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A microtube implosion driven by ultraintense laser pulses is used to produce ultrahigh magnetic fields. Due to the laser-produced hot electrons with energies of mega-electron volts, cold ions in the inner wall surface implode towards the central axis. By pre-seeding uniform magnetic fields on the kilotesla order, the Lorenz force induces the Larmor gyromotion of the imploding ions and electrons. Due to the resultant collective motion of relativistic charged particles around the central axis, strong spin current densities of ~ peta-ampere/cm2 are produced with a few tens of nm size, generating megatesla-order magnetic fields. The underlying physics and important scaling are revealed by particle simulations and a simple analytical model. The concept holds promise to open new frontiers in many branches of fundamental physics and applications in terms of ultrahigh magnetic fields., 22 pages, 7 figures

One of the paradigm-shifting phenomena triggered in laser–plasma interactions at relativistic intensities is the so-called relativistic transparency. As the electrons become heated by the laser to relativistic energies, the plasma becomes transparent to the laser light even though the plasma density is sufficiently high to reflect the laser pulse in the non-relativistic case. This paper highlights the impact that relativistic transparency can have on laser-matter interactions by focusing on a collective phenomenon that is associated with the onset of relativistic transparency: plasma birefringence in thermally anisotropic relativistic plasmas. The optical properties of such a system become dependent on the polarization of light, and this can serve as the basis for plasma-based optical devices or novel diagnostic capabilities.

Proton generation, transport and interaction with hollow cone targets are investigated by means of two-dimensional PIC simulations. A scaled-down hollow cone with gold walls, a carbon tip and a curved hydrogen foil inside the cone has been considered. Proton acceleration is driven by a 1020 W·cm−2 and 1 ps laser pulse focused on the hydrogen foil. Simulations show an important surface current at the cone walls which generates a magnetic field. This magnetic field is dragged by the quasi-neutral plasma formed by fast protons and co-moving electrons when they propagate towards the cone tip. As a result, a tens of kT Bz field is set up at the cone tip, which is strong enough to deflect the protons and increase the beam divergence substantially. We propose using heavy materials at the cone tip and increasing the laser intensity in order to mitigate magnetic field generation and proton beam divergence.

Breaking the 100-MeV barrier for proton acceleration will help elucidate fundamental physics and advancepractical applications from inertial confinement fusion to tumor therapy. A novel concept of “microbubbleimplosion (MBI)” is proposed. In the MBI concept, bubble implosion combines micro-bubbles and ultraintenselaser pulses of 1020 – 1022 Wcm-2 to generate ultrahigh fields and relativistic protons. The bubblewall protons are subject to volumetric acceleration toward the center due to the spherically symmetricelectrostatic force generated by hot electrons filling the bubble. Such an implosion can generate an ultrahighdensity proton core of nanometer size on the collapse, which results in an ultrahigh electrostatic field toemit energetic protons in the relativistic regime. Laser intensity scaling is investigated for acceleratedproton energy and attainable electrostatic field using MBI. Three-dimensional particle-in-cell andmolecular dynamics simulations are conducted in a complementary manner. As a result, underlying physicsof MBI are revealed such as bubble-pulsation and ultrahigh energy densities, which are higher by orders ofmagnitude than, for example, those expected in a fusion-igniting core of inertially confined plasma. MBIhas potential as a plasma-optical device, which optimally amplifies an applied laser intensity by a factor oftwo orders of magnitude; thus, MBI is proposed to be a novel approach to the Schwinger limit.

Breaking the 100-MeV barrier for proton acceleration will help elucidate fundamental physics and advance practical applications from inertial confinement fusion to tumour therapy. Herein we propose a novel concept of bubble implosions. A bubble implosion combines micro-bubbles and ultraintense laser pulses of 1020–1022 W cm−2 to generate ultrahigh fields and relativistic protons. The bubble wall protons undergo volumetric acceleration toward the centre due to the spherically symmetric Coulomb force and the innermost protons accumulate at the centre with a density comparable to the interior of a white dwarf. Then an unprecedentedly high electric field is formed, which produces an energetic proton flash. Three-dimensional particle simulations confirm the robustness of Coulomb-imploded bubbles, which behave as nano-pulsars with repeated implosions and explosions to emit protons. Current technologies should be sufficient to experimentally verify concept of bubble implosions.

Using one of the world most powerful laser facility, we demonstrate for the first time that high-contrast multi-picosecond pulses are advantageous for proton acceleration. By extending the pulse duration from 1.5 to 6 ps with fixed laser intensity of 1018 W cm−2, the maximum proton energy is improved more than twice (from 13 to 33 MeV). At the same time, laser-energy conversion efficiency into the MeV protons is enhanced with an order of magnitude, achieving 5% for protons above 6 MeV with the 6 ps pulse duration. The proton energies observed are discussed using a plasma expansion model newly developed that takes the electron temperature evolution beyond the ponderomotive energy in the over picoseconds interaction into account. The present results are quite encouraging for realizing ion-driven fast ignition and novel ion beamlines.

