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COST Technical Committee "Physics"
COST Action P14
Laser-Matter Interaction with
Ultra-Short Pulses, High-Frequency Pulses
and Ultra-Intense Pulse:
from Attophysics to Petawatt Physics
ANNEX TO THE
FINAL REPORT
This report was prepared by the Management Committee of the
Action and presented to the relevant Technical Committee.
Contents:
2004 Scientific Report for Project 1 (Workgroup 1)
2004 Scientific Report for Project 2 (Workgroup 1)
2004 Scientific Report for Project 3 (Workgroup 2)
2004 Scientific Report for Project 4 (Workgroup 2)
Details of the DESY worshop (2004)
Details of the Garching workshop (2004)
Details of the Abingdon workshop (2004)
2005 Scientific Report for Project 1 (Workgroup 1)
2005 Scientific Report for Project 2 (Workgroup 1)
2005 Scientific Report for Project 3 (Workgroup 2)
2005 Scientific Report for Project 4 (Workgroup 2)
Details of the Hirshegg workshop (2005)
Details of the Tarragona workshop (2005)
Details of the Varenna workshop (2005)
2006 Scientific Report for Project 1 (Workgroup 1)
2006 Scientific Report for Project 2 (Workgroup 1)
2006 Scientific Report for Project 3 (Workgroup 2)
2006 Scientific Report for Project 4 (Workgroup 2)
Details of the Erice school and meeting (2006)
Details of the Szeged conference (2006)
Details of the Dresden workshop (2006)
Details of the Abingdon workshop (2006)
2007 Scientific Report for Project 1 (Workgroup 1)
2007 Scientific Report for Project 2 (Workgroup 1)
2007 Scientific Report for Project 3 (Workgroup 2)
2007 Scientific Report for Project 4 (Workgroup 2)
Details of the Heraklion conference (2007)
Details of the Bordeaux conference (2007)
Details of the Pisa symposium (2007)
2008 Scientific Report of Workgroup 1
2008 Scientific Report of Workgroup 2
Details of the Stresa conference (2008)
Details of the Hersonissos workshop (2008)
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COST P14
Management Committee Meeting
2004
Abingdon, December 18,
Report on the activities of the Working Group 1, Project # 1:
"Interactions of atoms, molecules and clusters with super-intense, ultra-short few
cycle infrared and visible laser pulses and generation of attosecond pulses
1) Main scientific advances (2004)
Regarding the activities related to the project # 1, at the time of writing the present
report (Dec. 2004), the 2004 scientific production of the participating groups has provided the
matter for more than 60 papers published in internationally renowned journals (see the list
below). A large number of members of the teams have participated in international workshops
and conferences. One exchange visits (STSM) has been organized and most of the teams were
represented at the CCLRC High Power Laser Users Christmas Meeting (Abingdon, 15-17
December). This meeting has provided a lively presentation of the state of the art in the field.
Keeping in mind that there are strong overlaps with the themes developed in the other
working groups, the main scientific advances related to the project # 1, can be summarized as
follows:
• Atomic and ionic species (19 papers)
The question of the role of the electron correlations in the dynamics of the highly
non-linear response of polyelectronic species, when submitted to an ultra-intense and ultrashort laser pulse, has been identified as a priority. From the side of theory, simulating multiple
ionisation yields and photoelectron energy distributions remains a major challenge that
involves solving the Time-Dependent Schrödinger Equation (TDSE). Computing
quantitatively reliable data is still a daunting task that has motivated works by the groups in
Belfast, Berlin, Bordeaux, Hanover, Lund, Paris, Salamanca, Wien. New approaches, often
complementary, are currently explored, and as a result of strong networking activities, one
expects that significant progress will be achieved.
On the side of experiments, the advent of new European facilities joining improved
laser sources and new, more precise, COLTRIMS-like detection systems, has permitted to
reach a new step towards the realization of "perfect experiments", in the course of which all
the fragments in the final stage of the process (electrons, ions, neutrals) are analysed in
coincidence, (Berlin, Heidelberg, Lund, Oxford, Palaiseau, Saclay). This effort has already
provided high precision data which should be analysed with the input of theory.
Other topics of importance include:
- the question of the relativistic effects that are expected to become dominant in the
high intensity regime, beyond 1017 W/cm2. In particular, in view of the planned installation of
a new Heavy-Ion Accelerator at GSI, the dynamics of the interaction between counterpropagating laser and relativistic highly charged ions ions has been explored (Brussels,
Durham).
- the long standing question of the possible "stabilization" of atoms in ultra-intense,
high frequency fields, is not solved yet. New advances have been realized in the theory of this
counter-intuitive phenomenon (Amsterdam, Bucharest, Durham).
- the calculation of the atomic phase-shifts of the wave functions for the continuum
states in complex atoms, that are needed for interpreting the photoelectron angular
distributions, represents still a challenge for the theoreticians. Significant advances have been
realized in the interpretation of recent experimental results (Lund, Palaiseau, Paris).
• Molecular species (10 papers)
The main questions to address, when describing the non-linear response of a
molecular species to a strong and short laser pulse, are related to the competition between
vibrational (more generally, rovibronic) excitations, dissociation and ionisation (that leads, in
some cases, to the so-called "Coulomb explosion" of the system). One of the main objectives
of the COST Programme P14 is to realize significant advances in both the theory and the
experience towards the determination of the dynamics of this class of processes. At stakes are
the general questions of the possible control of the fragmentation of a molecule and/or of the
"imaging" of the vibrational molecular wave function in its initial state. Another open
question is related to the possible "alignment" or orientation of the molecule within the laser
field. We note however, that the context is different from the one of the "femtochemistry"
envisioned by A. Zewail (Nobel Prize, 1998) in the sense that it is a more intense pulse of
radiation that is used to act on the molecule.
Regarding theory, here also the task is daunting since it is required to predict not only
the values of the branching ratios between the different reaction channels, but also the
trajectories of the fragments. This implies to solve intricate many-body problems. The
questions related to the roles of the molecular symmetry and also of the re-collision
mechanism in the ionisation of the target, are still the object of active discussion. Several
groups actively contribute to this theme: Belfast, Berlin, Bordeaux, London, Louvain, Oxford,
Salamanca.
A new generation of more precise experiments are also under way at several
European sites at Berlin, Bordeaux, Heidelberg, Louvain, Oxford, Saclay and significant new
results have alredy been obtained, that represent a challenge for theoreticians.
• Clusters and condensed matter (6 papers)
The question of the response of clusters and more generally of macroscopic samples
of dense materials to ultra-intense and short laser pulses represents a challenge in several
areas of basic as well as applied sciences. One of the objectives of the COST P14 Programme
is to study this topic at the fundamental level, in order to guide the designers of the future
devices that are planned to be built in the context of the thermonuclear fusion research and,
more generally, in dense plasma systems. In comparison to atoms and molecules, the
absorption of the laser energy by a mesoscopic or macroscopic sample involves a subtle
interplay between the microscopic response of the atoms and the collective response of the
nano- or micro-plasma which is created during the rising part of the pulse. This question in
particular remains open, as no model or simulation can account satisfactorily for the ensemble
of the measurements made on the yields and energy distributions of the fragments (electrons,
ions). Amongst other closely related questions, studied by the groups involved in the
programme (Amsterdam, Berlin, Bordeaux, Darmstadt, Saclay), we mention:
- the mechanism(s) governing the heating of the electrons within the sample;
- the distribution of the charge states of the ions created as well as their energy
spectra;
- the efficiency of the hole-boring mechanism in the fast-ignition scheme;
- the adequacy of classical simulations for describing the particle dynamics within the
sample,
- etc.
• Attosecond dynamics and harmonic generation (26 papers)
The recent demonstration that trains of "attosecond" pulses of UV or XUV radiations
were emitted in the process of harmonic generation, opens the opportunity to extend the
techniques of "femtochemistry" into the attosecond regime. In principle this will permit to
follow "in real time", via a pump-probe scheme, the time evolution of the electronic density in
atoms or molecules, while they undergo an electronic transition. The feasibility of the
experiment has been demonstrated by following the relaxation of the electron cloud in the
course of an Auger process. Since then, members of the programme have reported in 2004 the
direct measurement of light waves and the realization of an atomic transient recorder
(Garching, Wien). In fact, most of the groups participating in the present programme
contribute significantly to the progresses realized in this area (Bordeaux, Garching, Athens,
Lund, Palaiseau, Saclay, Vilnius, Wien). Their contributions are effective at different levels:
- optimisation of new CPA laser devices and of the harmonic sources;
- design and optimisation of optical components for the UV and XUV spectral ranges;
- characterization of the attosecond pulses;
- theory and simulation of the time evolution of electronic transitions;
- "attophysics" applications;
- etc.
2) Short Term Visit (STSM) and Workshop
- One short-term visit has been organized: Ms M. BOCA (Bucharest) has spent one
month at Durham, in the group of Pr. R. POTVLIEGE. A report has been transmitted.
- CCLRC High Power Laser Users Christmas Meeting (Abingdon, 15-17 December).
COST P14
List of published papers (Dec. 2004)
WG #1 "Interactions of atoms, molecules and clusters with super-intense, ultra-
short few cycle infrared and visible laser pulses and generation of attosecond
pulses"
Theme: Atomic and ionic species
Title: Electron-electron dynamics in laser-induced nonsequential double ionization
Author(s): de Morisson Faria, C.F.; Schomerus, H.; Liu, X.; Becker, W.
Publication: Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics)
Volume: 69
Start Page: 43405
Publication year: 2004
Title: Coulomb repulsion and quantum-classical correspondence in laser-induced
nonsequential double ionization
Author(s): Figueira de Morisson Faria, C.; Liu, X.; Becker, W.; Schomerus, H.
Publication: Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics)
Volume: 69
Start Page: 21402
Publication year: 2004
Title: Testing the multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree-Fock method
Author(s): Zanghellini, J.; Kitzler, M.; Brabec, T.; Scrinzi, A.
Publication: Journal of Physics B (Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics)
Volume: 37
Start Page: 763
Publication year: 2004
Title: Evidence for rescattering in intense, femtosecond laser interactions with a negative ion
Author(s): Pedregosa-Gutierrez, J.; Orr, P.A.; Greenwood, J.B.; Murphy, A.; Costello, J.T.;
Zrost, K.; Ergler, T.; Moshammer, R.; Ullrich, J.
Publication: Physical Review Letters
Volume: 93
Start Page: 223001/1
Publication year: 2004
Title: One-, two- and three-photon ionization of calcium
Author(s): Benec'h, S.; Bachau, H.
Publication: Journal of Physics B (Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics)
Volume: 37
Start Page: 3521
Publication year: 2004
Title: Atomic structure dependence of nonsequential double ionization of He, Ne and Ar in
strong laser pulses
Author(s): de Jesus, V.L.B.; Feuerstein, B.; Zrost, K.; Fischer, D.; Rudenko, A.; Afaneh, F.;
Schroter, C.D.; Moshammer, R.; Ullrich, J.
Publication: Journal of Physics B (Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics)
Volume: 37
Start Page: L161
Publication year: 2004
Title: Multiphoton double ionization via field-independent resonant excitation
Author(s): Rudati, J.; Chaloupka, J.L.; Agostini, P.; Kulander, K.C.; DiMauro, L.F.
Publication: Physical Review Letters
Volume: 92
Start Page: 203001/1
Publication year: 2004
Title: Polarization effects in two-photon nonresonant ionization of argon with extremeultraviolet and infrared femtosecond pulses
Author(s): O'Keeffe, P.; Lopez-Martens, R.; Mauritsson, J.; Johansson, A.; L'Huillier, A.;
Veniard, V.; Taieb, R.; Maquet, A.; Meyer, M.
Publication: Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics)
Volume: 69
Start Page: 51401
Publication year: 2004
Title: Three-step processes with relativistic ions
Author(s): Chirila, C.C.; Joachain, C.J.; Kylstra, N.J.; Potvlige, R.M.
Publication: Laser Physics
Conference Title: 12th International Laser Physics Workshop (LPHYS'03)
Volume: 14
Start Page: 190
Publication year: 2004
Title: Quasistationary stabilization and atomic dichotomy in superintense low-frequency
fields
Author(s): Simbotin, I.; Stroe, M.; Gavrila, M.
Publication: Laser Physics
Volume: 14
Start Page: 482
Publication year: 2004
Title: Ionization by short uv laser pulses: secondary above-threshold-ionization peaks of the
electron spectrum investigated through a modified Coulomb-volkov approach
Author(s): Rodriguez, V.D.; Cormier, E.; Gayet, R.
Publication: Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics)
Volume: 69
Start Page: 53402
Publication year: 2004
Title: Theoretical aspects of time-resolved autoionization
Author(s): Wickenhauser, M.; Burgdorfer, J.
Publication: Laser Physics
Volume: 14
Start Page: 492
Publication year: 2004
Title: Influence of Pauli exclusion principle on the strong field ionization of two electron
atoms
Author(s): Ruiz, C.; Plaja, L.; De Aldana, J.R.V.; Roso, L.
Publication: Applied Physics B (Lasers and Optics)
Volume: B78
Start Page: 829
Publication year: 2004
Title: Nonsequential double ionization of helium in low-frequency laser fields
Author(s): Heinrich, A.; Lewenstein, M.; Sanpera, A.
Publication: Journal of Physics B (Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics)
Volume: 37
Start Page: 2087
Publication year: 2004
Title: Interaction of superintense laser pulses with relativistic ions
Author(s): Chirila, G.G.; Joachain, C.J.; Kylstra, N.J.; Potvliege, R.M.
Publication: Physical Review Letters
Volume: 93
Start Page: 243603/1
Publication year: 2004
Title: Dynamic stabilization of ground-state hydrogen in superintense circularly polarized
laser pulses
Author(s): Boca, M.; Muller, H.G.; Gavrila, M.
Publication: Journal of Physics B (Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics)
Volume: 37
Start Page: 147
Publication year: 2004
Theme: Molecular species
Title: Influence of molecular structure on double ionization of N2 and O2 by high intensity
ultrashort laser pulses
Author(s): Eremina, E.; Liu, X.; Rottke, H.; Sandner, W.; Schatzel, M.G.; Dreischuh, A.;
Paulus, G.G.; Walther, H.; Moshammer, R.; Ullrich, J.
Publication: Physical Review Letters
Volume: 92
Start Page: 173001/1
Publication year: 2004
Title: Role of orbital symmetry in high-order harmonic generation from aligned molecules
Author(s): de Nalda, R.; Heesel, E.; Lein, M.; Hay, N.; Velotta, R.; Springate, E.; Castillejo,
M.; Marangos, J.P.
Publication: Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics)
Volume: 69
Start Page: 31804
Publication year: 2004
Title: Lifetime and predissociation yield of 14N2 1u(v=1)
Author(s): Sprengers, J.P.; Ubachs, W.; Johansson, A.; L'Huillier, A.; Wahlstrom, C.-G.;
Lang, R.; Lewis, B.R.; Gibson, S.T.
Publication: Journal of Chemical Physics
Volume: 120
Start Page: 8973
Publication year: 2004
Title: Dissociation and ionization dynamics of H2+ with short laser pulses: the L2 approach
Author(s): Barmaki, S.; Bachau, H.; Ghalim, M.
Publication: Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics)
Volume: 69
Start Page: 43403
Publication year: 2004
Title: Strong-field short-pulse ionization of the molecular hydrogen ion
Author(s): Mendez, C.R.; Vasquez de Aldana, J.R.; Plaja, L.; Roso, L.; Popov, A.M.;
Tikhonova, O.V.; Volkov, P.A.; Volkova, E.A.
Publication: Laser Physics Letters
Volume: 1
Start Page: 25
Publication year: 2004
Title: First results on tunneling ionization of H2 with a new portable experiment
Author(s): Fabre, B.; Posthumus, J.H.; Malfaire, L.; Staicu-Casagrande, E.M.; Jureta, J.;
Cornaggia, C.; Baldit, E.; Urbain, X.
Publication: Laser Physics
Volume: 14
Start Page: 468
Publication year: 2004
Title: The dynamics of small molecules in intense laser fields
Author(s): Posthumus, J.H.
Publication: Reports on Progress in Physics
Volume: 67
Start Page: 623
Publication year: 2004
Title: Intense-laser-field ionization of molecular hydrogen in the tunneling regime and its
effect on the vibrational excitation of H2+
Author(s): Urbain, X.; Fabre, B.; Staicu-Casagrande, E.M.; de Ruette, N.; Andrianarijaona,
V.M.; Jureta, J.; Posthumus, J.H.; Saenz, A.; Baldit, E.; Cornaggia, C.
Publication: Physical Review Letters
Volume: 92
Start Page: 163004/1
Publication year: 2004
Title: Coulomb explosion imaging of fragmentation channels following laser-induced double
ionization of N2
Author(s): Beylerian, C.; Cornaggia, C.
Publication: Journal of Physics B (Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics)
Volume: 37
Start Page: L259
Publication year: 2004
Title: Dynamics of H2 molecule driven by an ultra-short laser field
Author(s): Daniele, R.; Camiolo, G.; Castiglia, G.; Corso, P.P.; Morales, F.; Fiordilino, E.
Publication: Applied Physics B (Lasers and Optics)
Volume: B78
Start Page: 813
Publication year: 2004
Theme: Clusters and condensed matter
Title: Classical modelling of the nonlinear properties of clusters in strong low-frequency laser
fields
Author(s): Fomichev, S.V.; Zaretsky, D.F.; Becker, W.
Publication: Journal of Physics B (Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics)
Volume: 37
Start Page: L175
Publication year: 2004
Title: Control of the production of highly charged ions in femtosecond-laser cluster
fragmentation
Author(s): Zamith, S.; Martchenko, T.; Ni, Y.; Aseyev, S.A.; Muller, H.G.; Vrakking, M.J.J.
Publication: Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics)
Volume: 70
Start Page: 11201
Publication year: 2004
Title: On the inefficiency of hole boring in fast ignition
Author(s): Mulser, P.; Schneider, R.
Publication: Laser and Particle Beams
Volume: 22
Start Page: 157
Publication year: 2004
Title: Fast ignition of fusion pellets with superintense lasers: concepts, problems, and
prospectives
Author(s): Mulser, P.; Bauer, D.
Publication: Laser and Particle Beams
Volume: 22
Start Page: 5
Publication year: 2004
Title: Net charge of a conducting microsphere embedded in a thermal plasma
Author(s): Kanapathipillai, M.; Mulser, P.; Hoffmann, D.H.H.; Schlegel, T.; Maron, Y.;
Sauerbrey, R.
Publication: Physics of Plasmas
Volume: 11
Start Page: 3911
Publication year: 2004
Title: Observation of high energy photoelectrons from solids at moderate laser intensity
Author(s): Belsky, A.N.; Bachau, H.; Gaudin, J.; Geoffroy, G.; Guizard, S.; Martin, P.;
Petite, G.; Philippov, A.; Vasil'ev, A.N.; Yatsenko, B.N.
Publication: Applied Physics B (Lasers and Optics)
Volume: B78
Start Page: 989
Publication year: 2004
Attosecond dynamics and harmonic generation
Title: Chirped-pulse oscillators: a route to high-power femtosecond pulses without external
amplification
Author(s): Fernandez, A.; Fuji, T.; Poppe, A.; Furbach, A.; Krausz, F.; Apolonski, A.
Publication: Optics Letters
Volume: 29
Start Page: 1366
Publication year: 2004
Title: Direct measurement of light waves
Author(s): Goulielmakis, E.; Uiberacker, M.; Kienberger, R.; Baltuska, A.; Yakovlev, V.;
Scrinzi, A.; Westerwalbesloh, T.; Kleineberg, U.; Heinzmann, U.; Drescher, M.; Krausz, F.
Publication: Science
Volume: 305
Start Page: 1267
Publication year: 2004
Title: Self-stabilization of carrier-envelope offset phase by use of difference-frequency
generation
Author(s): Fuji, T.; Apolonski, A.; Krausz, F.
Publication: Optics Letters
Volume: 29
Start Page: 632
Publication year: 2004
Title: Generation of coherent soft-X-ray radiation extending far beyond the Titanium L edge
Author(s): Seres, E.; Seres, J.; Krausz, F.; Spielmann, C.
Publication: Physical Review Letters
Volume: 92
Start Page: 163002/1
Publication year: 2004
Title: Gouy phase shift for few-cycle laser pulses
Author(s): Lindner, F.; Paulus, G.G.; Walther, H.; Baltuska, A.; Goulielmakis, E.; Lezius,
M.; Krausz, F.
Publication: Physical Review Letters
Volume: 92
Start Page: 113001/1
Publication year: 2004
Title: Atomic transient recorder
Author(s): Kienberger, R.; Goulielmakis, E.; Uiberacker, M.; Baltuska, A.; Yakovlev, V.;
Bammer, F.; Scrinzl, A.; Westerwalbesloh, T.; Kleineberg, U.; Heinzmann, U.; Drescher, M.;
Krausz, F.
Publication: Nature
Volume: 427
Start Page: 817
Publication year: 2004
Title: Time-resolved electron spectroscopy of atomic inner-shell dynamics
Author(s): Drescher, M.; Hentschel, M.; Kienberger, R.; Uiberacker, M.; Westerwalbesloh,
Th.; Kleineberg, U.; Heinzmann, U.; Krausz, F.
Publication: Journal of Electron Spectroscopy and Related Phenomena
Volume: 137-140
Start Page: 259
Publication year: 2004
Title: Observation of light-phase-sensitive photoemission from a metal
Author(s): Apolonski, A.; Dombi, P.; Paulus, G.G.; Kakehata, M.; Holzwarth, R.; Udem, T.;
Lemell, Ch.; Torizuka, K.; Burgdorfer, J.; Hansch, T.W.; Krausz, F.
Publication: Physical Review Letters
Volume: 92
Start Page: 073902/1
Publication year: 2004
Title: Yield and temporal characterization of high-order harmonics from intense midinfrared
excitation of a cesium vapor
Author(s): Clatterbuck, T.O.; Lynga, C.; Paul, P.M.; DiMauro, L.F.; Gaarde, M.B.; Schafer,
K.J.; Agostini, P.; Kulander, K.C.; Walmsley, I.
Publication: Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics)
Volume: 69
Start Page: 33807
Publication year: 2004
Title: Optimization of attosecond pulse generation
Author(s): Mairesse, Y.; de Bohan, A.; Frasinski, L.J.; Merdji, H.; Dinu, L.C.; Monchicourt,
P.; Breger, P.; Kovacev, M.; Auguste, T.; Carre, B.; Muller, H.G.; Agostini, P.; Salieres, P.
Publication: Physical Review Letters
Volume: 93
Start Page: 163901/1
Publication year: 2004
Title: The physics of attosecond light pulses
Author(s): Agostini, P.; DiMauro, L.F.
Publication: Reports on Progress in Physics
Volume: 67
Start Page: 813
Publication year: 2004
Title: Measurement and control of the frequency chirp rate of high-order harmonic pulses
Author(s): Mauritsson, J.; Johnsson, P.; Lopez-Martens, R.; Varju, K.; Kornelis, W.; Biegert,
J.; Keller, U.; Gaarde, M.B.; Schafer, K.J.; L'Huillier, A.
Publication: Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics)
Volume: 70
Start Page: 21801
Publication year: 2004
Title: Time-resolved measurements of high order harmonics confined by polarization gating
Author(s): Zair, A.; Tcherbakoff, O.; Mevel, E.; Constant, E.; Lopez-Martens, R.;
Maurtisson, J.; Johnsson, P.; L'Huillier, A.
Publication: Applied Physics B (Lasers and Optics)
Volume: B78
Start Page: 869
Publication year: 2004
Title: Characterization of high-order harmonic radiation on femtosecond and attosecond time
scales
Author(s): Lopez-Martens, R.; Mauritisson, J.; Johnsson, P.; Varju, K.; L'Huillier, A.;
Kornelis, W.; Biegert, J.; Gaarde, M.; Keller, U.; Schafer, K.
Publication: Applied Physics B (Lasers and Optics)
Volume: B78
Start Page: 835
Publication year: 2004
Title: Design of an extreme-ultraviolet monochromator free from temporal stretching
Author(s): Norin, J.; Osvay, K.; Albert, F.; Descamps, D.; Jianjun Yang; L'Huillier, A.;
Wahlstrom, C.-G.
Publication: Applied Optics
Volume: 43
Start Page: 1072
Publication year: 2004
Title: Time-resolved ellipticity gating of high-order harmonic emission
Author(s): Lopez-Martens, R.; Mauritsson, J.; Johnsson, P.; L'Huillier, A.; Tcherbakoff, O.;
Zair, A.; Mevel, E.; Constant, E.
Publication: Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics)
Volume: 69
Start Page: 53811
Publication year: 2004
Title: Generation of attosecond pulses with ellipticity-modulated fundamental
Author(s): Strelkov, V.; Zair, A.; Tcherbakoff, O.; Lopez-Martens, R.; Cormier, E.; Mevel,
E.; Constant, E.
Publication: Applied Physics B (Lasers and Optics)
Volume: B78
Start Page: 879
Publication year: 2004
Title: Experimental observation of anomalous high harmonics at low intensities
Author(s): Valentin, C.; Kazamias, S.; Douillet, D.; Grillon, G.; Lefrou, T.; Auge, F.;
Sebban, S.; Balcou, P.
Publication: Applied Physics B (Lasers and Optics)
Volume: B78
Start Page: 845
Publication year: 2004
Title: Enhancement of high-order harmonic generation at tuned wavelengths through adaptive
control
Author(s): Reitze, D.H.; Kazamias, S.; Weihe, F.; Mullot, G.; Douillet, D.; Auge, F.; Albert,
O.; Rarnanathan, V.; Chambaret, L.P.; Hulin, D.; Balcou, P.
Publication: Optics Letters
Volume: 29
Start Page: 86
Publication year: 2004
Title: Intrinsic chirp of attosecond pulses: single-atom model versus experiment
Author(s): Kazamias, S.; Balcou, P.
Publication: Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics)
Volume: 69
Start Page: 63416
Publication year: 2004
Title: Anomalous high-order harmonic generation
Author(s): Valentin, C.; Kazamias, S.; Douillet, D.; Grillon, G.; Lefrou, T.; Auge, F.;
Lewenstein, M.; Wyart, J.-F.; Sebban, S.; Balcou, P.
Publication: Journal of Physics B (Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics)
Volume: 37
Start Page: 2661
Publication year: 2004
Title: Enhancement of high-order harmonic generation at tuned wavelengths through adaptive
control
Author(s): Reitze, D.H.; Kazamias, S.; Weihe, F.; Mullot, G.; Douillet, D.; Auge, F.; Albert,
O.; Ramanathan, V.; Chambaret, J.P.; Hulin, D.; Balcou, P.
Publication: Optics Letters
Volume: 29
Start Page: 86
Publication year: 2004
Title: Strong field quantum path control using attosecond pulse trains
Author(s): Schafer, K.J.; Gaarde, M.B.; Heinrich, A.; Biegert, J.; Keller, U.
Publication: Physical Review Letters
Volume: 92
Start Page: 023003/1
Publication year: 2004
Title: Theory and computation of the attosecond dynamics of pairs of electrons excited by
high-frequency short light pulses
Author(s): Mercouris, T.; Komninos, Y.; Nicolaides, C.A.
Publication: Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics)
Volume: 69
Start Page: 32502
Publication year: 2004
Title: Subfemtosecond XUV pulses: attosecond metrology and spectroscopy
Author(s): Kienberger, R.; Krausz, F.
Publication: Few-cycle laser pulse generation and its applications
Start Page: 343
Publication year: 2004
Title: XUV attosecond pulses: generation and measurement
Author(s): Reider, G.A.
Publication: Journal of Physics D (Applied Physics)
Volume: 37
Start Page: R37
Publication year: 2004
Title: Relativistic generation of isolated attosecond pulses in a lambda 3 focal volume
Author(s): Naumova, N.M.; Nees, J.A.; Sokolov, I.V.; Hou, B.; Mourou, G.A.
Publication: Physical Review Letters
Volume: 92
Start Page: 063902/1
Publication year: 2004
Report on activities of Project 2 of Working Group 1 of COST Action P-14
June to December 2004
Two workshops relevant to this project were supported during the period.
The first was a DESY meeting (August 23-25, 2004) comprising a VUV-FEL User
Experiments Workshop with local organizers at DESY: J. Feldhaus, E. Ploenjes, Th.
Tschentscher; COST Action P-14 representative: J. Meyer-ter-Vehn. Programme/information
can be found at
http://www-hasylab.desy.de/conferences/vuvfel_user_2004/
The VUV-FEL beam pulses (expected up to 1014 photons at 30 nm wavelength in 100 fs,
available from May 2005) and the XFEL beams (up to 12 keV photons) coming up later will
become an experimental tool of major interest for the physics to be studied within COST
Action P 14 "ULTRA". It was therefore important to participate in the experiment planning
from the beginning. A number of countries having signed the COST Action P-14are already
actively involved in this.
The second workshop supported was the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Central Laser
Facility Christmas meeting 15-17 December 2004. Local organiser at RAL CLF: Dr Peter
Norreys; COST Action P-14 representative: K T Taylor. This meeting had a scientific
content pertinent right across the COST Action and Invited Talks were presented by many
participating groups. An important traditional aspect of this meeting is the opportunity
afforded to young scientists to present their work in short oral presentations - for the
individual this can frequently be the first such presentation away from their home institution.
A summary of scientific progress within this project by some of the participating groups now
follows:
At Queen's University Belfast research was completed on two - and three-photon ionization of
He using R-matrix Floquet theory. The results demonstrate that perturbation theory is
expected to apply in the absence of resonances for intensities up to 1015 W/cm 2 .
Autoionizing states do appear in the photoionization spectrum. The widths of autoionizing
states can be seriously affected by photoionization, so the widths of narrow states are already
completely dominated by photoionization at intensities below 1013 W/cm 2 . A paper has been
submitted to J Phys B. Also using the group's full-dimensionality approach to the Timedependent Schroedinger equation for helium was exposed to 14 nm radiation from
1014 W/cm 2 up to 2  1016 W/cm 2 which extended the group's previous studies at just
2  1016 W/cm 2 . This was done because it is now likely the DESY XUV FEL will not go as
high as 2  1016 W/cm 2 , at least at the beginning of its life. It was found that three-photon
double above threshold ionization was significant right down to 1014 W/cm 2 . Angular
dependence of the doubly ionizing wavepackets was also investigated. Results were reported
in an Invited Talk at the 14th International Conference on Vacxuum Ultraviolet Physics in
Cairns, Australia July 19-23, 2005. Some of these results are presented in an article prepared
for the Proceedings of this Conference which will appear in the Journal of Electron
Spectroscopy and Related Phenomena. A paper detailing the extension of the fulldimensionality formalism to handle non-dipole terms in laser interactions with helium has
been accepted by J Phys B.
In Darmstadt it has been found that in the so-called collisionless absorption regime of
ultrashort X ray pulses with Clusters, "outer" ionization may have achieved a high level after
a very short time. The freely circulating electrons from their own cluster and from
neighbouring clusters may then interact with the still compact ion spheres as a whole. Owing
to the very high charge number (e.g. 100.000) of the single scatterers and the quadratic
dependence of the collision frequency on this, giant amplification of inverse bremsstrahlung
may take place. Multiplication factors up to 2  10 4 have been calculated with realistic
parameters. An Invited talk was presented on this work at the International Workshop on
transport processes in plasmas, Kiel Sept. 26 -29, 2004
In Durham the group has concluded the first part of an ongoing investigation of three-step
processes in multicharged ions driven by super-intense laser field. These processes (e.g.,
high-order harmonic generation, high-order ATI, recollisional multiple ionization) are
normally severely suppressed by the magnetic field component of the laser field, at high
intensity. However, the calculations done in Durham have shown that this suppression is not
severe, even for kinetic energies at recollision well above 10 keV, for multicharged ions
moving at a sufficiently high velocity against a counterpropagating infrared laser pulse. The
results have been accepted for publication [1]. This work was done in collaboration with the
Brussels group (Prof C J Joachain and co-workers). This work concerns both Project 1 and
Project 2, as the lesser suppression of the non-dipole effects can be traced to the large increase
in the frequency of the light the ions are exposed to in their own frame of reference.
In Bucharest, in Professor Stancalie's group, work is focused on the possibility of using the Rmatrix Floquet theory and codes and its extensions to laser induced degenerate states to
describe di-electronic recombination of Li-like into Be-like ions. The uncertainty concerning
the best way to include radiative damping effects is no longer a problem when the full
electron collision and radiative processes are treated simultaneously, and the radiation field is
treated to all orders. The method accounts for the reverse process corresponding to single
photon ionization. Following this approach, the 1s 2 2snl( 1 S e ) and 1s 2 2pnl( 1 P 0 ) Rydberg
states, embedded in the electric dipole field of the 2s - 2p core, are dressed by a laser field,
assumed to be monochromatic, monomode, linearly polarized and spatially homogeneous. As
in the R-matrix Floquet theory, in the external region, since the coupling field potential
vanishes, the calculation yields the complete information on the autoionizing rate and field
free positions.
