Publications

2013

• 14 J / 2 Hz Yb^3+:YAG diode pumped solid state laser chain
  
  • Gonçalvès-Novo Thierry
  • Albach Daniel
  • Vincent Bernard
  • Arzakantsyan Mikayel
  • Chanteloup Jean-Christophe
  Optics Express, Optical Society of America - OSA Publishing, 2013, 21 (1), pp.855. (10.1364/OE.21.000855)
  DOI : 10.1364/OE.21.000855
• Improved ion acceleration via laser surface plasma waves excitation
  
  • Bigongiari Alessandra
  • Raynaud Michèle
  • Riconda Caterina
  • Héron Anne
  Physics of Plasmas, American Institute of Physics, 2013, 20 (5), pp.052701. The possibility of enhancing the emission of the ions accelerated in the interaction of a high intensity ultra-short (<100 fs) laser pulse with a thin target (<10 l0), via surface plasma wave excitation is investigated. Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations are performed for laser intensities ranging from 10^19 to 10^20 W/cm2.µm2. The surface wave is resonantly excited by the laser via the coupling with a modulation at the target surface. In the cases where the surface wave is excited, we find anenhancement of the maximum ion energy of a factor ~2 compared to the cases where the target surface is flat. (10.1063/1.4802989)
  DOI : 10.1063/1.4802989
• Astrophysics of Magnetically Collimated Jets Generated from Laser-Produced Plasmas
  
  • Ciardi A.
  • Vinci T.
  • Fuchs J.
  • Albertazzi Bruno
  • Riconda C.
  • Pepin H.
  • Portugall Oliver
  Physical Review Letters, American Physical Society, 2013, 110, pp.025002. (10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.025002)
  DOI : 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.025002
• The PETAL+ project: X-ray and charged particle diagnostics for plasma experiments at LMJ-PETAL.
  
  • Ducret J.E.
  • Bastiani-Ceccotti S.
  • Batani D.
  • Blanchot N.
  • Brambrink E.
  • Casner A.
  • Ceccotti T.
  • La Fontaine A.C.
  • d'Humières E.
  • Dobosz-Dufrenoy S.
  • Duval A.
  • Fuchs J.
  • Hulin S.
  • Koeing M.
  • Lantuejoul-Thfoin I.
  • Lefebvre E.
  • Marques J.R.
  • Miquel J.L.
  • Reverdin C.
  • Serani L.
  • Szabo-Foster C.
  • Wrobel R.
  Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Elsevier, 2013, 720, pp.141-143. The first experiments on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in the US started and will be followed by the Laser MegaJoule (LMJ) in France. Such facilities will provide unique tools for inertial confinement fusion (ICF) physics &amp; for basic science. A petawatt short pulse laser (ps) is being added to the ns pulse beams of the LMJ. This is PETAL (PETawatt Aquitaine Laser), under construction on the LMJ site near Bordeaux (France). The Petal+ project is aiming at the design and construction of diagnostics dedicated to experiments with PETAL and LMJ laser beams. Within Petal+, three types of diagnostics are under study: a proton spectrometer, an electron spectrometer and a large-band X-ray spectrometer. The first goal of these diagnostics will be to characterize the secondary radiation and particle sources produced with PETAL. They will also be used for experiments using both ns and ps beams. In the present paper emphasis is put on the charged-particle diagnostics. (10.1016/j.nima.2012.12.015)
  DOI : 10.1016/j.nima.2012.12.015
• Evidence of Resonant Surface-Wave Excitation in the Relativistic Regime through Measurements of Proton Acceleration from Grating Targets
  
  • Ceccotti T
  • Floquet V
  • Sgattoni A
  • Bigongiari A
  • Klimo O
  • Raynaud M
  • Riconda C
  • Heron A
  • Baffigi F
  • Labate L
  • Gizzi L. A.
  • Vassura L
  • Fuchs J
  • Passoni M
  • Květon M
  • Novotny F
  • Possolt M
  • Prokůpek J
  • Proška J
  • Pšikal J
  • Stolcova L.
  • Velyhan A
  • Bougeard M
  • D 'Oliveira P
  • Tcherbakoff O
  • Réau F
  • Martin P
  • Macchi A
  Physical Review Letters, American Physical Society, 2013. The interaction of laser pulses with thin grating targets, having a periodic groove at the irradiated surface, is experimentally investigated. Ultrahigh contrast ($ 10 12) pulses allow us to demonstrate an enhanced laser-target coupling for the first time in the relativistic regime of ultrahigh intensity >10 19 W=cm 2. A maximum increase by a factor of 2.5 of the cutoff energy of protons produced by target normal sheath acceleration is observed with respect to plane targets, around the incidence angle expected for the resonant excitation of surface waves. A significant enhancement is also observed for small angles of incidence, out of resonance. (10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.185001)
  DOI : 10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.185001
• Production of large volume, strongly magnetized laser-produced plasmas by use of pulsed external magnetic fields
  
