power Spark Delivery System Using Hollow Core Kagome Lattice Fibers

PubMed Central

Dumitrache, Ciprian; Rath, Jordan; Yalin, Azer P.

2014-01-01

This study examines the use of the recently developed hollow core kagome lattice fibers for delivery of high power laser pulses. Compared to other photonic crystal fibers (PCFs), the hollow core kagome fibers have larger core diameter (~50 µm), which allows for higher energy coupling in the fiber while also maintaining high beam quality at the output (M2 = 1.25). We have conducted a study of the maximum deliverable energy versus laser pulse duration using a Nd:YAG laser at 1064 nm. Pulse energies as high as 30 mJ were transmitted for 30 ns pulse durations. This represents, to our knowledge; the highest laser pulse energy delivered using PCFs. Two fiber damage mechanisms were identified as damage at the fiber input and damage within the bulk of the fiber. Finally, we have demonstrated fiber delivered laser ignition on a single-cylinder gasoline direct injection engine. PMID:28788155

Reversing-counterpulse repetitive-pulse inductive storage circuit

DOEpatents

Honig, Emanuel M.

1987-01-01

A high-power reversing-counterpulse repetitive-pulse inductive storage and transfer circuit includes an opening switch, a main energy storage coil, a counterpulse capacitor and a small inductor. After counterpulsing the opening switch off, the counterpulse capacitor is recharged by the main energy storage coil before the load pulse is initiated. This gives the counterpulse capacitor sufficient energy for the next counterpulse operation, although the polarity of the capacitor's voltage must be reversed before that can occur. By using a current-zero switch as the counterpulse start switch, the capacitor is disconnected from the circuit (with a full charge) when the load pulse is initiated, preventing the capacitor from depleting its energy store by discharging through the load. After the load pulse is terminated by reclosing the main opening switch, the polarity of the counterpulse capacitor voltage is reversed by discharging the capacitor through a small inductor and interrupting the discharge current oscillation at zero current and peak reversed voltage. The circuit enables high-power, high-repetition-rate operation with reusable switches and features total control (pulse-to-pulse) over output pulse initiation, duration, repetition rate, and, to some extent, risetime.

Reversing-counterpulse repetitive-pulse inductive storage circuit

DOEpatents

Honig, E.M.

1984-06-05

A high power reversing-counterpulse repetitive-pulse inductive storage and transfer circuit includes an opening switch, a main energy storage coil, a counterpulse capacitor and a small inductor. After counterpulsing the opening switch off, the counterpulse capacitor is recharged by the main energy storage coil before the load pulse is initiated. This gives the counterpulse capacitor sufficient energy for the next counterpulse operation, although the polarity of the capacitor's voltage must be reversed before that can occur. By using a current-zero switch as the counterpulse start switch, the capacitor is disconnected from the circuit (with a full charge) when the load pulse is initiated, preventing the capacitor from depleting its energy store by discharging through the load. After the load pulse is terminated by reclosing the main opening switch, the polarity of the counterpulse capacitor voltage is reversed by discharging the capacitor through a small inductor and interrupting the discharge current oscillation at zero current and peak reversed voltage. The circuit enables high-power, high-repetition-rate operation with reusable switches and features total control (pulse-to-pulse) over output pulse initiation, duration, repetition rate, and, to some extent, risetime.

Enhanced water window x-ray emission from in situ formed carbon clusters irradiated by intense ultra-short laser pulses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chakravarty, U.; Rao, B. S.; Arora, V.

Enhanced water window x-ray emission (23–44 Å) from carbon clusters, formed in situ using a pre-pulse, irradiated by intense (I > 10{sup 17} W/cm{sup 2}) ultra-short laser pulse, is demonstrated. An order of magnitude x-ray enhancement over planar graphite target is observed in carbon clusters, formed by a sub-ns pre-pulse, interacting with intense main pulse after a delay. The effect of the delay and the duration of the main pulse is studied for optimizing the x-ray emission in the water window region. This x-ray source has added advantages of being an efficient, high repetition rate, and low debris x-ray source.

Recent Results With Coupled Opto-Electronic Oscillators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, X. S.; Maleki, L.; Wu, C.; Davis, L.; Forouhar, S.