The interaction of dense plasmas with an intense laser under a strong external magnetic field has been investigated. When the cyclotron frequency for the ambient magnetic field is higher than the laser frequency, the laser's electromagnetic field is converted to the whistler mode that propagates along the field line. Because of the nature of the whistler wave, the laser light penetrates into dense plasmas with no cutoff density, and produces superthermal electrons through cyclotron resonance. It is found that the cyclotron resonance absorption occurs effectively under the broadened conditions, or a wider range of the external field, which is caused by the presence of relativistic electrons accelerated by the laser field. The upper limit of the ambient field for the resonance increases in proportion to the square root of the relativistic laser intensity. The propagation of a large-amplitude whistler wave could raise the possibility for plasma heating and particle acceleration deep inside dense plasmas., Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in PRE

As a prospective approach for inertial confinement fusion, fast ion ignition may achieve high gain with low driver energy and simple target fabrication. However, studies show that fast ion ignition requires an ion beam with extremely large energy fluence and high quality. In comparison with conventional accelerators, laser-driven ion accelerators have advantages of compact size, high density, and short bunch duration. Nevertheless, it is still challenging to simultaneously enhance the yield and quality of laser-driven ion beams for fast ion ignition. In this work, we propose a scheme to address this challenge. First, the ions of a target can be uniformly accelerated in hole-boring radiation pressure acceleration by matching the laser intensity profile with the target density profile. Second, the oscillation of the electric field for ion acceleration can be effectively suppressed by using two-ion-species targets. Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation demonstrates that almost all ions in a solid target of a few microns can be uniformly accelerated to relativistic speeds by using our scheme. The resulting ion beam with large energy fluence and high quality may drive fusion ignition and more generally create matter with unprecedented high-energy density.

The aim of this study is to analyze the destabilization of Alfven Eigenmodes (AE) by multiple energetic particles (EP) species in DIII-D and LHD discharges. We use the reduced MHD equations to describe the linear evolution of the poloidal flux and the toroidal component of the vorticity in a full 3D system, coupled with equations of density and parallel velocity moments for the energetic particles species, including the effect of the acoustic modes, diamagnetic currents and helical couplings. We add the Landau damping and resonant destabilization effects using a closure relation. The simulations with multiple NBI lines show three different regimes: the non damped regime where the multi beam AEs growth rate is larger compared to the growth rate of the AEs destabilized by the individual NBI lines, the interaction regime where the multi beam AEs growth rate is smaller than the single NBI AEs and the damped regime where the AEs are suppressed. Operations in the damped regime requires EP species with different density profile flatness or gradient locations. In addition, the AEs growth rate in the interaction regime is further reduced if the combined NBI lines have similar beam temperatures and the beta of the NBI line with flatter EP density profile increases. Then, optimization trends are identified in DIII-D high poloidal beta and LHD low density / magnetic field discharges with multiple NBI lines as well as the configuration requirements to operate in the damped and interaction regimes. DIII-D simulations show a decrease of the n=2 to 6 AEs growth rate and n=1 AE are stabilized in the LHD case. The helical coupling effects in LHD simulations lead to a transition from the interaction to the damped regime of the n=2,-8,12 helical family., arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1807.04380, arXiv:1906.05700

Laser intensity scalings are investigated for accelerated proton energy and attainable electrostatic field using microbubble implosion (MBI). In MBI, the bubble wall protons are subject to volumetric acceleration toward the center due to the spherically symmetric electrostatic force generated by hot electrons filling the bubble. Such an implosion can generate an ultrahigh density proton core of nanometer size on the collapse, which results in an ultrahigh electrostatic field to emit energetic protons in the relativistic regime. Three-dimensional particle-in- cell and molecular dynamics simulations are conducted in a complementary manner. As a result, underlying physics of MBI are revealed such as bubble-pulsation and ultrahigh energy densities, which are higher by orders of magnitude than, for example, those expected in a fusion-igniting core of inertially confined plasma. MBI has potential as a plasma-optical device, which optimally amplifies an applied laser intensity by a factor of two orders of magnitude; thus, MBI is proposed to be a novel approach to the Schwinger limit.

Laser light trapping in cavities in near-critical density plasmas is studied by two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation. The laser ponderomotive force can create in the plasma a vacuum cavity bounded by a thin overcritical-density wall. The laser light is self-consistently trapped as a half-cycle electromagnetic wave in the form of an oscillon-caviton structure until it is slowly depleted through interaction with the cavity wall. When the near-critical density plasma contains a preformed cavity, laser light can become a standing wave in the latter. The trapped light is characterized as multi-peak structure. The overdense plasma wall around the self-generated and preformed cavities induced by the laser ponderomotive force is found to be crucial for pulse trapping. Once this wall forms, the trapped pulse can hardly penetrate.

