Laser produced plasma as an ion source for heavy ion inertial fusion (original) (raw)
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Plasma physics with intense laser and ion beams
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, 2000
The unique combination of an intense heavy ion beam and a high-energy Nd:glass laser system at Gesellschaft f ur Schwerionenforschung (GSI-Darmstadt) facilitates pioneering beam-plasma interaction experiments and thus allows to address basic physics issues associated with heavy ion-driven inertial fusion. The deposition power of the intense heavy ion beam from the synchrotron has recently been increased to 1 kJ/g. The hydrodynamic response of solid targets was measured. A comparison with detailed numerical simulations attributes the target response to a pressure pulse of 3 GPa at a maximum temperature of 2500 K. Beam plasma interaction experiments to measure the stopping power of laser plasmas for heavy ion beams have been performed and show an increased energy loss for Ni ions in a 60 eV dense carbon plasma. Subsequently performed time-resolved charge-state measurements indicate that the increased stopping power can partially be attributed to a high charge state of the beam ions traversing the plasma. Improved plasma diagnostic by high-resolution spectroscopy revealed the unexpected existence of He-like resonance and intercombination lines (He a 1s2p 3 P 1 ±1s 2 and Y a 1s2p 3 P 1 ±1s 2 ) of¯uorine even for a modest laser intensity of 5´10 11 W/cm 2 . Ó
Experimental investigations of multicharged ion fluxes from laser-produced plasmas
Fusion Engineering and Design, 1996
A summary of experimental investigations of multicharged ions in the far expansion zone at about 2–3 m, generated from laser-produced plasmas, is presented. The results have been obtained on different laser systems with different wavelengths λ, laser pulse lengths τ and laser energies E. As the targets, the following materials have been used: Al, Cu, Fe, Mo, Ta, Pt, and Pb. In the experiments, we have applied mutually complementary sets of corpuscular diagnostics: charge collectors, an electrostatic ion analyser and Thomson parabola mass spectrograph. It is shown that laser-created plasma can deliver ions with charge states z from 1 to about 50, atomic masses A from 1 to about 200 amu and energies from hundreds of electronvolts to several megaelectronvolts.
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 2007
European activities on inertial fusion energy are coordinated by ''keep in touch activities'' of the European Fusion Programme coordinated by the European Commission. There is no general inertial fusion program in Europe. Instead, a number of activities relevant to inertial fusion are carried out by university groups and research centers. The Helmholtz-Research Center GSI-Darmstadt (Gesellschaft fu¨r Schwerionenforschung) operates accelerator facilities which provide the highest intensity for heavy ion beams and therefore key issues of ion beam driven fusion can be addressed. In addition to the accelerator facilities, one high-energy laser system is available (nhelix: nanosecond high-energy laser for ion experiments) and another one is under construction (PHELIX: petawatt highenergy laser for ion experiments). The heavy ion synchrotron facility, SIS18 (Schwer-Ionen-Synchrotron 18) recently delivered an intense uranium beam that deposits about 1 kJ/g specific energy in solid matter. Using this beam, experiments have been performed where solid Pb-and Ta-targets have been heated to the level of 1 eV. Experiments to study interaction mechanism of heavy ion beams with matter have been continued and are reported here. r
Ultrahigh-intensity laser-produced plasmas as a compact heavy ion injection source
IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, 2000
The possibility of using high-intensity laser-produced plasmas as a source of energetic ions for heavy ion accelerators is addressed. Experiments have shown that neon ions greater than 6 MeV can be produced from gas jet plasmas, and well-collimated proton beams greater than 20 MeV have been produced from highintensity laser solid interactions. The proton beams from the back of thin targets appear to be more collimated and reproducible than are high-energy ions generated in the ablated plasma at the front of the target and may be more suitable for ion injection applications. Lead ions have been produced at energies up to 430 MeV.