1998-07-01

We present experimental results of coupled opto-electronic oscillators (COEOs) constructed with a semiconductor optical-amplifier-based ring laser, a semiconductor Fabry-Perot laser, and a semiconductor colliding-pulse mode-locked laser. Each COEO can simultaneously generate short optical pulses and spectrally pure RF signals. With these devices, we obtained optical pulses as short as 6 ps and RF signals as high in frequency as 18 GHz with a spectral purity comparable to an HP 8561B synthesizer. These experiments demonstrate that COEOs are promising compact sources for generating low jitter optical pulses and low phase noise RF/millimeter wave signals.

Recent results with the coupled opto-electronic oscillator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, X. S.; Maleki, Lute; Wu, Chi; Davis, Lawrence J.; Forouhar, Siamak

1998-11-01

We present experimental results of coupled opto-electronic oscillators (COEO) constructed with a semiconductor optical amplifier based ring laser, a semiconductor Fabry-Perot laser, and a semiconductor colliding pulse mode-locked laser. Each COEO can simultaneously generate short optical pulses and spectrally pure RF signals. With these devices, we obtained optical pulses as short as 6 picoseconds and RF signals as high in frequency as 18 GHz with a spectral purity comparable with a HP8561B synthesizer. These experiments demonstrate that COEOs are promising compact sources for generating low jitter optical pulses and low phase noise RF/millimeter wave signals.

Impact of intense x-ray pulses on a NaI(Tl)-based gamma camera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koppert, W. J. C.; van der Velden, S.; Steenbergen, J. H. L.; de Jong, H. W. A. M.

2018-03-01

In SPECT/CT systems x-ray and γ-ray imaging is performed sequentially. Simultaneous acquisition may have advantages, for instance in interventional settings. However, this may expose a gamma camera to relatively high x-ray doses and deteriorate its functioning. We studied the NaI(Tl) response to x-ray pulses with a photodiode, PMT and gamma camera, respectively. First, we exposed a NaI(Tl)-photodiode assembly to x-ray pulses to investigate potential crystal afterglow. Next, we exposed a NaI(Tl)-PMT assembly to 10 ms LED pulses (mimicking x-ray pulses) and measured the response to flashing LED probe-pulses (mimicking γ-pulses). We then exposed the assembly to x-ray pulses, with detector entrance doses of up to 9 nGy/pulse, and analysed the response for γ-pulse variations. Finally, we studied the response of a Siemens Diacam gamma camera to γ-rays while exposed to x-ray pulses. X-ray exposure of the crystal, read out with a photodiode, revealed 15% afterglow fraction after 3 ms. The NaI(Tl)-PMT assembly showed disturbances up to 10 ms after 10 ms LED exposure. After x-ray exposure however, responses showed elevated baselines, with 60 ms decay-time. Both for x-ray and LED exposure and after baseline subtraction, probe-pulse analysis revealed disturbed pulse height measurements shortly after exposure. X-ray exposure of the Diacam corroborated the elementary experiments. Up to 50 ms after an x-ray pulse, no events are registered, followed by apparent energy elevations up to 100 ms after exposure. Limiting the dose to 0.02 nGy/pulse prevents detrimental effects. Conventional gamma cameras exhibit substantial dead-time and mis-registration of photon energies up to 100 ms after intense x-ray pulses. This is due PMT limitations and due to afterglow in the crystal. Using PMTs with modified circuitry, we show that deteriorative afterglow effects can be reduced without noticeable effects on the PMT performance, up to x-ray pulse doses of 1 nGy.

The high velocity, high adiabat, "Bigfoot" campaign and tests of indirect-drive implosion scaling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casey, D. T.; Thomas, C. A.; Baker, K. L.; Spears, B. K.; Hohenberger, M.; Khan, S. F.; Nora, R. C.; Weber, C. R.; Woods, D. T.; Hurricane, O. A.; Callahan, D. A.; Berger, R. L.; Milovich, J. L.; Patel, P. K.; Ma, T.; Pak, A.; Benedetti, L. R.; Millot, M.; Jarrott, C.; Landen, O. L.; Bionta, R. M.; MacGowan, B. J.; Strozzi, D. J.; Stadermann, M.; Biener, J.; Nikroo, A.; Goyon, C. S.; Izumi, N.; Nagel, S. R.; Bachmann, B.; Volegov, P. L.; Fittinghoff, D. N.; Grim, G. P.; Yeamans, C. B.; Gatu Johnson, M.; Frenje, J. A.; Rice, N.; Kong, C.; Crippen, J.; Jaquez, J.; Kangas, K.; Wild, C.