Stagnation of a cold plasma streaming to the center or axis of symmetry via an expanding accretion shock wave is ubiquitous in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) and high-energy-density plasma physics, the examples ranging from plasma flows in x-ray-generating Z pinches [Y. Maron et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 035001 (2013)] to the experiments in support of the recently suggested concept of impact ignition in ICF [H. Azechi et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 235002 (2009); M. Murakami et al., Nucl. Fusion 54, 054007 (2014)]. Some experimental evidence indicates that stagnation via an expanding shock wave is stable, but its stability has never been studied theoretically. We present such analysis for the stagnation that does not involve a rarefaction wave behind the expanding shock front and is described by the classic ideal-gas Noh solution in spherical and cylindrical geometry. In either case the stagnated flow has been demonstrated to be stable, initial perturbations exhibiting a power-law, oscillatory or monotonic, decay with time for all the eigenmodes. This conclusion has been supported by our simulations done both on a Cartesian grid and on a curvilinear grid in spherical coordinates. Dispersion equation determining the eigenvalues of the problem and explicit formulas for the eigenfunction profiles corresponding to these eigenvalues are presented, making it possible to use the theory for hydro code verification in two and three dimensions., 49 pages, 10 figures, 1 table

Laser-driven ion accelerators have the advantages of compact size, high density, and short bunch duration over conventional accelerators. Nevertheless, it is still challenging to simultaneously enhance the yield and quality of laser-driven ion beams for practical applications. Here we propose a scheme to address this challenge via the use of emerging multi-petawatt lasers and a density-modulated target. The density-modulated target permits its ions to be uniformly accelerated as a dense block by laser radiation pressure. In addition, the beam quality of the accelerated ions is remarkably improved by embedding the target in a thick enough substrate, which suppresses hot electron refluxing and thus alleviates plasma heating. Particle-in-cell simulations demonstrate that almost all ions in a solid-density plasma of a few microns can be uniformly accelerated to about 25% of the speed of light by a laser pulse at an intensity around 1022 W/cm2. The resulting dense block of energetic ions may drive fusion ignition and more generally create matter with unprecedented high energy density., 18 pages, 4 figures

The ion beam bunching in a cascaded target normal sheath acceleration is investigated by theoretical analysis and particle-in-cell simulations. It is found that a proton beam can be accelerated and bunched simultaneously by injecting it into the rising sheath field at the rear side of a laser-irradiated foil target. In the rising sheath field, the ion phase rotation may take place since the back-end protons of the beam feels a stronger field than the front-end protons. Consequently, the injected proton beam can be compressed in the longitudinal direction. At last, the vital role of the ion beam bunching is illustrated by the integrated simulations of two successive stages in a cascaded acceleration., Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures

Alfven Eigenmodes are destabilized at the DIII-D pedestal during transient beta drops in high poloidal beta discharges with internal transport barriers (ITBs), driven by n=1 external kink modes, leading to energetic particle losses. There are two different scenarios in the thermal beta recovery phase: with bifurcation (two instability branches with different frequencies) or without bifurcation (single instability branch). We use the reduced MHD equations in a full 3D system, coupled with equations of density and parallel velocity moments for the energetic particles as well as the geodesic acoustic wave dynamics, to study the properties of the instabilities observed in the DIII-D high poloidal beta discharges and identify the conditions to trigger the bifurcation. The simulations suggest that instabilities with lower frequency in the bifurcation case are ballooning modes driven at the plasma pedestal, while the instability branch with higher frequencies are low n (n

Recent research activities in Japan relevant to heavy ion fusion (HIF) are presented. During the past two years, significant progress in HIF and high energy density (HED) physics research has been made by a number of research groups in universities and accelerator facilities. Evolutions in phase space during the longitudinal compression of intense beams were investigated at UU–NUT–TIT. Beam–plasma interaction experiments and related theoretical studies are in progress at RLNR-TIT. In the study, shock-heated hydrogen was used for the interaction experiments as a well-defined non-ideal-plasma target. In the beam–plasma interaction experiments, a special emphasis is placed on an evaluation of non-linear effects on the stopping power in a beam-heated plasma target. A direct–indirect hybrid scheme of a beam-driven ICF target has been proposed and discussed at UU. In the same group, a method for controlling the Rayleigh–Taylor instability in imploding fuel target has been proposed using oscillating heavy ion beams (HIBs). Core dynamics of the impact ignition has been investigated both experimentally and numerically at ILE—Osaka. Dense plasmas driven by intense ion beams and/or a pulse powered device, were evaluated by a group of DES-TIT, concerning the researches on HED and warm dense matter (WDM) physics. A quasi-statically tamped target was proposed to make a well-defined, warm dense state for equation-of-state (EOS) studies based on ion accelerators. The potentiality of the new facility planned at KEK was evaluated by a collaborating group of TIT–UU–KEK, which can extend the parameter regime for laboratory experiments to study the properties of matter under extreme conditions. A possible method to make a high-pressure condition for study of the planetary science was discussed as a short-term subject of intense HIBs.

