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Yao YL, He SK, Lei Z, Ye T, Xie Y, Deng ZG, Cui B, Qi W, Yang L, Zhu SP, He XT, Zhou WM, Qiao B. High-Flux Neutron Generator Based on Laser-Driven Collisionless Shock Acceleration. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2023; 131:025101. [PMID: 37505952 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.131.025101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2022] [Revised: 10/20/2022] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023]
Abstract
A novel compact high-flux neutron generator with a pitcher-catcher configuration based on laser-driven collisionless shock acceleration (CSA) is proposed and experimentally verified. Different from those that previously relied on target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA), CSA in nature favors not only acceleration of deuterons (instead of hydrogen contaminants) but also increasing of the number of deuterons in the high-energy range, therefore having great advantages for production of high-flux neutron source. The proof-of-principle experiment has observed a typical CSA plateau feature from 2 to 6 MeV in deuteron energy spectrum and measured a forward neutron flux with yield 6.6×10^{7} n/sr from the LiF catcher target, an order of magnitude higher than the compared TNSA case, where the laser intensity is 10^{19} W/cm^{2}. Self-consistent simulations have reproduced the experimental results and predicted that a high-flux forward neutron source with yield up to 5×10^{10} n/sr can be obtained when laser intensity increases to 10^{21} W/cm^{2} under the same laser energy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Y L Yao
- Center for Applied Physics and Technology, HEDPS and State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Technology, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - S K He
- Science and Technology on Plasma Physics Laboratory, Research Center of Laser Fusion, China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP), Mianyang 621900, China
| | - Z Lei
- Center for Applied Physics and Technology, HEDPS and State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Technology, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - T Ye
- Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics, Beijing 100094, China
| | - Y Xie
- Center for Applied Physics and Technology, HEDPS and State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Technology, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Z G Deng
- Science and Technology on Plasma Physics Laboratory, Research Center of Laser Fusion, China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP), Mianyang 621900, China
| | - B Cui
- Science and Technology on Plasma Physics Laboratory, Research Center of Laser Fusion, China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP), Mianyang 621900, China
| | - W Qi
- Science and Technology on Plasma Physics Laboratory, Research Center of Laser Fusion, China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP), Mianyang 621900, China
| | - L Yang
- Science and Technology on Plasma Physics Laboratory, Research Center of Laser Fusion, China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP), Mianyang 621900, China
| | - S P Zhu
- Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics, Beijing 100094, China
| | - X T He
- Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics, Beijing 100094, China
| | - W M Zhou
- Science and Technology on Plasma Physics Laboratory, Research Center of Laser Fusion, China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP), Mianyang 621900, China
| | - B Qiao
- Center for Applied Physics and Technology, HEDPS and State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Technology, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- Frontiers Science Center for Nano-optoelectronic, Peking University, Beijing 100094, China
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2
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Sakawa Y, Ohira Y, Kumar R, Morace A, Döhl LNK, Woolsey N. Identification of electrostatic two-stream instabilities associated with a laser-driven collisionless shock in a multicomponent plasma. Phys Rev E 2021; 104:055202. [PMID: 34942769 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.104.055202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2021] [Accepted: 10/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Electrostatic two-stream instabilities play essential roles in an electrostatic collisionless shock formation. They are a key dissipation mechanism and result in ion heating and acceleration. Since the number and energy of the shock-accelerated ions depend on the instabilities, precise identification of the active instabilities is important. Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations in a multicomponent plasma reveal ion reflection and acceleration at the shock front, excitation of a longitudinally propagating electrostatic instability due to a nonoscillating component of the electrostatic field in the upstream region of the shock, and generation of up- and down-shifted velocity components within the expanding-ion components. A linear analysis of the instabilities for a C_{2}H_{3}Cl plasma using the one-dimensional electrostatic plasma dispersion function, which includes electron and ion temperature effects, shows that the most unstable mode is the electrostatic ion-beam two-stream instability (IBTI), which is weakly dependent on the existence of electrons. The IBTI is excited by velocity differences between the expanding protons and carbon-ion populations. There is an electrostatic electron-ion two-stream instability with a much smaller growth rate associated with a population of protons reflecting at the shock. The excitation of the fast-growing IBTI associated with laser-driven collisionless shock increases the brightness of a quasimonoenergetic ion beam.