2018-05-01

The Bigfoot approach is to intentionally trade off high convergence, and therefore areal-density, in favor of high implosion velocity and good coupling between the laser, hohlraum, shell, and hotspot. This results in a short laser pulse that improves hohlraum symmetry and predictability, while the reduced compression reduces hydrodynamic instability growth. The results thus far include demonstrated low-mode symmetry control at two different hohlraum geometries (5.75 mm and 5.4 mm diameters) and at two different target scales (5.4 mm and 6.0 mm hohlraum diameters) spanning 300-405 TW in laser power and 0.8-1.6 MJ in laser energy. Additionally, by carefully scaling the 5.4 mm design to 6.0 mm, an increase in target scale of 13%, equivalent to 40% increase in laser energy, has been demonstrated.

System level latchup mitigation for single event and transient radiation effects on electronics

DOEpatents

Kimbrough, J.R.; Colella, N.J.

1997-09-30

A ``blink`` technique, analogous to a person blinking at a flash of bright light, is provided for mitigating the effects of single event current latchup and prompt pulse destructive radiation on a micro-electronic circuit. The system includes event detection circuitry, power dump logic circuitry, and energy limiting measures with autonomous recovery. The event detection circuitry includes ionizing radiation pulse detection means for detecting a pulse of ionizing radiation and for providing at an output terminal thereof a detection signal indicative of the detection of a pulse of ionizing radiation. The current sensing circuitry is coupled to the power bus for determining an occurrence of excess current through the power bus caused by ionizing radiation or by ion-induced destructive latchup of a semiconductor device. The power dump circuitry includes power dump logic circuitry having a first input terminal connected to the output terminal of the ionizing radiation pulse detection circuitry and having a second input terminal connected to the output terminal of the current sensing circuitry. The power dump logic circuitry provides an output signal to the input terminal of the circuitry for opening the power bus and the circuitry for shorting the power bus to a ground potential to remove power from the power bus. The energy limiting circuitry with autonomous recovery includes circuitry for opening the power bus and circuitry for shorting the power bus to a ground potential. The circuitry for opening the power bus and circuitry for shorting the power bus to a ground potential includes a series FET and a shunt FET. The invention provides for self-contained sensing for latchup, first removal of power to protect latched components, and autonomous recovery to enable transparent operation of other system elements. 18 figs.

System level latchup mitigation for single event and transient radiation effects on electronics

DOEpatents

Kimbrough, Joseph Robert; Colella, Nicholas John

1997-01-01

A "blink" technique, analogous to a person blinking at a flash of bright light, is provided for mitigating the effects of single event current latchup and prompt pulse destructive radiation on a micro-electronic circuit. The system includes event detection circuitry, power dump logic circuitry, and energy limiting measures with autonomous recovery. The event detection circuitry includes ionizing radiation pulse detection means for detecting a pulse of ionizing radiation and for providing at an output terminal thereof a detection signal indicative of the detection of a pulse of ionizing radiation. The current sensing circuitry is coupled to the power bus for determining an occurrence of excess current through the power bus caused by ionizing radiation or by ion-induced destructive latchup of a semiconductor device. The power dump circuitry includes power dump logic circuitry having a first input terminal connected to the output terminal of the ionizing radiation pulse detection circuitry and having a second input terminal connected to the output terminal of the current sensing circuitry. The power dump logic circuitry provides an output signal to the input terminal of the circuitry for opening the power bus and the circuitry for shorting the power bus to a ground potential to remove power from the power bus. The energy limiting circuitry with autonomous recovery includes circuitry for opening the power bus and circuitry for shorting the power bus to a ground potential. The circuitry for opening the power bus and circuitry for shorting the power bus to a ground potential includes a series FET and a shunt FET. The invention provides for self-contained sensing for latchup, first removal of power to protect latched components, and autonomous recovery to enable transparent operation of other system elements.