In Lund the group a train of extreme ultraviolet pulses of sub-200 attosecond duration has
been used to create temporally localized electron wave packets just above the ionization
threshold in argon. We study the energy transfer from a strong infrared laser field to the
ionized electrons as a function of the delay between the XUV and IR fields. At the zero
crossings of the laser field, a significant energy (~20 eV) is transferred from the IR field to the
electrons resulting in dramatically enhanced above-threshold ionization in conditions where
the infrared field alone does not induce any significant ionization of the medium.
In Bordeaux, using radiative hydrodynamic simulations, ionization and plasma formation of
various low-Z materials by an x-ray laser has been studied. Striking variation in the
ionization and plasma dynamics when the x-ray laser energy is on one side or the other of a Ledge has been found. The group is involved in the first series of experiments in Hamburg to
study plasma formation on solid materials, induced by the VUV-FEL coherent radiation. In
part of a collaboration around Ph. Zeitoun at LOA, the group plans to field a target chamber
with various spectroscopic diagnostics, time- and space-resolved.
Publications from participants over the period.
Recent developments in X-UV optics and X-UV diagnostics P Zeitoun; P Balcou; S Bucourt ;
F Delmotte; G Dovillaire; D Douillet; J Dunn; G Faivre; M Fajardo; KA Goldberg; S Hubert;
JR Hunter; M Idir; S Jacquemot; SKazamias; S Le Pape; X Levecq; CLS Lewis; R Marmoret;
P Mercere; AS Morlens; PP Naulleau; MF Ravet; C Remond; JJRocca; RF Smith; P Troussel;
C Valentin; L Vanbostal Applied Physics B-Lasers and Optics 2004, Vol 78, Iss 7-8, pp983988
Beyond the dipole approximation for helium and hydrogen in intense laser fields
K J Meharg, J S Parker and K T Taylor J Phys B in press
P. Mulser and R. Schneider, On the inefficiency of hole boring in fast ignition, Laser and
Particle Beams 22, 157 (June 2004)
M. Kanapathipillai, P. Mulser et al., Net charge of a conducting microsphere embedded in a
thermal plasma, Phys. Plasmas 11, 3911 (August 2004)
P. Mulser and M. Kanapathipillai, Two most efficient nonlinear laser absorption mechanisms
in clusters, submitted to PRL
M. Kanapathipillai, P. Mulser et al., Collisionless absorption in clusters out of linear
resonance (13 pages), submitted to Phys. Rev. A
C. C. Chirila, C. J. Joachain, N. J. Kylstra and R. M. Potvliege, Phys. Rev. Lett., in the press.
V. Stancalie " 1s 2 2pns( 1 P 0 ) autoionising levels in Be-like Al and C ions", Physics of
Plasmas, AIP, accepted, Dec. 2004
P. Johnsson, R. L—pez-Martens, S. Kazamias, J. Mauritsson, C. Valentin, T. Remetter, K.
Varj, M. B. Gaarde, Y. Mairesse, H. Wabnitz, P. Salieres, Ph. Balcou, K. J. Schafer and A.
L'Huillier, submitted, "Attosecond Electron Wave Packet Dynamics in Strong Laser Fields"
A. Za•r, O. Tcherbakoff, E. Mevel, E. Constant, R. Lopez-Martens, J. Mauritsson, P. Johsson,
A. L'Huillier Time resolved measurements oh high order harmonics confined by polarization
gatingApp Phys. B, 78, 869 (2004).
V. Strelkov, A. Za•r, O. Tcherbakoff, R. Lopez-Martens, E. Cormier, E. Mevel, E. Constant
Generation of attosecond pulses with ellipticity-modulated fundamentalApp Phys. B, 78, 879
(2004).
A. N. Belsky, P. Martin, H. Bachau, A. N. VasilÕev, B. N. Yatsenko, S. Guizard, G.
Geoffroy, G. Petite Heating of conduction band electrons by intense femtosecond laser pulses
Eur. Lett. 67, 301 (2004).
S. Barmaki, H. Bachau and M. Ghalim Dissociation and ionisation dynamics of H2+ with
short laser pulses: the L2 approach Phys. Rev. A 69, 043403 (2004).
S. Laulan and H. Bachau One - and two-photon double ionization of beryllium with ultrashort
laser fields Phys. Rev A 69, 033408 (2004).
A. N. Belsky, P. Martin, H. Bachau, A. N. VasilÕev, B. N. Yatsenko, S. Guizard, G.
Geoffroy, G. Petite Heating of conduction band electrons by intense femtosecond laser pulses
Eur. Lett. 67, 301 (2004).
S. Benec'h and H. Bachau One-, two- and three-photon ionisation of calcium J. Phys. B 37,
3521 (2004).
V.D. Rodriguez, E. Cormier et R. Gayet Ionization by short UV laser pulses: secondary
above-threshold ionization peaks of the electron spectrum investigated through a modified
Coulomb-Volkov approach Phys. Rev. A 69, 053402 (2004).
M. Fajardo, P. Zeitoun, and J.-C. Gauthier, Hydrodynamics simulation of XUV laserproduced plasmas Eur. Phys. J. D. 29, 69 (2004).
Project 3: Study of the interaction of ultra-short pulses, high-frequency
pulses and ultra-intense pulses with plasmas
Progress Report 12/2004
Contributions:
FRANCE
-CELIA-J.C. Gauthier
-CEA-SACLAY-P. Monot
-LOA-V. Malka; Ph. Zeitoun
HUNGARIA
-Research Institute for Solid State Physics and Optics-G. Farkas
-Research Institute for particle and Nuclear Physics-I.B. Foldes
ITALY
-Università di Milano Bicocca.-D. Batani
-Università di Pisa-F. Pegoraro
ROMANIA
-University of Bucharest-V. Stancalie
SERBIA-MONTENEGRO
-Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences-M. Skoric
UK
-The Queen’s University of Belfast- Ken-Taylor-H. Van der Hart
-
I.
FRANCE
A.
-CELIA
B.
Corresponding author : J.C. Gauthier
Directeur Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications (CELIA)
UMR5107
Université Bordeaux I
F-33405 Talence Cedex
T:
+33 5 400 03775
F:
+33 5 400 02580
[email protected]
1.
Research activities
1) Time-resolved absorption spectroscopy
We have used point projection K-shell absorption spectroscopy to infer the ionization and
recombination dynamics of transient aluminium plasmas. Two femtosecond beams of the
100-TW laser at the LULI facility were used to produce an aluminum plasma on a thin
aluminium foil (83- or 50-nm), and a picosecond x-ray backlighter source. The short-pulse
backlighter probed the aluminum plasma at different times by adjusting the delay between the
two femtosecond driving-beams. Absorption X-ray spectra at early times are characteristic
of a dense (0.25xsolid density) and rather homogeneous plasma. Collisional-radiative atomic
physics coupled with hydrodynamic simulations reproduce fairly well the measured average
ionization as a function of time.
2) Harmonic generation on solids
In collaboration with CEA-Salay and LULI, we have shown very efficient harmonic
generation from a solid surface extending beyond H15 using a plasma mirror. The spatial
extension of the harmonic beam has been studied. See contribution from CEA Saclay.
2.
Publications
P. Monot, G. Doumy, S. Dobosz, M. Perdrix, P. D'Oliveira, F. Quéré, F. Réau, Ph.
Martin, P. Audebert, J. C. Gauthier, and J.-P. Geindre, High-order harmonic
generation by nonlinear reflection of an intense high-contrast laser pulse on a
plasma, Optics Letters 29, 893 (2004).
P. Audebert, P. Renaudin, S. Bastiani-Ceccotti, et al., Picosecond time-resolved x-ray
absorption spectroscopy of ultrafast aluminum plasmas, Phys Rev Letters, accepted
for publication (2005).
T. E. Cowan, J. Fuchs, H. Ruhl, A. Kemp, P. Audebert, et al., Ultralow emittance,
multi-MeV proton beams from a laser virtual-cathode plasma accelerator , Phys.
Rev. Letters 92, 204801 (2004).
J. Mackinnon, P. K. Patel, R. P. Town, M. J. Edwards, T. Phillips, S. C. Lerner, D.
W. Price, D. Hicks, M. H. Key, S. Hatchett, S. C. Wilks, M. Borghesi, L. Romagnani,
S. Kar, T. Toncian, G. Pretzler, O. Willi, M. Koenig, E. Martinolli, S. Lepape, A.
Benuzzi-Mounaix, P. Audebert, J. C. Gauthier, et al.Proton radiography as an
electromagnetic field and density perturbation diagnostic, Review of Scientific
Instruments 75, 3531 (2004).
3.
Collaboration with cost action members
- LULI Laboratory, Ecole Polytechnique, France
- PHI group at CEA Saclay, France
C.
CEA-SACLAY.
D.
Corresponding author :-P. Monot
P. Monot
PHI group
SPAM-Bât 522
CEA SACLAY
91191 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex
France
T:
33 1 6908 10 35
F:
33 1 6908 12 13
[email protected]
1.
Research activities
Harmonic generation onto solid targets.Collaboration with LULI and CELIA.
We demonstrate the influence of the prepulses and ASE of ultrashort pulses interacting with a
solid target by addressing the direct comparison of the harmonic spectra generated by
reflection onto a solid target with and without the introduction of a plasma mirror system.
Well collimated Harmonics up to the 20th of the fundamental of the Ti-Sa laser are clearly
visible in a situation free from any plasma expansion.
2.
Publications
G. Doumy, S. Dobosz, P. D’Oliveira, P. Monot, M. Perdrix, F. Quéré, F. Réau, Ph.
Martin, P. Audebert, J.-C. Gauthier, J.-P. Geindre, High order harmonic generation
by non linear reflection of a pedestal-free intense laser pulse on a plasma, Applied
Physics B, 2004, 78 (7-8) p. 901
P. Monot, G. Doumy, S. Dobosz, M. Perdrix, P. D’Oliveira, F. Quéré, F. Réau, Ph.
Martin, P. Audebert, J.-C. Gauthier, J.-P. Geindre, High order harmonic generation
by non linear reflection of an intense high-contrast laser pulse on a plasma , Optics
Letters, 2004, 29 (8)p. 893
3.
Participation to Cost actions
STSM of Ph. Martin to Research Institute for Solid State Physics and Optics-G. Farkasfrom 25-31 October 2004 in Budapest to outline and begin a common research plan
4. Collaboration with cost action members
- The LULI Laboratory, Ecole Polytechnique, France
-The CELIA center
-Joint PHD student with Università di Milano Bicocca
E.
LOA
F.
Corresponding authors :V. Malka / Ph Zeitoun
LOA/ENSTA chemin de la hunière
91761 PALAISEAU Cedex
T: 33 1 69 31 99 03,/97 03
F : 33 1 69 31 99 96
[email protected]/[email protected]
1.
Research activities
1)
Using a few-cycle few terawatt laser pulses to study laser wakefield acceleration
we have demonstrated the production of monochromatic electron pulses in single
wakefield buckets. The properties of the electron beam are extremely interested
for number of applications in several domains (radiography, accelerator physics,
ultra-fast chemistry, radiobiology and radiotherapy). These properties are :
extreme collimation (few mrad), quasi-monoenergetic distribution (170MeV+20MeV), ultra-short bunch (shorter than 30 fs) and highly charged electron beam
(500 pC). From the theoretical point of view such experimental data validated the
pioneer work of Prof. A. Pukhov and Prof. J. Meyer Ter Vehn who had predicted
on the basis of 3 D PIC code in 2002 the existence of a new "Bubble" Regime.
This agreement between theory and experiment is very promising for the future
both from the theoretical point of view and for applications motivations.
2)
We are participating to the preparation of plasma experiments that should be
undertaken by end of 2005 at DESY using the Free-Electron lasers. LOA in
collaboration with LULI realized a study on the interaction of soft x-ray laser
with matter at high intensity. LOA is in charge of the focusing optic aimed to
achieve 2 µm focal spot such as to reach an intensity as high as 1016 Wcm-2 at 30
nm. LOA is also responsible of the diagnostics that will be used to probe the
plasma.
3)
LOA highly improved the technique of soft x-ray laser seeding by HHG, initially
developed by Ditmire et al. We achieved an amplification as high as 1000 (2 in
the case of Ditmire) generating a fully coherent, short pulse, polarized beam at
31.8 nm having energy around 1 µJ. The amplifier was produced with the
technique of Optical Field Ionisation of rare gas by a high energy (2J) Ti:Sa laser.
2.
Publications
Y. Glinec, J. Faure, L. Le Dain, S. Darbon, T. Hosokai, J.J. Santos, E. Lefebvre, J.P.
Rousseau, F. Burgy, B. Mercier, and V. Malka High-resolution -ray radiography produced by
a laser-plasma driven electron source, to be published at PRL
J. Faure, Y. Glinec, A. Pukhov, S. Kiselev, S. Gordienko, E. Lefebvre, J.-P. Rousseau, F.
Burgy, V. Malka A laser-plasma accelerator producing monoenergetic electron beams, Nature
, October (2004).
V. Malka A new and existing optically induced electron source, Europhysicsnews, Feb
(2004).
S. Fritzler, V. Malka, E. Lefebvre, Z. Najmudin, K. Krushelnick, S. Mangles, J.-P. Rousseau,
F. Burgy, B. Walton, and A.E. Dangor Emittance measurements of a laser-wakefield
accelerated electron beam, Phys. Rev. Lett, 92, 16 (2004).
S. Bouquet, C. Stehle, M. Koenig, D. Batani, A. Benuzzi-Mounaix, J.-P. Chièze, X. Fleury,
N. Grandjouan, J. Grenier, T. Hall, E. Henry, J.-P.J Lafon, S. Leygnac,V. Malka, B. Marchet,
H. Merdji, C. Michaut and F. Thais,Observation of laser driven supercritical radiative shocks
precursors. Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 22 (2004).
A. Rousse, K. Ta Phuoc, R. Shah, A. Pukhov, E. Lefebvre, V. Malka, S. Kiselev, F. Burgy, J.
P. Rousseau, D. Umstadter, D. Hulin, Production of a keV X-ray beam from synchroton
radiation in relativistic laser plasma interaction Phys. Rev. Lett. 93,13 (2004)
V. Malka, S. Fritzler, E. Lefebvre, K. Krushelnick, S. P. D. Mangles, Z. Najmudin, B.
Walton, and A.E. Dangor Electron beam production with an ultra short and intense laser
pulse: A new tool for scientists, Physica Scripta T107 (2004).
Sebban at al., Progress on collisionally pumped optical-field-ionization soft x-ray
lasers,JSTQE (2004) under press

S. Sebban et al., Investigation of collisional
optical field ionization soft x-ray lasers, JOSA B
80 (2003) 195 (Selected par Virtual Journal of Ultrafast Science, Janvier 2003, Issue 1)
Ph. Zeitoun, G. Faivre, S. Sebban, T. Mocek, S. Hallou, M. Fajardo, D. Aubert, Ph. Balcou, F.
Burgy, D. Douillet, S. Kazamias, G. de Lachèze-Murel, T. Lefrou, S. le Pape, P. Mercère, A.
S. Morlens, J. P. Rousseau, and C. Valentin, A high intensity, highly coherent soft x-ray
femtosecond laser seeded by a high harmonic beam, Nature, 431, p426 (2004),
M. Fajardo, P. Zeitoun, J.-C. Gauthier Hydrodynamic simulation of XUV laser-produced
plasmas, Eur. J. of Phys. D, 29,1, p69 (2004)
T. Mocek1*, S. Sebban1, I. Bettaibi1, L.M. Upcraft1, Ph. Balcou1, P. Breger2, Ph. Zeitoun3, S.
Le Pape3, D. Ros3, A. Klisnick3, A. Carillon3, G. Jamelot3, B. Rus4, and J.F. Wyart5,
Characterization of collisionally pumped optical-field-ionization soft x-ray lasers, Appl.
Phys. B, 78, 7-8, 939 (2004
3.
Participation to Cost actions
XUV-FEL Workshop, MPQ Garching, Germany, May 10/11, 2004
VUV-FEL Users Workshop on technical issues of first experiments”, DESY Hamburg,
Germany, August 23-24, 2004
******************************************************************
II.
HUNGARIA
A.
Research Institute for Solid State Physics and Optics
B.
Corresponding author : G. Farkas
Research Institute for
Solid State Physics and Optics
Department of Laser Physics
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
P.O.B. 49
H-1525 Budapest
T:
+36-1-392 2222 Ext. 18-86, 36-09
F:
+36-1-392 2215
[email protected]
1.
Participation to Cost actions
STSM of Ph. Martin to Research Institute for Solid State Physics and Optics-G. Farkasfrom 25-31 October 2004 in Budapest to outline and begin a common research plan
Report on the STSM visit of Dr Ph. Martin to Pr G. Farkas (25-10 to 31-10/04 in
Budapest)
The idea proposed by Pr. G. Farkas which was abundantly discussed during my visit is based
on the so-called “Sommerfeld precursor”. The “final product” could be the production of very
high frequencies during a very (attosecond or even less) short time using a strong laser pulse
and a dielectric material.
The idea is to launch a time limited sin pulse on a dispersive medium. Because the
pulse has a finite duration, it contains many harmonics separated by 2 / T , T being the
pulse train duration [1]. Because, the medium is dispersive, each harmonic travels with a
different velocity. After a given propagation length x inside the medium, the frequency are
then temporally redistributed according to the formula of the electric field given by
Sommerfeld : f(t, x)  0 2ct
J (2
2p x 1
t2P x
2c
) .  0 is the frequency of sin pulse,
P the plasma frequency of the given material and c the seed of light. This expression is only
valid for t2 / 0 (the optical cycle of the sin signal). For longer times, a more
sophisticated expression [2] shows that the electric field tends to the signal, namely a constant
oscillation with the period  0 .
The value of the first zero of the Bessel function gives the uppers frequency that the system
can provide. Namely max 
22p
c
x . What is striking is that this expression is independent
of  0 and lies is the 10 keV for 1 mm propagation in matter. Theses frequencies are located
well before the arrival main (monochromatic) signal and their duration lies in the attosecond
regime (see figure). Their amplitude are of the order of 10-5 to be compare to 1 (max of the sin
function).
Amplitude of the signal (related to 1)
0.0001
5 10
-5
0
-5 10
-5
-0.0001
0
1 10
-18
2 10
-18
3 10
-18
4 10
-18
5 10
-18
6 10
-18
time (seconds)
figure : graph showing the Sommerfeld’s expression (see text). The first zero corresponds to
the highest frequencies.
If the principle seems straightforward, the practical realisation needs a lot of care. In
particular, the shape of the initial pulse envelop is of crucial importance. If the pulse is
Gaussian, even if the effect do exist, for sure it will not be observable. A pulse with a very
sharp edge (namely very small at the optical cycle range) is necessary. The use of the so
called plasma mirror system [3] could be the solution. The numerical simulations are already
started in the PHI group. Second, a way to get the temporal evolution of the signal has to be
found. Several ideas start to emerge due to the fruitful collaboration between the PHI group in
Saclay and the group in KFKI Budapest.
C.
-Research Institute for particle and Nuclear Physics
D.
Corresponding author : -I.B. Foldes
Department of Plasma Physics
KFKI Research Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics
P.O. Box 49
H-1525 Budapest
T:
+36-1-392-22-22-3464
F:
+36-1-395-91-51
[email protected]
1.
Research activities
It was shown experimentally that the behaviour of the propagation of high harmonics of the
248 nm, 700 fs laser beam from laser plasmas shows diffuse behaviour above the intensities
of 1016 W/cm2 even in the case of a practically prepulse-free laser (contrast > 1010). A
comparison with simulations shows that this is a consequence of the rippling of critical
surface. Rippling occurs because of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability which appears as a
consequence of the unstable equilibrium between the pressure of the plasma and light
pressure. This behaviour was found to be intrinsic, i.e. it appears even if there is no preplasma
being present.
A new von Hamos spectrometer was prepared and it is being tested using an electronic
CMOS detector for spectroscopic studies of isochoric heating.
Publications:
G. Veres, G. Kocsis, E. Rácz, S. Szatmári: Doppler shift of femtosecond laser
pulses from solid density plasmas; Applied Physics B, 78, 635-638 (2004)
S. Varró, K. Gál and I.B. Földes: Intensity dependent anomalous transmittivity of
thin plasma layers; Laser Phys. Lett., 1, 111-114 (2004)
III.
ITALY
A.
-Università di Milano Bicocca
1.
Corresponding author : D. Batani
Dipartimento di Fisica „G. Occhialini“
Università di Milano Bicocca and INFM
Piazza della Scienza 3
I-20126 Milano
T:
+39-02-6448 23 13
F:
+39-02-6448 25 85
[email protected]
2.
Research activity
Our main contribution has been on the experimental side. We have contributed to experiments
on Laser-plasma physics with ultra-short pulses and Applications of laser-plasma studies to
particle acceleration (in particular studies for proton production) , laboratory astrophysics
(study of warm dense matter in the context of astrophysics and planetology, study of radiative
shocks), and the fast ignition approach to inertial confinement fusion (study of transport of
fast electrons in matter)
3.
Publications
D.Batani, F. Strati, H.Stabile. M.Tomasini, G.Lucchini, A.Ravasio, M. Koenig, A.
Benuzzi-Mounaix, H.Nishimura, Y.Ochi, J.Ullschmied, J.Skala, B.Kralikova,
M.Pfeifer, Ch.Kadlec, T.Mocek, A.Präg, T.Hall, P.Milani, E.Barborini, P.Piseri
“Hugoniot Data for Carbon at Megabar Pressures” Physical Review Letters, 92,
065503 (2004).
S.Bouquet, C.Stehlé, M.Koenig, J.-P.Chièze, A.Benuzzi-Mounaix, D.Batani,
S.Leygnac, X.Fleury, H.Merdji, C.Michaut, F.Thais, N.Grandjouan, T. Hall,
E.Henry, V.Malka, J.-P.J. Lafon “Observations of laser driven supercritical
radiative shock precursors” Physical Review Letters, 92, 225001 (2004).
P. M. Celliers, G. W. Collins, D. G. Hicks, M. Koenig, E. Henry,A. BenuzziMounaix, D. Batani, D. K. Bradley, L. B. Da Silva, R. J. Wallace, S. J. Moon, J. H.
Eggert, K. K. M. Lee, L. R. Benedetti, R. Jeanloz, I. Masclet, N. Dague, B.
Marchet, M. Rabec Le Gloahec, Ch. Reverdin, J. Pasley, O. Willi, D. Neely, and C.
Danson “Electronic conduction in shock-compressed water” PHYSICS OF
PLASMAS, Vol. 11, L41, NUMBER 8, AUGUST (2004)
R.B.Stephens, Y.Aglitskiy, F.Amiranoff, C.Andersen, D.Batani, S.D.Baton,
T.Cowan, R.R.Freeman, T. Hall, S.P.Hatchett, J.M.Hill, M.H.Key, J.A.King,
J.A.Koch, M.Koenig, A.J.MacKinnon, K.L.Lancaster, E. Martinolli, P.Norreys,
E.Perelli-Cippo, M.Rabec Le Gloahec, C.Rousseaux, J.J.Santos, F. Scianitti,
R.A.Snavely “Ka Fluorescence Measurement of Relativistic Electron Transport in
the Context of Fast Ignition” Physical Review E, 69, 066414 (2004)
V.Yu.Bychenkov, V.N.Novikov D.Batani, and V.T.Tikhonchuk “Ion acceleration
from expanding multi-species plasma” Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 11, 3242,
NUMBER 6, JUNE (2004).
E.Martinolli, M.Koenig, F.Amiranoff, S.D.Baton, L.Gremillet, J.J.Santos, T.A.Hall,
M.Rabec-Le-Gloahec, C.Rousseaux, and D.Batani “Fast electron heating of a solid
target in ultra high intensity laser pulse interaction” Physical Review E, 70,
055402(R) (2004).
D.Batani, S.Barbanotti, F.Canova, R.Dezulian, H.Stabile, A.Ravasio, G.Lucchini,
J.Ullschmied, E.Krousky, J.Skala, L. Juha, B.Kralikova, M.Pfeifer, Ch.Kadlec,
T.Mocek, A.Präg, H.Nishimura, Y.Ochi “Laser driven shock experiments at PALS”
Czechoslovak Journal of Physics, Vol. 54, Suppl. C SPPT 446 1 C1 (2004)
G. Huser, A. Benuzzi-Mounaix, M. Koenig, T. Vinci, E. Henry, B. Faral, M.
Tomasini, B. Telaro, D. Batani“Interface velocity of laser shocked Fe/LiF targets”
Physics of Plasmas, vol. 11, pp. L61-L64 (2004)
M. Koenig, E. Henry, G. Huser, A. Benuzzi-Mounaix, B. Faral, E. Martinolli, S.
Lepape, T. Vinci, D. Batani, M. Tomasini, B. Telaro, P. Loubeyre, T. Hall, P.
Celliers, G. Collins, L. DaSilva, R. Cauble, D. Hicks, D. Bradley, A. MacKinnon,
P. Patel, J. Eggert, J. Pasley, O. Willi, D. Neely, M. Notley, C. Danson, M.
Borghesi, L. Romagnani, T. Boehly and K. Lee “High pressures generated by laser
driven shocks: applications to planetary physics” Nucl. Fusion 44, 1–7 PII: S00295515(04)88117-1 (2004)
4.
Participation to Cost actions
Our group has benefited from several STMS.
Incoming STMS (two 1-month visits to our university):
- dr. Aboutrab Aliverdiev, from the Physical Institute of Dagestan (Russia)
- dr. Tara Desai, from the Universidad Politecnica in Madrid (Spain)
Outcoming STMS (visits to other groups):
- D.Batani, D.Piazza, M.Esposito went to the LULI Laboratory for all the month of December
2004.
5.
Collaboration with cost action members
- the LULI Laboratory, Ecole Polytechnique, France (M.Koenig)
- the LOA Laboratory, Ecole polytechnique, France (V.Malka)
- the PHI group at CEA Saclay, France (P.Martin)
- the Lundl group, Sweden (C.G. Wahlstrom)
- the PALS group, Prague, Czech Republic (B.Rus)
- the group at Universidad Politecnica, Madrid, Spain (J.Honrubia)
B.
-Università di Pisa
C.
Corresponding author : -F. Pegoraro
Department of Physics
Università di Pisa
Via Buonarotti, 2
I-56127 Pisa
T:
+39-050 22 148 44
F:
+39 050 22 143 33
[email protected]
1.
Research activity
1) The expansion dynamics of a finite size plasma was examined from an analytical
perspective. The acceleration of the ions and the associated cooling of the electrons that takes
place during the plasma expansion was investigated. An extensive analysis of the transition
between the semi infinite and the finite size plasma behaviour was carried out and the
analytical results were tested with PIC numerical simulations.
Subsequently this study has been extended to 3D configurations. The charge state of spherical
plasmas in vacuum has been studied for times intermediate between the electron- and the ion
dynamical times. A simple analytical model has been developed in good agreement with
numerical simulations. The results has been submitted to PRE for publication.
2) The acceleration of ions during the interaction of high intensity laser pulses with overdense
planar targets has investigated by PIC simulations for circular polarisation. High density ion
bunches moving into the plasma are generated at the laser-plasma interaction surface. A
simple analytical model accounts for the numerical observations and provides scaling laws for
the bunch energy and generation times as a function of laser intensity and plasma density. The
results has been submitted to PRL for publication.
3) The acceleration of protons up to several tens of MeV by the interaction of ultraintense
laser beams with solid targets will probably open up a wealth of applications, in particular
future developments toward higher laser intensities would allow particle acceleration for High
Energy Physics applications. Laser-driven acceleration mechanisms mainly favor applications
that profit of the significant beam intensity without imposing strong constraints on the beam
quality (energy spread and emittance) and particle energy. We have investigated the laserplasma interaction regime where the radiation pressure is dominant and the laser energy is
transformed efficiently into the energy of fast ions for the application of such plasma regimes
to non-conventional high intensity proton drivers for possible applications to neutrino
oscillation studies .
4) The production of electron-positron pairs under the action of electromagnetic field
(Schwinger effect) in a plasma may be made possible by recent developments in laser
technology and by a new mechanism of pulse frequency and energy upshifting in a plasma
that has been recently proposed (S.V. Bulanov, T.Zh. Esirkepov, T.Tajima, Phys. Rev. Lett.
91, 085001 (2003)). Novel physical phenomena are expected in these ultrarelativistic
conditions The problem of the backreaction during the process of electron-positron pair
production by a circularly polarized electromagnetic wave propagating in a plasma has been
investigated. A model based on the relativistic Boltzmann-Vlasov equation with a source term
corresponding to the Schwinger formula for the pair creation rate was used. The damping of
the wave, the nonlinear up-shift of its frequency due to the plasma density increase and the
effect of the damping on the wave polarization and on the background plasma acceleration are
investigated as a function ofthe wave amplitude.
2.
Publications
S. Betti, F. Ceccherini, F. Cornolti, F. Pegoraro Expansion of a finite size plasma in
vacuum Accepted for publication in Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion.
S. S. Bulanov, A. M. Fedotov,. F. Pegoraro Damping of electromagnetic waves due
to electron-positron pair, in press in Phys rev E
. S. V. Bulanov, T. Esirkepov, P. Migliozzi, F. Pegoraro, T. Tajima, F. Terranov,
Neutrino oscillation studies with laser-driven beam dump facilities in press in
Nucl.Instrum.Meth. Sec A
3.
Participation to Cost actions
F. Ceccherini and A. Macchi visited the research group of Marco Borghesi at the Department
of Pure and Applied Physics of Queen's University, Belfast (QUB), UK, from Nov 21th to
Nov 27th, 2004. The aim of the short term mission was to collaborate with the QUB group to
prepare a paper on the detection of transient electric fields in the expanding sheath at the back
of laser-irradiated targets, where F.C. and A.M. provided theoretical and numerical support.
The mission outcome was positive since a draft of the paper has been written and should be
soon submitted for publication.
F. Ceccherini and A. Macchi visited (from Dec 6th to Dec 11th) the research group of Dieter
Bauer at the Max-Planck Institut fuer Kernphysik in Heidelberg (Germany). The present issue
of the collaboration is the study of laser absorption in clusters. Results from the methods
developed by the two scientific partners (particle-in-cell simulations from Pisa, timedependent density functional theory and fermionic molecular dynamics in Heidelberg) will be
compared to characterise to role of collective vs. collisional effects in determining absorption.
F. Pegoraro attended the High Power Laser User Meeting, 15-17 December 2004 and
presented a talk on ``Laser driven proton sources; technological challenges and application to
neutrino physics’’
IV.
ROMANIA
A.
-University of Bucharest
B.
Corresponding author : V. Stancalie
National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics,
Laser Dept.,
P.O.Box MG-36
Bucharest, 077125 ROMANIA
Tel/Fax +402-1-457.44.67
[email protected]
1. Research activity
1) Investigating and understanding issue of the opacity effects on laser-plasma emissivity.
We contributed to this task developing new models and numerical methods on the basis of the
escape factor approximation, to calculate the influence of the opacity on population density
distribution on the excited states, and line intensity.
Experiments are carried out at the FORTH facility, Greece. Planning, data analysis and
simulation studies are undertaken at the Laser Department, National Institute for Laser,
Plasma and Radiation Physics in Bucharest. Our work refers to the ultraviolet laser ablation of
graphite,
in vaccum, using nanosecond, picosecond and femtosecond pulses focused on
the plume characteristics as revealed by wavelength, time-and spatially resolved optical
emission spectroscopy. The most
radiation accompanying plume emissions occurs in
the resonance line of Be-like and Li-like C.
Consequently, these line intensities are frequently used for the determination of plasma
properties.
2). Atomic data calculation for plasma diagnostics.
We contributed to this tasks building new routine to calculate positions and autoionisation
rates for complex atoms.
The positions and widths of the highly excited Rydberg states in complex atoms,are analysed
using a Sturmian expansion of the Coulom Green’s function. Summing perturbation theory up
to the second order for positions and widths amounts to consider wave functions corrected up
to first order, i.e. involving a (first-order) configuration mixing, correlations between
electrons are treated here, at least perturbatively.