A new ignition scheme is proposed, in which the compressed DT main fuel is ignited by impact collision of another fraction of separately imploded DT fuel, which is accelerated in the hollow conical target to super high velocities of about (1–2) × 108 cm s−1. Its kinetic energy is directly converted into thermal energy corresponding to temperatures >5 keV on the collision with the main fuel, and this self-heated portion plays the role of ignitor. The ignitor shell is irradiated typically by nanosecond pulses at intensities well beyond 1015 W cm−2 at such a short laser wavelength as 0.25 µm to exert ablation pressures of 150–300 Mbar. A preliminary two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulation demonstrates substantial heating of 3–5 keV on the impact. Simple physics, potential for high gain designs and low cost—these are the crucial advantages of the present scheme.

A totally new ignition scheme is proposed, in which the compressed DT main fuel is ignited by impact collision of another fraction of separately imploded DT fuel, which is accelerated in the hollow conical target to hyper-velocities in the order of 10 8 cm/s. Its kinetic energy is directly converted into thermal energy corresponding to temperatures >5 keV on the collision with the main fuel, and this self-heated portion plays the role of ignitor. The ignitor shell is irradiated typically by nsec-pulses at intensities >10 15 W/cm 2 and laser wavelength of 0.35 μm to exert ablation pressures >100 Mbar. A preliminary two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulation shows substantial heating of the compressed core. The impact-shell acceleration and consequent working windows for the beam and target parameters are addressed based on a rocket model. Simple physics, high-energy coupling efficiency, low cost, not needing a PW laser, and affordability of investigation in laboratories under rather well-established physical understanding and experimental know-how are considered to be the notable advantages of the present scheme.

The Rayleigh–Taylor (RT) instability with material ablation through an unstable interface is the key physics that determines the success or failure of inertial fusion energy (IFE) generation, as the RT instability potentially quenches ignition and burn by disintegrating the IFE target. We present two suppression schemes of the RT growth without significant degradation of the target density. The first scheme is to generate a double ablation structure in high-Z doped plastic targets. In addition to the electron ablation surface, a new ablation surface is created by x-ray radiation from the high-Z ions. Contrary to the previous thought, the electron ablation surface is almost completely stabilized by extremely high flow velocity. On the other hand, the RT instability on the radiative ablation surface is significantly moderated. The second is to enhance the nonlocal nature of the electron heat transport by illuminating the target with long wavelength laser light, whereas the high ablation pressure is generated by irradiating with short wavelength laser light. The significant suppression of the RT instability may increase the possibility of impact ignition which uses a high-velocity fuel colliding with a preformed main fuel.

Measurements of the relative toroidal rotation velocities of low Z impurity ions have been made in DIII-D tokamak [J. L. Luxon and L. G. Davis, Fusion Technol. 8, 441 (1985)] plasmas that have a strong core pressure gradient and reduced anomalous transport. They show that the differences in toroidal rotation velocities agree with predictions of neoclassical transport theory. The toroidal rotation velocities are measured via charge exchange recombination (CER) spectroscopy of the impurity species. Taking into account the non-negligible effect of energy dependent charge exchange cross sections, quantitative agreement is found between the measured and predicted difference in toroidal rotation velocities, including the strong Z dependence. The predicted difference between the measured impurity rotation velocity and the main ion rotation velocity can be substantial and therefore care should be taken in using quantitative results from impurity rotation measurements and applying them to the bulk plasma.

Nonlinear self-consistent magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability simulations of neoclassical tearing modes (NTM) are performed with the three-dimensional (3-D) MHD code Nonlinear Full Toroidal Code (NFTC) [Phys. Plasmas 8, 3605 (2001)] in real geometry. The numerical model is based on the nonlinear 3-D MHD equations including neoclassical effects: bootstrap current perturbations, and the transport and the polarization current thresholds. Neoclassical terms are included in the basic equations for magnetic field and pressure. An effective fully implicit numerical scheme allows the transport profile to evolve self-consistently with the nonlinear MHD instabilities and externally applied sources. A direct comparison of NTM evolution with experimental observations in different DIII-D discharges is performed. As a result, the nonlinear NTM stability diagram—dependences of the critical and the saturated island width on plasma current profile parameters are obtained. The stability criterion for the time evolution of ...

The problem of neoclassical tearing mode (NTM) suppression by a radially localized toroidal current from electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) is considered. Simulation of NTM stabilization by ECCD is performed with the Nonlinear Fully Toroidal Code (NFTC) [Phys. Plasmas 8, 3605 (2001)] for DIII-D discharges. The optimal parameters are determined for the radially localized ECCD current required to reduce the NTM instability. The time response and nonlinear evolution of the magnetic island width for ECCD and the required modulation phasing, the current drive location with respect to the rational surface, and the width of the spatial distribution are determined for both monotonic q-profile and negative central shear discharges.