Design and optimization of a compact laser-driven proton beamline.

PubMed

Scisciò, M; Migliorati, M; Palumbo, L; Antici, P

2018-04-19

Laser-accelerated protons, generated by irradiating a solid target with a short, energetic laser pulse at high intensity (I > 10 18  W·cm -2 ), represent a complementary if not outperforming source compared to conventional accelerators, due  to their intrinsic features, such as high beam charge and short bunch duration. However, the broadband energy spectrum of these proton sources is a bottleneck that precludes their use in applications requiring a more reduced energy spread. Consequently, in recent times strong effort has been put to overcome these limits and to develop laser-driven proton beamlines with low energy spread. In this paper, we report on beam dynamics simulations aiming at optimizing a laser-driven beamline - i.e. a laser-based proton source coupled to conventional magnetic beam manipulation devices - producing protons with a reduced energy spread, usable for applications. The energy range of investigation goes from 2 to 20 MeV, i.e. the typical proton energies that can be routinely obtained using commercial TW-power class laser systems. Our beamline design is capable of reducing the energy spread below 20%, still keeping the overall transmission efficiency around 1% and producing a proton spot-size in the range of 10 mm 2 . We briefly discuss the results in the context of applications in the domain of Cultural Heritage.

Electronic properties of solids excited with intermediate laser power densities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sirotti, Fausto; Tempo Beamline Team

Intermediate laser power density up to about 100 GW/cm2 is below the surface damage threshold is currently used to induce modification in the physical properties on short time scales. The absorption of a short laser pulse induces non-equilibrium electronic distributions followed by lattice-mediated equilibrium taking place only in the picosecond range. The role of the hot electrons is particularly important in several domains as for example fast magnetization and demagnetization processes, laser induced phase transitions, charge density waves. Angular resolved photoelectron spectroscopy measuring directly energy and momentum of electrons is the most adapted tool to study the electronic excitations at short time scales during and after fast laser excitations. The main technical problem is the space charge created by the pumping laser pulse. I will present angular resolved multiphoton photoemission results obtained with 800 nm laser pulses showing how space charge electrons emitted during fast demagnetization processes can be measured. Unable enter Affiliation: CNRS-SOLEIL Synchrotron L'Orme des Merisiers , Saint Aubin 91192 Gif sur Yvette France.

High peak power THz source for ultrafast electron diffraction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Shengguang

2018-01-01

Terahertz (THz) science and technology have already become the research highlight at present. In this paper, we put forward a device setup to carry out ultrafast fundamental research. A photocathode RF gun generates electron bunches with ˜MeV energy, ˜ps bunch width and about 25pC charge. The electron bunches inject the designed wiggler, the coherent radiation at THz spectrum emits from these bunches and increases rapidly until the saturation at ˜MW within a short wiggler. THz pulses can be used as pump to stimulate an ultra-short excitation in some kind of sample. Those electron bunches out of wiggler can be handled into bunches with ˜1pC change, small beam spot and energy spread to be probe. Because the pump and probe comes from the same electron source, synchronization between pump and probe is inherent. The whole facility can be compacted on a tabletop.

Fluorescence lifetime plate reader: Resolution and precision meet high-throughput

PubMed Central

Petersen, Karl J.; Peterson, Kurt C.; Muretta, Joseph M.; Higgins, Sutton E.; Gillispie, Gregory D.; Thomas, David D.

2014-01-01

We describe a nanosecond time-resolved fluorescence spectrometer that acquires fluorescence decay waveforms from each well of a 384-well microplate in 3 min with signal-to-noise exceeding 400 using direct waveform recording. The instrument combines high-energy pulsed laser sources (5–10 kHz repetition rate) with a photomultiplier and high-speed digitizer (1 GHz) to record a fluorescence decay waveform after each pulse. Waveforms acquired from rhodamine or 5-((2-aminoethyl)amino) naphthalene-1-sulfonic acid dyes in a 384-well plate gave lifetime measurements 5- to 25-fold more precise than the simultaneous intensity measurements. Lifetimes as short as 0.04 ns were acquired by interleaving with an effective sample rate of 5 GHz. Lifetime measurements resolved mixtures of single-exponential dyes with better than 1% accuracy. The fluorescence lifetime plate reader enables multiple-well fluorescence lifetime measurements with an acquisition time of 0.5 s per well, suitable for high-throughput fluorescence lifetime screening applications. PMID:25430092

Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering and spontaneous Raman scattering diagnostics of nonequilibrium plasmas and flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lempert, Walter R.; Adamovich, Igor V.