We carried out detailed calculations of positions of states belonging to the parent ions, using
the atomic structure code of Cowan. The code calculates atomic structure and spectra via the
superposition-of-configuration method. Coulomb matrix elements between circular Rydberg
states and continuum in Ba-like tungsten ion are calculated on the basis of
the
recursion formulae . The atomic system is described by a closed-shell core and two active
electrons, named valence and Rydberg electron. Then, in a single configuration
description,the Rydberg electron is assumed to evolve from a bound hydrogenic state to a
continuum state, while the valence electron falls from the excited ionic state to a lower state.
We used a Sturmian expansion of the Coulomb Green's function to find out effective quantum
numbers of the excited Rydberg states.
2.
Publications
F. Stokker-Cheregi, C. Ristoscu, V. Stancalie, I.N. Mihailescu, " Optical Emission
Accompanying Pulsed laser Ablation of Graphite: Experiment and Kinetics"
Seventh Conference on Optics,Proc. SPIE Vol. 5581, 2004 ( SPIE, Bellingham,
WA, 2004)385-389.
V. Stancalie, A. Mihailescu, “ Complex Atoms Modelling for Plasma Diagnostics”,
European Conf. on Atomic and Molecular Physics of Ionised Gases, ESCAMPIG
17, Constanta, Sept. 2004,in press, J. Opt.Eng.
D.Chelmus, V. Stancalie,“ Radiative Gaunt Factors” European Conf. on Atomic
and Molecular Physics of Ionised Gases, ESCAMPIG 17, Constanta, Sept. 2004,in
press, J. Opt.Eng.
V.
SERBIA-MONTENEGRO
A.
-Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences
B.
Corresponding author : M. Skoric
Project Leader and Scientific Adviser
Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences
POB 522, 11001 Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro
Phone/ Fax: 381 11 455 272 / 381 11 244 7457
Email: [email protected]
http://www.vin.bg.ac.yu
1. Research activity
Main scientific advances on theoretical and computer simulation (1D fluid and PIC) studies of
intense laser-plasma interaction, in particular, devoted to existence of large localized EM
structures, appeared in following publications:
2.
Publications
Lj. Hadzievski, A. Mancic and M.M. koric, "Moving Weakly Relativistic Electromagnetic
Solitons in Laser-Plasmas" International Conference on Plasma Physics, ICPP2004,
contributed paper
http://hal.ccsd.cnrs.fr/ccsd-00001820
Lj. Nikolic, S. Ishiguro and M.M. Skoric, "Simulations of Relativistic Laser-Plasma
Interactions" THE PHYSICS OF IONIZED GASES: 22nd SPIG; eds.Hadzievski et al, pp
509-520 American Institute of Physics, Conference Proceedings, Vol.740 (2004)
http://proceedings.aip.org/proceedings/confproceed/740.jsp
VI.
UK
A.
-The Queen’s University of Belfast
B.
Corresponding author : Ken Taylor-H. Van der Hart
C.
DAMTP
The Queen's University of Belfast
University Road
Belfast BT7 1NN
N. Ireland
T: +44 1232 335049
F: +44 1232 239182
[email protected]
Publications
1.
E Costa i Bricha, C L S Lewis and Hugo W van der Hart Multiphoton ionization of Ar7+ in
two-colour laser fields using R-matrix Floquet theory J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 37 No
13 (14 July 2004) 2755-2770
Ledingham; P McKenna; T McCanny; S Shimizu; JM Yang; L Robson; J Zweit; JM Gillies; J
Bailey; GN Chimon; RJ Clarke; D Neely; PA Norreys; JL Collier; RP Singhal; MS Wei; SPD
Mangles; P Nilson; K Krushelnick; M Zepf High power laser production of short-lived
isotopes for positron emission tomography KWD Journal of Physics D-Applied Physics 2004,
Vol 37, Iss 16, pp 2341-2345
U Wagner; M Tatarakis; A Gopal; FN Beg; EL Clark; AE Dangor; RG Evans; MG Haines;
SPD Mangles; PA Norreys; MS Wei; M Zepf; K Krushelnick Laboratory measurements of
0.7 GG magnetic fields generated during high-intensity laser interactions with dense plasmas
Physical Review E 2004, Vol 70, Iss 2, art. no. 026401
P Gibbon; FN Beg; EL Clark; RG Evans; M Zepf Tree-code simulations of proton
acceleration from laser-irradiated wire targets Physics of Plasmas 2004, Vol 11, Iss 8, pp
4032-4040
KL Lancaster; S Karsch; H Habara; FN Beg; EL Clark; R Freeman; MH Key; JA King; R
Kodama; K Krushelnick; KWD Ledingham; P McKenna; CD Murphy; PA Norreys; R
Stephens; C Stoeckl; Y Toyama; MS Wei; M Zepf, Characterization of Li-7(p, n)Be-7
neutron yields from laser produced ion beams for fast neutron radiography Physics of
Plasmas 2004, Vol 11, Iss 7, pp 3404-3408
F Pegoraro; S Atzeni; M Borghesi; S Bulanov; T Esirkepov; J Honrubia; Y Kato; V
Khoroshkov; K Nishihara; T Tajima; M Temporal; O Willi Production of ion beams in highpower laser-plasma interactions and their applications Laser and Particle Beams 2004, Vol
22, Iss 1, pp 19-24
T Esirkepov; M Borghesi; SV Bulanov; G Mourou; T Tajima Highly efficient relativistic-ion
generation in the laser-piston regime Physical Review Letters 2004, Vol 92, Iss 17, art. no.
175003
PA Norreys; KL Lancaster; CD Murphy; H Habara; S Karsch; RJ Clarke; J Collier; R
Heathcote; C Hemandez-Gomez; S Hawkes; D Neely; MHR Hutchinson; RG Evans; M
Borghesi; L Romagnani; M Zepf; K Akli; JA King; B Zhang; RR Freeman; AJ MacKinnon;
SP Hatchett; P Patel; R Snavely; MH Key; A Nikroo; R Stephens; C Stoeckl; KA Tanaka; T
Norimatsu; Y Toyama; R Kodama Integrated implosion/heating studies for advanced fast
ignition Physics of Plasmas 2004, Vol 11, Iss 5, pp 2746-2753
FN Beg; MS Wei; EL Clark; AE Dangor; RG Evans; P Gibbon; A Gopal; KL Lancaster;
KWD Ledingham; P McKenna; PA Norreys; M Tatarakis; M Zepf; Krushelnick K Return
current and proton emission from short pulse laser interactions with wire targets Physics of
Plasmas 2004, Vol 11, Iss 5, pp 2806-2813
E Breschi; M Borghesi; M Galimberti; D Glulletti; LA Gizzi; L Romagnani A new algorithm
for spectral and spatial reconstruction of proton beams from dosimetric measurements
Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research Section A-Accelerators Spectrometers
Detectors and Associated Equipment 2004, Vol 522, Iss 3, pp 190-195
FN Beg; MS Wei; AE Dangor; A Gopal; M Tatarakis; K Krushelnick; P Gibbon; EL Clark;
RG Evans; KL Lancaster; PA Norreys; KWD Ledingham; McKenna P; Zepf M Target
charging effects on proton acceleration during high-intensity short-pulse laser-solid
interactions APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS 2004, Vol 84, Iss 15, pp 2766-2768
M Lontano; M Borghesi; SV Bulanov; TZ Esirkepov; D Farina; N Naumova; K Nishihara; M
Passoni; F Pegoraro; H Ruhl; AS Sakharov; I Willi Nondrifting relativistic electromagnetic
solitons in plasmas Laser and Particle Beams 2003, Vol 21, Iss 4, pp 541-544
FN Beg; EL Clark; MS Wei; AE Dangor; RG Evans; A Gopal; KL Lancaster; KWD
Ledingham; P McKenna; PA Norreys; M Tatarakis; M Zepf; K Krushelnick High-intensitylaser-driven Z pinches Physical Review Letters 2004, Vol 92, Iss 9, art. no. 095001
B Dromey; S Kar; M Zepf; P Foster The plasma mirror - A subpicosecond optical switch for
ultrahigh power lasers Review of Scientific Instruments 2004, Vol 75, Iss 3, pp 645-649
M Borghesi; AJ Mackinnon; DH Campbell; DG Hicks; S Kar; PK Patel; D Price; L
Romagnani; A Schiavi; O Willi Multi-MeV proton source investigations in ultraintense laserfoil interactions Physical Review Letters 2004, Vol 92, Iss 5, art. no. 055003
Brief 2004 REPORT on
COST Action 14, project 4 (Applications of Laser Plasma Studies)
Main scientific results in the period June - December 2004
The scientific activities supported by COST Action 14 under project 4 were concentrated
mainly on preparing first experiments with 100 fs short-wavelength (30 nm) laser pulses
becoming available at the DESY VUV-FEL facility in 2005. The goal is to generate and
probe dense plasma with these beams. A detailed plan for these experiments has been set up,
numerical simulations.have been performed. Work on the generation of few-cycle optical
laser pulses and laser wakefield acceleration has made significant progress at a number of
laboratories in COST countries. Most prominent results from LOA (Palaiseau, France) and
Imperial College (London, UK) have been reported in Nature (Sept. 30, 2004), demonstrating
mono-energetic, highly collimated 50 - 170 MeV electron pulses for the first time. 3D-PIC
simulations from the group at D•ssedorf (Germany) reproduce the LOA results. A COSTsupported workshop to be held at Hirschegg/Kleinwalsertal Jan. 30 - Feb. 4, 2005, is presently
organized to highlight these results.
Workshops organized in 2004 within project 4

Peak Brightness Experiments with the VUV-FEL at DESY August 24 and 25, at
DESY/Hamburg (17 participants were funded within COST Action 14 ) At this
workshop, participants discussed in depth experiments to be conducted at DESY
Hamburg in 2005 using high power (5 GW), ultra-short (100fs), short-wavelength (30
nm) free electron laser pulses to heat thin solid foils to temperatures of 10 – 100 eV
and to study absorption and scattering in solid-density plasma. Main topics were the
preparation of target chambers, the testing of diagnostics, and the simulation of
planned experimental configurations within the period August 2004 - May 2005.

Workshop on VUV-FEL ionization-experiments, October 18, 2004 at MPQ, Garching
Participants: K. Eidmann (MPQ), R. Fedosejevs (U. Alberta), H. Fiedorowicz (Mil.
U. Warsaw), E. Fill (MPQ), A. Krenz (MPQ), J. Meyer-ter-Vehn (MPQ), W. Rozmus
(U. Alberta) This 1-day workshop was devoted to gas target experiments with the
DESY VUV FEL beam in 2005. The idea is to study plasma configurations far from
thermal equilibrium by self-Thomson scattering. The primary photo-electrons
produced in this experiment will have a distribution function strongly peaked in
energy and direction, which will decay through two-stream and Weibel instability.
Details of the experiment, diagnostics, and theory have been discussed.
J. Meyer-ter-Vehn
Chairman of Project 4
VUV-FEL USER EXPERIMENTS WORKSHOP
on Physics of High Energy Density in Matter
Desy (Hamburg), August 23 – August 25, 2004
Local Organizers at DESY: J. Feldhaus, E. Ploenjes, Th. Tschentscher
COST Action P 14 Representative: J. Meyer-ter-Vehn
Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2004
16:00 Welcome and general announcements
16:15 Review of the present situation R. W. Lee
17:00 Brief updates of subprojects
- Ablation studies at 30 nm - J. Krzywinski
- Transmission measurements at 30 nm - J. Meyer-ter-Vehn
- Time-resolved ablation - K. Sokolowski-Tinten
- Plasma creation using micron-focusing - P. Zeitoun
- Spectroscopy in the visible, VUV, X-ray ranges - TBD
- Self-Thomson scattering of gaseous plasmas - R. Fedosevics
- Forward diffraction from biological particles - J. Hajdu
19:30 End for the day
20:00 Dinner
Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2004
08:30 Plan for first experiments 2005 TBA
09:30 Coffee break
10:00 Group discussion of the experimental setups Chair: TBD
- Absorption/Transmission/Ablation - TBA.
- Micron-Focusing and plasma creation - TBA
- Gas phase studies - R. Fedosevics
- Scattering from biological particles - J.Hajdu
List of equipment and responsibilities
Discussion of work breakdown
13:30 Lunch break
14:30 Scheduling of experiments in 2005
15:30 Summary and end of the collaboration meeting
Workshop on VUV-FEL ionization-experiments
October 18, 2004 at MPQ, Garching
Participants: K. Eidmann (MPQ), R. Fedosejevs (U. Alberta), H. Fiedorowicz (Mil.
U. Warsaw), E. Fill (MPQ), A. Krenz (MPQ), J. Meyer-ter-Vehn (MPQ), W. Rozmus
(U. Alberta)
Agenda:
09:00
9:15-10:45
9:15
Welcome (E. Fill)
Presentations of experiments and devices
W. Rozmus, U. Alberta:
Plasma Physics of photoionized gases
9:35
R. Fedosejevs, U. Alberta:
Self-Thomson scattering from VUV-FEL ionized gas
experimental plans
9:55
E. Fill, MPQ:
Spectroscopy of VUV-FEL ionized helium
10:15
H. Fiedorowicz, Military Univ. Warsaw:
High-density gas puff targets for photoionization studies
10:45-11:00 Coffee break
11:00-12:30 Definition of the different tasks
12:30-13:30 Lunch
13:30-15:00 Discussion: distribution of tasks
15:00-15:30 Coffee break
15:30-17:00 Discussion: next steps
Departure after 17:00.
jets
-
Summary of results:
For carrying out the experiments and for an improved understanding of the physics 6
different tasks were identified:
1. Setup of a transverse spectrometer with spatial resolution. Spectrometer
should have a spectral resolution of >1000 and a spatial resolution of around 0.2 mm.
2. Installation of a gas nozzle in Thomas Moellers target chamber. The gas
density should be 1019 cm-3 and the repetition rate 10 Hz.
3. Installation of a thin Al window between beam line and target chamber.
Window thickness 1 m. The window should possibly be integrated into a gate
valve.
4. Preparations for a spectrometer in forward direction (looking into the beam).
5. A skimmer plate different from the one in Moellers target chamber may be
required.
6. On theoretical grounds the influence of space charge on the two streams of
electrons needs to be clarified and a more reliable value for the cross-section for
Rayleigh scattering must be found.
The distribution of these different tasks will be as follows:
Task 1: A flat-field spectrometer with spatial resolution is available at Rutherford. It
uses a prefocusing mirror to increase throughput and to provide spatial resolution.
Fedosejevs will clarifiy if the spectrometer is available for our experiments and take
care of adapting it to a conflat 100 flange.
Task 2: Fiedorowicz will provide the nozzle and will take care of adapting it to the
experiment. Plastic tubing must be replaced by metal. Nozzle must be mounted on
appropriate flange (clarify flange specification). It must be clarified if an adjustment
of the complete chamber is accurate enough or if the nozzle needs to be adjustable by
itself (could be achieved by mounting it into a bellows).
Task 3: A valve was retrieved from the MPQ stock. It must be clarified if it can be
used at the Moeller target chamber (Fedosejevs). Al filters are available at MPQ. E.
Fill will provide these items.
Task 4: Fedosejevs will make preparations for the forward spectrometer.
Task 5: Fedosejevs will discuss with Moeller if it is sufficient to remove his skimmer
plate or if a plate of our own design is needed. Find out by testing the nozzle-target
chamber arrangement in Berlin.
Task 6: What happens at the edge of the beam? Is there a pile-up of electrons? Is the
two-stream instability hindered by space charge effects? This task goes to W. Rozmus.
The issue of the Rayleigh cross-section needs to be investigated (Fedosejevs and
Rozmus)
Next steps: It was agreed upon that a visit at Thomas Moellers lab in Berlin is
required. Fedosejevs and Fiedorowicz should arrange a joint visit to investigate the
target chamber and clarify the remaining points of tasks 2, 3 and 5. A possible time
for this visit would be after Dec. 12, 2004.
Expenses:
R. Fedosejevs:
Air ticket
Accomodation
535.43 Can$
1 night
H. Fiedorowicz
Air ticket
Taxi from airport
Accomodation
1116.45 PLN
27.80 Euro
2 nights
W. Rozmus
Air ticket
Taxi from airport
Accomodation
258.30 US$
38.90 Euro
1 night
(Sunday fee)
The accomodation for all participants was at Hotel Maria, Garching. The rate was
65.00 Euro per night including breakfast.
COST-RUTHERFORD WORKSHOP Dec 15 – Dec 17, 2004
Scientific summary
The Christmas meeting of the UK high-power laser science community, held this
year with COST P14 actions support, was highly successful. 104 delegates from the
United Kingdom and eight other countries in the European Union attended. The
meeting was held between 15th and the 17th December 2004 at the Cosener’s House,
Abingdon. The oral presentations were held in the Abingdon Guildhall and the
posters were held in Seminar Room 1, the Cosener’s House. The meeting started at
1.30p.m. on the 15th. The student poster session took place on the afternoon of the
16th and was followed by the Christmas Dinner. The meeting finished at 16.00 on
Friday 17th December.
The final scientific programme and the list of attendees can be found on two
worksheets of the attached document.
The meeting discussed some of the exciting discoveries made in the past year
through the VULCAN and ASTRA laser facilities. Presentations from other
laboratories in the European Union were also presented. These ranged from novel
particle accelerators, plasma physics, materials physics, through to atomic and
molecular physics applications. The programme was balanced between theory and
experiment and many new discoveries in the theory of laser interaction with matter
were presented for the first time. Novel science applications appropriate for the
ASTRA-Gemini laser facility that is due for completion in 2007 were also presented
to a wide audience.
The student poster prize competition attracted 20 entries. The judges awarded the
prize to

“A 5fs OPCPA Laser for attosecond pulse production”
Philip Bates (Imperial College/Rutherford Appleton Laboratory)
Special recommendations also went to:
“Ultrafast intense field dissociation study of N2”
Jarlath McKenna (Queen's University Belfast)
 “Vlasov Fokker-Plank simulations of fast e-transport studying proton
acceleration”
Alexander Robinson (Imperial College)

The poster prize competition winners were presented with their prizes at the
Christmas dinner on the 16th December and have been announced on the Website of
the prestigious journal Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. Please follow the
link: http://www.iop.org/EJ/news/-topic=871/journal/pp
The meeting was held with support from the P14-Cost Action from the European
Science Foundation. A COST-Action management committee meeting took place on
Saturday 18th December at the Cosener's House.
12:30
Wednesday 15th December 2004
Lunch
13:30
Welcome
Prof MHR Hutchinson
13:35
Developments in laser science at the Central Laser Facility
Dr John Collier
Ultra-intense laser matter interactions: experiments
Chair: Dr Peter A Norreys
13:50
14:10
Laser-plasma electron acceleration beyond 300MeV using the
Vulcan petawatt laser
Dr Zulfikar Najmudin
14:30
Cluster blastwave experiments on Vulcan petawatt
Ion acceleration from underdense PW laser-plasma
experiments
Mr James Lazarus
Miss Louise Willingale
14:50
Fast electron generation and transport at ultra-high intensities
Prof Francois Amiranoff
15:10
Tea break
Theory and simulation of laser-plasma interactions
Chair: Prof Tito Mendonca
15:40
16:00
Photon acceleration in laser wakefield accelerators
Numerical studies of photon-acceleration by laser driven
wakefields
Mr Christopher Murphy
16:20
Simulation of laser pulse dynamics with a two-dimensional
photon kinetic code
Dr Albert Reitsma
16:40
Absorption and Transport with KALOS
Mr Mark Sherlock
17:00
17:20
Tree code simulations of hot electron transport and proton
acceleration in PW-laser interaction with foil and wire targets
Close
Dr Paul Gibbon
19:00
Dinner
Dr Raoul Trines
Thursday 16th December
2004
Ultra-intense laser matter interactions: experiments
Chair: Prof Shalom Eliezer
09:00
Propagation of high intensity short laser pulses in under-dense
plasmas
Mr Satyabrata Kar
09:20
Mono-energetic electrons from laser wakefield accelerators
Mr Stuart Mangles
09:40
Production of monoenergetic electron bunches with laserplasma accelerators
Mr Yannick Glinec
10:00
Study of Electron Beam Propagation in Overdense Plasmas
Dr Ralph Jung
10:20
10:50
11:10
11:30
Coffee break
Laser plasma interactions
BCC-HCP phase change in iron measured using dynamic
diffraction
Effect of Landau quantisation on the equations of state in
intense laser-plasma interactions with strong magnetic fields
Chair: Prof Tony Bell
Dr James Hawreliak
Prof Shalom Eliezer
Prof Tito Mendonca
11:50
Nuclear processes induced by PW laser pulses
Spectrally and temporally resolved KeV emission from Ti foil
and smoked Ti irradiated with 400nm, 45fs pulses
12:10
Routes to ICF ignition: issues and progress
Prof Stefano Atzeni
12:30
Lunch
Theory and simulation of laser-matter interactions
The physics of collisionless absorption in solid targets and
clusters
13:50
14:10
Dr Fida Khattak
Chair: Prof Justin Wark
Prof Peter Mulser
14:50
PIC code modelling of laser-plasma interactions
3-D simulations of fast electron transport with applications to
proton acceleration
Laser driven proton sources; technological challemges and
application to neutrino physics
Prof Francesco Pegoraro
15:10
Simulating rear surface proton acceleration
Mr Alexander Robinson
15:30
16:00
16:30
17:30
18:30
poster session
poster session
poster session
poster session
close
19:00
Christmas Dinner
14:30
Mr Edmund Spracklen
Prof Javier Honrubia
Friday 17th December 2004
Atomic physics
Chair: Prof Peter Mulser
08:50
Quantum path interference in high harmonic generation
Mr Enrico Brunetti
09:10
Mr Tim Ball
09:30
Computational modelling of X-ray lasers
Multiphoton ionisation of He using the R-matrix Floquet
approach
Dr Hugo Van der Hart
09:50
Production of dense plasmas with sub-ten femtosecond laser
pulses
Prof Oswald Willi
10:10
Coffee break
short pulse atomic physics
Chair: Prof Dimtri Batani
10:40
Ultrafast plasma atomic physics
Prof Jean Claude Gauthier
11:00
Helium doubly ionizing wavepackets driven by 390nm
Ti:Sapphire light
Mr Barry Doherty
11:20
Molecular effects in the ionization of N2, 02 and F2 by intense
laser fields
Dr Daniel Dundas
11:40
Strong field atomic physics in scaled systems
Prof Lou DiMauro
12:00
Ultrafast dissociation of H2+ and ionization and dissociation of
H2 compared in linear and circular polarized laser pulses
Dr William Bryan
12:20
Lunch
13:30
13:50
14:10
Laser - matter interactions
Chair: Prof Stefano Atzeni
Dissociative Ionization of N2 in an Ultrafast Strong Field
Mr Jarlath McKenna
Bubbles and harmonics - relativistic novelties at the eve of
year 2005
14:30
X-ray spectroscopy of high intensity laser-plasma interactions
Enhanced high harmonic generation from an optically
prepared excited medium
14:50
Tea break
Prof Juergen Meyer-terVehn
Dr Nigel Woolsey
Dr Philip Colosimo
Laser - matter interactions
Chair: Prof Jan Badziak
15:10
Interaction of ultra-intense laser pulses with relativistic ions
Prof Charles Joachain
15:30
key note talk
Prof Dimitri Batani
15:50
Studies of nonthermal effects in different laser-produced
plasmas using ion and X-ray diagnostics
Prof Jurek Wolowski
16:10
Close
Saturday 18th December
2004
09:00
COST Management Meeting
12:30
Lunch
16:00
Depart
Seminar Room 1
CCLRC Costs for the P14 Cost Action Management Meeting
Final Financial Report
Cost Breakdown
Secretarial Assistance (including pay and overheads)
Hire of the meeting room at the Cosener's House for
Saturday 18 December
Refreshments for P14 Cost Action Management Meeting
Total Cost
Total Claimed through the ESF Cost Office
Please Quote Project Code:- LV00101 when making
payment
Exchange
rate used:-
£1=
€ 1.4
Sterling
£2,383
Euros
€ 3,337
£165
£94
£2,642
€ 231
€ 132
€ 3,700
£2,642
€ 3,700
Programme COST P14
LASER-MATTER INTERACTIONS WITH ULTRA-SHORT PULSES, HIGHFREQUENCY PULSES AND ULTRA-INTENSE PULSES:
From Attophysics to Petawatt Physics
MC Meeting: Varenna, 24 September 2005
Working Group # 1
“Interactions of atoms, molecules and clusters with super-intense, ultra-short
few cycle infrared and visible laser pulses and generation of attosecond
pulses”
Brief Scientific Report (Sept. 2005)
Outline
1) Main scientific advances (Dec. 2004 - Sept. 2005)
2) Reports from the teams
3) List of publications
p. 1
p. 3
p.12
1) Main scientific advances (Dec. 2004 - Sept. 2005)
Regarding the activities related to the project # 1, for the period (Dec. 2004 Sept. 2005), the scientific production of the participating groups has provided the
matter for more than 70 papers published in internationally renowned journals (see
the list below). A large number of members of the teams have participated in
international workshops and conferences. Several exchange visits (STSM) have
been organized and most of the teams were represented at the Varenna Meeting.
Keeping in mind that there are strong overlaps with the themes developed in the
other working groups, (notably with WG # 2), the main scientific advances related to
the project # 1, can be summarized as follows:
• Harmonic generation and "Attophysics" (42 papers)
This theme has become the main subject of interest in the field. This is
because of the recent demonstration that, in the course of the harmonic generation
process, "attosecond" pulses of UV or XUV radiations could be emitted. This opens
the most interesting opportunity to study the dynamics of the electronic cloud in
atoms and molecules on an ultra-short time scale, not available before. In principle,
this will permit to follow "in real time", via pump-probe schemes, the time evolution of
the electron density in the course of an electronic transition. The feasibility of the
experiment has been demonstrated by following the electron relaxation in the course
of an Auger process. Since then, most of the groups participating in the present
programme contribute significantly to the progresses realized in this area (Bordeaux,
Garching, Heraklion, Lund, Palaiseau, Saclay, Vilnius, Wien). Their contributions are
effective at different levels:
- optimisation of new harmonic sources;
- design and optimisation of optical components for the UV and XUV spectral
ranges;
- characterization of the attosecond pulses;
- theory and simulation of the time evolution of the electronic wavepackets;
- "attophysics" applications;
- etc.
• Atomic and ionic species (19 papers)
The question of the role of the electron correlations in the dynamics of the
highly non-linear response of polyelectronic species, when submitted to an ultra-
intense and ultra-short laser pulse, has emerged as a hot topic in this field. From the
side of theory, a major challenge is to solve the Time-Dependent Schrödinger
Equation (TDSE) for systems involving several active electrons.. Important advances
have been achieved in this field, notably in writing a Multi-Configuration, TimeDependent Hartree-Fock (MCTDHF) code (Wien). Computing quantitatively reliable
data has also motivated works by the groups in Belfast and Bordeaux.
From the side of experiments, the advent of new European facilities joining
improved laser sources and new, more precise, COLTRIMS-like detection systems,
has permitted to reach a new step towards the realization of "perfect experiments", in
the course of which all the fragments in the final stage of the process (electrons, ions,
neutrals) are analysed in coincidence, (Berlin, Heidelberg, Lund, Oxford, Palaiseau,
Saclay). This effort has already provided high precision data which should be
analysed with the input of theory.
Other topics of importance include:
- the question of the relativistic effects that are expected to become dominant
in the high intensity regime, beyond 1017 W/cm2. In particular, in view of the planned
installation of a new Heavy-Ion Accelerator at GSI, the dynamics of the interaction
between counter-propagating laser and relativistic highly charged ions ions has been
explored (Brussels, Durham, Salamanca).
- the long standing question of the possible "stabilization" of atoms in ultraintense, high frequency fields, is not solved yet. New advances have been realized in
the theory of this counter-intuitive phenomenon (Amsterdam, Bucharest, Durham).
- the calculation of the atomic phase-shifts of the wave functions for the
continuum states in complex atoms, that are needed for interpreting the
photoelectron angular distributions, represents still a challenge for the theoreticians.
Significant advances have been realized in the interpretation of recent experimental
results (Lund, Palaiseau, Paris).
• Molecules, clusters and condensed matter (11 papers)
The main questions to address, when describing the non-linear response of a
molecular species to a strong and short laser pulse, are related to the possibility to
align or orient the molecule in the field. More generally, the problem of the
competition between rovibronic excitations, dissociation and ionisation is of much
interest. (that leads, in some cases, to the so-called "Coulomb explosion" of the
system). At stakes are the general questions of the possible control of the
fragmentation of a molecule and/or of the "imaging" of the vibrational molecular wave
function in its initial state.
Regarding theory, the task is most difficult since one has to predict not only
the values of the branching ratios between the different reaction channels, but also
the dynamics of the fragments. In this context, the questions related to the roles of
the molecular symmetry and also of the re-collision mechanism in the ionisation of
the target, are still the object of active discussion. Several groups actively contribute
to this theme: Belfast, Berlin, Bordeaux, London, Louvain, Oxford, Salamanca.
A new generation of more precise experiments are also under way at several
European sites at Berlin, Bordeaux, Heidelberg, Louvain, Oxford, Saclay and
significant new results have alredy been obtained, that represent a challenge for
theoreticians.
The question of the response of clusters and more generally of macroscopic
samples of dense materials to ultra-intense and short laser pulses represents a
challenge in several areas of basic as well as applied sciences. In comparison to
atoms and molecules, the absorption of the laser energy by a mesoscopic or
macroscopic sample involves a subtle interplay between the microscopic response of
the atoms and the collective response of the nano- or micro-plasma which is created
during the rising part of the pulse. This question in particular remains open, as no
model or simulation can account satisfactorily for the ensemble of the measurements
made on the yields and energy distributions of the fragments (electrons, ions).
Amongst other closely related questions, studied by the groups involved in the
programme (Amsterdam, Berlin, Bordeaux, Darmstadt, Palaiseau, Saclay), we
mention:
- the mechanism(s) governing the heating of the electrons within the sample;
- the distribution of the charge states and energy spectra of the ions created;
- the adequacy of classical simulations for describing the particle dynamics;
- etc.
2) Reports from the teams
• Report for the Lund group
The RABITT (Reconstruction of attosecond beating by interference of two-photon
transition) technique, close to the SPIDER technique, has been applied to
characterization of attosecond pulses. Using this technique, we have shown that the
chirp of attosecond pulses corresponding to the combination of ten consecutive
harmonics generated in Argon could be compensated for using a 600 nm thick
Aluminium filter yielding an average pulse duration of ~170 as [1]. We have explored
different aspects and consequences of the technique: the influence of the atomic
phase, its application to the determination of refractive indices and to the
characterization of multilayer XUV mirrors [2]. Also very short pulse trains, consisting
of two or three attosecond pulses have been characterized [2]. Research is also
being carried out on the complete characterization of the attosecond pulse train on
both attosecond and femtosecond time scales [3-5], as well as on the polarization
gating technique together with CELIA. [6]
[1] R. López-Martens, K. Varjú, P. Johnsson, J. Mauritsson, Y. Mairesse, P. Salières, M.
B. Gaarde, K. J. Schafer, A. Persson, S. Svanberg, C.-G. Wahlström and A. L'Huillier,
Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 033001 (2005) "Amplitude and phase control of attosecond light
pulses" .
[2]- K. Varjú, P. Johnsson, R. López-Martens, T. Remetter, E. Gustafsson, A.
L'Huillier, J. Mauritsson, M. B. Gaarde, K. J. Schafer, C. Erny, I. Sola, A. Zaïr, E.
Constant, E. Cormier, E. Mével, Laser Physics 15, 888 (2005), "Experimental studies
of Attosecond Pulse Trains".
[3] K. Varjú, Y. Mairesse, B. Carré, M. B. Gaarde, P. Johnsson, S. Kazamias, R.
López-Martens, J. Mauritsson, K. J. Schafer, P. Balcou, A. L’Huillier, and P. Salières,
J. Modern Optics 52, 379 (2005) "Frequency chirp of harmonic and attosecond
pulses".
[4]- J. Mauritsson, P. Johnsson, R. López-Martens, K. Varjú, A. L'Huillier, M. B.
Gaarde and K. J. Schafer, J. Phys. B 38, 2265 (2005) "Probing Temporal Aspects of
High-Order Harmonic Pulses via Multi-Color, Multi-Photon Ionization Processes".
[5]- K. Varjú, Y. Mairesse, P. Agostini, P. Breger, B. Carré, L. J. Frasinski, E.
Gustafsson, P. Johnsson, J. Mauritsson, H. Merdji, P. Monchicourt, A. L'Huillier, P.
Salières, submitted, "Reconstruction of Attosecond Trains using an adiabatic phase
expansion".