A model based on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability of the tokamak plasma edge region is presented, which describes characteristics of edge localized modes (ELMs) and the pedestal. The model emphasizes the dual role played by large bootstrap currents driven by the sharp pressure gradients in the pedestal region. Pedestal currents reduce the edge magnetic shear, stabilizing high toroidal mode number (n) ballooning modes, while at the same time providing drive for intermediate to low n peeling modes. The result is that coupled peeling–ballooning modes at intermediate n (3

We present an analytical model and three dimensional particle simulations of intense laser interaction with a cluster of overdense plasma. When laser intensity is above a critical value, it blows off all of electrons from the cluster and forms a non-neutral ion cloud. During the Coulomb explosion of the ion cloud, ions acquire their energy. Ion energy spectra are discussed in detail for different densities and sizes of clusters with various laser intensities. It is shown that ultra-fast ions are produced for relatively large clusters, and that the ion energy becomes three times greater than the maximum electrostatic potential energy of the ion cloud. The laser driven Coulomb explosion of a cluster may provide a new high energy ion source.

The amplitude and frequency of modes driven in the edge region of tokamak high mode (H-mode) discharges [type I edge-localized modes (ELMs)] are shown to depend on the discharge shape. The measured pressure gradient threshold for instability and its scaling with discharge shape are compared with predictions from ideal magnetohydrodynamic theory for low toroidal mode number (n) instabilities driven by pressure gradient and current density and good agreement is found. Reductions in mode amplitude are observed in discharge shapes with either high squareness or low triangularity where the stability threshold in the edge pressure gradient is predicted to be reduced and the most unstable mode is expected to have higher values of n. The importance of access to the ballooning mode second stability regime is demonstrated through the changes in the ELM character that occur when second regime access is not available. An edge stability model is presented that predicts that there is a threshold value of n for second r...

A self-similar solution of the gas dynamics equations with heat conduction, which describes homologous contraction and expansion of gaseous masses with a free external boundary, is investigated in detail. As a primary application, implosion of deuterium–tritium (DT) fuel in inertial confinement fusion targets is considered. For strongly non-adiabatic implosions the self-similar solution predicts that the flow pattern should approach an asymptotical regime in which it ceases to depend on the initial entropy. For DT masses relevant to inertial confinement fusion (ICF) this regime begins to dominate at αUim≳6×108 cm/s, where α=p/pdeg is the fuel isentrope parameter, and Uim is its implosion velocity. The solution has also a branch which describes an asymptotical regime of explosive expansion after an ultra-fast initial heating to a strongly radiating state.

The interaction of relativistic electrons produced by ultrafast lasers focusing them on strongly precompressed thermonuclear fuel is analytically modeled. Energy loss to target electrons is treated through binary collisions and Langmuir wave excitation. The overall penetration depth is determined by quasielastic and multiple scattering on target ions. It thus appears possible to ignite efficient hot spots in a target with density larger than 300g/cm{sup 3}. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society.}

Because alpha particle losses can have a significant influence on tokamak reactor viability, the loss of deuterium–tritium alpha particles from the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) [K. M. McGuire et al., Phys. Plasmas 2, 2176 (1995)] has been measured under a wide range of conditions. In TFTR, first orbit loss and stochastic toroidal field ripple diffusion are always present. Other losses can arise due to magnetohydrodynamic instabilities or due to waves in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies. No alpha particle losses have yet been seen due to collective instabilities driven by alphas. Ion Bernstein waves can drive large losses of fast ions from TFTR, and details of those losses support one element of the alpha energy channeling scenario.

Laser-driven collisonless electrostatic shock formation and the subsequent ion acceleration have been studied in near critical density plasmas. Particle-in-cell simulations show that both the speed of laser-driven collisionless electrostatic shock and the energies of shock-accelerated ions can be greatly enhanced due to fast laser propagation in near critical density plasmas. However, a response time longer than tens of laser wave cycles is required before the shock formation in a near critical density plasma, in contrast to the quick shock formation in a highly overdense target. More important, we find that some ions can be reflected by the collisionless shock even if the electrostatic potential jump across the shock is smaller than the ion kinetic energy in the shock frame, which seems against the conventional ion-reflection condition. These anomalous ion reflections are attributed to the strongly time-oscillating electric field accompanying laser-driven collisionless shock in a near critical density plasma., Comment: 9 figures,\

Density fluctuations in low‐collisionality, low‐beta (β∼0.1%), currentless plasmas produced with electron cyclotron heating (ECH) in the Advanced Toroidal Facility (ATF) torsatron [Fusion Technol. 10, 179 (1986)] have been studied using a 2 mm microwave scattering diagnostic. Pulsed gas puffing is used to produce transient steepening of the density profile from its typically flat shape; this leads to growth in the density fluctuations when the temperature and density gradients both point in the same direction in the confinement region. The wave number spectra of the fluctuations that appear during this perturbation have a maximum at higher k⊥ρs (∼1) than is typically seen in tokamaks. The in–out asymmetry of the fluctuations along the major radius correlates with the distribution of confined trapped particles expected for the ATF magnetic field geometry. During the perturbation, the relative level of the density fluctuations in the confinement region (integrated over normalized minor radii ρ from 0.5 to 0...