2014-10-01

The paper provides an overview of the use of coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) and spontaneous Raman scattering for diagnostics of low-temperature nonequilibrium plasmas and nonequilibrium high-enthalpy flows. A brief review of the theoretical background of CARS, four-wave mixing and Raman scattering, as well as a discussion of experimental techniques and data reduction, are included. The experimental results reviewed include measurements of vibrational level populations, rotational/translational temperature, electric fields in a quasi-steady-state and transient molecular plasmas and afterglow, in nonequilibrium expansion flows, and behind strong shock waves. Insight into the kinetics of vibrational energy transfer, energy thermalization mechanisms and dynamics of the pulse discharge development, provided by these experiments, is discussed. Availability of short pulse duration, high peak power lasers, as well as broadband dye lasers, makes possible the use of these diagnostics at relatively low pressures, potentially with a sub-nanosecond time resolution, as well as obtaining single laser shot, high signal-to-noise spectra at higher pressures. Possibilities for the development of single-shot 2D CARS imaging and spectroscopy, using picosecond and femtosecond lasers, as well as novel phase matching and detection techniques, are discussed.

Shear wave elastography using amplitude-modulated acoustic radiation force and phase-sensitive optical coherence tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, Thu-Mai; Arnal, Bastien; Song, Shaozhen; Huang, Zhihong; Wang, Ruikang K.; O'Donnell, Matthew

2015-01-01

Investigating the elasticity of ocular tissue (cornea and intraocular lens) could help the understanding and management of pathologies related to biomechanical deficiency. In previous studies, we introduced a setup based on optical coherence tomography for shear wave elastography (SWE) with high resolution and high sensitivity. SWE determines tissue stiffness from the propagation speed of shear waves launched within tissue. We proposed acoustic radiation force to remotely induce shear waves by focusing an ultrasound (US) beam in tissue, similar to several elastography techniques. Minimizing the maximum US pressure is essential in ophthalmology for safety reasons. For this purpose, we propose a pulse compression approach. It utilizes coded US emissions to generate shear waves where the energy is spread over a long emission, and then numerically compressed into a short, localized, and high-energy pulse. We used a 7.5-MHz single-element focused transducer driven by coded excitations where the amplitude is modulated by a linear frequency-swept square wave (1 to 7 kHz). An inverse filter approach was used for compression. We demonstrate the feasibility of performing shear wave elastography measurements in tissue-mimicking phantoms at low US pressures (mechanical index <0.6).

Shear wave elastography using amplitude-modulated acoustic radiation force and phase-sensitive optical coherence tomography

PubMed Central

Nguyen, Thu-Mai; Arnal, Bastien; Song, Shaozhen; Huang, Zhihong; Wang, Ruikang K.; O’Donnell, Matthew

2015-01-01

Abstract. Investigating the elasticity of ocular tissue (cornea and intraocular lens) could help the understanding and management of pathologies related to biomechanical deficiency. In previous studies, we introduced a setup based on optical coherence tomography for shear wave elastography (SWE) with high resolution and high sensitivity. SWE determines tissue stiffness from the propagation speed of shear waves launched within tissue. We proposed acoustic radiation force to remotely induce shear waves by focusing an ultrasound (US) beam in tissue, similar to several elastography techniques. Minimizing the maximum US pressure is essential in ophthalmology for safety reasons. For this purpose, we propose a pulse compression approach. It utilizes coded US emissions to generate shear waves where the energy is spread over a long emission, and then numerically compressed into a short, localized, and high-energy pulse. We used a 7.5-MHz single-element focused transducer driven by coded excitations where the amplitude is modulated by a linear frequency-swept square wave (1 to 7 kHz). An inverse filter approach was used for compression. We demonstrate the feasibility of performing shear wave elastography measurements in tissue-mimicking phantoms at low US pressures (mechanical index <0.6). PMID:25554970

A method for ultra-short pulse-shape measurements using far infrared coherent radiation from an undulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geloni, G.; Saldin, E. L.; Schneidmiller, E. A.; Yurkov, M. V.