[6]- I. J. Sola, A. Zaïr, R. López-Martens, P. Johnsson, K. Varjú, E. Cormier,
J. Mauritsson, A. L’Huillier, V. Strelkov, E. Mével and E. Constant, submitted, Phys.
Rev. A "Temporal and spectral studies of high-order harmonics generated by
polarization-modulated infrared fields".
A train of extreme ultraviolet (XUV) pulses of sub-200 attosecond duration was used
to create temporally localized electron wave packets just above the ionization
threshold in argon. The energy transfer from a strong infrared (IR) laser field to the
ionized electrons was studied as a function of the delay between the XUV and IR
fields. At the zero crossings of the laser field, a significant energy (20 eV) is
transferred from the IR field to the electrons resulting in dramatically enhanced
above-threshold-ionization in conditions where the IR field alone does not induce any
significant ionization of the medium. [1,2]
First applications of attosecond pulse trains to the study of atomic and molecular
electron and ion dynamics in strong laser fields were performed utilizing the Velocity
Map Imaging Technique. The full 3D evolution of electron wavepackets created in
argon was obtained. [3] In addition interferometry experiments of electron
wavepackets were performed. Results were also obtained on the alignment of small
molecules induced by the IR field and probed via XUV ionization.
[1] P. Johnsson, R. López-Martens, S. Kazamias, J. Mauritsson, C. Valentin, T.
Remetter, K. Varjú, M. B. Gaarde, Y. Mairesse, H. Wabnitz, P. Salières, Ph. Balcou,
K. J. Schafer and A. L'Huillier, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 013001 (2005), "Attosecond
Electron Wave Packet Dynamics in Strong Laser Fields".
[2] P. Johnsson, J. Mauritsson, K. Varjú, T. Remetter, E. Gustafsson, R. LópezMartens, S. Kazamias, C. Valentin, Ph. Balcou, M. B. Gaarde, K. J. Schafer, A.
L'Huillier, J. Mod. Opt., in press (2005) "Trains of Attosecond Electron Wave
Packets".
[3] T. Remetter, P. Johnsson, J. Mauritsson, K. Varjú, Y. Ni, F. Lépine, M. Kling, J.
Khan, E. Gustafsson, R. López-Martens, M. B. Gaarde, K. J. Schafer, M. J. J.
Vrakking, A. L'Huillier, in preparation, "Attosecond Electron Wavepacket
Interferometry".
• 2005 report of FORTH-IESL for the COST P14 program
PROJECT: Generation, characterization and applications of high frequency,
ultra short duration pulses.
Sub-Project 1: Second order autocorrelation of an XUV attosecond pulse train
In this project a detailed assessment of the first 2nd order autocorrelation
measurement of an XUV attosecond pulse train has been performed. Spatiotemporal
effects on the generated radiation and measured quantities have been evaluated.
In the quest of laboratory as pulses, persistent efforts have recently lead to the
debut of attoscience [1-3]. Cross correlation approaches between the XUV radiation
to be characterized and IR laser fields underlie the breadth of these studies [4,5].
However, the first direct measurement of sub-fs light bunching has been achieved
only very recently, by effectively extending well established fs optical metrology to
XUV as pulses [6]. The measurement is based on a nonlinear effect induced solely
by the XUV radiation, i.e. a two XUV photon ionization of He atoms [7]. Thus in itself
it further initiates XUV-pump- XUV-probe studies of sub-fs-scale dynamics and at the
same time becomes highly pertinent in connection with nonlinear experiments using
other XUV radiation sources and in particular the upcoming free - electron laser
sources. The autocorrelator utilized a bisected spherical mirror volume autocorrelator
[8].
The validity and limitations of the method, which is effectively a second order
autocorrelation of the XUV field, have been evaluated trough ab initio calculations [9].
Spatiotemporal intensity effects of the driving radiation have been considered for full
interpretation of the experimental findings. This allows a rigorous comparison of the
results of the present approach that measures average pulse durations, with other
metrology approaches [9] that determine average spectral phases. The measured
average pulse duration is found in reasonable agreement with the from the
rescatering model estimated duration.
References
[1] N. A. Papadogiannis et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 4289 (1999)
[2] M. Hentschel et al. Nature 414, 509 (2001)
[3] P. M. Paul et al. Science 292, 1689 (2001)
[4] R. Kienberger et al. Science 297, 1144 (2002)
[5] Y. Mairesse et al. Science 302, 1540 (2003)
[6] P. Tzallas et al. Nature 426, 270 (2003)
[7] N.A. Papadogiannis et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 133902 (2003)
[8] P. Tzallas et al. J. of Mod. Opt. 52, 321 (2005)
[9] L.A.A. Nikolopoulos et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 113905 (2005)
Sub-Project 2: Frequency resolved two-XUV-photon gating
The second order autocorrelation is further extendable as to allow full
reconstruction of the temporal shape of the attosecond pulse train. This can be
achieved by extending the so-called “Frequency Resolved Optical Gating” method to
the XUV spectral region, utilizing two-XUV-photon ionization energy resolved
photoelectron spectroscopy. Towards this goal a new work station has been
designed, constructed and tested. It is a differentially pumped system consisting of
the XUV generation unit, the beam manipulation unit, the piezoelectricity driven
bisected spherical mirror unit playing the role of the wavefront divider and delay line
of the autocorrelator and the ionization unit coupled to an ion/photoelectron time of
flight spectrometer.
Utilizing the new workstation the first two-XUV-photon ionization photoelectron
spectra (two photon ionization of He), induced by a superposition of higher order
harmonics, have been recently recorded and compared with spectra of ab initio
calculations solving the 3D Time dependent Schrödinger equation of He, electric
dipole interacting with a superposition of harmonics. The agreement is fairly
encouraging.
Sub-Project 3: Mode sensitive Harmonic-Fundamental cross-correlation /
Complete temporal reconstruction of ultra-short high frequency pulses.
The temporal pulse shape of the third harmonic of a Ti:Sapph laser generated
in Xe gas is fully reconstructed by measuring its spectral phase and amplitude
distributions. The spectral phases are retrieved through three laser vs one harmonic
photon phase control of the third harmonic generation. The work demonstrates the
applicability of the new technique in fully characterizing ultra short pulses at short
wavelengths, including attosecond pulses and pulse trains.
It is well established [1] that the excitation probability of a system interacting
with two different mutually coherent fields, e.g. through n-photons of the fundamental
laser field and one photon of its nth harmonic of the laser, depends on the relative
phase of the two fields. Thus, by varying the relative phase between the two fields
the induced polarizability of the system is modified and with it excitation rates,
ionization and / or dissociation branching ratios, autoionization, as well as harmonic
generation can be manipulated in a controlled manner. Utilizing the same effect,
known as phase sensitive coherent control, in reverse order the relative phase
between mutually coherent fields can be retrieved by measuring a rate proportional
to the induced polarizability. This approach has been recently proposed for the
retrieval of the spectral phase distribution of an individual harmonic or a
superposition of harmonics [2], and thus for the reconstruction of pulses or pulse
trains in attosecond pulse metrology [3-7].
The proposed method [2] is frequency mode selective and thus accounts for the
entire spectral phase distribution, allowing complete temporal reconstruction of the
pulse. We have recently demonstrated the first experimental implementation of the
method [8], in determining the spectral amplitude/phase distribution of the third
harmonic (TH) of a fs Ti:Sapph laser beam, generated in Xe gas.
In this project the TH field to be characterized is cross-correlated with the
nearly Fourier Transform Limited (FTL) field of the fundamental frequency. For the
cross-correlation a three vs one photon excitation scheme of Xe atoms from their
ground state i to a virtual final state f, is utilized. For a FTL fundamental, the relative
phase for each given final state f (within the excitation bandwidth) is given by
3 ( f )   j 11 (1 j )  3 ( f )   f  with  being the variable delay of the cross3
correlation and  3 and 1 the phases of the third harmonic and the fundamental
respectively for the given final state. The result of the interference process is the
coherent summation of the different transition amplitudes (single TH photon and
three-photon of appropriate modes of the fundamental frequency field) of the two
excitation channels coupling the same initial and final state. The total excitation
probability is then the incoherent sum of the excitation probabilities of all coherent
path pairs leading to a different final state. For a FTL fundamental each component
of the excitation probability oscillates as cos(3 ( f )   f  ) and the summation over
all the components yields the phase difference between the fundamental and the TH
phases and hence the relative spectral phase distribution of the TH pulse enabling
thus the reconstruction of its temporal profile.
The cross-correlation has been performed utilizing the dispersionless
transmission grating based interferometer [9].The excitation probability is probed by
measuring the TH yield generated (in a second cell filled with Xe) by the laser field in
the presence of the TH field to be characterized (generated in the first cell filled with
Xe) [10]. From the cross correlation measurements full phase distribution retrieval
has been achived for FTL and chirped TH pulses. The TH spectral amplitude
distribution is further measured trough first order autocorrelation of the TH utilizing
the transmission grating interferometer as well.From the retrieved spectral phase and
amplitude distributions the third harmonic pulses have been reconstructed and their
duration is found in reasonable agreement with estimated theoretical values.
It is worth noting that the method applied does not account for the spatial
phase distribution of the TH and measures a temporal mean of the spectral phase
modulation [11], like all other cross-correlation approaches used so far for the
measurement of the phases of harmonics. The demonstrated full reconstruction of
the gas TH pulses can be extended to higher harmonics, as initially proposed [2],
towards a full temporal characterization of attosecond pulses in schemes in which
departure from the perturbative regime does not affect the retrieved phases.
References
1. M. Shapiro et al. Chem. Phys. Lett. 149, 451 (1988)
2. E. Hertz et al. Phys. Rev. A 64, 051801R (2001)
3. M. Drescher et al., Science, 291, 1923, (2001).
4. P. M. Paul et al., Science, 292, 1689, (2001) ;Y. Mairesse et al. Science 302, 1540
(2003).
5. P. Tzallas et al., Nature, 426, 267, (2003).
6. Y. Kobayashi et al. Opt. Lett. 23, 64(1998); T. Sekikawa et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 88,
193902 (2002) ; Y. Nabekawa et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 043001 (2005).
7. H. Niikura et al., Nature (London), 417, 917 (2002); H. Niikura et al., Nature
(London), 421, 826 (2003)
8. E. Papalazarou et al., (submitted)
9. E. Goulielmakis et al., Appl. Phys. B74, 197, (2002).
10. D. Xenakis et al. Optics Commun. 152, 83 (1998); N. E. Karapanagioti et al. J.
Phys. B 29, 3599 (1996).
11. M. B. Gaarde et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 213901 (2002) ; S. Kazamias et al.
Phys. Rev. A 69, 063416 (2004); L.A.A. Nikolopoulos et al. Phys. Rev. Let. 94,
113905 (2005)
Relevant publications in 2005
“Second-order autocorrelation measurements of attosecond XUV pulse trains”
P. Tzallas, D. Charalambidis, N. A. Papadogiannis, K. Witte, G. D. Tsakiris J. of
Mod. Opt. 52, 321 (2005)
-
“The attosecond-science frontiers: generation, metrology and paths to
applications” P. Tzallas, G. D. Tsakiris, K. Witte, L. A. A. Nikolopoulos, E. P.
Benis and D. Charalambidis J. El. Spectr. and Rel. Phen. 144-147, 1129
(2005).
-
“On the second order autocorrelation of an XUV attosecond pulse train” L. A.
A. Nikolopoulos, E. P. Benis, P. Tzallas, D. Charalambidis, K. Witte and G. D.
Tsakiris Phys. Rev. Lett.. 94, 113905 (2005) (also April 2005 issue of Virtual
Journal of Ultrafast Science)
-
“Attosecond pulse trains: generation, metrology and application perspectives”
P. Tzallas, G. D. Tsakiris, K. Witte, L. A. A. Nikolopoulos, E. P. Benis, D.
Charalambidis Laser Physics (accepted)
-
“Spectral phase distribution retrieval through coherent control of harmonic
generation” E. Papalazarou, M. Kovacev, P. Tzallas, E. P. Benis, C.
Kalpouzos, D. Charalambidis and G. D. Tsakiris (Submitted)
Relevant invited and oral conference presentations
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



340th Wilhelm und Else Heraeus-Seminar, Obergurgl, Austria, January 9-15,
2005
International Conference on Coherent and Non-Linear Processes, S.
Petersburg, Russia, May 11-15, 2005 (invited but not given)
ICOMP 10, Orford, Quebec, Canada, October 9-14, 2005
ICPEAC 2005, Rosario, Argentina
Superstrong Fields in Plasmas, Varenna (Italy), September 19-24, 2005


OSA annual meeting: Frontiers in Optics/Laser Science conferences,
Tucson, Arizona. October 16-20, 2005.
Joint Conference on Ultrafast Optics V and Applications of High Field and
Short Wavelength Sources XI, September 25-30, 2005 Nara, JAPAN
Related funded projects

MC RTN “Ultrashort XUV pulses for Time Resolved and Non –linear
Applications” (XTRA)

MC IRG “Characterization and Research Applications of Attosecond Pulses”
(CHARA)

MC TOK
“XUV-High Order Harmonic Metrology Tools for Novel
Spectroscopic Applications” (X-HOMES)
• Report for the Wien group (SCRINZI)
(1) Scientific advances since January 2005
(A) The interaction of near-infrared lasers (800 nm) with few-electron atoms and
molecules. Calculations using the MCTDHF method:
A theory of the imaging of molecular electrons by the rescattering technique has
been developed. Using fully correlated two-electron calculations, the fundamental
assumptions underlying the N2 imaging of a moleculare orbital [Itatani et al.,Nature
432,(2004)] were examined. Qualitative agreement of N2 rescattering with
rescattering in Ar could be confirmed, but significant qualitative differences were
found.
(B) Attosecond probing of ionization dynamics. Three-dimensional 1-electron
simulations.
The process of time-resolved probing of strong field ionization by an XUV attosecond
pulse was investigated.It was found that the XUV attosecond ionization signal cannot
be associated with either quasi-stationary depletion of the bound state population or
with instantaneous ground state population. Rather, it reflects eletron density near
the nucleus, which in turn is determined by adiabatic (reversible) distortions and
(irreversible) excitations.
(C) Development of computational methods
The MCTDHF code has reached now the production level, allowing realistic (ab initio)
simulations in cylindrical symmetry for systems with up to 8 active electrons. Results
can be obtained within hours when moderate size parallel computers with about 20
CPUs are used. Near linear scalability has been proven up to 20 CPUs and is
expected to extend to significantly higher numbers of processors.
(2) Publications
(partially already as "submitted" in the previous report)
1. Attosecond physics
M. Y. Ivanov, R. Kienberger, D. Villeneuve, and A. Scrinzi, J. Phys. B
(Topical Review), accepted for publication.
2. Theory of Attosecond Pump Probe Measurements
A. Scrinzi, Laser Physics, 15, 1, (2005).
3. Attosecond streaking measurements
V. S. Yakovlev, F. Bammer, and A. Scrinzi, J. Mod. Opt. 52, 395 (2005).
4. Correlated multielectron systems in strong laser fields: A
multiconfiguration timedependent Hartree-Fock approach
J. Caillat J. Zanghellini, M. Kitzler, O. Koch, W. Kreuzer, and
A. Scrinzi, Phys. Rev. A 71, 012712 (2005)
5. Source of coherent kiloelectronvolt X-rays
J. Seres, E. Seres, A. Verhoef, G. Tempea, C. Streli, P. Wobrauschek,
V. Yakovlev, A. Scrinzi, C. Spielmann, F. Krausz, Nature,433, 596, (2005).
• Report from the Vilnius group
Since January 2005, VU LRC in collaboration with Max-Planck-Institute of
Quantum Optics (MPQ) has continued an optical parametric chirped pulse
amplification (OPCPA) experiment. The sub-7 fs seed pulses from mode-locked
Ti:Sapphire oscillator were chirped in a negative dispersion stretcher. The stretcher
was modified by replacing the parabolic quartz lens and micromachined plate for
correction of higher order dispersion after more accurate calculations of GDD of the
system. The two-stage two-pass noncollinear optical parametric amplifier was used
to amplify the signal from ~40pJ up-to 5mJ with no uncompressible parametric
superfluorescence. The amplified pulse was compressed in a high-throughput
positive-dispersion compressor. The compressed pulse was characterized with
spectral phase interferometry for direct electric-field reconstruction. The results of
retrieved spectral amplitude and phase were coupled with the feedback to acoustooptics programmable dispersive filter placed before optical parametric amplifier was
used to obtain the shortest possible pulses and signal of 9.5 femtoseconds duration
has been achieved. The imperfection of the stretcher leading to significant distortions
of spectral phase prevents from obtaining shorter pulse durations however the
achieved pulse duration corresponds to about 3.5 optical cycles which is already
usable for the generation of attosecond pulses.
Based on these results, there is a following list of publications:
1. N. Ishii, L. Turi, V.S Yakovlev, T. Fuji, F. Krausz, A. Baltuska, R. Butkus, G.
Veitas, V. Smilgevicius, R. Danielius, A. Piskarskas, “Multimillijoule chirped
parametric amplification of few-cycle pulses”, Optics Letters, vol. 30, 567-569,
2005.
2. R. Butkus, R. Danielius, A. Piskarskas,V. Smilgevicius, G. Veitas, N. Ishii, L.
Turi, V.S Yakovlev, T. Fuji, F. Krausz, A. Baltuska, “Generation of powerful
10-fs pulses by chirped pulse parametric amplification”, in 36th National
Conference on Physics in Lithuania, Technical Digest, 7-2, p.24, Vilnius,
Lithuania, June 16-18, 2005.
• Report from the BUCHAREST Group
1. Study on a new class of Floquet states (A-states)
M. Boca and Dr. M. Stroe (University of Bucharest) have continued, in collaboration
with M. Gavrila from AMOLF and I. Simbotin from University of Connecticut, the
study on the new class of Floquet states (autoionizing states, A states), recently
predicted in the frame of high-intensity high-frequency Floquet theory [I. Simbotin, M.
Stroe,
and M. Gavrila, Quasistationary Stabilization and Atomic Dichotomy in Superintense
Low-Frequency Fields, Laser Physics {\bf 14}, 482-491 (2004)]. In the large intensity
limit the Fourier-Floquet component in the dominant channel of these states
coincides with a resonance of the structure equation.
A very performant code, developed in Bucharest, made possible the numerical study
of the A-states for two one-dimensional model potentials: a short range Gaussian
potential and a Coulomb-tail potential. The quasienergies of about 30 A states were
calculated over a very large intensity range for both potentials. This way the
previously drawn Floquet maps have been extended.
It was proved that the A states have strong interactions with the bound states of the
atomic potential, so they must play an important role in the time-evolution of the
system.
The results were presented by Madalina Boca as a poster contribution ("Autoionizing
Floquet States", authors: M. Boca, I. Simbotin, M. Stroe, M. Gavrila) workshop on
"Laser-Matter Interaction and Pulse Propagation", Dresden, August 2005.
2. Ionization and high-order harmonic generation
Dr. M. Dondera started the study of a system already considered in literature [1],
namely an electron in a soft Coulomb potential, subject to a laser pulse, with the
purpose to extend the knowledge concerning the behavior of this system, particularly
to understand the connection and competion between the ionization and high
harmonic generation at higher field intensities.
The results were obtained through the numerical integration of TDSE equation,
conjugated with the analysis of the wave function. A conection between our code for
TDSE and a library for a graphical presentation was created, in order to make
possible the study in "real" time of the electron position distribution.
Up to now an extensive numerical investigation was made, examining the
dependence on the electric field amplitude [in the range 0-0.08 au, and for a fixed
frequency (0.0577 au), the same frequency as in [1] of
a) "atomic" survival probabilities as functions of time, and
b) the power spectrum density of the dipole acceleration as function on the emitted
frequency.
Some interesting field regimes were found for which the system continues to resist to
ionization many cycles, and, at the same time, to emit high harmonics. One such
example appears for an electric field intensity of 0.06198 au. Only a partial
understanding of the behavior of the system around this intensity was gained. The
dependence of the survival probability on time seems to reflect the contribution of
several Floquet states, one of them with a long life time.
More effort is needed to interpret the results in terms of Floquet states and
quasienergies.
1. R. Taieb, V. Veniard, J. Wassaf, and A. Maquet, Phys. Rev. A 68, 033403 (2003)
3 On the relativistic generalization of Kramers-Henneberger transformation
A unitary transformation of the Dirac equation for an electron in an atomic potential in
the presence of an external electromagnetic field is currently on the study. The
potential vector does not appear explicitly anymore and its effect is the replacement
of the atomic potential by a time-dependent non-local matrix-operator. The efforts are
focused on the properties of the operator that describes the transformation, possible
approximations and limiting cases.
PARTICIPATION TO CONFERENCES
M. Boca, I. Simbotin, M. Stroe and M. Gavrila, "Autoionizing Floquet States", poster
at the "Seminar and workshop on Laser-Matter Interaction and Pulse Propagation",
Dresden, August 2005.
III. PUBLICATIONS
1. Takashi Nakajima and Gabriela Buica, Modification of the photoelectron angular
distribution through laser-induced continumm structure, Phys. Rev. A 71, 013413
(2005)
(*) Gabriela Buica is associated with the ISS (Institut of Space Research), a
component of our network for the COST Action.
D.
Brief report of the COST P14 activity in Hungary in 2005
Researh Institute for Solid State Physics and Optics
Corresponding author : Gy. Farkas
A) We analysed sub-cycle dynamics of multi-photon-induced photoelectron emission
from metal surfaces using a simple phenomenological model to assess optimum
conditions for direct carrier-envelope phase measurement. To gain further insight
femtosecond time-resolved measurements were carried out on a polycrystalline gold
surface with pulses of a Ti:sapphire laser to explain the recently found, unexpectedly
low carrier-envelope phase dependence of the photoemission process in this
particular case. In the higher-order interferometric autocorrelation distribution
additional short side wings appeared suggesting that ultrafast dynamics of hot
electrons reduce the carrier-envelope phase dependence of the photoemission
electron yield produced by few-cycle laser pulses. Other metals can be investigated
with this simple and fast method to pave the way towards the construction of a solidstate-based direct carrier-envelope phase detector.
B) We elaborated a new approach to generation of ultrashort (attosecond duration)
pulses based on the Sommerfeld precursor phenomena . The numerical method for
calculation of spectra of the first (Sommerfeld) precursor in a single-resonance
Lorentz media based on representation of the initial signal as a sum of a number of
semi-infinite pulses is developed for an arbitrarily shaped amplitude-modulated
signal. Obtained spectra of the precursor generated by the signal created by “plasma
mirror” technique show the potential possibility of production of electromagnetic
pulses in attosecond regime.
Publications:
1) Péter Dombi and G. Farkas “Carrier-envelope phase sensitive photoelectron
emission induced by sub-10-fs laser pulses”
Acta Phys. Hung. B 23, 107 (2005)
2) Péter Dombi, Ferenc Krausz and G. Farkas “Ultrafast dynamics and carrierenvelope phase sensitivity of multi-photon-induced photoemission from metal
surfaces”
J. Mod. Opt. 52 (2005) In press.
3) E. V. Moiseenko, P. Martin, G. Farkas “Generation of very high frequency
attosecond pulses with precursors”
Ultrashort XUV Pulses for Time-resolved and Non-linear Applications. XTRA
Summer Scool, 25-28 May, 2005, Porquerolles Island (France) Conference Digest p:
68
3) LIST OF PUBLICATIONS RELATED TO THE ACTIVITIES OF WG#1 (UP TO
SEPT. 2005)
• Harmonic generation and "Attophysics" (42 papers)
Chipperfield LE, Gaier LN, Knight PL, et al.
Conditions for the reliable production of attosecond pulses using ultra-short lasergenerated high harmonics
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS 52 (2-3): 243-260 JAN-FEB 2005
Felekyan S, Kuhnemuth R, Kudryavtsev V, et al.
Full correlation from picoseconds to seconds by time-resolved and time-correlated
single photon detection
REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS 76 (8): Art. No. 083104 AUG 2005
Lindner F, Schatzel MG, Walther H, et al.
Attosecond double-slit experiment
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 95 (4): Art. No. 040401 JUL 22 2005
Milosevic DB, Becker W
Attosecond pulse generation by bicircular fields: from pulse trains to a single pulse
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS 52 (2-3): 233-241 JAN-FEB 2005
Gohle C, Udem T, Herrmann M, et al.
A frequency comb in the extreme ultraviolet
NATURE 436 (7048): 234-237 JUL 14 2005
Fuerbach A, Fernandez A, Apolonski A, et al.
Chirped-pulse oscillators for the generation of high-energy femtosecond laser pulses
LASER AND PARTICLE BEAMS 23 (2): 113-116 JUN 2005
Drescher M, Krausz F
Attosecond physics: facing the wave-particle duality
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS 38
(9): S727-S740 Sp. Iss. SI MAY 14 2005
Fuji T, Rauschenberger J, Gohle C, et al.
Attosecond control of optical waveforms
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS 7: Art. No. 116 MAY 3 2005
Ishii N, Turi L, Yakovlev VS, et al.
Multimillijoule chirped parametric amplification of few-cycle pulses
OPTICS LETTERS 30 (5): 567-569 MAR 1 2005
Kienberger R, Krausz F
Subfemtosecond XUV pulses: Attosecond metrology and spectroscopy
TOPICS IN APPLIED PHYSICS 95: 343-378 2004
Uiberacker M, Goulielmakis E, Kienberger R, et al.
Attosecond metrology with controlled light waveforms
LASER PHYSICS 15 (1): 195-204 JAN 2005
Wickenhauser M, Burgdorfer J, Krausz F, et al.
Time resolved Fano resonances
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 94 (2): Art. No. 023002 JAN 21 2005
Fuji T, Rauschenberger J, Apolonski A, et al.
Monolithic carrier-envelope phase-stabilization scheme
OPTICS LETTERS 30 (3): 332-334 FEB 1 2005
Paulus GG, Lindner F, Walther H, et al.
Measurement of the phase of few-cycle laser pulses
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS 52 (2-3): 221-232 JAN-FEB 2005
Kienberger R, Uiberacker M, Goulielmakis E, et al.
Single sub-fs soft-X-ray pulses: generation and measurement with the atomic
transient recorder
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS 52 (2-3): 261-275 JAN-FEB 2005
Scrinzi A
Theory of attosecond pump-probe measurements
LASER PHYSICS 15 (6): 880-887 JUN 2005
Caillat J, Zanghellini J, Kitzler M, et al.
Correlated multielectron systems in strong laser fields: A multiconfiguration timedependent Hartree-Fock approach
PHYSICAL REVIEW A 71 (1): Art. No. 012712 JAN 2005
Seres J, Seres E, Verhoef AJ, et al.
Source of coherent kiloelectronvolt X-rays
NATURE 433 (7026): 596-596 FEB 10 2005
Yakovlev VS, Bammer F, Scrinzi A
Attosecond streaking measurements
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS 52 (2-3): 395-410 JAN-FEB 2005
Johnsson P, Lopez-Martens R, Kazamias S, et al.
Attosecond electron wave packet dynamics in strong laser fields
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 95 (1): Art. No. 013001 JUL 1 2005
Mairesse Y, Gobert O, Breger P, et al.
High harmonic XUV spectral phase interferometry for direct electric-field
reconstruction
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 94 (17): Art. No. 173903 MAY 6 2005
Mairesse Y, Quere F
Frequency-resolved optical gating for complete reconstruction of attosecond bursts
PHYSICAL REVIEW A 71 (1): Art. No. 011401 JAN 2005
Lopez-Martens R, Varju K, Johnsson P, et al.
Amplitude and phase control of attosecond light pulses
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 94 (3): Art. No. 033001 JAN 28 2005
Quere F, Mairesse Y, Itatani J
Temporal characterization of attosecond XUV fields
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS 52 (2-3): 339-360 JAN-FEB 2005
Varju K, Mairesse Y, Carre B, et al.
Frequency chirp of harmonic and attosecond pulses
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS 52 (2-3): 379-394 JAN-FEB 2005
Zairk A, Sola IJ, Lopez-Martens R, et al.
Control of the generation of elevated order harmonics by modulation of the ellipticity
of the fundamental
JOURNAL DE PHYSIQUE IV 127: 91-98 JUN 2005
Mauritsson J, Johnsson P, Lopez-Martens R, et al.
Probing temporal aspects of high-order harmonic pulses via multi-colour, multiphoton ionization processes
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS 38
(13): 2265-2278 JUL 14 2005
Varju K, Johnsson P, Lopez-Martens R, et al.
Experimental studies of attosecond pulse trains
LASER PHYSICS 15 (6): 888-898 JUN 2005
Murakami M, Mauritsson J, L'Huillier A, et al.
Calculation and manipulation of the chirp rates of high-order harmonics
PHYSICAL REVIEW A 71 (1): Art. No. 013410 JAN 2005
Tzallas P, Benis EP, Charalambidis D, et al.
Attosecond pulse trains: Generation, metrology, and application perspectives
LASER PHYSICS 15 (6): 821-831 JUN 2005
Tzallas P, Tsakiris GD, Witte K, et al.
The attosecond-science frontiers: generation, metrology and paths to applications
JOURNAL OF ELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY AND RELATED PHENOMENA 144:
1129-1135 Sp. Iss. JUN 2005
Nikolopoulos LAA, Benis EP, Tzallas P, et al.
Second order autocorrelation of an XUV attosecond pulse train
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 94 (11): Art. No. 113905 MAR 25 2005
Tzallas P, Charalambidis D, Papadogiannis NA, et al.
Second-order autocorrelation measurements of attosecond XUV pulse trains
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS 52 (2-3): 321-338 JAN-FEB 2005
Tzallas P, Witte K, Tsakiris GD, et al.
Extending optical fs metrology to XUV attosecond pulses
APPLIED PHYSICS A-MATERIALS SCIENCE & PROCESSING 79 (7): 1673-1677
NOV 2004
Kalashnikov MP, Risse E, Schonnagel H, et al.
Double chirped-pulse-amplification laser: a way to clean pulses temporally
OPTICS LETTERS 30 (8): 923-925 APR 15 2005
Siedschlag C, Muller HG, Vrakking MJJ
Generation of isolated attosecond pulses by two-color laser fields
LASER PHYSICS 15 (6): 916-925 JUN 2005
Merdji H, Hergott JF, Kovacev M, et al.
Manipulating intense XUV coherent light in the temporal domain
LASER AND PARTICLE BEAMS 22 (3): 275-278 SEP 2004
Mairesse Y, de Bohan A, Frasinski LJ, et al.
Optimization of attosecond pulse generation
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 93 (16): Art. No. 163901 OCT 15 2004
Agostini P, Fedorov MV, Paulus GG
Special issue: Attosecond science and technology
LASER PHYSICS 15 (6): JUN 2005
Mairesse Y, de Bohan A, Frasinski LJ, et al.
High-harmonics chirp and optimization of attosecond pulse trains
LASER PHYSICS 15 (6): 863-870 JUN 2005
Paul PM, Clatterbuck TO, Lynga C, et al.
Enhanced high harmonic generation from an optically prepared excited medium
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 94 (11): Art. No. 113906 MAR 25 2005
Sebban S, Mocek T, Bettaibi I, et al.
Progress on collisionally pumped optical-field-ionization soft x-ray lasers
IEEE JOURNAL OF SELECTED TOPICS IN QUANTUM ELECTRONICS 10: 1351,
NOV-DEC 2004
• Atomic and ionic species (19 papers)
Gubbini E, Eichmann U, Kalashnikov M, et al.
Core relaxation in atomic ultrastrong laser field ionization
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 94 (5): Art. No. 053602 FEB 11 2005
Liu X, Rottke H, Eremina E, et al.
Nonsequential double ionization at the single-optical-cycle limit
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 93 (26): Art. No. 263001 DEC 31 2004
Madine M, van der Hart HW
Single- and two-photon ionization of Sr
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS 38
(12): 1895-1905 JUN 28 2005
van der Hart HW Doherty BJS, Parker JS, et al.
Benchmark multiphoton ionization rates for He at 390 nm
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS 38
(13): L207-L214 JUL 14 2005
van der Hart HW, Bingham P
Two- and three-photon ionization of He between 10(13) and 10(14) W cm(-2)
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS 38
(3): 207-221 FEB 14 2005
Ruiz C, Plaja L, Roso L
Lithium ionization by a strong laser field
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 94 (6): Art. No. 063002 FEB 18 2005
San Roman J, Roso L, Plaja L
Spin-induced forces and three-dimensional exact solutions of the Dirac equation for
laser-driven relativistic electrons
LASER PHYSICS 15 (2): 275-281 FEB 2005
Liu X, Rottke H, Eremina E, et al.