The Advanced Toroidal Facility (ATF) torsatron incorporates two rail limiters that can be positioned by external controls. The influence on the plasma parameters of biasing these limiters both positively and negatively with respect to the walls has been investigated. Experiments have been carried out in the electron cyclotron heated plasmas at 200 kW with a typical density of 5 × 1012 cm-3 and a central electron temperature of ~900 eV. Negative biasing produces only small changes in the plasma parameters, but positive biasing increases the particle confinement by about a factor of 5, although the plasma stored energy does fall at the higher voltages. In addition, positive biasing produces the following effects compared with floating limiter discharges: the core density profiles become peaked rather than hollow, the electric field at the edge becomes more negative (pointing radially inward), the magnitudes of the edge fluctuations and the fluctuation induced transport are reduced, the fluctuation wavelengths become longer and their propagation direction reverses from the electron to the ion diamagnetic direction. Neither polarity of biasing appears to affect the impurity content or transport

Cross-field diffusion of energetic ions by microturbulence is measured during neutral-beam injection into the DIII-D tokamak. Fast-ion Dα, neutron, and motional Stark effect measurements diagnose the fast-ion distribution function. As expected for transport by plasma turbulence, anomalies relative to the classical prediction are greatest in high temperature plasmas, at low fast-ion energy, and at larger minor radius. Theoretical estimates of fast-ion diffusion are comparable to experimental levels. © 2009 The American Physical Society.

Plasma expansion into vacuum and resultant ion acceleration are studied theoretically. A new self‐similar solution is found to describe free expansion of a finite plasma mass into vacuum with a full account of charge separation effects. It is argued that the normalized plasma size Λ = R/λD plays the dominant role in determining the whole ion energy spectrum and thus the maximum ion kinetic energy, where R and λD are the plasma scale length and the Debye length, respectively. The analytical model is compared with experiments to show excellent agreement.

We demonstrate experimentally that the proton beam filamentation in dense plasma can be controlled in multi-layered (Al–CH–Al) sandwich targets. We observe up to three-fold reduction in the MeV proton beam divergence (~12°) from these targets as a result of decrease in filamentary structures in the proton beam profile. Strong self-generated resistive magnetic fields in targets with a high-Z transport layer are mainly responsible for this observed effect. Enhancement in the proton flux and energy is also observed from these targets. Supported by a matching 2D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation and theoretical considerations, we suggest that these targets can be very effectively implemented to collimate proton beams useful for ion oncology applications or advanced fast igniter approach of inertial confinement fusion (ICF).

We present a comparative study on the hydrodynamic behaviour of plasmas generated by material ablation by the irradiation of nanosecond extreme ultraviolet (EUV or XUV) or infrared laser pulses on solid samples. It was clarified that the difference in the photon energy deposition and following material heating mechanism between these two lights result in the difference in the plasma parameters and plasma expansion characteristics. Silicon plate was ablated by either focused intense EUV pulse (λ = 9–25 nm, 10 ns) or laser pulse (λ = 1064 nm, 10 ns), both with an intensity of ∼109 W/cm2. Both the angular distributions and energy spectra of the expanding ions revealed that the photoionized plasma generated by the EUV light differs significantly from that produced by the laser. The laser-generated plasma undergoes spherical expansion, whereas the EUV-generated plasma undergoes planar expansion in a comparatively narrow angular range. It is presumed that the EUV radiation is transmitted through the expanding p...

The interaction of a short high intensity laser pulse with homo and heterogeneous shell cylinders has been analyzed using particle-in-cell simulations and analytical modeling. We show that the shell cylinder is proficient of accelerating and focusing ions in a narrow region. In the case of shell cylinder, the ion energy exceeds the ion energy for a flat target of the same thickness. The constructed model enables the evaluation of the ion energy and the number of ions in the focusing region.

The absorption of fast Alfvén waves (FW) by ion cyclotron harmonic damping in the range of harmonics from fourth to eighth is studied theoretically and with experiments in the DIII-D tokamak. A formula for linear ion cyclotron absorption on Maxwellian ion species is used to estimate the single-pass damping for various cases of experimental interest. It is found that damping on fast ions from neutral beam injection can be significant even at the eighth harmonic if the fast ion beta and the background plasma density are both high enough. The predictions are tested in several L-mode experiments in DIII-D with FW power at 60 MHz and at 116 MHz. It is found that 4th and 5th harmonic absorption of the 60 MHz power on the beam ions can be quite strong, but 8th harmonic absorption of the 116 MHz power appears to be weaker than expected. Possible explanations of the discrepancy are discussed. © 2005 American Institute of Physics .