Czechoslovak Journal of Physics, 1992
The need for high]y charged heavy ions from projected particle accelerators has recently led to a re-evaluation of the complex processes of ion production in laser generated plasmas. Possible mechanisms for the production of intense beams of high charge state ions are investigated as is the experimental evidence for these mechanisms. The hypothesis that 20 keV ions are driven by "hot electrons" is not supported by experimental work to date. This work, on the other hand, suggests that 30ps pulsation is the basic mechanism for the acceleration of tantalum ions up fo charge state 8-t-whose energy increases linearly with charge state up to 24keV. For long pulses and charge states between 8-}-and 18n u, it appears that there is a secondary mechanism of electron impact ionisation by plasma electrons of approximately 200 eV in the plasma in front of the target, resulting in ions whose energy of around 24 keV is independent of charge state.
Plasma Physics Reports, 2010
The physics of the heating of an inertial fusion target by a high energy ion beam under the condi tions of fast ignition of fusion reactions is studied theoretically. The characteristic features of the formation of the spatial distribution of the energy transferred to the plasma from a beam of ions with different initial energies, masses, and charges under fast ignition conditions are determined. The notion of the Bragg peak is extended with respect to the spatial distribution of the temperature of the ion beam heated medium. The parameters of the ion beams are determined with which to initiate different regimes of fast ignition of a ther monuclear fuel precompressed to a density of 300-500 g/cm 3-the edge regime, in which the ignition region is formed at the outer boundary of the target, and the internal regime, in which the ignition region is formed within the target and, in particular, in its central parts.
Laser accelerated ions in ICF research prospects and experiments
Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, 2005
The acceleration of ions by ultra-intense lasers has attracted great attention due to the unique properties and the unmatched intensities of the ion beams. In the early days the prospects for applications were already studied, and first experiments have identified some of the areas where laser accelerated ions can contribute to the ongoing inertial confinement fusion (ICF) research. In addition to the idea of laser driven proton fast ignition (PFI) and its use as a novel diagnostic tool for radiography the strong dependence on the electron transport in the target was found to be helpful in investigating the energy transport by electrons in fast ignitor scenarios. More recently an additional idea has been presented to use laser accelerated ion beams as the next generation ion sources, and taking advantage of the luminosity of the beams, to develop a test bed for heavy ion beam driven inertial confinement fusion physics. We review our recent experiments and simulations relevant to ICF research presenting a possible scenario for PFI as well as the prospects for next generation ion sources.
Production of ion beams in high-power laser–plasma interactions and their applications
Laser and Particle Beams, 2004
Energetic ion beams are produced during the interaction of ultrahigh-intensity, short laser pulses with plasmas. These laser-produced ion beams have important applications ranging from the fast ignition of thermonuclear targets to proton imaging, deep proton lithography, medical physics, and injectors for conventional accelerators. Although the basic physical mechanisms of ion beam generation in the plasma produced by the laser pulse interaction with the target are common to all these applications, each application requires a specific optimization of the ion beam properties, that is, an appropriate choice of the target design and of the laser pulse intensity, shape, and duration.
Characteristics of Laser-Plasma Ion Source Based on a CO2-Laser for Heavy Ion Accelerators at ITEP
2018
The design of laser-plasma heavy ion source is described. This ions source is supposed to operate at I-3 and I-4 accelerators at ITEP. Characteristics of ion component of plasma produced by pulses of the CO2 laser were studied, when irradiating a solid carbon target at power density of 10¹¹-10¹² W/cm². Time-of-flight technique using a high-resolution electrostatic energy analyzer was applied to explore charge state and energy distribution as well as partial currents of carbon and tungsten ions. Some results of investigation of influence of cavern formation on charge state of generated ions are presented. This work is of considerable interest in a wide area of applications of accelerated particle beams, including fundamental studies of state of matter in particle colliders (NICA project at JINR), radiation damage simulation and hadron therapy for cancer treatment. The goal of this work is to investigate characteristics of ions in expanding laser plasma and find optimal conditions of ...