2004-08-01

In this paper, we discuss a method for non-destructive measurements of the longitudinal profile of sub-picosecond electron bunches for X-ray free electron lasers. The method is based on the detection of the coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) produced by a bunch passing through an undulator. Coherent radiation energy within a central cone turns out to be proportional, per pulse, to the square modulus of the bunch form-factor at the resonant frequency of the fundamental harmonic. An attractive feature of the proposed technique is the absence of any apparent limitation which would distort measurements. Indeed, the radiation process takes place in vacuum and is described by analytical formulae. CSR propagates to the detector placed in vacuum. Since CSR energy is in the range up to a fraction of mJ, a simple bolometer is used to measure the energy with a high accuracy. The proposed technique is very sensitive and it is capable of probing the electron bunches with a resolution down to a few microns.

Applications of tunable high energy/pressure pulsed lasers to atmospheric transmission and remote sensing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hess, R. V.; Seals, R. K.

1974-01-01

Atmospheric transmission of high energy C12 O2(16) lasers were improved by pulsed high pressure operation which, due to pressure broadening of laser lines, permits tuning the laser 'off' atmospheric C12 O2(16) absorption lines. Pronounced improvement is shown for horizontal transmission at altitudes above several kilometers, and for vertical transmission through the entire atmosphere. The atmospheric transmission of tuned C12 O2(16) lasers compares favorably with C12 O2(18) isotope lasers and CO lasers. The advantages of tunable, high energy, high pressure pulsed lasers over tunable diode lasers and waveguide lasers, in combining high energies with a large tuning range, are evaluated for certain applications to remote sensing of atmospheric constituents and pollutants. Pulsed operation considerably increases the signal to noise ratio without seriously affecting the high spectral resolution of signal detection obtained with laser heterodyning.

160mJ and 9ns electro-optics Q-switched conductively cooled 1047nm Nd:YLF laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Qi; Ma, Jian; Lu, Tingting; Ma, Xiuhua; Zhu, Xiaolei

2015-02-01

A compact diode side-pumped conductively cooled 1047 nm Nd:YLF slab laser with high energy and short pulse width is developed. Through ray tracing method, we design a home-made pump module to homogenize the pump intensity. Based on the Possion equation, a thermal conduct model of side-pump laser is established. The temperature distribution in laser crystal is obtained, and the thermal lens is caculated. With the absorbed pump energy of 818 mJ, the maximum output energy of 228 mJ is achieved in free-running mode. At a repetition rate of 50 Hz, 160 mJ, 9 ns 1047 nm infrared light is obtained under the maximum absorbed pump energy, and the slope efficiency is 27.8%.

Microsecond gain-switched master oscillator power amplifier (1958 nm) with high pulse energy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ke Yin; Weiqiang Yang; Bin Zhang

2014-02-28

An all-fibre master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) emitting high-energy pulses at 1958 nm is presented. The seed laser is a microsecond gain-switched thulium-doped fibre laser (TDFL) pumped with a commercial 1550-nm pulsed fibre laser. The TDFL operates at a repetition rate f in the range of 10 to 100 kHz. The two-stage thulium-doped fibre amplifier is built to scale the energy of the pulses generated by the seed laser. The maximum output pulse energy higher than 0.5 mJ at 10 kHz is achieved which is comparable with the theoretical maximum extractable pulse energy. The slope efficiency of the second stagemore » amplifier with respect to the pump power is 30.4% at f = 10 kHz. The wavelength of the output pulse laser is centred near 1958 nm at a spectral width of 0.25 nm after amplification. Neither nonlinear effects nor significant amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) is observed in the amplification experiments. (lasers)« less

High repetition rate tunable femtosecond pulses and broadband amplification from fiber laser pumped parametric amplifier.