  • Albertazzi Bruno
  • Béard Jérome
  • Ciardi A.
  • Vinci T.
  • Albrecht J.
  • Billette Julien
  • Burris-Mog T.
  • N. Chen S.
  • da Silva Denis
  • Dittrich S.
  • Herrmannsdorfer T.
  • Hirardin B.
  • Kroll F.
  • Nakatsutsumi M.
  • Nitsche S.
  • Riconda C.
  • Romagnagni L.
  • Schlenvoigt H.-P.
  • Simond S.
  • Veuillot E.
  • E. Cowan T.
  • Portugall Oliver
  • Pepin H.
  • J. Fuchs And
  Review of Scientific Instruments, American Institute of Physics, 2013, 84, pp.043505. The production of strongly magnetized laser plasmas, of interest for laboratory astrophysics and inertial confinement fusion studies, is presented. This is achieved by coupling a 16 kV pulse-power system. This is achieved by coupling a 16 kV pulse-power system, which generates a magnetic field by means of a split coil, with the ELFIE laser facility at Ecole Polytechnique. In order to influence the plasma dynamics in a significant manner, the system can generate, repetitively and without debris, high amplitude magnetic fields (40 T) in a manner compatible with a high-energy laser environment. A description of the system and preliminary results demonstrating the possibility to magnetically collimate plasma jets are given. (10.1063/1.4795551)
  DOI : 10.1063/1.4795551
• Fast electron beam measurements from relativistically intense, frequency-doubled laser-solid interactions
  
  • Vauzour B.
  • Soloviev A. A.
  • Baton S. D.
  • Rose S. J.
  • Norreys P. A.
  • Scott R. H. H.
  • Perez F.
  • Streeter M. J. V.
  • Clark E. L.
  • Davies J. R.
  • Schlenvoigt H. P.
  • Santos J. J.
  • Hulin S.
  • Lancaster K. L.
  • Dorchies F.
  • Fourment C.
  New Journal of Physics, Institute of Physics: Open Access Journals, 2013, 15. Experimental measurements of the fast electron beam created by the interaction of relativistically intense, frequency-doubled laser light with planar solid targets and its subsequent transport within the target are presented and compared with those of a similar experiment using the laser fundamental frequency. Using frequency-doubled laser light, the fast electron source size is significantly reduced, while evidence suggests the divergence angle may be reduced. Pyrometric measurements of the target rear surface temperature and the Cu K-alpha imager data indicate the laser to fast electron absorption fraction is reduced using frequency doubled laser light. Bremsstrahlung measurements indicate the fast electron temperature is 125 keV, while the laser energy absorbed into forward-going fast electrons was found to be 16 +/- 4% for frequency doubled light at a mean laser intensity of 5 +/- 3 x 10(18) W cm(-2). (10.1088/1367-2630/15/9/093021)
  DOI : 10.1088/1367-2630/15/9/093021
• Ultrafast short-range disordering of femtosecond-laser-heated warm dense aluminum
  
  • Leguay P. M.
  • Levy A.
  • Chimier B.
  • Deneuville F.
  • Descamps D.
  • Fourment C.
  • Goyon C.
  • Hulin S.
  • Petit S.
  • Peyrusse O.
  • Santos J. J.
  • Combis P.
  • Holst B.
  • Recoules V.
  • Renaudin P.
  • Videau L.
  • Dorchies F.
  Physical Review Letters, American Physical Society, 2013, 111 (24). We have probed, with time-resolved x-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES), a femtosecond-laser-heated aluminum foil with fluences up to 1 J/cm2. The spectra reveal a loss of the short-range order in a few picoseconds. This time scale is compared with the electron-ion equilibration time, calculated with a two-temperature model. Hydrodynamic simulations shed light on complex features that affect the foil dynamics, including progressive density change from solid to liquid (∼10 ps). In this density range, quantum molecular dynamics simulations indicate that XANES is a relevant probe of the ionic temperature. (10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.245004)
  DOI : 10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.245004