Hydrodynamic instabilities are key issues of the physics of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) targets. Among the instabilities, Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instability is the most important because it gives the largest growth factor in the ICF targets. Perturbations on the laser irradiated surface grow exponentially, but the growth rate is reduced by ablation flow. The growth rate γ is written as Takabe-Betti formula: γ = [kg/(1+kL)]1/2–βkm/pa, where k is wave number of the perturbation, g is acceleration, L is density scale-length, β is a coefficient, m is mass ablation rate per unit surface, and ρa is density at the ablation front. We experimentally measured all the parameters in the formula for polystyrene (CH) targets. Experiments were done on the HIPER laser facility at Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University. We found that the β value in the formula is ~ 1.7, which is in good agreements with the theoretical prediction, whereas the β for certain perturbation wavelengths are larger than the prediction. This disagreement between the experiment and the theory is mainly due to the deformation of the cutoff surface, which is created by non-uniform ablation flow from the ablation surface. We also found that high-Z doped plastic targets have multiablation structure, which can reduce the RT growth rate. When a low-Z target with high-Z dopant is irradiated by laser, radiation due to the high-Z dopant creates secondary ablation front deep inside the target. Since, the secondary ablation front is ablated by x-rays, the mass ablation rate is larger than the laser-irradiated ablation surface, that is, further reduction of the RT growth is expected. We measured the RT growth rate of Br-doped polystyrene targets. The experimental results indicate that of the CHBr targets show significantly small growth rate, which is very good news for the design of the ICF targets.

A scheme to suppress the Rayleigh-Taylor instability has been investigated for a direct-drive inertial fusion target. In a high-Z doped-plastic target, two ablation surfaces are formed separately-one driven by thermal radiation and the other driven by electron conduction. The growth of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability is significantly suppressed on the radiation-driven ablation surface inside the target due to the large ablation velocity and long density scale length. A significant reduction of the growth rate was observed in simulations and experiments using a brominated plastic target. A new direct-drive pellet was designed using this scheme.

A new ion acceleration scheme, namely, target parallel Coulomb acceleration, is proposed in which a carbon plate sandwiched between gold layers is irradiated with intense linearly polarized laser pulses. The high electrostatic field generated by the gold ions efficiently accelerates the embedded carbon ions parallel to the plane of the target. The ion beam is found to be collimated by the concave-shaped Coulomb potential. As a result, a quasi-monoenergetic and collimated C6+-ion beam with an energy exceeding 10 MeV/nucleon is produced at a laser intensity of 5 × 1019 W/cm2.

Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation is used to investigate radiation-pressure driven acceleration and compression of small solid-density plasma by intense laser pulses. It is found that multiple impacts by presently available short-pulse lasers on a small hemispheric shell target can create a long-living tiny quasineutral monoenergetic plasma bunch of very high energy density.

It is proposed that laser hole-boring at a steady speed in inhomogeneous overdense plasma can be realized by the use of temporally tailored intense laser pulses, producing high-fluence quasi-monoenergetic ion beams. A general temporal profile of such laser pulses is formulated for arbitrary plasma density distribution. As an example, for a precompressed deuterium-tritium fusion target with an exponentially increasing density profile, its matched laser profile for steady hole-boring is given theoretically and verified numerically by particle-in-cell simulations. Furthermore, we propose to achieve fast ignition by the in-situ hole-boring accelerated ions using a tailored laser pulse. Simulations show that the effective energy fluence, conversion efficiency, energy spread, and collimation of the resulting ion beam can be significantly improved as compared to those found with un-tailored laser profiles. For the fusion fuel with an areal density of 1.5 g cm–2, simulation indicates that it is promising to realize fast ion ignition by using a tailored driver pulse with energy about 65 kJ.

Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that the anisotropic collapse of a plasma microshell by impact of two oppositely directed intense laser pulses can create at the center of the shell cavity a submicron-sized plasma of high density and temperature suitable for generating fusion neutrons.

A simple but comprehensive two-dimensional analytical model for the interaction of a normally incident short intense laser pulse with a solid-density plasma is proposed. Electron cavitation near the target surface by the laser ponderomotive force induces a strong local electrostatic charge-separation field. The cavitation makes possible mode conversion of the laser light into longitudinal electron oscillation at laser frequency, even for initial normal incidence of laser pulse. The intense charge-separation field in the cavity can significantly enhance the laser induced u×B electron oscillation at twice laser frequency to density levels even higher than that of the initial target.