PubMed

Andersen, T V; Schmidt, O; Bruchmann, C; Limpert, J; Aguergaray, C; Cormier, E; Tünnermann, A

2006-05-29

We report on the generation of high energy femtosecond pulses at 1 MHz repetition rate from a fiber laser pumped optical parametric amplifier (OPA). Nonlinear bandwidth enhancement in fibers provides the intrinsically synchronized signal for the parametric amplifier. We demonstrate large tunability extending from 700 nm to 1500 nm of femtosecond pulses with pulse energies as high as 1.2 muJ when the OPA is seeded by a supercontinuum generated in a photonic crystal fiber. Broadband amplification over more than 85 nm is achieved at a fixed wavelength. Subsequent compression in a prism sequence resulted in 46 fs pulses. With an average power of 0.5 W these pulses have a peak-power above 10 MW. In particular, the average power and pulse energy scalability of both involved concepts, the fiber laser and the parametric amplifier, will enable easy up-scaling to higher powers.

High repetition ration solid state switched CO2 TEA laser employed in industrial ultrasonic testing of aircraft parts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

von Bergmann, Hubertus; Morkel, Francois; Stehmann, Timo

2015-02-01

Laser Ultrasonic Testing (UT) is an important technique for the non-destructive inspection of composite parts in the aerospace industry. In laser UT a high power, short pulse probe laser is scanned across the material surface, generating ultrasound waves which can be detected by a second low power laser system and are used to draw a defect map of the part. We report on the design and testing of a transversely excited atmospheric pressure (TEA) CO2 laser system specifically optimised for laser UT. The laser is excited by a novel solid-state switched pulsing system and utilises either spark or corona preionisation. It provides short output pulses of less than 100 ns at repetition rates of up to 1 kHz, optimised for efficient ultrasonic wave generation. The system has been designed for highly reliable operation under industrial conditions and a long term test with total pulse counts in excess of 5 billion laser pulses is reported.

High-energy azimuthally polarized laser beam generation from an actively Q-switched Nd:YAG laser with c-cut YVO4 crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Jing; Zhang, Baofu; Jiao, Zhongxing; He, Guangyuan; Wang, Biao

2018-05-01

A high-energy, azimuthally polarized (AP) and actively Q-switched Nd:YAG laser is demonstrated. The thermal bipolar lensing effect in the Nd:YAG laser rod is used as a polarization discriminator, and a c-cut YVO4 crystal is inserted into the laser cavity to increase the mode-selecting ability of the cavity for AP mode. The laser generated AP pulses with maximum pulse energy as high as 4.2 mJ. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest pulse energy obtained from an actively Q-switched AP laser. The pulse energy remained higher than 1 mJ over a wide range of repetition rates from 5 kHz to 25 kHz.

High intensity surface plasma waves, theory and PIC simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raynaud, M.; Héron, A.; Adam, J.-C.

2018-01-01

With the development of intense (>1019 W cm-2) short pulses (≤25 fs) laser with very high contrast, surface plasma wave (SPW) can be explored in the relativistic regime. As the SPW propagates with a phase velocity close to the speed of light it may results in a strong acceleration of electron bunches along the surface permitting them to reach relativistic energies. This may be important e.g. for applications in the field of plasma-based accelerators. We investigate in this work the excitation of SPWs on grating preformed over-dense plasmas for laser intensities ranging from 1019 up to 1021 W cm-2. We discuss the nature of the interaction with respect to the solid case in which surface plasmon can be resonantly excited with weak laser intensity. In particular, we show the importance of the pulse duration and focalization of the laser beam on the amplitude of the SPW.

Pulsed-neutron monochromator

DOEpatents

Mook, H.A. Jr.

1984-01-01

In one aspect, the invention is an improved pulsed-neutron monochromator of the vibrated-crystal type. The monochromator is designed to provide neutron pulses which are characterized both by short duration and high density. A row of neutron-reflecting crystals is disposed in a neutron beam to reflect neutrons onto a common target. The crystals in the row define progressively larger neutron-scattering angles and are vibrated sequentially in descending order with respect to the size of their scattering angles, thus generating neutron pulses which arrive simultaneously at the target. Transducers are coupled to one end of the crystals to vibrate them in an essentially non-resonant mode. The transducers propagate transverse waves in the crystal which progress longitudinally therein. The waves are absorbed at the undriven ends of the crystals by damping material mounted thereon. In another aspect, the invention is a method for generating neutron pulses characterized by high intensity and short duration.