Nonsequential double ionization at the single-optical-cycle limit
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 93 (26): Art. No. 263001 DEC 31 2004
Chirila CC, Potvliege RM
Low-order above-threshold ionization in intense few-cycle laser pulses
PHYSICAL REVIEW A 71 (2): Art. No. 021402 FEB 2005
Krajewska K, Kaminski JZ, Potvliege RM
Stabilization of resonance states in crossed magnetic and laser fields in a parabolic
quantum well
LASER PHYSICS 15 (2): 238-244 FEB 2005
Reber A, Baynard T, Martin F, et al.
Above-threshold ionization near the 3p4d F-1(o) autoionizing state in magnesium
PHYSICAL REVIEW A 71 (5): Art. No. 053402 MAY 2005
Lyras A, Bachau H
Electronic correlation effects in a model of endohedral Mg (Mg@C-60)
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS 38 (8):
1119-1131 APR 28 2005
Chirila CC, Joachain CJ, Kylstra NJ, et al.
Interaction of superintense laser pulses with relativistic ions
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 93 (24): Art. No. 243603 DEC 10 2004
Chirila CC, Joachain CJ, Kylstra NJ, et al.
Interaction of ultra-intense laser pulses with relativistic ions
LASER AND PARTICLE BEAMS 22 (3): 203-206 SEP 2004
Gubbini E, Eichmann U, Kalashnikov M, et al.
Strong laser field ionization of Kr: first-order relativistic effects defeat rescattering
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS 38 (6):
L87-L93 MAR 28 2005
Stroe M, Boca M
Comment on "Origin of light-induced states in intense laser fields and their
observability in photoelectron spectra"
PHYSICAL REVIEW A 71 (1): Art. No. 017401 JAN 2005
Bauer D, Milosevic DB, Becker W
Strong-field approximation for intense-laser-atom processes: The choice of gauge
PHYSICAL REVIEW A 72 (2): Art. No. 023415 AUG 2005
Milosevic DB, Paulus GG, Becker W
Ionization by few-cycle pulses: Tracing the electron orbits
PHYSICAL REVIEW A 71 (6): Art. No. 061404 JUN 2005
Wickenhauser M, Burgdorfer J, Krausz F, et al.
Time resolved Fano resonances
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 94 (2): Art. No. 023002 JAN 21 2005
• Molecules, clusters and condensed matter (11 papers)
Palacios A, Barmaki S, Bachau H, et al.
Two-photon ionization of H-2(+) by short laser pulses
PHYSICAL REVIEW A 71 (6): Art. No. 063405 JUN 2005
Palacios A, Bachau H, Martin F
Resonant effects in the Coulomb explosion of H-2(+) by ultrashort laser pulses
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS 38 (6):
L99-L105 MAR 28 2005
Gaier LN, Lein M, Stockman MI, et al.
Hole-assisted energy deposition in dielectrics and clusters in the multiphoton regime
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS 52 (7): 1019-1030 MAY 10 2005
Lein M, de Nalda R, Heesel E, et al.
Signatures of molecular structure in the strong-field response of aligned molecules
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS 52 (2-3): 465-478 JAN-FEB 2005
Fomichev SV, Zaretsky DF, Bauer D, et al.
Classical molecular-dynamics simulations of laser-irradiated clusters: Nonlinear
electron dynamics and resonance-enhanced low-order harmonic generation
PHYSICAL REVIEW A 71 (1): Art. No. 013201 JAN 2005
Legare F, Lee KF, Litvinyuk IV, et al.
Laser Coulomb-explosion imaging of small molecules
PHYSICAL REVIEW A 71 (1): Art. No. 013415 JAN 2005
Tang XP, Becker A, Liu W, et al.
Enhanced fragmentation of toluene through linear and nonlinear increase of the focal
spot area of an ultrashort laser pulse
PHYSICAL REVIEW A 71 (4): Art. No. 045401 APR 2005
Tang XP, Becker A, Liu W, et al.
Self-action effects in ionization and fragmentation of toluene by femtosecond laser
pulses
APPLIED PHYSICS B-LASERS AND OPTICS 80 (4-5): 547-557 APR 2005
Ter-Avetisyan S, Schnurer M, Hilscher D, et al.
Fusion neutron yield from a laser-irradiated heavy-water spray
PHYSICS OF PLASMAS 12 (1): Art. No. 012702 JAN 2005
Zamith S, Ansari Z, Lepine F, et al.
Single-shot measurement of revival structures in femtosecond laser-induced
alignment of molecules
OPTICS LETTERS 30 (17): 2326-2328 SEP 1 2005
Schlatholter T, Hoekstra R, Zamith S, et al.
Response of polyatomic molecules to ultrastrong laser- and ion-induced fields
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 94 (23): Art. No. 233001 JUN 17 2005
Project 2 REPORT
SEPTEMBER 2005
Reports of activity have been received from Lund, Crete, Bucharest, Imperial College
London, Max Planck Garching , Queen’s University Belfast and CELIA Bordeaux.
Report from the Lund group (L’Huillier)
The RABITT (Reconstruction of attosecond beating by interference of two-photon
transition) technique, close to the SPIDER technique, has been applied to
characterization of attosecond pulses. Using this technique, we have shown that the
chirp of attosecond pulses corresponding to the combination of ten consecutive
harmonics generated in Argon could be compensated for using a 600 nm thick
Aluminium filter yielding an average pulse duration of ~170 as [1]. We have explored
different aspects and consequences of the technique: the influence of the atomic
phase, its application to the determination of refractive indices and to the
characterization of multilayer XUV mirrors [2]. Also very short pulse trains,
consisting of two or three attosecond pulses have been characterized [2]. Research is
also being carried out on the complete characterization of the attosecond pulse train
on both attosecond and femtosecond time scales [3-5], as well as on the polarization
gating technique together with CELIA. [6]
[1] R. López-Martens, K. Varjú, P. Johnsson, J. Mauritsson, Y. Mairesse, P. Salières, M.
B. Gaarde, K. J. Schafer, A. Persson, S. Svanberg, C.-G. Wahlström and A. L'Huillier,
Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 033001 (2005) "Amplitude and phase control of attosecond light
pulses" .
[2]- K. Varjú, P. Johnsson, R. López-Martens, T. Remetter, E. Gustafsson, A.
L'Huillier, J. Mauritsson, M. B. Gaarde, K. J. Schafer, C. Erny, I. Sola, A. Zaïr, E.
Constant, E. Cormier, E. Mével, Laser Physics 15, 888 (2005), "Experimental studies
of Attosecond Pulse Trains".
[3] K. Varjú, Y. Mairesse, B. Carré, M. B. Gaarde, P. Johnsson, S. Kazamias, R.
López-Martens, J. Mauritsson, K. J. Schafer, P. Balcou, A. L’Huillier, and P. Salières,
J. Modern Optics 52, 379 (2005) "Frequency chirp of harmonic and attosecond
pulses".
[4]- J. Mauritsson, P. Johnsson, R. López-Martens, K. Varjú, A. L'Huillier, M. B.
Gaarde and K. J. Schafer, J. Phys. B 38, 2265 (2005) "Probing Temporal Aspects of
High-Order Harmonic Pulses via Multi-Color, Multi-Photon Ionization Processes".
[5]- K. Varjú, Y. Mairesse, P. Agostini, P. Breger, B. Carré, L. J. Frasinski, E.
Gustafsson, P. Johnsson, J. Mauritsson, H. Merdji, P. Monchicourt, A. L'Huillier, P.
Salières, submitted, "Reconstruction of Attosecond Trains using an adiabatic phase
expansion".
[6]- I. J. Sola, A. Zaïr, R. López-Martens, P. Johnsson, K. Varjú, E. Cormier,
J. Mauritsson, A. L’Huillier, V. Strelkov, E. Mével and E. Constant, submitted, Phys.
Rev. A "Temporal and spectral studies of high-order harmonics generated by
polarization-modulated infrared fields".
A train of extreme ultraviolet (XUV) pulses of sub-200 attosecond duration was used
to create temporally localized electron wave packets just above the ionization
threshold in argon. The energy transfer from a strong infrared (IR) laser field to the
ionized electrons was studied as a function of the delay between the XUV and IR
fields. At the zero crossings of the laser field, a significant energy (20 eV) is
transferred from the IR field to the electrons resulting in dramatically enhanced
above-threshold-ionization in conditions where the IR field alone does not induce any
significant ionization of the medium. [1,2]
First applications of attosecond pulse trains to the study of atomic and molecular
electron and ion dynamics in strong laser fields were performed utilizing the Velocity
Map Imaging Technique. The full 3D evolution of electron wavepackets created in
argon was obtained. [3] In addition interferometry experiments of electron
wavepackets were performed. Results were also obtained on the alignment of small
molecules induced by the IR field and probed via XUV ionization.
[1] P. Johnsson, R. López-Martens, S. Kazamias, J. Mauritsson, C. Valentin, T.
Remetter, K. Varjú, M. B. Gaarde, Y. Mairesse, H. Wabnitz, P. Salières, Ph. Balcou,
K. J. Schafer and A. L'Huillier, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 013001 (2005), "Attosecond
Electron Wave Packet Dynamics in Strong Laser Fields".
[2] P. Johnsson, J. Mauritsson, K. Varjú, T. Remetter, E. Gustafsson, R. LópezMartens, S. Kazamias, C. Valentin, Ph. Balcou, M. B. Gaarde, K. J. Schafer, A.
L'Huillier, J. Mod. Opt., in press (2005) "Trains of Attosecond Electron Wave
Packets".
[3] T. Remetter, P. Johnsson, J. Mauritsson, K. Varjú, Y. Ni, F. Lépine, M. Kling, J.
Khan, E. Gustafsson, R. López-Martens, M. B. Gaarde, K. J. Schafer, M. J. J.
Vrakking, A. L'Huillier, in preparation, "Attosecond Electron Wavepacket
Interferometry".
Report from FORTH-IESL
PROJECT: Generation, characterization and applications of high frequency,
ultra short duration pulses.
E.
Sub-Project 1: Second order autocorrelation of an XUV attosecond pulse
train
In this project a detailed assessment of the first 2nd order autocorrelation measurement
of an XUV attosecond pulse train has been performed. Spatiotemporal effects on the
generated radiation and measured quantities have been evaluated.

Publications
[1] P. Tzallas et al. J. of Mod. Opt. 52, 321 (2005)
[2] L.A.A. Nikolopoulos et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 113905 (2005)
F.
Sub-Project 2: Frequency resolved two-XUV-photon gating
The second order autocorrelation is further extendable as to allow full reconstruction
of the temporal shape of the attosecond pulse train. This can be achieved by extending
the so-called “Frequency Resolved Optical Gating” method to the XUV spectral
region, utilizing two-XUV-photon ionization energy resolved photoelectron
spectroscopy. Towards this goal a new work station has been designed, constructed
and tested. It is a differentially pumped system consisting of the XUV generation unit,
the beam manipulation unit, the piezoelectricity driven bisected spherical mirror unit
playing the role of the wavefront divider and delay line of the autocorrelator and the
ionization unit coupled to an ion/photoelectron time of flight spectrometer. Utilizing
the new workstation the first two-XUV-photon ionization photoelectron spectra (two
photon ionization of He), induced by a superposition of higher order harmonics, have
been recently recorded and compared with spectra of ab initio calculations solving the
3D Time dependent Schrödinger equation of He, electric dipole interacting with a
superposition of harmonics. The agreement is fairly encouraging.
Sub-Project 3: Mode sensitive Harmonic-Fundamental cross-correlation
/ Complete temporal reconstruction of ultra-short high frequency pulses.
The temporal pulse shape of the third harmonic of a Ti:Sapph laser generated in Xe
gas is fully reconstructed by measuring its spectral phase and amplitude distributions.
The spectral phases are retrieved through three laser vs one harmonic photon phase
control of the third harmonic generation. The work demonstrates the applicability of
the new technique in fully characterizing ultra short pulses at short wavelengths,
including attosecond pulses and pulse trains.
1.
Publication
[1] L.A.A. Nikolopoulos et al. Phys. Rev. Let. 94, 113905 (2005)
Report from Bucharest, Romania group (Stancalie)
The work which has been undertaken refers to di-electronic recombination (DR)
process of Li-like into Be-like ions transitions of type 1s 2 2pns-1s22sn’s, n=0,2.
Radiative damping effect is included accounting for the reverse process of single
photon ionization. Assuming that a laser pulse may be represented as a dipole field of
frequency w with a relatively slowly varying amplitude then the wave function at any
time may be written as a superposition of Floquet states. If the amplitude varies
adiabatically then the wavefunction may be well represented by a single
Floquet state corresponding to the initial atomic state in the field-free limit.
Trajectories of Floquet quasi-energies corresponding to different field-free states may
be calculated as frequency and intensity are varied. Avoided crossings between the
Floquet states are of particular interest as at this points the atomic character of the two
states is exchanged if the crossing is passing adiabatically. If the field is weak the
crossings represent two perturbed atomic states differing in energy by an integral
number of photons (note that E is defined modulo ).
The R-matrix Floquet approach takes the advantage of the fact that for single
ionization all but one electron will remain close to the nucleus (forming the residual
ion) and many electron effects are restricted to a sphere centred on the nucleus. In this
internal region the Floquet Hamiltonian is diagonalized on an antisymmetrized basis
of functions using a configuration interaction expansion. Floquet calculations require
combinations of different LS  symmetries with dipole mixing terms for each value of
the Floquet-Fourier parameter, leading to very large matrices. The region outside the
shere is treated as a one-electron exchange multi-channel problem. Following this
approach the electron scattering and radiative processes are treated consistently when
the radiation field is treated to all orders.
VII. Publications
[1] V. Stancalie, “1s22pns (1P0) autoionizing levels in Be-like Al and C ions”, Phys.
Plasmas 12, 043301-11(2005);
[2] V.Stancalie, “ MQDT/R-matrix Floquet for Dielectronic Recombination”, Paper
presented at the 3rd International Conference on “ Superstrong Fields in Plasmas”,
September 19-25,Varenna, Italy,2005;
[3] V. Stancalie, “Complements to non-perturbative treatment of radiative damping
effect in dielectronic recombination of Li-like into Be-like ions: n=2 transition in
CIV”, submitted Phys.Plasmas, Aug.2005.
Report from Imperial College London group (Knight)
A novel mechanism of energy absorption in dielectric materials has been proposed
with ultrashort infrared laser pulses of intensities below the damage threshold.
Analytical theory, generalized to hole-assisted processes in arbitrarily polarized
laser fields has been validated using one one-dimensional numerical simulations
of the time-dependent Schrodinger equation. Large enhancements in the multiphoton
transition rates are found both numerically and analytically. The one-dimensional
calculations are extended to two dimensions via a forest fire percolation model,
in which nanoplasma-like structures have been identified.
The strong-field response of molecules exhibits interference effects due to the
geometric and electronic structure of the molecules and provides a basis for ultrafast
imaging of molecular structure. This has been demonstrated for high-order harmonic
generation and high-order above-threshold ionization in aligned molecules by
numerical solution of the time-dependent Schrodinger equation. Experimental and
theoretical results for high-order harmonic generation with aligned CO2 molecules
show that the harmonics exhibit an orientation dependence that is explained by the
valence orbital symmetry. A detailed discussion of phase-matching effects due to the
presence of different molecular orientations in an ensemble of imperfectly aligned
molecules has been reported.
A simple approach has been outlined for determining plateau positions in
harmonic spectra that demonstrates very clearly the requirement for carrier–
envelope phase and intensity stabilization in the IR laser pulse for reliable
attosecond pulse production. Neglecting the phase and intensity characteristics
of the laser pulse will lead to large variations in the duration and number of
sub-fs pulses produced via high harmonics cut-off windowing.
1.
Publications
Hole-assisted energy deposition in dielectrics and cluster clusters
in the multiphoton regime
L. N. GAIER, M. LEIN, M. I. STOCKMAN, G. L. YUDIN ,
P. B. CORKUM , M. YU. IVANOV and P. L. KNIGHT
Journal of Modern Opt Optics 52, 1019 –1030 (2005)
Signatures of molecular structure in the strong-field
response of aligned molecules
M. LEIN, R. DE NALDA, E. HEESEL, N. HAY,
E. SPRINGATE, R. VELOTTA, M. CASTILLEJO,
P. L. KNIGHT and J. P. MARANGOS
Journal of Modern Opt Optics 52, 465-478 (2005)
Conditions for the reliable production of attosecond pulses
using ultra-short laser-generated high harmonics
L. E. CHIPPERFIELD, L. N. GAIER, P. L. KNIGHT, J. P. MARANGOS and J. W.
G. TISCH
Journal of Modern Opt Optics 52, 243-260 (2005)
Report from Max Planck Garching group (Meyer-ter-Vehn)
The group of Ferenc Krausz has achieved a new milestone in generating sub-10fs
1TW laser pulses. (see:Ishi N et al 2005 Optics Letters 30 567). The group is
presently working hard to extend these results to 10 TW, 100 TW and 1 PW in the
near future.
Report from Queen’s University Belfast group (Taylor)
We have studied the response in time of N2, O2, and F2 to laser pulses having a
wavelength of 390 nm. We have found single-ionization suppression in O2 and its
absence in F2, in accordance with experimental results at  = 800 nm. Within our
framework of time-dependent density functional theory we have been able to explain
deviations from the predictions of intense-field many-body S-matrix theory (IMST).
We have confirmed the connection of ionization suppression with destructive
interference of outgoing electron waves from the ionized electron orbital. However,
the prediction of ionization suppression, justified within the IMST approach through
the symmetry of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO), is not reliable since
it turns out that—e.g., in the case of F2—the electronic response to the laser pulse is
rather complicated and does not lead to dominant depletion of the HOMO. Therefore,
the symmetry of the HOMO is not sufficient to predict ionization suppression.
However, at least for F2, the symmetry of the dominantly ionized orbital is consistent
with the nonsuppression of ionization.
The proton energy spectrum from photodissociation of the hydrogen molecular ion by
short intense pulses of infrared light has been calculated. The time-dependent
Schrodinger equation has been discretized and integrated. For few-cycle pulses one
can resolve vibrational structure, arising from the experimental preparation of the
molecular ion. We calculated the corresponding energy spectrum and analysed the
dependence on the pulse time delay, pulse length and intensity of the laser for 790 nm
laser light. We have concluded that the proton spectrum is a sensitive probe of both
the vibrational populations and phases, and allows us to distinguish between adiabatic
and nonadiabatic dissociation. Furthermore, the sensitivity of the proton spectrum
from H2+ is a practical means of calibrating the pulse. Our results are compared with
recent measurements of the proton spectrum for 65 fs pulses using a Ti:Sapphire laser
( 790 nm) including molecular orientation and focal-volume averaging. Integrating
over the laser focal volume we have found our results in excellent agreement with
these experiments.
We have recently started the investigation of multiphoton emission of
inner-shell electrons using the R-matrix Floquet approach. At present, two
topics have been investigated. We have demonstrated the feasibility of the
R-matrix Floquet approach for investigating two-photon emission of a 1s
electron from the 1s22s2 Li– ground state, and assessed whether such a process
can be investigated experimentally . We have further investigated the
competition between emission of an inner 1s and outer 2s electron as a function
of the number of photons required to emit the 1s electron.
A practical and efficient computational method has been devised for the solution of
the time-dependent full-dimensionality Schrodinger equation for 1- and 2-electron
atoms in intense laser fields. The method, incorporating electric quadrupole and
magnetic dipole terms, is a generalization of an approach that has found successful
application at wavelengths from the visible to the XUV. We report calculations we
have performed on the hydrogen atom beyond the dipole approximation, producing
results that are found to be in good agreement with literature values obtained by a
different method. The computational demands of corresponding calculations on
helium have been considered.
We have extended out integrations of the full-dimensionality time-dependent
Schrodinger equation for helium exposed to intense laser light of 14.2 nm wavelength
so that single- and double-ionization at lower intensities can be explored at lower laser
intensities than formerly. We have maintained the same pulse profile as before but
peak laser intensities spanning the range from 1014 W/cm2 upwards have been chosen.
At the loweest intensity we found two excess photons absorbed beyond the minimum
needed to bring about double ionization, whereas at the highest intensity examined
and previously reported upon (2.0 . 1016 W/cm2 ) no less than 6 excess photon
absorptions were encountered. The reduction in excess photon absorptions
(from 6 to just 2) is consistent with the lowering of laser intensity by a factor
of 20
Publications:
(a)
Molecular effects in the ionization of N2, O2, and F2 by intense laser fields
(b)
Daniel Dundas and Jan M. Rost
Phys. Rev. A 71, 013421 (2005)
Attosecond signatures in photodissociation by an intense Ti:Sapphire pulse
J F McCann, L-Y Peng and I D Williams
UK Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Central Laser Facility annual report 2004-2005
(c)
Dissociation of H2+ from a short, intense, infrared laser pulse: proton emission
spectra and pulse calibration
Liang-You Peng, I D Williams and J F McCann
J. Phys. B, 38 , 1727 (2005)
Two-photon detachment of inner-shell electrons: Li–
H.W. van der Hart:
accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett.
Competition between the multi-photon emission of the 1s and the 2s electron from He
1s2s 1S.
M.Madine and H.W. van der Hart:
submitted for publication in J. Phys. B
(i)
Beyond the dipole approximation for helium and
hydrogen in intense laser
fields
Meharg K J, Parker JS and Taylor KT
J. Phys. B: Atom. Molec. Opt. Phys. 38 237-254 (2005).
Multiphoton double ionization of atoms and molecules by FEL XUV light
Taylor KT, Parker JS Dundas D, Meharg KJ, Doherty BJS, Murphy DS and McCann
JF
J. Electron. Spectrosc. Relat. Phen. 144-147, 1191-1196 (2005
Report from CELIA Bordeaux group (Gauthier)
During this year, we put the emphasis on the temporal confinement
of high order harmonic generation (HHG) in collaboration with the
Lund Laser Center (LLC, Lund Sweden) and the politecnico de Milan
(Cusbo, Milan, Italy). By modulating the polarization of a strong
infra-red pulse and using this pulse for HHG, we observed that we can
continuously control the XUV pulse duration over a broad spectral
range (typically 15 eV wide when HHG occurs in Argon and 30-40 eV
wide when HHG occurs in Neon). By using ultrashort pulses (5 fs
pulses with a controlled carrier envelop phase), we even observed
that the polarization modulation allows us to generate isolated
attosecond pulses both in Neon and Argon. This approach for
attosecond pulse generation should allow us to generate even sub-100
as pulses and to perform time resolved studies with a very good
temporal resolution.
Publications:
Single attosecond pulse production with ellipticity modulated
driving IR pulse, V. Strelkov, A. Zair, O. Tcherbakoff, R. LopezMartens, E. Cormier, E. Mével and E. Constant, J. Phys. B 38, L161L167 (2005).
(d)
Attosecond pulse generation with an ellipticity modulated laser
pulse, V. Strelkov, A. Zair, O. Tcherbakoff, R. Lopez-martens, E.
Cormier, E. Mével and E. Constant, Laser Physics 15 #6 (2005).
Experimental Studies of Attosecond Pulse Trains, K. Varju, P.
Johnsson, R. Lopez-Martens, T. Remetter, E. Gustafsson, A.
L?huillier, J. Mauritsson, M.B.Gaarde, K.J.Schaffer, C.Erny, I.Sola,
A.Zair, E.Constant, E.Cormier, E.Mével, Laser Physics 15 #6, 888-898
(2005).
Project 3: Study of the interaction of ultra-short pulses, high-frequency
pulses and ultra-intense pulses with plasmas
Progress Report 12/2005
Contributions:
FRANCE
-CELIA-J.C. Gauthier
-CEA-SACLAY-P. Monot
-LULI-P. Audebert
HUNGARIA
-Research Institute for particle and Nuclear Physics-I.B. Foldes
ITALY
-Università di Pisa-F. Pegoraro
ROMANIA
-University of Bucharest-V. Stancalie
SERBIA-MONTENEGRO
-Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences- M. Skoric , B. Gakovic
SWEDEN
- Department of Physics, Lund Institute of Technology- Claes-Göran Wahlström
Summary
A large effort has been dedicated this year to the study of laser-solid interaction,
with the aim of developing new ultrashort XUV sources following plasma generation.
-For the case of incoherent X radiation, the choice of the target is of crucial
importance. Significant results concerning the interaction with clusters were
obtained, that reveal the role of the incident pulse duration. For the first time the K
emission duration were measured, and found to be less that 3 ps. In the same time,
the behaviour of targets consisting in flows of micrometric powder was examined.
Efficient emission was detected
-Experiments have been devoted to the study of the coherent emission
originating from harmonic generation by non-linear reflection onto the front of solid
targets. The high energy recorded (20 µJ at 67 nm) is comparable to the best
existing source in this wavelength domain. On the rear face of solid target, harmonic
emission have also been detected which seems to give significant insight in the
complex motion of electrons within the solid target.
Many laboratories have paid a special attention to the improvement of the
information delivered by the spectroscopic study of plasma. Progresses were made in
the theoretical description of atomic physics while laboratories have improved their
experimental equipment.
The propagation of intense electro-magnetic waves in plasma has been widely
investigated, both experimentally and theoretically. This large domain covers the
study of relativistic self-focusing, the development of the Weibel instability as well as
the scattering of the incident pulse onto the plasma waves.
The study of surface modification after moderate laser-irradiation is a topic which
is increasingly attractive. Special attention has been paid to the study of laser induced
structural changes.
All these studies were highly supported by the COST action P14, through the
support of conferences and specially through the funding of Short Term Scientific
Mission
Contribution
FRANCE
VIII.
A.
-CELIA
1.
Corresponding author : J.C. Gauthier
Directeur Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications (CELIA)
UMR5107
Université Bordeaux I
F-33405 Talence Cedex
T:
+33 5 400 03775
F:
+33 5 400 02580
[email protected]
2.
Research activities
Dynamics of laser-Ar cluster interaction
Many experimental works have recently been dedicated to ultra-intense laser-cluster
interactions; while interesting per se, these interactions were demonstrated to yield
efficiently multi-keV X-ray bursts, of great interest for ultrafast X-ray science
applications. In CELIA, we focus intense (up to a few 1017 W/cm2) femtosecond
(down to 40 fs) laser pulses onto a partially clusterized argon gas jet. We use a high
resolution time-integrated spectrometer in the Ar K-shell range to absolutely calibrate
and spectrally resolve the X-ray emission. The X-ray spectra are then registered as
functions of the size of the clusters, the laser energy, its polarization and different
laser temporal parameters such as the nanosecond contrast and the single pulse
duration and the delay between two pulses. As the polarization does not significantly
influences the X-ray emission, we conclude that the interaction is dominated by
collision processes in the high fluence regime considered. We have demonstrated that
an optimal pulse duration exists for the X-ray production, that linearly depends on the
cluster size and ranges from 250 to 580 fs. A 500 fs -1 ps time delay between two
pulses has also been found to yield a maximum emission. This strengthens the
predictions of the nano-plasma model of Ditmire et al. (Phys. Rev. A 53, 3379
(1996)) which indicates that a (resonant) optimal average electron density has to be
reached to efficiently heat the clusters. Nonetheless, this model also predicts an
absorption resonance within a very short time interval (10 fs) which is not observed
in our experiments.
Moreover, an experimental set-up has been specifically designed to get both a spectral
resolution of the X-ray emission (~ 1 eV) and a picosecond temporal resolution. Our
experiments have demonstrated, for the first time, that the K-shell emission duration
is shorter than our temporal resolution (3 ps). Further, the ionization dynamics, that
yield Ar ions up to Ar16+, have been observed to occur within a timescale shorter than
1 ps, which corresponds to our data analysis resolution. These observations have been
quite well reproduced by simulations including "nano-plasma" model and collisionalradiative calculations, that indicate that the X-ray emission should occur within a few
100 fs scale.
Enhancement of activation and decay rates of nuclear levels through laser heating of
plasmas
It has recently been shown (A. V. Andreev et al. JETP 91, 1163 (2000)) that the
activation and decay of the 6.238 keV nuclear level of 181Ta can be enhanced in
femtosecond laser heated Ta plasmas. This enhancement is due to the high density
surrounding plasma and high ionization states of Ta ions. A detailed knowledge of the
plasma conditions is required to understand further the enhancement mechanisms. A
Ta target was thus heated in CELIA using 45 fs Ti :sapphire laser pulses with
intensities ranging from1 to 6 1016 W/cm2. Langmuir probes have been used to
characterize the ion emission and we employed both CCD and NaI(Tl) pulse height
detection systems to measure the X-ray emission. The deposition and implantation of
the escaping Ta ions and atoms were also characterized by means of Rutherford
Backscattering Spectrometry. These experiments have shed light on the plasma
conditions and have allowed to carry out analytical models and hydrodynamical
calculations to elicit the mechanisms responsible for the enhancement of the nuclear
rates.
3.
Publications
T. Caillaud, F. Blasco, C. Bonté, F. Dorchies, P. Mora
Study of intense femtosecond laser propagation into a dense Ar gas and cluster jet
Phys. Plasmas (submitted 22 Nov 2005)
F. Dorchies, T. Caillaud, F. Blasco, C. Bonté, H. Jouin, S. Micheau, B. Pons, J.
Stevefelt.
Investigation of laser-irradiated Ar clusters dynamics from K-shell x-ray emission
measurements
Phys. Rev. E 71, 066410 (2005)
Conferences
F. Dorchies, C. Bonté, F. Blasco, T. Caillaud, C. Fourment, M. Harmand, O.
Peyrusse, J.J. Santos.Ultra-short X-ray source from laser-clusters interaction Topical
Problems of Nonlinear Wave Physics, St-Petersburg - Novgorod, Russia (2-9 August
2005)
- R. Fedosejevs, C. Sernanescu, F. Dorchies, C. Fourment, C. Bonté, F. Blasco, J.J.
Santos, S. Petit, D. Romanov, W. Rozmus, V.Yu Bychenkov, C.E. Capjack, V.
Tikhonchuk. Hot Electron Jets from Femtosecond Heated Plasmas at Intensities of
1016 - 1017 W/cm2 4th International Conference on Inertial Fusion Sciences and
Applications, September 5-9, Biarritz, France (2005)
- T. Caillaud, F. Blasco, C. Bonté, F. Dorchies, P. Mora, O. Peyrusse. Experimental
study of x-ray emission in laser-cluster interaction 50th SPIE International
Conference on Ultrafast X-ray Detectors and Applications, San Diego, California,
USA, 5920A-03 (2005)
- C. Bonté, F. Dorchies, T. Caillaud, F. Blasco, R. Fedosejevs, C. Fourment, M.
Harmand, O. Peyrusse, J.J. Santos. Femtosecond Dynamics of X-ray Emission from
Laser-Clusters Interaction 4th International Conference on Inertial Fusion Sciences
and Applications, September 4-9, Biarritz, France (2005)
- F. Dorchies, C. Bonté, T. Caillaud, F. Blasco, R. Fedosejevs, C. Fourment, M.
Harmand, O. Peyrusse, J.J. Santos. Time-resolved x-ray spectra of hot and dense
plasmas from laser-clusters interaction
4th International Conference on Inertial Fusion Sciences and Applications, September
4-9, Biarritz, France (2005)
4.
Participation to Cost actions
- R. Fedosejevs, F. Dorchies, C. Fourment, F. Blasco, D. Descamps, G. Schurz, P.
Nicolaï, L. Hallo, V. Tikhonchuk, F. Gobet, G. Malka, J.N. Scheurer, M. Tarisien, F.
Hannachi. Heating of Tantalum Plasma for Studies of the Activation of the 6.238 keV
Nuclear level of 181Ta, 32nd European Physical Society Conference on Plasma
Physics, June 27 - July 1, Taragona, Spain (2005)
B.
C.
-CEA-SACLAY.
1.
Corresponding author :-P. Monot
P. Monot
PHI group
SPAM-Bât 522
CEA SACLAY
91191 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex
France
T:
33 1 6908 10 35
F:
33 1 6908 12 13
[email protected]
2.
Research activities
Harmonic generation onto solid targets
The energy measurement of high order harmonics generated by irradiation of
solid targets has been performed. Up to 10 µJ were detected for the 12th harmonic
of a 800nm-60fs intense laser pulse, corresponding to an efficiency close to 10-4.
We estimate that peak intensities of 1015-1016 W/cm2 should be obtained by
refocusing this harmonics beam, thus making this table-top source adequate to
induce non-linear effects in the ultraviolet. Additional studies have been
performed at lower energy, that tends to highlight the role of resonances near the
plasma frequency
Probing hot and dense laser-induced plasmas with ultrafast XUV pulses
we demonstrate the instantaneous creation of a hot solid-density plasma generated
by focusing an intense femtosecond, high temporal contrast, laser on an ultra-thin
foil (100 nm) in the 1018W/cm2 intensity range. The use of high-order harmonics
generated in a gas jet, providing a probe beam of sufficiently short wavelengths to
penetrate such a medium, enables to study the dynamics of this plasma on the 100
fs time scale. The comparison of the transmission of two successive harmonics
permits to determine the electronic density and the temperature with accuracies
better than 15 %.