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Affiliation(s)
- Youichi Sakawa
- Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Yutaka Ohira
- Department of Earth and Planetary Science, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Rajesh Kumar
- Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043, Japan
| | - Alessio Morace
- Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Leonard N K Döhl
- York Plasma Institute, Department of Physics, University of York, Heslington, York YO10-5DD, United Kingdom
| | - Nigel Woolsey
- York Plasma Institute, Department of Physics, University of York, Heslington, York YO10-5DD, United Kingdom
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3
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Kumar R, Sakawa Y, Sano T, Döhl LNK, Woolsey N, Morace A. Ion acceleration at two collisionless shocks in a multicomponent plasma. Phys Rev E 2021; 103:043201. [PMID: 34005941 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.103.043201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2020] [Accepted: 03/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Intense laser-plasma interactions are an essential tool for the laboratory study of ion acceleration at a collisionless shock. With two-dimensional particle-in-cell calculations of a multicomponent plasma we observe two electrostatic collisionless shocks at two distinct longitudinal positions when driven with a linearly polarized laser at normalized laser vector potential a_{0} that exceeds 10. Moreover, these shocks, associated with protons and carbon ions, show a power-law dependence on a_{0} and accelerate ions to different velocities in an expanding upstream with higher flux than in a single-component hydrogen or carbon plasma. This results from an electrostatic ion two-stream instability caused by differences in the charge-to-mass ratio of different ions. Particle acceleration in collisionless shocks in multicomponent plasma are ubiquitous in space and astrophysics, and these calculations identify the possibility for studying these complex processes in the laboratory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rajesh Kumar
- Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043, Japan
| | - Youichi Sakawa
- Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Takayoshi Sano
- Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Leonard N K Döhl
- York Plasma Institute, Department of Physics, University of York, Heslington, York YO10-5DD, United Kingdom
| | - Nigel Woolsey
- York Plasma Institute, Department of Physics, University of York, Heslington, York YO10-5DD, United Kingdom
| | - Alessio Morace
- Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
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4
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Boella E, Bingham R, Cairns RA, Norreys P, Trines R, Scott R, Vranic M, Shukla N, Silva LO. Collisionless shock acceleration in the corona of an inertial confinement fusion pellet with possible application to ion fast ignition. PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. SERIES A, MATHEMATICAL, PHYSICAL, AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES 2021; 379:20200039. [PMID: 33280562 PMCID: PMC7741008 DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2020.0039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/19/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations are used to explore collisionless shock acceleration in the corona plasma surrounding the compressed core of an inertial confinement fusion pellet. We show that an intense laser pulse interacting with the long scale-length plasma corona is able to launch a collisionless shock around the critical density. The nonlinear wave travels up-ramp through the plasma reflecting and accelerating the background ions. Our results suggest that protons with characteristics suitable for ion fast ignition may be achieved in this way. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Prospects for high gain inertial fusion energy (part 2)'.
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Affiliation(s)
- E. Boella
- Department of Physics, University of Lancaster, Lancaster, UK
- The Cockcroft Institute, Sci-Tech Daresbury, Warrington, UK
| | - R. Bingham
- STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, UK
- SUPA, Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK
| | - R. A. Cairns
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | - P. Norreys
- STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, UK
- Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - R. Trines
- STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, UK
| | - R. Scott
- STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, UK
| | - M. Vranic
- GoLP/Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - N. Shukla
- GoLP/Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - L. O. Silva
- GoLP/Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
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Chen SN, Vranic M, Gangolf T, Boella E, Antici P, Bailly-Grandvaux M, Loiseau P, Pépin H, Revet G, Santos JJ, Schroer AM, Starodubtsev M, Willi O, Silva LO, d'Humières E, Fuchs J. Collimated protons accelerated from an overdense gas jet irradiated by a 1 µm wavelength high-intensity short-pulse laser. Sci Rep 2017; 7:13505. [PMID: 29044204 PMCID: PMC5647424 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-12910-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2017] [Accepted: 09/12/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
We have investigated proton acceleration in the forward direction from a near-critical density hydrogen gas jet target irradiated by a high intensity (1018 W/cm2), short-pulse (5 ps) laser with wavelength of 1.054 μm. We observed the signature of the Collisionless Shock Acceleration mechanism, namely quasi-monoenergetic proton beams with small divergence in addition to the more commonly observed electron-sheath driven proton acceleration. The proton energies we obtained were modest (~MeV), but prospects for improvement are offered through further tailoring the gas jet density profile. Also, we observed that this mechanism is very robust in producing those beams and thus can be considered as a future candidate in laser-driven ion sources driven by the upcoming next generation of multi-PW near-infrared lasers.
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Affiliation(s)
- S N Chen
- LULI - CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, CEA: Université Paris-Saclay; UPMC Univ Paris 06: Sorbonne Universités, F-91128, Palaiseau cedex, France.
- Institute of Applied Physics, 46 Ulyanov Street, 603950, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.
- Light Stream Labs LLC., Sunnyvale, CA, USA.
| | - M Vranic
- GoLP/Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - T Gangolf
- LULI - CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, CEA: Université Paris-Saclay; UPMC Univ Paris 06: Sorbonne Universités, F-91128, Palaiseau cedex, France
- Institut für Laser- und Plasmaphysik, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - E Boella
- GoLP/Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - P Antici
- INRS-EMT, 1650, boulevard Lionel-Boulet, J3X 1S2, Varennes (Québec), Canada
| | - M Bailly-Grandvaux
- Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, CEA, CELIA (Centre Laser Intenses et Applications), UMR 5107, F-33405, Talence, France
| | - P Loiseau
- CEA, DAM, DIF, F-91297, Arpajon, France
| | - H Pépin
- INRS-EMT, 1650, boulevard Lionel-Boulet, J3X 1S2, Varennes (Québec), Canada
| | - G Revet
- LULI - CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, CEA: Université Paris-Saclay; UPMC Univ Paris 06: Sorbonne Universités, F-91128, Palaiseau cedex, France
- Institute of Applied Physics, 46 Ulyanov Street, 603950, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
| | - J J Santos
- Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, CEA, CELIA (Centre Laser Intenses et Applications), UMR 5107, F-33405, Talence, France
| | - A M Schroer
- Institut für Laser- und Plasmaphysik, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Mikhail Starodubtsev
- Institute of Applied Physics, 46 Ulyanov Street, 603950, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
| | - O Willi
- Institut für Laser- und Plasmaphysik, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - L O Silva
- GoLP/Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - E d'Humières
- Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, CEA, CELIA (Centre Laser Intenses et Applications), UMR 5107, F-33405, Talence, France
| | - J Fuchs
- LULI - CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, CEA: Université Paris-Saclay; UPMC Univ Paris 06: Sorbonne Universités, F-91128, Palaiseau cedex, France
- Institute of Applied Physics, 46 Ulyanov Street, 603950, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
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