Guiding of laser pulse in uniform plasmas and preformed plasma channels is investigated. The self-guiding mechanisms for these two cases are quite different. It is found that an intense laser pulse can be steadily self-guided in underdense plasmas with nearly a constant spot size if the self-consistently generated electron cavity has a sufficiently steep density gradient at the edge. In a preformed plasma channel, however, laser guiding is maintained mainly by the balance between the light diffraction and focusing. The latter is induced by the wall plasmas which greatly reduce the local dielectric constant. It is shown that the self-guiding of a laser pulse in uniform plasmas requires tens of terawatts power, but those that are in preformed channels can be realized with only a terawatt power.

The Nike krypton fluoride laser [S. P. Obenschain, S. E. Bodner, D. Colombant, et al., Phys. Plasmas 3, 2098 (1996)] is used to accelerate planar plastic foils to velocities that for the first time reach 1000 km/s. Collision of the highly accelerated deuterated polystyrene foil with a stationary target produces ∼Gbar shock pressures and results in heating of the foil to thermonuclear temperatures. The impact conditions are diagnosed using DD fusion neutron yield, with ∼106 neutrons produced during the collision. Time-of-flight neutron detectors are used to measure the ion temperature upon impact, which reaches 2–3 keV.

Neutral beam current drive (NBCD) experiments in DIII-D using vertically shifted plasmas to move the current drive away from the axis have clearly demonstrated robust off-axis NBCD. Time-dependent measurements of magnetic field pitch angles by the motional Stark effect diagnostic are used to obtain the evolution of the poloidal magnetic flux, which indicates a broad off-axis NBCD profile with a peak at about half the plasma minor radius. In most cases, the measured off-axis NBCD profile is consistent with calculations using an orbit-following Monte Carlo code for the beam ion slowing down including finite-orbit effects provided there is no large-scale magnetohydrodynamic activity such as Alfven eigenmodes modes or sawteeth. An alternative analysis method shows good agreement between the measured pitch angles and those from simulations using transport-equilibrium codes. Two-dimensional image of Doppler-shifted fast ion Dα light emitted by neutralized energetic ions shows clear evidence for a hollow profile...

Impact-driven shock waves, thermonuclear plasma and neutron yield were investigated. The results of 2D numerical simulations and Gekko/HIPER laser experiments on the collision of a laser-accelerated disk-projectile with a massive target, both containing (CD)n-material, are discussed. A two-temperature model of the non-equilibrium plasma created by impact-driven shock waves due to the collision of a laser-accelerated planar projectile with a massive target was developed and used for analysis of the numerical and experimental results. The model defines the characteristics of shock waves and plasmas (including their lifetime) as well as neutron yields in both the colliding objects as functions of velocity, density and mass of the projectile–impactor just before collision. The neutron yield generated during the period of laser-driven acceleration of the impactor was also determined.Two effects were discovered that exert a substantial influence on the plasma parameters and neutron yield. The first of them relates to the formation of the pre-impact state of the impactor. It decreases the projectile density due to thermal expansion of its matter through a free boundary during the period of laser-driven acceleration. The other relates to the formation of impact-produced plasma. Predominant heating of the ion component of plasma leads to the existence of a non-equilibrium two-temperature plasma during the period of electron–ion relaxation.

A plasma expansion into vacuum and the resultant ion acceleration are studied analytically and numerically. The expansion of an initially uniform spherical plasma (consisting of a nanocluster or microdroplet) with radius Ru0 and electron density nu0 is driven by the explosion of hot electrons having an initial temperature Te0. A self-similar solution describes the nonrelativistic expansion of a finite plasma mass with a full account of charge separation effects. Such key features as the energy spectrum, maximum ion energy, and energy transfer efficiency from the electrons to the ions are given by simple analytic formulas as a function of the normalized droplet radius, Λu=Ru0∕λD, where λD=Te0∕4πnu0e2 is the Debye length. The solution predicts that impurity ions doped homogeneously in a droplet plasma are accelerated quasimonoenergetically by the electrostatic field generated by the charge separation. The prediction is confirmed by N-body particle simulations. The origin of the monoenergetic spectrum is att...

We have proposed a new ignition scheme of Fast Ignition, called 'Impact Fast Ignition [1] (IFI)', in which a compressed fuel is ignited by impact collision of a fragment of separately imploded fuel. We have started experiments that used CD colliding foils as the fundamental experiment and integrated experiment of the IFI. In the fundamental experiment, we used targets which are consists of two CD foils (thickness of 20 μm) with a 600 μm separation. We have irradiated one of the CD foils by laser beams of the energy of 2 kJ in total and accelerated. The accelerated CD foil collides with another foil, and neutrons were generated by the nuclear fusion reaction on the heated foil. In this experiment, we measured the neutron yield of 106. In the integrated experiment, we used CD shell targets with a gold cone which had a hemispherical impactor (Fig. 1). The shell was imploded using 9 beams and the impactor was accelerated using 3 beams of the GEKKO XII laser system. The laser energy was 350 J per beam. Observed maximum neutron yield was 2 × 106. This yield was 80 times as large as that without impactor. We will present the experimental details and results.