New target for high-intensity laser-matter interaction
We have studied an advantageous kind of target, consisting in a free gravitational
flow of micrometer-sized powder. We demonstrate a laser-induced keV x-ray
source using this target, and show that the photon flux obtained for the K line of
Si by irradiating different silica powders is comparable to the one obtained with a
bulk silica target. This work was done in collaboration with LULI and CELIA.
3.
Publications
Dobosz, S.; Doumy, G.; Stabile, H.;D'Oliveira, P.; Monot, P.; Réau, F.; Hüller, S.;
Martin, Ph.; Probing hot and dense laser-induced plasmas with ultrafast XUV pulses
Physical Review Letters , 2005, 95 025001
Servol, M; Quere, F; Bougeard, M.; Monot, P.; Martin, Ph.; Faenov, A. Ya; Pikuz,
T.; Audebert, P.; Francucci, M.; Petrocelli, G.; New target for high-intensity lasermatter interaction: gravitational flow of micrometric powders Review of Scientific
Instruments , 2005,
4.
Participation to Cost actions
Third International Conference on Superstrong Field in Plasmas, Varenna (poster)
Probing dense plasmas created from intense irradiation of solid target in the XUV
domain
S. Dobosz , G. Doumy , H. Stabile , P. Monot , Ph. Martin , B. Carré , D. Joyeux , D.
Phalippou , R. Mercier , F. Delmotte , S. Hüeller
D.
-LULI.
1.
Corresponding author :-P. Audebert
P. Audebert
SPRINT group
LULI
91128 Palaiseau cedex
France
T:
33 1 6908 35 67
F:
33 1 6908 30 09
[email protected]
We have performed an experimental study of the generation and transport of
fast electrons during the interaction of a high intensity laser ( 1019 W/cm2) with a
solid target. For this purpose, experimental techniques based on the study of transition
radiation were developed. This diagnostic gives important information on the
electrons: energy, temperature, propagation geometry, etc. The spectral, temporal and
spatial analysis permitted to put in evidence the acceleration of periodic electron
bunches which, in this case, emit a Coherent Transition Radiation (CTR). This
diagnostic is only sensitive to the coherent relativistic electrons, which explains the
weak total energy that they contain (few mJ). The CTR signal emitted by those fast
electrons is largely dominating the signal emitted by the less energetic electrons, even
if they contain the major part of the energy ( 1 J). This experimental program has
been supported by the development of a theoretical model that suggests the generation
of two kinds of electron bunches, emitted either at the laser frequency (0), or at the
double of this frequency (20), involving several acceleration mechanisms: vacuum
heating / resonance absorption and vxB, respectively. These bunches are also
observed in the PIC simulations. Following this model, the electrons, with a typical
temperature of 2 MeV, are emitted starting from a point source (which is the laser
focal spot) and then propagate in a ballistic way through the target. In some cases they
can be re-injected in the target by the electrostatic field from the target edges.
2.
3.
Publications
H. Popescu et al., “Subfemtosecond, coherent, relativistic, and
ballistic electron bunches generated at
0
and 2
0
in high
intensity laser-matter interaction” Phys. Plasmas 12, 063106
(2005)
4.
S. D. Baton et al., « Evidence of Ultrashort Electron Bunches in
Laser-Plasma Interactions at Relativistic Intensities” Phys. Rev.
Lett. 91, 105001 (2003)
5.
D. Batani et al., “Propagation In Matter Of Currents Of
Relativistic Electrons Beyond The Alfven Limit, Produced In
Ultra-High-Intensity Short-Pulse Laser-Matter Interactions”
AIP Conf. Proc. 740, 446 (2004)
IX. HUNGARIA
A.
-Research Institute for particle and Nuclear Physics
1.
Corresponding author : -I.B. Foldes
KFKI Research Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics
Department of Plasma Physics, Association EURATOM
H-1525 Budapest, P.O. Box 49
T:
+36-1-392-22-22-3464
F:
+36-1-395-91-51
[email protected]
2.
Research activities
The upgrading of our KrF laser system has started. A new amplifier will increase
the laser energy ~4 times, and it also allows a further cleaning of the laser beam
by a spatial filter before it. It is planned to start operation in the fall of the year,
allowing ~1018 W/cm2 focused intensity.
We planned to continue within the frames of COST a previously initiated
experiment (until now it was supported by an exchange between the Hungarian
and Polish Academy of Sciences) to carry out x-ray diode spectroscopy on our
system, aiming to clear the problem of the recently observed anomalous angular
dependence of x-ray emission. Unfortunately the budget cut of COST prevented
us to invite Dr. Leszek Ryc for it.
A Rowland circle spectrometer with a toroidal Jobin-Yvon grating has been
installed, and it proved to be applicable in the 15-150 nm spectral range with an
MCP detector.
Li-spectra using low, 5*1015 W/cm2 intensity was investigated in the VUV range
with the above-mentioned grating. The observed continuum lowering corresponds
to an emission from the solid density matter, which is a probable consequence of
isochoric heating.
3.
Publications
1. M. Kaluza, I.B. Földes, E. Rácz, M.I.K. Santala, G.D. Tsakiris and K.-J. Witte:
Relativistic Self-Focusing of fs-Laser Pulses and Their Heating Effect on the
Preformed Plasma, IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, 33, 480-481 (2005)
2. I.B. Földes , J. Bohus, K. Gál, B. Hopp, G. Kocsis, N.R. Kresz, E. Rácz, T. Suta, T.
Smausz, S. Szatmári, Zs. Tóth, G. Veres: Fast Electrons for the Fast Ignitor Scheme of
Inertial Confinement Fusion, IAEA-TECDOC-1460, p. 97-104 (June 2005)
4. Participation to Cost actions
: Third International Conference on Superstrong Field in Plasmas, Varenna (poster)
X. ITALY
A.
-Università di Pisa
1.
Corresponding author : -F. Pegoraro
Department of Physics
Università di Pisa
Via Buonarotti, 2
I-56127 Pisa
T:
+39-050 22 148 44
F:
+39 050 22 143 33
[email protected]
2.
Research activities
The expansion dynamics of a finite size plasma was examined from an
analytical perspective. The acceleration of the ions and the associated cooling of
the electrons that takes place during the plasma expansion was investigated. An
extensive analysis of the transition between the semi infinite and the finite size
plasma behaviour was carried out and the analytical results were tested with PIC
numerical simulations.
Subsequently this study has been extended to 3D configurations. The charge
state of spherical plasmas in vacuum has been studied for times intermediate
between the electron- and the ion dynamical times. A simple analytical model
has been developed in good agreement with numerical simulations.
The acceleration of ions during the interaction of high intensity laser pulses with
overdense planar targets has been investigated by PIC simulations for circular
polarisation. High density ion bunches moving into the plasma are generated at
the laser-plasma interaction surface. A simple analytical model accounts for the
numerical observations and provides scaling laws for the bunch energy and
generation times as a function of laser intensity and plasma density.
In a more recent study it has been shown that this ion acceleration scheme may
provide a route to fusion neutron sources with ultrashort duration. A preprint is
available on the Los Alamos preprint server (“A femtosecond neutron source”,
A.Macchi, http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0505140) and will be soon submitted for
publication.
The acceleration of protons up to several tens of MeV by the interaction of
ultraintense laser beams with solid targets will probably open up a wealth of
applications, in particular future developments toward higher laser intensities
would allow particle acceleration for High Energy Physics applications. Laserdriven acceleration mechanisms mainly favor applications that profit of the
significant beam intensity without imposing strong constraints on the beam
quality (energy spread and emittance) and particle energy. We have investigated
the laser-plasma interaction regime where the radiation pressure is dominant and
the laser energy is transformed efficiently into the energy of fast ions for the
application of such plasma regimes to non-conventional high intensity proton
drivers for possible applications to neutrino oscillation studies
The production of electron-positron pairs under the action of electromagnetic
field (Schwinger effect) in a plasma may be made possible by recent
developments in laser technology and by a new mechanism of pulse frequency
and energy upshifting in a plasma that has been recently proposed (S.V.
Bulanov, T.Zh. Esirkepov, T.Tajima, Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 085001 (2003)).
Novel physical phenomena are expected in these ultrarelativistic conditions The
problem of the backreaction during the process of electron-positron pair
production by a circularly polarized electromagnetic wave propagating in a
plasma has been investigated. A model based on the relativistic BoltzmannVlasov equation with a source term corresponding to the Schwinger formula for
the pair creation rate was used. The damping of the wave, the nonlinear up-shift
of its frequency due to the plasma density increase and the effect of the damping
on the wave polarization and on the background plasma acceleration are
investigated as a function ofthe wave amplitude.
The Weibel instability is an electromagnetic instability that can generate quasistatic magnetic fields in the wake of an ultra-intense, ultra-short laser pulse
propagating in an underdense plasma. Recently, attention has been paid to this
instability also in the overdense plasma regime where current filaments are
observed in large scale PIC numerical simulations. Indeed, fast particles
penetrate into the overdense plasma induced by the laser pulse at the critical
surface and it is generally believed that the corresponding currents generate
filaments of magnetic field via the development of the Weibel instability. PIC
simulations show magnetic filaments elongated in the current direction with a
typical length of the order of hundred of electron skin depths or even longer).
We have investigated the evolution of the Weibel instability in the 3D fluid,
relativistic, collisionless limit in the case of two initially counter streaming
electron beams. Our aim is the understanding of the typical magnetic structures
that can be expected to form as a consequence of the development of the Weibel
instability. We found that elongated magnetic structures are generated by the
Weibel instability only for nearly symmetric initial beams (i.e. equal density and
mean velocity). On the other hand, for asymmetric beams (one faster and less
dense, the other slower but denser), which is the configuration most likely in the
laser plasma interaction context, the typical length scale in the beams direction
is of the order of the electron skin depth. Finally, we have shown that in the case
of spatially inhomogeneous beams the magnetic field is concentrated in the
regions of large velocity gradients.
3.
Publications
“Expansion of a finite size plasma in vacuum”, S.Betti, F.Ceccherini, F.Cornolti,
F.Pegoraro, Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion vol.47 (2005) p.521.
“Charged state of a spherical plasma in vacuum”, F.Cornolti, F.Ceccherini, S.Betti,
F.Pegoraro, Physical Review E vol.71 (2005) p.056407.
“Laser acceleration of ion bunches at the front surface of overdense plasmas”,
A.Macchi, F.Cattani, T.V.Liseykina, and F.Cornolti, Physical Review Letters, vol.94
(2005), p.165003.
. Neutrino oscillation studies with laser-driven beam dump facilities S. V. Bulanov, T.
Esirkepov, P. Migliozzi, F. Pegoraro, T. Tajima, F. Terranova Nucl.Instrum.Meth.
Sec A 540, 25-41 (2005)
Laser-driven proton sources: technological challenges and applications to neutrino
physics, F. Terranova, S. Bulanov, T. Esirkepov, P. Migliozzi, F. Pegoraro, T.Tajima,
Nuclear Physics B Proceedings Supplements, 143, 572-572, (2005).
Damping of electromagnetic waves due to electron-positron pair, S. S. Bulanov, A. M.
Fedotov,. F. Pegoraro, Phys Rev E 71, 016404-+(2005)
4.
(a)
Participation to Cost actions
Short Term Scientific Missions
F. Ceccherini and A. Macchi visited the research group of Marco Borghesi at the
Department of Pure and Applied Physics of Queen's University, Belfast (QUB), UK,
from November 21 to 27, 2004 and L Romagnani from QUB's group visited the Pisa
group under the COST program STSM. These missions were mainly devoted to the
comparison of the experimental data collected in the recent experimental campaign at
the LULI laboratory by the Belfast group with the numerical simulations performed
with a Particle in Cell (PIC) code developed by the Pisa group. A joint publication is
in press: L. Romagnani et al, Physical Review Letters (2005), accepted for
publication. These missions also helped to start further collaboration between the Pisa
and QUB groups, with preliminary results having already been presented is seminars
and internal reports.
(b)
Workshops
F. Pegoraro and A. Macchi attended the Third International Conference on
"Superstrong Fields in Plasmas", Villa Monastero, Varenna (Italy), September 19-24,
2005 where they respectively presented the invited talks “Efficient laser acceleration
of proton beams for intense sources of low energy neutrinos’’ and “Laser
acceleration of ultrashort ion bunches and femtosecond neutron sources”.
Conferences
Three dimensional relativistic, fluid Weibel instability F. Califano€, F. Pegoraro, D.
Del Sarto, 32nd EPS Conference on Plasma Physics, combined with the 8th
Workshop on Fast Ignition of Fusion Targets, Oral Presentation
XI. ROMANIA
A.
-University of Bucharest
1.
Corresponding author : V. Stancalie
National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics,
Laser Dept.,
P.O.Box MG-36
Bucharest, 077125 ROMANIA
Tel/Fax +402-1-457.44.67
[email protected]
2.
Research activity
1. Atomic data for plasma diagnostics:
The atomic physics influences most aspect of laser- plasma behavior. The effective
coefficients depend on many individual reactions, some well -known and other
less well -known, and the balance of importance of individual contributors
depends on the electron temperature and density. In light of the importance of
electron collisions with ions, involving excitation, ionization and recombination
processes, the need for benchmark comparisons between experimental data and
theoretical predictions is obvious. Such comparisons can be made at various levels
of detail. We have contributed to this task developing new models and numerical
methods on the basis of QDT/R-matrix and MQDT/R-Matrix Floquet to calculate
effective collision strengths and state energies and autoionisation probabilities,
respectively, for Li-like ions. The work which has been undertaken is described in
four references [1-7].
.
2. Accessing remote data
A special attention has been devoted to the use of Web services for remote data access
and distributed applications. Atomic rates calculation, usually based on multielectron configuration structure (Cowan’s code), distorted wave cross-sections,
close-coupling and incipient R-matrix technique, have been included in data
access service. These data necessary for spectral identifications, also form the
major frame of collisional - radiative modes in plasmas, especially when the
question under investigation is the determination of population density distribution
between excited states of ions as function of time, in regions where the total
density of each ion species, the electron temperature are time-dependent
parameters [8].
3.
Publications
[1] V. Stancalie, V. Pais, A. Mihailescu, A.R.D. Chelmus “Effective collision
strengths for electron-impact excitation of Al10+” Paper presented at the 32nd EPS
Plasma Physics, 8th International Workshop on Fast Ignition of Fusion Targets,
Tarragona, 27 June-1 July, 2005.
[2] V. Stancalie, “1s22pns(1P0) autoionizing levels in Be-like Al and C ions”,
Phys.Plasmas12, 043301-11(2005).
[3]A. Mihailescu, V.Stancalie, V.Pais, A.R.D. Chelmus “Atomic data for Zn-like
W ion as related to the plasma modelling” Paper presented at the 32nd EPS
Plasma Physics, 8th International Workshop on Fast Ignition of Fusion
Targets, Tarragona, 27 June-1 July, 2005.
[4] V. Stancalie and JET EFDA contributors, “New method to calculate the
Gaunt factor for the refinement of Zeff evaluation in fusion plasmas” Paper
presented at the 32nd EPS Plasma Physics, Tarragona, 27 June-1 July, 2005
[4] V.Pais, V.Stancalie “Using WebServices for Remote Data Access and
Distributed Applications” 5th IAEA TM on Control, Data Acquisition and
Remote Participation for Fusion Research, 12-15 July 2005, Budapest,
Hungary, Fusion Engineering and Devices (FED) 2005, in press.
[1] V. Stancalie, “1s22pns(1P0) autoionizing levels in Be-like Al and C ions”,
Phys.Plasmas12, 043301-11(2005).
[2] V. Stancalie, “Complements to non-perturbative treatment of di-electronic
recombination of Li-like into Be-like ions”., Physics of Plasmas 12, 110255(2005)
[3] V.Stancalie, A.Mihailescu, “Complex atoms modelling for plasma diagnostics”., ,
Journal of Optoelectronics and Advanced Materials, Vol 7(2005), 2413-20
[4] ARD Chelmus, V.Stancalie, “Radiative Gaunt factors”, Journal of
Optoelectronics and Advanced Materials, Vol 7(2005),2405-12
[5] V. Stancalie, V. Pais, A. Mihailescu, A.R.D. Chelmus “Effective collision
strengths for electron-impact excitation of Al10+” Paper presented at the 32nd EPS
Plasma Physics, 8th International Workshop on Fast Ignition of Fusion Targets,
Tarragona, 27 June-1 July, 2005.
[6]A. Mihailescu, V.Stancalie, V.Pais, A.R.D. Chelmus “Atomic data for Zn-like
W ion as related to the plasma modelling” Paper presented at the 32nd EPS
Plasma Physics, 8th International Workshop on Fast Ignition of Fusion
Targets, Tarragona, 27 June-1 July, 2005.
[7] V. Stancalie and JET EFDA contributors, “New method to calculate the
Gaunt factor for the refinement of Zeff evaluation in fusion plasmas” Paper
presented at the 32nd EPS Plasma Physics, Tarragona, 27 June-1 July, 2005
Preprint IOP, EFDA-JET-CP(05)02-49
[8] V.Pais, V.Stancalie “Using WebServices for Remote Data Access and
Distributed Applications” 5th IAEA TM on Control, Data Acquisition and
Remote Participation for Fusion Research, 12-15 July 2005, Budapest,
Hungary, Fusion Engineering and Devices (FED) 2005, in press.
4.
(a)
Participation to Cost actions
Participation at the Relevant Meetings sponsored by the COST P14
a) 8th International Workshop on Fast Ignition of Fusion Targets,
Tarragona,Spain, 27 June-1 July, 2005.
b) 3rd International Conference on Superstrong Fields in Plasmas,
19-24September 2005, Varenna, Italy
XII. SERBIA-MONTENEGRO
A.
-Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences
1.
Corresponding author : M. Skoric
Project Leader and Scientific Adviser
Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences
POB 522, 11001 Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro
Phone/ Fax: 381 11 455 272 / 381 11 244 7457
Email:[email protected]
http://www.vin.bg.ac.yu
2. Research activity
Electron acceleration to relativistic energies by a strong laser interacting with an
under-dense foil plasma in vacuum was studied by PIC simulations. A new
concept to accelerate short, high-quality, well-collimated relativistic electron
beam with thermal energy spread, in the direction opposite to laser propagation,
was found. It operates like two-stage accelerator; in the first stage, rapid
acceleration by relativistic EPW in forward stimulated Raman scattering (FSRS)
allows a massive initial electron blow-off into a rear vacuum region. Large ES
Debye sheath fields are spontaneously built at vacuum boundaries which in the
second stage intensively accelerate a return electron beam to relativistic energies
( ~ 100 MeV).
Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS), stimulated Raman cascade and the
transition from Raman cascade into photon condensation, induced by linearlypolarized intense laser interacting with under-dense homogeneous plasmas, were
studied by particle simulations. In addition to the SRS process, our results reveal
a clear physics picture on stimulated Raman cascade and cascade- intocondensation. It is found that, at appropriate laser amplitude and plasma
condition, a large amplitude relativistic electromagnetic (EM) soliton forms due
to the strong photon condensation. Analytical and simulation studies of moving
solitons stability and dynamics were performed. At saturation, large downshifted
EM soliton, has frequency about half of the electron plasma frequency. The
transverse electric field, magnetic field and electrostatic (ES) field inside a
soliton have half-, one- and one-cycle structure in space, respectively. Finally,
the influences of the temperature and the ion dynamics were discussed briefly.
3.
Publications (2005)
M.M. Škorić et al., Acceleration of Relativistic Electron Beams in Intense Laser
Interaction with Foil Plasmas, GSI Plasma Annual Report 2004: Contributions of
speakers from the 25th International Workshop on Physics of High Energy Density in
Matter, 2005, Hirschegg, Austria, p. 56
Lj. Hadžievski, A. Mančić, M.M. Škorić, Acceleration of Relativistic EM Solitons in
Intense Laser –Plasmas, GSI Plasma Annual Report 2004: Contributions of speakers
from the 25th International Workshop on Physics of High Energy Density in Matter,
2005, Hirschegg, Austria, p. 57
B. Li, S. Ishiguro, M.M. Škorić, T. Sato, M. Song, Ion-Vortices in Ion Phase-Space in
Intense Laser Interaction with Subcritical Plasma, 19th International Conference on
Numerical Simulation of Plasmas and 7th Asia Pacific Plasma Theory Conference
(ICNSP&APPTC), July, 2005, Nara, Japan, p. 310. J. Plasma Physics (submitted)
A. Mančić, Lj. Hadžievski, M.M. Škorić, Interaction of Electromagnetic Solitons in
Relativistic Plasma, 19th International Conference on Numerical Simulation of
Plasmas and 7th Asia Pacific Plasma Theory Conference (ICNSP&APPTC), July,
2005, Nara, Japan, p. 340; J. Plasma Physics (submitted)
Li Baiwen, M.M. Škorić, S. Ishiguro and T. Sato, Stimulated Raman cascade into
photon condensation in intense laser plasma interaction,
Physics of Plasmas (October, 2005)
4. Participation to Cost actions
M.M. Škorić, Li Baiwen, A.Mančić, Lj. Hadžievski and S. Ishiguro, SRS cascade into
photon condensation and generation of EM solitons and energetic particles in
relativistic laser-plasmas ,The 3rd International Conference on Superstrong Fields in
Plasmas, Varenna, 2005 (invited lecture)
5.
B. Gakovic
Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences,
Atomic Physics Laboratory
POB 522, 11001 Belgrade,
Serbia and Montenegro
Phone/ Fax: 381 11 2455 272 / 381 11 344 0100
Email: [email protected]
6.
Research activity
We have contributed in investigation the physics of high-intensity laser-interaction
with solids and plasmas. Our main contribution has been on experimental side and
was concentrated on the application of high-intensity, ultra short Nd:YAG laser
(Bicocca University, Milan) for surface modifications. The laser was operated at
following conditions: pulse energy- up to 100 mJ at 1064 nm, up to 40 mJ for 532
nm; pulse duration- 40 ps. Bulk materials like titanium and crystalline silicon, and
thin films deposited on silicon were engaged. Focused laser power densities at the
targets were up to 1012 W/cm2. Detailed characterization of samples was done
(Vinca Institute, Belgrade) and these analyses gave insight on morphological and
structural changes of irradiated samples. Spatial attention was paid to examination
morphology of irradiated areas for maximum power densities when we registered
intensive plasma plume, which indicate phase explosion with enormous increasing
in ablation rate. The results were analysed and compared with those previously
obtained by nanosecond lasers. The obtained results we presented at two
International Conferences.
7. Publications
1. M. S. Trtica, V. F.Tarasenko, B. M. Gaković, A. V. Fedenev, Lj T. Petkovska,
B. B. Radak, E. I. Lipatov, M. A. Shulepov
“Surface Modification of TiN coatings by Pulsed TEA-CO2 and XeCl Lasers,
applied Surface Science-Vol. 252/2 (2005) 474-482
2. M. Trtica,a, B. Gaković, D. Maravić, D. Batani, T. Desai and R. Redaelli
“Surface Modification of Titanium by High Intensity Ultra-short Nd:YAG Laser”
YUCOMAT- 7th Yugoslav Conference on Material Science, September 12-16, 2005,
Herceg Novi, SCG, Submit for publication in Material Science Forum,
3. B. Gakovic, M. Trtica, D. Batani, T. Desai and R. Redaelli,
“Picosecond laser modification of thin films”,
Third International Conference on Superstrong Fields in Plasmas, Varenna, Italy,
September 19 - 24, 2005
8.
Participation to Cost actions
Our group has benefited from two Short-Term Scientific Mission – STSM.
M. Trtica (one month) and B. Gakovic (one month). realised at Università di
Milano Bicocca, Italy, Dimitri Batani group.
R. Redaelli, Università di Milano Bicocca, Italy Dimitri Batani group, visited
Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Belgrade, three weeks.
B. Gakovic attended the Third International Conference on Superstrong
Fields in Plasmas, Villa Monastero, Varenna, Italy September 19 - 24, 2005
9.
Collaboration with COST action members
- Dipartmento di Fisica “G. Occhialini”, Universita di Milano Bicocca, Milano Italy
(D. Batani)
SWEDEN
XIII.
A.
-LUND Institute of technology
1.
Corresponding author : C.G. Wahlström
Department of Physics
Lund Institute of Technology
PO Box 118
S-221 00 Lund
Sweden
Phone +46 46 222 7655
Fax +46 46 222 4250
[email protected]
2.
Research activity
During the period since January 2005, the Lund team has continued working on
laser-plasma acceleration of particles. In particular, in collaboration with scientists
in the UK and Italy, it has been working on proton acceleration from thin foil
targets. The spatial distributions of the proton beams are studied as functions of
different experimental parameters, including target material and thickness, laser
energy, and temporal contrast of the laser pulses. This work has been mostly
performed in Lund, using the Lund 10 Hz multi-terawatt femtosecond laser
system. However, a significant part of the work, with emphasis on heavy ion
acceleration, was performed at the petawatt laser at the Rutherford Appleton
laboratory, UK.
Presently (Sept -05) the Lund team is engaged in an experimental campaign on the
quasi-monoenergetic acceleration of relativistic electrons. This experiment
involves visitors from Imperial College , London, UK.
3.
Publications
Laser-accelerated protons with energy dependent beam direction, F. Lindau, O.
Lundh, A. Persson, P. McKenna, K. Osvay, D. Batani and C.-G. Wahlström,
Phys.Rev. Lett. In press 2005.
High intensity laser-driven proton acceleration: Influence of pulse contrast, P.
McKenna, F. Lindau, O. Lundh, D. Neely, A. Persson and C.-G. Wahlström, Phil.
Trans Royal Soc. A. In press 2005.
4.
Participation to Cost actions
through short terms scientific visits at the PW laser by two PhD students from Lund,
O. Lundh and F. Lindau.
Final 2005 REPORT on
COST Action 14, project 4 (applications of laser plasma studies)
Main Activities in the priod: January - December 2005
1. Workshop on Physics of High Energy Density in Matter
The COST Workshop on Physics of High Energy Density in Matter took place
January 30 - February 4, 2005 under the chairmanchip of J. Meyer-ter-Vehn at
Hirschegg/Kleinwalsertal Austria. There were 90 participants from 12 different
contries, mainly from Europe. The scientific contributions were presented in 62 talks
and 20 posters and covered a wide scope of physics of high energy density in matter.
Thanks to COST support 17 invited speakers could be funded and made the workshop
scientifically to become one of the most successful. A detailed report was submitted
to COST by the chairman J. Meyer-ter-vehn.
2. International Workshop on Fast Ignition of Fusion Targets
The COST Workshop on Fast Ignition of Fusion Targets was organized from June 28
to July 1, 2005, by J. Honrubia, D. Batani and J Meyer-ter-Vehn, embedded in the
EPS Conference on Plasma Physics at Tarragona in Spain. There were about 80
participants, including the leading groups in fast ignition research from Europe, Japan
and the US. A detailed report has been given by the chairman J. Honrubia.
3. First experiments with VUV-FEL beams at DESY
The preparatory workshop on plasma experiments with DESY VUV-FEL beams,
supported by COST funding, took place in August 2004. In October and November
2005 the first High Peak Brightness experiments were performed. Unfortunately,
Tesla-Test Facility TTF2 was not yet working at the designed parameters, but foils of
different materials irradiated flunces of 100 mJ/cm2 with Vuv photons at a wavelenth
of 38.3 nm were actually heated to 1-2 eV temperature. This was not enough to see
increased absorption as predicted by the MPQ group. But interesting ablation results
were obtained, showing first signs of the expected ring structures in reflected optical
probe radiation. The experiments were conducted by physicists from COST countries
Czechia, Germany and Poland.
4. Studies on laser-driven ion acceleration at PALS
Experiment on laser-driven ion sources have been performed by Polish COST
scientists at the PALS laser facility in Prague. Within the period of this report results
have been reported at 5 conferences and have led to 8 publications in refereed
journals. A detailed report by J. Wolowski is attached.
5. Polish activities under COST P 14 project 4.
In 2005, The Polish Group of the Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion
in Warsaw has performed the following experiments within the COST Action P14
(Project 4):
5a.
Influence of a density gradient on acceleration of fast ions in plasma
generated by high-energy sub-nanosecond laser pulses
The experimental results show that maximum and mean energies of the fast ions, as
well as the yields of both hard and soft x-rays, attain their highest values for delay
times in the range of ~ 0 – 1.2 ns and decrease for longer delay times. It can be
supposed that, within the range of delay times from 0 to ~1 ns, there exist the
optimum conditions for maximizing the fast ion energies and the yields of hard x-rays
at considerably high fast ion current density. At longer delay times, the pre-pulse
plasma effectively screens the target surface and the main pulse interacts, in fact, with
the plume of the expanding plasma, which results in decreasing amounts and energy
of thermal, fast, and slow ions. However, at tp-L >3.5 ns, intense streams of fast ions
expanding close to the target normal, with lower mean energy were observed. In this
case also other mechanisms, which are surely more efficient for ion acceleration along
the laser beam (for example stimulated Brillouin and Raman backscatterings), should
be taken into consideration.
XIV.
5b. Study of mechanisms of generation of intense fast proton beams
with the use of a picosecond high-power laser
The influence of a thin foil target structure on characteristics of a forward-emitted
proton beam, produced by the laser-driven skin-layer ponderomotive acceleration (SLPA) mechanism at subrelativistic laser intensities, was studied theoretically on the
basis of experimental results. In the experiment, various single-layer or double-layer
targets of the total thickness  1m were irradiated by a 1-ps laser pulse of intensity ~
1017W/cm2. The highest energies and the highest proton current densities were
achieved using a double-layer target containing high-Z (Au) front layer and low-Z
(plastic) back layer. The proton current densities at the source (close to the target)
generated from the double-layer target within 3 angle cone attained values >
1GA/cm2.
The two-fluid plasma hydrodynamic non-relativistic model and computer code has
been employed to study of short-pulse high intensity laser-plasma interaction
including nonlinear forces. This model has been recently applied to numerical
calculations regarding the generation of high-current ion beams by S-LPA and the
rippling effect in laser-produced plasma. These works were performed in a close
collaboration with a group of scientists from the University of New South Wales in
Sydney and from Inst. of Physics CAS in China.
Report on
25th International Workshop
on Physics of High Energy Density in Matter
Hirschegg, January 30 - February 4, 2005
Conference site and Participants
The workshop at Hirschegg had about 120 applicants of whom 90 were
accepted as regular scientific participants. 56 of them lived with full
board in Waldemar-Peterson-Haus (WPH), a mountain hut owned by the
Technical University of Darmstadt. WPH also has a new conference hall,
where the scientific talks were held. The other participants lived in
walking distance from WPH in small pensions and hotels. Participants
came from 12 different (mainly European) countries including 46 from
Germany, 16 from Russia, 10 from USA and 7 from France. About half
of the participants were young scientists (< 36 years) and could be
accommodated at relatively low costs in WPH. The fact that all
participants lived close together and many of them had meals together in
WPH created an atmosphere of intense and lively discussions and
exchange of information.
ICF physics
The scientific contributions were presented in 62 talks and 20 posters and
covered a wide scope of physics of high energy density in matter. As in
the past, this field is strongly driven by Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF)
with two major laser facilities (LMJ near Bordeaux and NIF at
Livermore) now aiming for first ignition of fusion capsules approximately
in 2010.
Professor Atzeni from the University of Rome opened this topic talking
on routes to ICF ignition. Capsule implosions to 1000 times liquid fuel
density are hydrodynamically unstable, and control of the RayleighTaylor instability (RTI) is crucial. With the talk of Prof. etti from LLE
Rochester and three more leading RTI experts present (Atzeni, Anisimov,
Inogamov), we had impressive presentations and discussions on this most
important ICF topic at the Hirschegg workshop. According to Betti,
recent experimental results based on the method of entropy shaping
indicate that there is a certain chance that ICF ignition may be achieved
with direct drive at Rochester before completion of NIF.
The progress at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) was reported by Dr.
Glenzer, like Betti a young European export to the US labs. Both Betti
and Glenzer now play a leading role in the US ICF programme. Also Dr.
Geissel, formerly GSI and now Sandia Labs, and Dr. Hegelich, PhD in
2003 at MPQ and now at Los Alamos National Laboratory, belonged to
this group of Hirschegg participants; they highlighted recent US
developments on laser backlighter sources and laser-generated ion beams,
respectively.
Intense ion beams
Markus Roth from GSI reviewed the recent progress in laser-generated
ion beams, which are presently the brightest ion beams available. At GSI,
a unique marriage is being forged between conventional ion beams and
high power laser beams (PHELIX) with many new research possibilities.
Prof. Tauschwitz and Dr. Kühl reported on the present status of the
PHELIX laser and envisioned experiments. New results and plans on ion
beam interaction with dense plasma from both GSI and ITEP Moscow
were presented by a number of younger participants.
Laser wakefield accelerators
The talk by Dr. Malka on his recent milestone experiment at LOA was a
highlight of the Hirschegg workshop. He reported on mono-energetic
low-emittance electron beams generated with a 30 fs, 40 TW laser pulse
focused on a gas jet. Prof. Pukhov then showed corresponding 3D-PIC
simulations reproducing Malka´s results and thereby validating the
bubble-wakefield acceleration scheme. This is a new ultra-relativistic
regime of laser wakefield acceleration having its own asymptotic scaling
laws which have been developed and were presented by Dr. Gordienko.
3D-PIC movies by Dr. Geissler from MPQ illustrated electron trapping
and acceleration in bubbles.
Relativistic laser plasma
At relativistic laser plasma interactions, huge electron currents and
corresponding magnetic fields are created. Prof. Mendonca from Lisbon,
presently on sabbatical at Rutherford Appleton Lab (RAL) in UK,
reported on B-field measurements at RAL reaching the GigaGauss limit.
Electron acceleration and soliton formation were discussed by Prof.
Skoric and Dr. Hadzievski from the University of Belgrad. Transport of
such currents in plasma is of particular interest in the context of fast
ignition of fusion targets. Prof. Honrubia from UP Madrid discussed
filamented magnetized transport in terms of 3D hybrid simulations. The
filamentation instability was then addressed by a number of other
speakers.
FEL photon generation, interaction, diagnostics
First FEL photons at 30 nm wavelength were observed at DESY
Hamburg in Jan. 2005 and were reported by Dr. Tschentscher at
Hirschegg. First interaction experiments of these 100 fs long VUV pulses
with solid foils, gas jets, and clusters are scheduled at Hamburg later in
2005 and represented another scientific focus of the Hirschegg workshop.
Dr. Dimitri Fisher from the Weizmann Institute discussed photon
absorption in heated solid-density material in the transitional regime
between solid structure and plasma at high temperatures. Very little is
presently known about this regime near the Fermi temperature.
Prof. Anisimov and Dr. Inogamov from the Landau Institute in Moscow
described ablation mechanisms and hydrodynamic instabilities occuring
when the material expands through the gas-liquid phase transition. DESY
experiments on these phenomena will give new insight in nucleation
processes. Related experiments with VUV laser plasma beams were
reported by Dr. Rus from the PALS laser facility in Prague. A topic of
particular importance is X-ray Thomson scattering to investigate the
structure of dense plasmas. First experiments on this were reported from
Dr. Glenzer from Livermore. Details of strong laser backlight sources
were explained by Dr. Vladimir Fisher, and sophisticated new X-ray
diagnostics were discussed by Prof. Förster from the University of Jena
and Dr. Faenov from Moscow, both leading experts in the field of X-ray
optics.
Acknowledgements
In conclusion, the Hirschegg workshop in 2005 was most successful to
present and discuss recent hot topic of high energy density physics and to
attract the leading scientists. This was made possible by the generous
support under the COST project P14 and also by Prof. Dieter Hoffmann
and his secretary Frau Schuster, who provided us with the infrastructure
at Waldemar-Peterson-Haus.
J. Meyer-ter-Vehn
Chairman of Hirschegg 2005
Scientific report of the
8th International Workshop on
Fast ignition of Fusion Targets
Tarragona June 29
- July 1, 2005
The motivation for this workshop has been to attract scientists and
young researchers worldwide to discuss the progress of fast
ignition as an alternative concept to the traditional central ignition
of inertial fusion energy (IFE) targets. This workshop has become
the principal specialist meeting on fast ignition and ultra-intense
laser matter interactions. After the recent successful workshops
held in Kyoto (2004), Florida (2002) and Madeira (2001), the 8th
workshop has been organised as part of the 32nd European
Physical Society (EPS) Conference on Plasma Physics held in
Tarragona, Spain from June 27 to July 1, 2005.
The workshop has intended to highlight cone-guided fast ignition
and other innovative concepts as well as all physics relevant to fast
ignition. Also, the plans for the new petawatt laser facilities
presently under construction were presented and discussed. The
workshop dealt with a wide range of scientific topics, from the ultraintense laser-matter interaction to matter compression by
nanosecond laser pulses. Specific topics were:
Fast ignition of IFE targets
laser pulses
X-ray generation by short
Relativistic laser-plasma interactions
Ultrafast diagnostics
Fast electron transport
concepts
Alternative ignition
Laser-generated ion beams
ignition simulations
Fully integrated fast
Particle acceleration with few cycle laser
high-intensity lasers
pulses
Nuclear science by ultra
The workshop was organised in 8 sessions to allocate 23
invited
talks
and
18
contributed
talks.
The sessions were devoted to fast ignition programmes, theory
and
PIC
simulations,
fast
ignition
experiments, fast electron transport, ion acceleration and capsule
compression
and
ignition.
There
was also a poster session with 25 contributions. The details can be
seen
in
the
attached
programme.
The level of the presentations was very high and the sessions
were
very
participative
and
encouraging. The oral presentations have been collected in a CD
that
has
been
distributed
to
the
participants.
The workshop was very successful: approximately
150
researchers from universities and laboratories worldwide
participated in the event, including scientists from the most
relevant European laboratories and institutions, such as CEA,
France; CELIA, France, GSI, Germany; IST, Portugal; LULI,
France; MPQ, Germany; RAL, U.K.; and many Universities. It
should be pointed out that researchers from worldwide leading
laboratories, such as the Institute for Laser Engineering, Osaka,
Japan; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, CA, USA;
Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Rochester, USA; and Sandia
National Laboratories, NM, EUA participated and presented
outstanding contributions. The workshop was useful to strengthen
collaborations between the European groups and these
laboratories.
The invited papers will be published in a special issue of the
journal Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion devoted to the
EPS Conference on Plasma Physics. The authors of the
contributed papers have the possibility to publish their contribution
in the journal Laser and Particle Beams, as was kindly offered by
the Editor-in-Chief D.H.H. Hoffmann (GSI, Germany).
Workshop programme
OPENING, Wednesday 29, 10:45
Session of invited talks on Fast Ignition
programs, Wednesday 29, 11:00-13:00 Chair: C.
Joachain
R. Kodama (ILE, Japan)
Plasma photonics device for high energy density science
K. Lancaster (RAL, U.K.)
Electron energy transport studies in a recent PW laser
experiment
A. McKinnon (LLNL, USA)
(presented by G. Gregori, LLNL)
Opportunities for integrated fast ignition programs
J. Meyer-ter-Vehn (MPQ, Germany)
Use of few-cycle PW-range laser pulses in fusion research
S.A.. Slutz (Sandia, USA)
Fast Ignition Studies at Sandia National Laboratories
Session of invited talks on Theory & PIC simulations, Wednesday 29, 15:00-16:30 Chair:
R. Kodama
A. Pukhov (U. Düsseldorf, Germany) Generation of particle beams and X-ray pulses in ultrarelativistic laser-plasma interactions
C. Ren (U. Rochester, USA)
A global simulation for laser driven MeV electrons in Fast
Ignition
V. Tikhonchuk (CELIA, France)
Ion acceleration in short-laser-pulse interaction with solid
foils
T. Mendonca (IST, Portugal)
A coupled two-step plasma instability in PW laser plasma
interactions
Session of contributed talks on Fast Ignition experiments, Wednesday 29, 17:00-18:30 Chair:
M. Key
R. Betti (LLE, USA)
High Density and Areal Density Fuel Assembly for Fast
Ignition Inertial Confinement Fusion
P.A. Norreys (RAL,UK)
Observation of Ion Temperatures Exceeding Electron
Temperatures in PetaWatt Laser-Solid Experiments
P. Antici (LULI, France)
Application of laser-accelerated high-energy protons for
isochoric heating of matter
M. Borghesi (U. Belfast, UK)
Charge dynamics and proton acceleration in ultrashort
laser-solid interactions
J.J. Santos (LOA, France)
Direct Diagnostic of Multi-Temperature Fast Electrons
Beams on UHI Laser-Solid Interactions by Optical Transition
Radiation Diagnostics
R.R. Freeman (Ohio State Univ., USA)
Experiment vs Theory on Electric Inhibition of Fast Electron
Penetration of Targets
Session of invited talks on Fast Ignition experiments, Thursday 30, 11:00-13:00 Chair:
H. Nishimura
C. Stoeckl (LLE, USA)
Fuel-assembly experiments with gas-filled cone-in-shell
fast-ignitor targets on OMEGA
M. Key ((LLNL, USA)
Recent experimental progress in the study of electron and
proton heating for fast ignition
S. Baton (LULI, France)
(presented by D. Batani)
Review of experiments on electron transport in high-intensity
laser-matter interaction
S. Karsch (MPQ, Germany)
High ion temperatures from buried layers irradiated with
Vulcan Petawatt
R. Snavely (LLNL, USA)
Advanced Plasma Diagnostics in the Petawatt-Fast Ignition
Regime
Session of contributed talks on Fast electron transport, Thursday 30, 11:00-13:00
Chair: V. Tikhonchuk
R.P.J. Town (LLNL, USA)
LSP Calculations of Cone-Wire Experiments
J. Myatt (LLE, USA)
Hybrid-implicit PIC calculations of laser-generated MeV
electrons in copper targets
A.P. Robinson (Imperial College, UK) Kinetic Simulation of Fast Electron Transport with Ionization
Effects and Ion Acceleration
M. Sherlock (Imperial College, UK)
Absorption of ultrashort laser pulses and particle transport in
dense targets
J. Honrubia (U. Politecnica, Spain) Resistive filamentation of laser-driven fast electron beams S.
Krasheninnikov (U. California, USA) Intense electron beam propagation through insulators
ionization front corrugation instability
Session of contributed talks on Theory, Thursday 30, 17:00-18:30
Chair: R. Betti
P. Mora (Ecole Polytechnique, France) Thin foil expansion into a vacuum
S. Betti (U. Pisa, Italy)
Expansion of a finite size plasma in vacuum
D. Patin (CEA, France)
Stochastic heating in ultra high intensity laser-plasma
interaction theory and pic code simulations
C.K. Li (MIT, USA)
Stopping, Straggling, and Blooming of Directed Energetic
Electrons in Hydrogenic Plasmas
A. Bret (UCLM, Spain)
Characterization of the initial filamentation of a relativistic
electron beam passing through a plasma
L. Robson (U. Strathclyde, UK)
High Intensity Laser Driven Photo-Proton Reactions
Session of invited talks on Target compression & ignition, Friday 1, 8:30-10:30
Chair: J. Meyer-ter-Vehn
S. Atzeni (U. Rome, Italy)
Overview of ignition conditions and gain curves for the fast
ignitor
S. Hatchett (LLNL, USA)
Hydrodynamics of Conically-Guided Fast-Ignition Targets
J. Delettrez (LLE, USA)
Hydrodynamic simulations of integrated experiments
planned
J. Davies (IST, Portugal)
Basic Physics issues in fast ignition for OMEGA/OMEGA EP
laser systems
M. Murakami (ILE, Japan)
Toward realization of hyper-velocities for Impact Ignition
Session of invited talks on Electron transport & ion acceleration, Friday 1, 11:00-13:00
Chair: D. Batani
H. Nishimura (ILE, Japan)
Study of fast electron transport in hot dense matter using x
ray spectroscopy
P. Patel (LLNL, USA)
Integrated laser-target interaction experiments on the RAL
Petawatt laser
M. Roth (GSI, Germany)
Laser accelerated ions in ICF research: prospects and
experiments
J. Zhang (IoP, China)
Bulk acceleration of ions in intense laser interaction with
foams
CLOSING, Friday 1, 12:36
Poster presentations
Thursday 14:00 - 18:00
A. Bruno (Politecnico Torino, Itally)
Fluid model of collisionless reconnection in a force-free
equilibrium
J. Badziak (Inst. Plasma Phys., Poland)
Studies on Laser-Driven Generation of Fast High-Density
Plasma Blocks for Fast Ignition
V.S. Belyaev (Fed. Space Ag., Russia)
Results of magnetoactive laser produced plasma
investigations
V.S. Belyaev (Fed. Space Ag., Russia)
Observation of “pure” neutronless reaction 11B-p in
picosecond laser plasma
V.S. Belyaev (Fed. Space Ag., Russia)
Temperature and directed beams of ions in laser produced
plasma
S.V. Bulanov (Prokhorov, Inst, Russia)
The intense laser interaction with multicluster plasma
A.M. Bystrov (Inst. App. Physics, Russia) Excitation of the bulk and surface plasmons at the rapid
breakdown of cluster by high-intensity femtosecond laser
pulses
F. Califano (U. Pisa)
Three dimensional structure of the magnetic field generated
by counter-streaming relativistic electron beams
R.B. Campbell (SNL, USA)
Scaling of Energy Deposition in Fast
Ignition Targets
(presented by S.A. Slutz)
M. Chen (Inst. Physics, China)
Acceleration of electrons and ions in the interaction of high intensity
lasers with dense gaseous targets
L.A. Cottrill (LLNL, USA)
Optimization of K-alpha Emission Yields for Short-Pulse High Intensity
Laser-Solid Interactions
A. Das (Inst. For Plasma Res., India)
Sausage and Kink EMHD Instabilities and Fast Electron transport
M. Fiore (GoLP; Portugal)
Electromagnetic beam plasma instability in fast ignition Ion acceleration
using high-contrast ultra-intense lasers
J. Fuchs (LULI, France)
Ion acceleration using high-
contrast ultra-intense lasers
P. Guillou (LULI, France)
propagation with cone
Experimental study of fast electron
targets
J. Honrubia (U. Politecnica, Spain)
of solid targets by fast
Hybrid PIC simulations of heating
electrons
K. Krushelnick (Imp. College, UK)
underdense plasmas
Petawatt interactions with
J. Kupersztych (CEA, France)
the interaction between
Energy absorption enhancement in
ultrashort laser pulses
and
overdense
plasmas via resonant
excitation of surface
plasma waves
T.V. Liseykina (U. Pisa, Italy)
by circularly polarized
Laser acceleration of ion bunches
pulses
M. Marti (GoLP, Portugal)
Collisionless shocks for fast ignition
A. Mihailescu (Nat. Inst. Laser, Romania) Atomic Data for Zn-like W Ion As
Related to the Plasma
Modeling
F. Peano (Politecnico Torino, Itally)
Intracluster Fusion Reactions
Controlled Shock Shells and
in the Coulomb Explosion of Very
Large Clusters
V. Stancalie (Nat. Inst. Laser, Romania) Effective Collision Strengths for
Electron-Impact Excitation
of Li-like Al
S. Ter-Avetisyan (MBI, Berlin)
heavy water spray target
Laser driven neutron yield from
J. Zheng (Inst. Physics, China)
generated from the interaction of
Hot electrons and protons
ultrashort laser pulses with micro
liquid droplet plasmas
Third International Conference on
SUPERSTRONG FIELDS IN
PLASMAS
Villa Monastero, Varenna, Italy
September 19-24, 2005
PROGRAMME
Monday, September 19th
8:00 - 8:40
Registration
8:40 - 9:00
Welcome
9:00 – 13:00
99
Session 1:
Fundamental atomic and plasma processes and
nonlinear phenomena in ultra-intense fields
Session Coordinator:
Ch. Joachain
(Université Libre, Bruxelles)
Invited Speakers:
L. Gizzi
(IPCF-CNR, Pisa)
“Measurements of ultrafast ionisation dynamics from intense laser interactions
with gas-jets”
P. Mulser
(University of Darmstadt)
“The physics of collisionless absorption of relativistic
laser beams in solids and clusters”
A.M. Sergeev
(IAP-RAS, N. Novgorod)
“Attosecond pulse production using excited atoms and molecules”
S.A. Uryupin
(Lebedev - RAS, Moscow)
“High frequency even harmonics generation in the
plasmas with electron fluxes”
K. Yamanouchi
100
(University of Tokyo)
“Ultrafast dynamics of hydrocarbon molecules in
intense laser fields: skeletal bond breaking, ejection of
triatomic-hydrogen molecular ions and hydrogenatom migration”
--13:00
Group photo in the gardens of Villa Monastero
13:15 – 15:00
LUNCH
15:00 – 18:30
Session 2:
Fast Ignition
Session Coordinator:
S. Azteni
(University of Rome)
Invited Speakers:
S. Atzeni
(University of Rome)
“Ignition requirements and gain curves for the fast ignitor”
R. B. Campbell
(Sandia, Albuquerque)
“Fast ignition studies at Sandia National
Laboratories”
101
P. Kaw
(IPR, Gandhinagar)
“Anomalous stopping of energetic electrons in fast ignition concept of laser
fusion”
P. Norreys
(RAL, London)
title not available
--21:30
Welcome Party at the Hotel Royal Victoria
102
Tuesday, September 20th
9:00 – 13:00
Session 3:
Relativistic Non Linear Optics
Session Coordinator:
A. Mysyrowicz
(LOA, Palaiseau)
Invited Speakers:
T. Zh. Esirkepov
(JAERI, Kizu)
“Scaling laws of the terawatt-petawatt laser ion acceleration”
Z. Najimudin
(Imperial College,London)
“Properties of relativistic laser pulses travelling
through underdense plasmas”
N.M. Naumova
Arbor)
(Univ. of Michigan, Ann
“Attosecond phenomena in the relativistic lambda cubed regime”
M.M. Skoric
(Vinca INS, Belgrade)
“Stimulated Raman cascade into photon condensation
and generation of e.m. solitons in relativistic plasmas”
D. Umstadter
(Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln)
“Generation of ultrashort pulses of electrons, X-rays
and optical pulses by relativistically strong light”
--103
13:00 – 15:00
LUNCH
104
15:00 – 19:00
Session 4:
Solid density plasmas, cluster plasmas, and nuclear
physics with intense lasers
Session Coordinator:
R. Sauerbrey
(University of Jena)
Invited Speakers:
B.N. Breizman
Austin)
(University of Texas at
“Ion acceleration in laser-irradiated micro-clusters”
T. Ditmire
Austin)
(University of Texas at
“Explosions of femtosecond laser irradiated
heteronuclear clusters”
E. Gamaly
(Australian Nat. Univ., Canberra)
“Non-equilibrium transformations of solids by lasers
with the pulse duration shorter of all relaxation times”
K. Ledingham
(University of Glasgow)
“Laser Induced Nuclear Phenomena
1)
and Applications”
F. Pegoraro
(University of Pisa)
“Efficient laser acceleration of proton beams
for intense sources of low energy neutrinos“
105
---
106
Wednesday, September 21st
9:00 – 13:00
Session 5:
Laser ion acceleration
Session Coordinator:
V. Tikhonchuk
(CELIA, Bordeaux)
Invited Speakers:
M. Borghesi
Belfast)
(Queen’s University of
“Ultrafast charge dynamics initiated by high-intensity,
ultrashort lasermatter interaction”
H. Daido
(JAERI, Kizu)
“Development of laser-driven ion source”
J. Fuchs
(LULI, Palaiseau)
“Scaling laws for proton acceleration from the rear surface
of laser-irradiated thin foils”
A. Macchi
(INFM, University of Pisa)
“Laser Acceleration of Ultrashort Ion Bunches and
Femtosecond Neutron Sources”
P. Mora
Palaiseau)
(Ecole Polytechn.,
“Thin foil expansion into a vacuum and fast ion
production”
M. Tampo
(ILE, Osaka)
“Study of strong electrostatic fields from angular
distribution of proton energy spectra in ultra-intense
laser plasma interactions”
107
--13:00 – 15:00
LUNCH
15.00
Departure for trip
19:00
Social Dinner
Thursday, September 22nd
9:00 – 13:00
Session 6:
Laser electron acceleration
Session Coordinator:
V. Malka
(LOA, Palaiseau)
Invited Speakers:
Y. Glinek
(LOA, Palaiseau)
“Production of quasi-monoenergetic electron bunches
in laser-plasma based accelerators ”
E. Liang
(Rice University, Houston)
“Sustained acceleration of overdense plasmas by colliding laser pulses”
E. Miura
(AIST, Tsukuba)
“Monoenergetic electron beam generation from a
high-density plasma produced by a 2-TW, 50-fs laser
pulse”
I.V. Pogorelsky
(BNL, Upton)
“Femtosecond microbunched electron beam:
108
a new tool for advanced accelerator research”
A.N. Stepanov
(IAP-RAS, N. Novgorod)
“Propagation of high intense femtosecond laser pulses
in gas-filled dielectric capillary tubes: nonlinear
effects”
--13:00 – 15:00
LUNCH
109
15:00 – 18:30
Session 7:
Lasers for ultrahigh intensity Physics
Session Coordinator:
O. Svelto
(Polytechnic of Milan)
Invited Speakers:
V.M. Gordienko
(Moscow State Univ.)
“Design and performance of a petawatt
subpicosecond CO2-N2O-laser pumped by HF –
chemical laser radiation”
U. Keller
(ETH, Zurich)
“High intensity pulse generation in the few-opticalcycle regime”
G. Mourou
(LOA, Palaiseau)
“High Peak and High Average Power Systems”
Ch. Rhodes
(Univ. of Illinois at Chicago)
“New coherent X-ray source at  =
2)
2.8 Å for microimaging of human cancer stem cells”
--21:30
Concert in St. Giorgio’s Church
110
111
Friday, September 23rd
9:00 – 13:00
Session 8:
Laboratory Astrophysics
Session Coordinator:
S. Rose
(University of Oxford)
Invited Speakers:
M. Koenig
Palaiseau)
(Ecole Polytechn.,
“Radiative Shocks: an opportunity to study
Laboratory Astrophysics”
S.V. Lebedev
(Imperial College, London)
“Laboratory experiments with supersonic radiatively
cooled jets: jet deflection via crosswinds and magnetic
tower outflows”
D.D. Ryutov
(LLNL, Livermore)
“Optimizing laboratory experiments for dynamic
astrophysical phenomena”
K. Shigemori
(ILE, Osaka)
“Production of strong blast wave with intense laser
and its application to astrophysics”
G.J. Tallents
(University of York)
“Measuring the solar opacity”
112
--13:00 – 15:00
LUNCH
113
15:00 – 16:40
POSTER SESSION
16:40 – 17:00
Break
17:00 – 19:00

Forum on Medical Applications
of ultra-intense laser-matter
interaction
Chairman:
Milan))
D. Batani
(Un. Milano-Bicocca,
Braccini/U. Amaldi
(CERN, Geneve)
Invited Speakers:
“Present and future of Hadrontherapy”
J.C. Kieffer
Québec)
(INRS, Université du
title not available
V. Malka
(LOA, Palaiseau)
“Medical applications with laser
3)
plasma accelerators”
---
114
115
Saturday, September 24th
9:00 – 13:00
Session 9:
Attosecond and diagnostics
Session Coordinator:
Heraklion)
D. Charalambidis
(Un. of Crete,
Invited Speakers:
D. Charalambidis
(b)
(Un. of Crete, Heraklion)
“Extending fs metrology to XUV attosecond pulses”
Kienberger
(MPQ, Garching)
“Attosecond control and spectroscopy of electrons”
Merdji
(Centre d'Etudes de Saclay)
“Optimization of attosecond pulses”
Nisoli
(Polytechnic of Milan)
“Control of electron wave-packets in high-order
harmonic generation by few-cycle light pulses”
Platonenko
(Moscow State University)
“Efficient generation of attosecond x-ray radiation
under interaction of relativistic and ultrarelativistic
few-circle laser pulse with thin film”
---
116
13:00 – 13:15
CLOSING
117
Poster Session
Friday, September 23rd, h. 15:00 – 16:40
1. “Laser-plasma electron acceleration by short intense laser pulses”
N.E. Andreev, M.V. Chegotov, B. Cros, S.V. Kuznetsov, P. Mora,
A.A. Pogosova
2. “Harmonic generation from laser-driven vacuum”
A. Di Piazza, K. Z. Hatsagortsyan, and C. H. Keitel
3. "Probing dense plasmas created from intense irradiation of solid
target in the XUV domain"
S. Dobosz, G. Doumy, H. Stabile, P. Monot, Ph. Martin, B. Carré, D.
Joyeux, D. Phalippou, R. Mercier, F. Delmotte , S. Hüeller
4. "Observation and analysis of strong oscillating electric fields in a ps
and fs laser plasma by high-resolution X-ray spectroscopic
measurements"
A. Ya. Faenov, T. A. Pikuz, I. Yu. Skobelev, A. I. Magunov, V. S.
Belyaev, V. I. Vinogradov, A. P. Matafonov, V. S. Lisitsa, V. P.
Gavrilenko, S. A. Pikuz, Jr., K.Y. Kim, H.M. Milchberg
5. "All optical ltrafast synchrotron hard X-ray source"
Félicie Albert, Kim Ta Phuoc, Rahul Shah, Antoine Rousse
6. "Electron diffraction experiments using laser-plasma electrons"
E.E. Fill, S. Trushin, R. Tommasini, R. Bruch
7. "Harmonics generation and critical surface rippling in laser plasmas"
I.B. Földes, E. Rácz
8. “Multiphoton processes and electron-positron pair production”
K.Z. Hatsagortsyan, C. Müller, C.H. Keitel
9. "Prepulse dependence in hard x-ray generation from microdroplets”
M. Anand, A.S. Sandhu, S. Kahaly, G. Ravindra Kumar, M. Krishnamurthy,
P.Gibbon
10.”Hot electron generation and manipulation on ‘structured’ targets”
P.P. Rajeev, S. Kahaly, S. Bagchi, S. Bose, P.P. Kiran, P. Ayyub, G. Ravindra Kumar

11.“Measurements of femtosecond pulse duration
118
by means of Michelson

interferometer without nonlinear
elements”
A. Levchenko, D. Batani, V. Zvorykin
12. “Optical reflectivity of multilayer dense plasma produced by ultrashort
pulsed power lasers”
M.H. Mahdieh, M. Shirmahi
13. “On the possibility of dust atom and molecule formation”
G. Murtaza
14. “Pulsed-paraxial effects in the propagation of ultrashort
(femtosecond) laser pulses in free space”
I.V. Murusidze
XV. 15. “Development of a highly coherent x-ray laser and application
XVI.
research”
M. Nishikino, H. Kawazome, M. Tanaka, M. Kishimoto, T. Kawachi,
N. Hasegawa, Y. Ochi, K. Nagashima
XVII.16. “Self-consistent propagation of an ultraintense electromagnetic wave in
an electron-positron plasma”
F. Pegoraro, S.S. Bulanov, A.M. Fedotov
XVIII. 17. “3-D structure of the magnetic field generated by finite-width counterstreaming electron beams in a collisionless plasma”
D. Del Sarto, F. Califano, F. Pegoraro
18. “High intense single attosecond pulses with photon energy up to
EUV”
I.P.Prokopovich
XIX. 19. “Electrohydrodyanamic stability of poorly conducting parallel plasma in
the presence of strong transverse electric field”
N. Shubha
XX. 20. “Combined effects of unsteady electric field and uniform magnetic field
119
on magnetoelectroconvection in a poorly conducting plasma”
M.S. Gayathri
XXI. 21. “Electroconvection in a vertical poorly conducting plasma in the presence
of transverse electric field”
B. S. Shashikala
XXII.22. “Self-focusing dynamics of few optical cycle pulses”
A.G. Litvak, V.A. Mironov, S.A. Skobelev
23. “Determination of "isotropic" magnetic fields in pulsed plasmas: new
approach”
E. Stambulchik, K. Tsigutkin, Y. Maron
24. “MQDT/R-matrix Floquet method for dielectronic recombination”
Viorica Stancalie
25. “Non-adiabacity of infrared multiphoton dissociation process of
styrene ions by CO2 laser radiation”
Anatoly V. Stepanov
26. “Elementary transformation act model of cluster structure interacting
with IR laser radiation”
Anatoly V. Stepanov
XXIII. 27. “Advances high resolution X-ray microscopes for laser-produced
plasma”
Ph. Troussel, J. L. Bourgade, J. P. Champeaux, J.Y. Boutin, R.
Marmoret, C. Rémond, R. Rosch
28. “Aluminium K-shell high-resolution spectroscopy of short and long
scale length plasmas”
N. C. Woolsey, D. M. Chambers, C. Courtois, E. Förster, C. D.
Gregory, I. M. Hall, J. Howe, O. Renner, and I. Uschmann
29. “Hot electrons emitted from a thin foil target irradiated by ultrashort
intense laser pulses”
Z. Li, H. Daido, A. Fukumi, A. Sagisaka, K. Ogura, M. Nishiuchi, M.
Mori, S. Orimo, Y. Hayashi, M. Kado, T. Zh. Esirkepov , S. V.
120
Bulanov, Y. Oishi, T. Nayuki, T. Fujii, K. Nemoto, S. Nakamura, T.
Shirai, Y. Iwashita, A. Noda
XXIV. 30. “Petawatt Excimer Laser Project at Lebedev Physical Institute”
V.D. Zvorykin, A.A. Ionin, V.F. Losev, L.D. Mikheev, A.V.
Konyashenko, B.M. Kovalchuk, O.N. Krokhin, G.A. Mesyats, A.G.
Molchanov, A.N. Starodub, V.F. Tarasenko, S.I. Yakovlenko
XXV. 31. “Non drifting electromagnetic solitons and SBBS”
M. Lontano, Passoni, C. Riconda, V. Tikhonchuk, S. Weber
XXVI. 32. “Quasi-stationary electrostatic field at the sharp interface between high
density matter and vacuum in the presence of a relativistic electron population”
M. Lontano. M. Passoni
121
Third International Conference on
SUPERSTRONG FIELDS IN
PLASMAS
Villa Monastero, Varenna, Italy
September 19-24, 2005
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
Albert Félicie
Laboratoire d’Optique Appliquée
Chemin de la Hunière
91761 PALAISEAU
France
Tel. +33 (0) 1 69 31 97 89
Fax +33 (0) 1 69 31 99 96
[email protected]
Aliverdiev Abutrab
Insitute of Physics of Daghestan
Scientific Center of Russian Academy of Science
[email protected]
94 Yaragskogo Street, Makhachkala
DAGHESTAN 367003
Russia
Tel. +7-8722-629070
Fax +7-8722-628900
now
Andreev Nicolai
485-9722
Institute for High Energy Densities
Tel. +7-095-483-2314 or
Fax +7-095-485-7990
122
at:
Associated Institute for High Temperatures
Russian Academy of Science
Izhorskaya, 13/19
MOSCOW 125412
Russia
[email protected]
Atzeni Stefano
Università di Roma “La Sapienza”
Dipartimento
Tel. +39-06-49766532
Fax +39-06-44240183
Fisica
[email protected]
di
t
Via A. Scarpa, 14
00161 ROMA
Italy
Bhargav Shubha Nagaraj
22219714
UGC-CAS in Fluid Machines
Department of Mathematics
Central College Campus
Bangalore University
BANGALORE 560 001
Karnataka - India
Tel. +91-080-22220483 or
Borghesi Marco
The Queen’s University of Belfast
Department of Physics and Astronomy
BELFAST BT7 1NN
UK
Tel. +44-2890973516
Fax +44-2890973110
[email protected]
Braccini Saverio
+39-0321-32000
Fondazione TERA
+39-0321-32090
Via Puccini, 11
NOVARA
Italy
Tel.
+39-3473202264
Fax
+41-227679740
Breizman Boris
University of Texas
The
University
Tel. +1-512-471-6123
Fax +1-512-471-6715
at
Austin
[email protected]
Fax +91-080-22219714
[email protected]
[email protected]
of
Texas
u
Insitute for Fusion Studies (RLM 11.208)
1 University Station C1500
AUSTIN, Tx 78712-1068
USA
Byalakera Shivanna Shashikala
22219714
UGC-CAS in Fluid Machines
Department
Tel. +91-080-22220483 or
of
com
Central College campus
123
Fax +91-080-22219714
Mathematics
shashi_oberbeck@yahoo.
Bangalore University
BANGALORE 560 001
Karnataka - India
Campbell Robert
Sandia National Laboratories
P.O.Box
5800,
Tel. +1-505-844-6205
Fax +1-505-845-7820
MS-1186
[email protected]
V
ALBUQUERQUE, NM 87185-1186
USA
Daido Hiroyuki
Advanced Photon Research Center
Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute
Umeimidai 8-1, Kizu
KYOTO 619-0215
Japan
Tel. +81-774-71-3306
Fax +81-774-71-3316
[email protected]
Desai Tara
Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca
Dipartimento di Fisica “G.Occhialini”
Piazza della Scienza, 3
20126 MILANO
Italy
Tel. +39-02-6448 2302
Fax +39-02-6448 2585
[email protected]
Di Piazza Antonino
Max-Planck-Institute für Kernphysik
Saupfercheckweg 1
69117 HEIDELBERG
Germany
Tel. +49-622-1516162
Fax + 49-622-1516152
[email protected]
Ditmire Todd
University of Texas at Austin
Physics
Tel. +1-512-471-3296
Fax +1-512-471-8865
Department
[email protected]
du
2511 Speedway RLM 12.202
AUSTIN, TX 78712
USA
Dobosz Dufrénoy Sandrine
CEA-Saclay
DSM-DRECAM-SPAM
Bât. 522 p 143
91191 GYF SUR YVETTE Cedex
France
Tel. +33 1 69 08 6340
Fax +33-1 69 08 12 13
[email protected]
Eisuke Miura
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science
and Technology (AIST)
AIST Tsukuba Central 2 1-1-1-1- Umezono
Tsukuba,
IBARAKI 305-8568
Japan
Tel. +81-29-861-5688
Fax +81-29-861-5717
[email protected]
124
Esirkepov Timur
JAERI
8-1, Umemidai. Kizu-cho, Souraku-gun
KYOTO 619-0215
Japan
Tel. +81-7-7471-3393
Fax +81-7-7471-3316
[email protected]
Faenov Anatoli
Multicharged Ions Spectra Data Center of VNIIFTRI
MISDC of VNIIFTRI
MENDELEEVO, Moscow Region 141570
Russia
Tel. +7-095-535 9135
Fax +7-095-535 9334
[email protected]
Fill Ernst
Max-Planck-Institut fϋr Quantenoptik
Hans-Kopferman-Str. 1
85748 GARCHING
Germany
Tel. +49-89-32905 725
Fax +49-89-32905 200
[email protected]
Florescu
Viorica
[email protected]
o
University of Bucharest
Romania
Földes István
KFKI- Research Institute for Particle
and Nuclear Physics
Konkoli-Thege u.29-33
1121 BUDAPEST
Hungary
Tel. +36-1-3922222-3464
Fax +36-1-3559151
[email protected]
Fuchs Julien
CNRS, Laboratoire LULI
Ecole
Tel. +33-1-69 33 35 65
Fax +33-1-69 33 30 09
Polytechnique
julien.fuchs@polytechniqu
e.fr
Route de Saclay
91128 PALAISEAU
France
Gakovic Biljana
Institute of Nuclear Sciences “VINCA”
Atomic Physics Laboratory
PO Box 522
11001 BELGRADE
Serbia
Tel. +381-11-2455 451
Fax +381-11-344 0100
[email protected]
Gamaly Eugene
The Australian National University
Laser
Tel. +61-2-6125 8659
Fax +61-2-6125 0029
Centre
[email protected]
Physics
u.au
Oliphant Building #60
Research School of Physical Sciences
125
and Engineering
CANBERRA, ACT 0200
Australia
Gattamraju Ravindra Kumar
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Colaba, Mumbai (Bombay) 400 005
India
Tel. +91-22-2278 2381
Fax +91-22-22804610/11
[email protected]
Giulietti Danilo
Università di Pisa
Dipartimento di Fisica
Largo Bruno Pontecorvo, 3
56100 PISA
Italy
Tel. +39-050-2214840
Fax +39-050-2214333
[email protected]
Gizzi Leonida Antonio
IPFC-CNR
Area della Ricerca CNR
Via G. Moruzzi, 1
56124 PISA
Italy
Tel. +39-050-3152257
Fax +39-050-3152230
[email protected]
Glinec Yannick
Laboratoire d’Optique Appliquée
Chemin de la Hunière
91761 PALAISEAU
France
Tel. +33-1-69 31 98 33
Fax +33-1-69 31 99 96
[email protected]
Gordienko Viatcheslav
Moscow State University
Physics Faculty and
International Laser Center of M.V. Lomonosov
Leninskie Gory
119992 MOSCOW
Russia
Tel. +7-095-939-4719
Fax +7-095-939-31 13
[email protected]
Hatsagortsyan Karen
Max-Planck-Institute for Nuclear Physics
Saupfercheckweg 1
hd.mpg.de
69117 HEIDELBERG
Germany
Tel. +49-6221-516 160
Fax +49-6221-516 152
k.hatsagortsyan@mpi-
Jafer Rashida
Lahore University
400-15-B-1 Township
[email protected]
LAHORE
Pakistan
Tel. +92-42-5155881
Fax ‘[email protected]
Joachain Charles
Physique Théorique
Université Libre de Bruxelles
Campus Plaine CP 227
Tel. +32-2-650 55 78
Fax +32-2-650 50 98
[email protected]
126
Bd. du Triomphe
1050 BRUXELLES
Belgium
Kaw Predhiman
Institute for Plasma Research
Bhat,
GANDHINAGAR 382 428
India
Tel. +91-79-23969275
Fax +91-79-23969016
[email protected]
Keller Ursula
ETH Zurich
Institute of Quantum Electronics
Physics Department
Wolfgang-Pauli-Str., 16
HÖNGERBERG HPT E16.2
8093 ZURICH
Switzerland
Tel. +41-44-633 21 46
Fax +41-44- 633 10 59
[email protected]
Kieffer Jean-Claude
INRS, Université du Quebec
1650 blvd Boulet
VARENNES, QC J3X 1S2
Canada
Tel. +1-450 929 8123
Fax
[email protected]
Kienberger Reinhard
Max-Planck-Institut fϋr Quantenoptik
Hans-Kopferman-Str.
Tel. +49-89-32905 731
Fax +49-89-32905 200
1
Reinhard.kienberger@mp
q.mpg.de
85748 GARCHING
Germany
Koenig Michel
LULI, Ecole Polytechnique
91128
Tel. +33-1-69 33 47 99
Fax +33-1-69 33 30 09
PALAISEAU
michel.koenig@polytechni
que.fr
France
Lebedev Sergey
Imperial College
Blackett Laboratory
Prince Consort Rd.
LONDON, SW7 2BW
UK
Tel. +44-207-5947748
Fax +44-207-5947658
[email protected]
Ledingham Kenneth
University of Strathclyde
Department
Tel. +44-141-548 5716
Fax
Physics
[email protected].
of
ac.uk
GLASGOW G4 0NG
UK
127
Levchencko Alexey
P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute
Leninski prospect 53
119991 MOSCOW
Russia
Tel.
Fax +7-095-132 04 25
[email protected]
Li Zhong
National Institute of Radiological Sciences
Anagawa 4-9-1, Inage
CHIBA 263-8555
Japan
Tel. +81-774-71 3320
Fax +81-774-71 3338
[email protected]
Liang Edison
Rice University
MS108
6000 S. Main Street
HOUSTON, TX 77005
USA
Tel. +1-713-348-3524
Fax +1-713-348-5143
[email protected]
Lontano Maurizio
Istituto di Fisica del Plasma "Piero Caldirola"
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
EURATOM-ENEA-CNR Association
Via Roberto Cozzi, 53
20125 Milano
Italy
Tel. +39-02-66 173 260
Fax +39-02-66 173 239
[email protected]
Macchi Andrea
PolyLAB-INFM
Dipartimento di Fisica “E. Fermi”
Università di Pisa
Largo Bruno Pontecorvo, 3
56100 PISA
Italy
Tel. +33-050-2214845
Fax +33-050-2214333
[email protected]
Mahdieh Mohammed Hossein
Department of Physics
Iran University of Science and Technology
Narmak
TEHERAN
Iran
Tel. +98-21-22562347
Fax +98-21-77896622
[email protected]
Makam Gayathri
22219714
UGC-CAS in Fluid Mechanics
Department of Mathematics
Central College Campus
Bangalore University
BANGALORE 560 001
Karnataka - India
Tel. +91-080-22220483 -
Malka Victor
CNRS
LOA/ENSTA
91128 PALAISEAU
Tel. +33-1-6931 9903
Fax +33-1-6931 9996
[email protected]
Fax +91-080-22219714
[email protected]
128
France
Manchikanti Krishnamurti
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Homi Bhabha Road
MUMBAI 400005
India
Tel. +91-22-2278 2685
Fax +91-22-2280 4610
[email protected]
Merdji Hamed
CEA
Centre d’Etudes de Saclay
Bat. 522
91191 GIF SUR YVETTE
France
Tel. +33-1-69 08 51 63
Fax +33-1-69 08 12 13
[email protected]
Mora Patrick
CNRS – Ecole Polytechnique
Centre
de
Tel. +33-1-6933 3799
Fax +33-1-6933 3008
Théoretique
[email protected]
Physique
hnique.fr
91128 PALAISEAU
France
Mourou Gérard
University of Michigan
CUOS, 2200 Bonisteel Blvd.
USA
Tel. +1-734-763 4877
Fax +1-734-763 4877
[email protected]
Mulser Peter
Theoretical Quantum Electronics (TQE)
Technical University of Darmstadt
darmstadt.de
Schlossgartenstrasse 7
64289 DARMSTADT
Germany
Tel. +49-6151-163079
Fax +49-6151-163079
[email protected]
Murusidze Ivane
E. Andronikashvili Institute of Physics
Georgian Academy of Sciences
6 Tamarashvili St.
0177 TBILISI
Georgia
Tel. +995-32-396 716
Fax +995-32-391 494
[email protected]
Mysyrowicz André
LOA-X-ENSTA
Ecole Polytechnique
91128 PALAISEAU
France
Tel. +33-1-69 31 99 89
Fax +33-1- 69 31 99 89
[email protected]
Najmudin Zulfikar
Imperial College
Blackett Laboratory
South Kengsinton
LONDON SW7 2BW
UK
Tel. +44-020-7594 7655
Fax +44-020-7594 7658
[email protected]
129
Naumaova Natalia
Laboratoire d’Optique Appliquée
Chemin de la Hunière
91761 PALAISEAU
France
Tel. +33-1-69 31 97 31
Fax +33-1-69 31 99 96
[email protected]
Nishikino Masaharu
Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute
Advanced Photon Research Center
8-1 Umemidai, Kizu
KYOTO 619-0215
Japan
Tel. +81-774-71 3343
Fax +81-774-71-3319
[email protected]
Nisoli Mauro
Politecnico di Milano
Piazza L. da Vinci, 32
20133 MILANO
Italy
Tel. +39-02-2399 6167
Tel. +39-02-2399 6126
[email protected]
Norreys Peter
CCLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Chilton
DIDCOT, Oxon OX11 0QX
UK
Tel. +44-1235-445300
Fax +44-1235-445888
[email protected]
Pegoraro Francesco
Università di Pisa
Dipartimento di Fisica
Largo Pontecorvo, 2
56100 PISA
Italy
Tel. +39-050-2214844
Fax +39-050-2214333
[email protected]
Platonenko Victor
Physics Faculty and International Laser Center
of M.V. Lomonosov
Leninskie Gory
MOSCOW 119992
Russia
Tel. +7-095-939 11 05
Fax +7-095-939 31 13
[email protected]
Pogorelsky Igor
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Bldg. 820M
UPTON, NY 11973
USA
Tel. + 1-631-3445801
Fax +1-631-3443115
[email protected]
Rhodes Charles
University of Illinois at Chicago
845 West Taylor Street
CHICAGO
USA
Tel. +1-312-996 4868
Fax +1-312-996 8824
[email protected]
Rose Steven
University of Oxford
Clarendon Laboratory
Tel. +44-1865-282639
Fax +44-1865-272400
[email protected]
130
Parks Road
OXFORD OX1 3PU
UK
Ryutov Dmitri
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
7000 East Avenue, L630
LIVERMORE, CA 94550
USA
Tel. +1-925-422 9832
Fax +1-925-423 3484
[email protected]
Sauerbrey Roland
Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Institute for Optics and Quantum Electronics
jena.de
Max-Wien-Platz 1
07743 JENA
Germany
Tel. +49-3641-947 200
Fax +49-3641-947 202
[email protected]
Sergeev Alexander
Institute of Applied Physics
46 Uljanov st.
603950 NIZHNY NOVGOROD
Russia
Tel. +7-8312-365736
Fax +7-8312-363792
[email protected]
Servol Marina
CEA/DSM/DRECAM/SPAM
91191 GIF SUR YVETTE
France
Tel. +33-1- 69 08 23 46
Fax +33-1-69 08 12 13
[email protected]
Shigemori Keisuke
Institute of Laser Engineering
Osaka University
2-6 Yamada-Oka, Suita
OSAKA 5665-0871
Japan
Tel. +81-6-6879 8776
Fax +81-6-6877 4799
[email protected]
Sindoni Elio
ISPP and Università di Milano-Bicocca
Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali
Piazza della Scienza, 26
20126 MILANO
Italy
Tel. +39 02 6448 2746
Fax +39 02 6448 2794
[email protected]
Skobelev Sergey
Institute of Applied Physics
46 Uljanov st.
603950 NIZHNY NOVGOROD
Russia
Tel. +7-8312-16 49 07
Fax +7-8312-36 37 92
[email protected]
Skoric Milos
Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences
P.O.
Tel.
Fax +381-11-244 7457
Box
U
131
522
[email protected]
11001
BELGRADE
[email protected]
C.JP
Serbia and Montenegro
Stambulchik Evgeny
Weizmann Institute of Science
REHOVOT 76100
Israel
Tel. +972-8-9343610
Fax +972-8-9343491
[email protected]
Stancalie Viorica
National Institute fo Laser,
Plasma and Radiation Physiscs
Physics Department
P.O. Box MG-36
BUCHAREST 077125
Romania
Tel. +402-1-457 44 67
Fax +402-1-457 44 67
[email protected]
Stepanov Andrey
Institute of Applied Physics
46 Uljanov st.
603950 NIZHNY NOVGOROD
Russia
Tel. +7-8312-16 49 07
Fax +7-8312-36 37 92
[email protected]
Svelto Orazio
INFN
Dipartimento di Fisica del Politecnico
Piazza L. da Vinci, 32
20133 MILANO
Italy
Tel. +39-02-2399 6143
Fax +39-02-6299 6126
[email protected]
Takuma Hiroshi
Institute for Laser Science
The University of Electro-Communications
1-32-7 Higashimotomachi, Kokubunji,
TOKYO 185-0022
Japan
Tel. +81-42-323-2725
Fax +81-42-323-3880
[email protected]
Tallents Greg
University of York
Department of Physics
YORK YO10 5DD
UK
Tel. +44-1904-43 2286
Fax +44-1904-43 2214
[email protected]
Tampo Motonobu
Institute of Laser Engineering
Osaka University
2-6 Yamada-Oka, Suita-City
OSAKA
Japan
Tel. +81-6-6879 8755
Fax +81-6-6877 8752
[email protected]
Ter-Avetisyan Sargis
Max-Born-Institute
Max-Born Str. 2a
12489 BERLIN
Tel. +49-30-6392 1313
Fax +49-30-6392 1329
[email protected]
132
Germany
Tikhonchuk Vladimir
CELIA, University Bordeaux 1
351 Cours de la Liberation
bordeaux1.fr
33405 TALENCE Cedex
France
Tel. +33-5-40 00 37 64
Fax +33-5-40 00 25 80
[email protected]
Troussel Philippe
CEA
DIF BP12
91680 BRUYERES-LE-CHATEL
France
Tel. +33-1-69 26 57 79
Fax +33-1-69 26 70 57
[email protected]
Umstadter Donald P.
University of Nebraska
Physics and astronomy Department
212 Ferguson Hall
LINCOLN, NE 68588-0111
USA
Tel. +1-402-472 8115
Fax
[email protected]
[email protected]
Uryupin Sergey
P.N. Lebedev Physics Institute
Leninsky pr. 53
119991 MOSCOW
Russia
Tel. +7-095-932 69 38
Fax +7-095-135 78 80
[email protected]
Wahlström Claes-Göran
Lund Institute of Technology
Department of Physics
[email protected]
P.O. Box 118
221 00 LUND
Sweden
Tel. +46-46-222 7655
Fax +46-46-222 4250
claes-
Woolsey Nigel
University of York
Department of Physics
Heslington
YORK, YO10
UK
Tel. +44-1904 432205
Fax +44-1904-432214
[email protected]
Yamanouchi Kaoru
Department of Chemistry
School of Science
tokyo.ac.jp
The University of Tokyo
7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku
TOKYO 113-0033
Japan
Tel. +81-3-5841-4334
Fax +81-3-5689-7347
[email protected]
Zamponi Flavio
Institut fuer Optik und Quantenelektronic
Max-Wien-Platz 1
Tel. +49-3641-947267
Fax +49-3641-947262
[email protected]
133
07743 JENA
Germany
Zvorykin Vladimir
P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute
Leninski Prospect 53
119991 MOSCOW
Russia
Tel.
Fax +7-095-132 04 25
[email protected]
134
Programme COST P14
LASER-MATTER INTERACTIONS WITH ULTRA-SHORT PULSES, HIGHFREQUENCY PULSES AND ULTRA-INTENSE PULSES:
(From Attophysics to Petawatt Physics)
Working Group # 1
“Interactions of atoms, molecules and clusters with super-intense, ultra-short
few cycle infrared and visible laser pulses and generation of attosecond
pulses”
Brief Scientific Report for 2006
Outline
1) Main scientific advances
2) Reports from the teams
3) List of publications
p. 1
p. 3
p.14
1) Main scientific advances
Regarding the activities related to the project # 1, for the year 2006, the
scientific production of the participating groups has provided the matter for more than
130 papers published in internationally renowned journals (see the list below). A
large number of members of the teams have participated in international workshops
and conferences. Several exchange visits (STSM) have been organized, see the
enclosed list. Most of the teams were represented at the Budapest Meeting and the
Szeged IAMPI Conference (Oct. 1 – Oct. 5). Keeping in mind that there are strong
overlaps with the themes developed in the other working groups, (notably with WG #
2), the main scientific advances related to the project # 1, can be summarized as
follows:
• Harmonic generation and "Attophysics"
This theme keeps being the subject that attracts most of the attention in the
field. This is because of the recent demonstration that, in the course of the harmonic
generation process, ultra-short pulses of XUV radiation with duration in the
attosecond (1 as = 10-18 s) range could be emitted. This opens the most interesting
opportunity to observe "in real time", the dynamics of the electronic cloud in atoms
and/or molecules in the course of excitation or dissociation process. Most of the
groups from the Working Group # 1, contribute significantly to the progresses
realized in this area (Amsterdam, Bordeaux, Garching, Heraklion, Lund, London,
Palaiseau, Saclay, Wien). Notable results have been obtained on the following nonexhaustive list of topics:
- production of ultra-short laser pulses (of durations of a few femtoseconds)
with controlled carrier-envelope phase;
- optimization of new harmonic sources;
- design and optimization of optical components for the UV and XUV spectral
ranges;
- characterization of the attosecond pulses;
- theory and simulation of the time evolution of electronic and nuclear
wavepackets;
- "attophysics" applications, among which the possibility of “imaging”
molecular
electronic wave functions is actively investigated, see below;
- etc.
135
• Atomic and ionic species
The question of the role of the electron correlations in the dynamics of the
highly non-linear response of polyelectronic species, when submitted to an ultraintense and ultra-short laser pulse, remains a hot topic in the field. From the side of
theory, a major challenge is to solve the Time-Dependent Schrödinger Equation
(TDSE) for systems involving several active electrons. Important advances have
been achieved, notably in writing Multi-Configuration, Time-Dependent Hartree-Fock
(MCTDHF) codes (Wien). Computing quantitatively reliable data has also motivated
works by the groups in Belfast, Bordeaux and Louvain.
From the side of experiments, the advent of new European facilities joining
improved laser sources and COLTRIMS-like detection devices for coincidence
measurements, has provided high precision data which should be analysed with the
input of theory (Berlin, Heidelberg, Lund, Oxford, Palaiseau, Saclay).
A new type of photoionization measurements has benefited of the recent
advent of the FLASH source, now in operation on the XFEL facility at DESY, that
provides 25 fs pulses of XUV and soft x-ray radiations with unprecedented
intensities. Experiments are under way to observe non-linear processes at these
frequencies (e.g. multiphoton ionization at XUV frequencies). Another class of
experiments have evidenced two-colour (IR-XUV) multiphoton ionization, by
combining the XFEL radiation with the one of an IR laser (Belfast, Hamburg, Orsay,
Saclay, Paris).
A non-exhaustive list of other topics include:
- the question of the relativistic effects that are expected to become dominant
in the high intensity regime, beyond 1017 W/cm2. Several new effects have been
predicted (Heidelberg). At these intensities, multiple ionization of atoms is observed
and the question of deriving an adequate theoretical treatment of the process
remains open (Berlin, Durham, Heidelberg, Salamanca).
- the role of the atomic excited states in the dynamics of Above-Threshold
Ionization process has been investigated (Belgrad, Bucharest, Durham, Paris).
- the calculation of the atomic phase-shifts of the wave functions for the
continuum states in complex atoms, that are needed for interpreting the
photoelectron angular distributions, represents still a challenge for the theoreticians.
Significant advances have been realized in the interpretation of recent experimental
results (Lund, Palaiseau, Paris).
• Molecules, clusters and condensed matter
In molecular physics, the main questions that are currently addressed are
related to the possibility to control the fragmentation of a molecule, either via
dissociation or Coulomb explosion. In view of the potential applications towards the
control of chemical processes, this continues to be actively investigated. Moreover, a
closely related theme, that has emerged very recently, is the possibility to “image”,
through a tomographic analysis of the harmonic signal, the electronic molecular wave
function in in the course of a molecular transition. Several COST 14 groups in Europe
actively contribute to these studies, either in experiments or in theory: Belfast, Berlin,
Bordeaux, Heidelberg, London, Louvain, Oxford, Saclay, Salamanca.
The question of the response of clusters and more generally of macroscopic
samples of dense materials to ultra-intense and short laser pulses represents also a
challenge in several areas of basic as well as applied sciences. In comparison to
atoms and molecules, the absorption of the laser energy by a mesoscopic or
macroscopic sample involves a subtle interplay between the microscopic response of
the atoms and the collective response of the nano- (or micro-)plasma which is
created during the rising part of the pulse. A new area is also currently investigated,
that is related to the study of the dynamics of the clusters, when irradiated by a
136
strong XFEL pulse, i.e. in the high-frequency regime. Several groups contribute
actively to these topics: Amsterdam, Berlin, Bordeaux, Darmstadt, Dresden,
Hamburg, Palaiseau, Saclay, etc.
2) Reports from the teams
REPORT ON THE SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITY IN 2006 OF THE ROMANIAN
PARTICIPANTS TO COST ACTION P14 -working group 1
I. SUBJECTS OF RESEARCH
1. Connection between time evolution of an atomic wave packet and the
Floquet map. Harmonic generation (M. Dondera collaboration with A. Maquet)
2. Relativistic description of the ground state hydrogen with laser pulses
(M. Boca, V. Florescu in collaboration with M. Gavrila)
3. Atomic processes in the presence of a laser: bremsstrahlung and Compton
scattering (O. Budriga, M. Dondera and V. Florescu)
4. Above-threshold ionization (G. Buica in collaboration with T. Nakajima)
II STSM
The visit of Mihai Dondera at Paris VI, mai 2006
III. PAPERS
1. O. Budriga and V. Florescu, Laser polarization effects on K-shell Compton scattering,
EPJD (it will appear on "Online first" on Sept.15)
2. M. Dondera and V. Florescu, Bremsstrahlung in the presence of a laser field, to appear in
Rad. Phys. Chem., vol.75, 1380-1396 ,2006 (DOI:10.1016/j.radphyschem.2005.12.021)
3. T. Nakajima and G. Buica, Above-threshold ionization of Mg by linearly and circularly
polarized laser fields: Origin of subpeaks in the photoelecton energy spectra, Phys. Rev. A
74,023411 (2006)
IV CONFERENCES
1. O. Budriga, M. Dondera and V. Florescu, Laser modified processes:
bremsstrahlung and inelastic photon-scattering, invited talk at CAARI 2006
(19th Conference on the Application of Accelerators in Research
and Industry, Fort Worth, August 20-25, 2006)
2. M. Boca, V. Florescu and M. Gavrila: A relativistic generalization of the
Kramers-Henneberger transformation, poster at IAMPI 2006 (International
Conference on the "interaction of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas with Intense
Ultrashort Laser Pulses", 1-5 October 2006, Szeged, Hungary)
3. G. Buica and T. Nakajima, Origin of the side peaks appearing in the above-threshold
ionization spectra, poster at IAMPI 2006
137
V Participation to the school MATTER IN SUPER-INTENSE LASER FIELDS
(43rd course of the International School on Quantum Electronics), Erice-Sicily , 27 june-5
july, 2006: 2 participants and 2 posters.
1. M. Boca, V. Florescu and M. Gavrila, Generalized space- translated Dirac and
Pauli/Schrodinger equations for super-intense laser-atom interactions
2. O. Budriga, V. Florescu, Polarization effects on laser-assisted Compton scattering
A brief report involving the main scientific advances of MISDC VNIIFTRI, Russia team
obtained in collaboration with different Laboratories since January 2006
1) A model that solves simultaneously both the electron and atomic kinetics was used to
generate a synthetic Heα and satellite x-ray spectra to characterize a high intensity ultrashort
laser driven Ar cluster target experiment. In particular, level populations were obtained from a
detailed collisional-radiative model where collisional rates were computed from a time
varying electron distribution function obtained from the solution of the zero-dimensional
Boltzmann equation. In addition, a particle-in-cell simulation was used to model the laser
interaction with the cluster target and provided the initial electron energy distribution function
(EEDF) for the Boltzmann solver. This study suggests that a high density average, <Na > high,
of 3.2x1020 cm−3 was held by the system for a time, τ, of 5.7 ps, and during this time the
plasma was in a highly nonequilibrium state in both the EEDF and the ion level populations.
Article in Phys. Rev. E., 73, 066404 (2006) was published.
2) Plasma satellites of x-ray spectral lines were observed for the first time in the experiments
on the interaction of powerful laser pulses (laser flux up to 4x1017 W/cm2) with large N2O
clusters. The experimental spectra of plasma satellites of the Lyman doublet 2P1/2,3/2 − 1S1/2 in
H-like O VIII ions in a dense plasma were simulated theoretically, allowing an interpretation
of the experimental results. It were shown that allowing for oscillating electric fields of the
amplitude E0 ~ (0.5–1.0)x109 V/cm and frequency ω~(0.7–2.4)x1015 s−1 leads to spectral
features in the theoretical profiles of the Lyα O VIII line that are similar to the features
observed experimentally. Article in Phys. Rev. A., 73, 013203 (2006) was published.
3) The self-channeled propagation of intense femtosecond pulses over an extended
distance in a N2O cluster gas target using high resolution kilovolt x-ray pinhole
images of the channel and spatially resolved x-ray spectra we diagnosed. The x-ray
images are consistent with femtosecond optical scattering, shadowgraphy, and
interferometry images. Extended plasma channels (~ 9 mm) limited either by the
cluster jet length or by absorption, for injected laser intensities in the range of 1016–
1017 W/cm2 were observed. Spectral line shapes for the OVII 1s2-1s3p and OVIII 1s2p transitions (at 1.8627 and 1.8969 nm, respectively) show significant broadening to
the blue side and with truncated emission on the red side. This effect were attribute to
Doppler blueshifted emission from fast ions with energy up to 1 MeV from exploding
clusters moving toward the spectrometer; redshifted emission from the opposite side
of the cluster is absorbed. Article in Phys. Rev. E.
138
Report on Project # 1 from the VILNIUS Group.
“Interactions of atoms, molecules and clusters with super-intense, ultra-short few
cycle infrared and visible laser pulses and generation of attosecond pulses”
In 2006 VU LRC has continued collaboration with Max-Planck-Institute of
Quantum Optics (MPQ) in the field of optical parametric chirped pulse amplification
(OPCPA) and the most recent activities were focused on production of few-cycle
pulses at longer wavelengths for future higher-harmonic generation experiments. The
fundamental radiation of diode-pumped Nd:YLF lasers was used as a pump. The seed
wavelength was chosen to be at degeneracy of optical parametric amplifier (OPA), or
around 2.1 m, because of broadest supported bandwidth of OPA crystal. The seed
was derived from Ti:Sapphire amplifier, broadened in noble gas and sent to a
nonlinear crystal to produce difference frequency in the infrared. After stretching in
an acousto-optic programmable dispersive filter (AOPDF), the seed was amplified in
two-stage periodically-poled Lithium Niobate based noncollinear OPA. The amplified
signal pulses with energy of few hundred micro Joules and low level of amplified
superfluorescence were compressed in low-loss bulk compressor. The output radiation
was characterized with surface FROG technique and after feedback to AOPDF, sub20 fs pulses at 2.1 m have been obtained at repetition rate of 1kHz.
Based on these results, the paper is being prepared and an invited talk, which
consisted results from accomplished experiment, was given by one of the coauthors in
the CLEO/QELS 2006 conference.
139
HUNGARY
A.
Brief report of the COST P14 activity in Hungary in 2006
Researh Institute for Solid State Physics and Optics
Corresponding author : Gy. Farkas
Researh Institute for Solid State Physics and Optics
Department of Laser Physics
Hungarian Academy of Science
P.O.B. 49
H-1525 Budapest
Phone:
+36-1-392 2222 Ext. 18-86, 36-09
Fax:
+36-1-392 2215
[email protected]
We analyzed the interactions of few-cycle light pulses with metal surfaces so that a surface
plasmon (SP) wave is generated and demonstrated, for the first time, that acceleration of the
photoemitted electron enhanced by the field of surface-plasmons can be coherently controlled
through the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of an excitation optical pulse. Our simulations
indicate that the physical origin of the CEP sensitivity arises from the electron’s
ponderomotive interaction with the oscillating electromagnetic field of the SP wave. The
ponderomotive electron acceleration mechanism provides sensitive (nJ energies), highcontrast, single-shot CEP measurement capability of few-cycle laser pulses.
Publications in 2006:
1) Péter Dombi, Ferenc Krausz and Győző Farkas “Ultrafast dynamics and carrierenvelope phase sensitivity of multi-photon-induced photoemission from metal surfaces”
J. Mod. Opt. 52 (2006) In press.
2) Scott E. Irvine, Péter Dombi, Győző Farkas and Abdul Y. Elezzabi „Influence of the
Carrier-Envelope Phase of Few-Cycle Pulses on Ponderomotive Surface-Plasmon Electron
Acceleration”, Phys. Rev. Lett., accepted for publication.
*********
140
DURHAM Group
In a collaboration with the Institute of Physics of Belgrade (Serbia), the Durham group has
completed a study of the relation between quasienergy curves crossings in the Floquet
spectrum of argon and the conspicuous plateaus enhancements which were found in the highorder above-threshold ionization of that species several years ago [1,2]. The calculations
showed that these enhancements occur at intensities where the dressed ground state is in
resonance, or in the wing of resonances, with dressed excited states. The calculations involved
in this work have since been extended to other wavelenghts, in collaboration with Dicle
University (Diyarbakir, Turkey), so as to achieve a better understanding of the structure of the
quasienergy spectrum [3].
The Durham group, together with Dr Chirila (University of Kassel, Germany) has also
completed a study of the spectrum of slow photoelectrons created when an intense ultrashort
laser pulse interacts with an atom, more particularly of how the spectrum varies with pulse
duration [4].
References:
[1] R. M. Potvliege and S. Vucic, Phys. Rev. A 74 (2006) 023412.
[2] R. M. Potvliege and S. Vucic, Phys. Scripta 74 (2006) C55.
[3] E. Mese and R. M. Potvliege, in preparation.
[4] C. C. Chirila and R. M. Potvliege, in preparation.
2006 report of FORTH-IESL for the COST P14 program
PROJECT: Generation, characterization and applications of high frequency, ultra short
duration pulses.
Sub-Project 1: Second order autocorrelation of an XUV attosecond pulse train
As described in our 2005 report we have recently performed and fully evaluated a
second order autocorrelation (AC) of a superposition of higher harmonics, demonstrating that
they form a train of sub-fs pulses [1-3].
During the reporting period progress has been made in extending these measurements
towards frequency resolved AC approaches (see next paragraph) as well as towards shorter
wavelengths. The so far utilized “non-linear detector” was the two photon ionization of
atomic He, which is restricted to XUV photon energies up to 24.6 eV, i.e. up to the 15th
harmonic of the Ti:Sapph laser. Extension to shorter wavelengths is realizable either trough
ATI or Direct Multiple Ionization. Towards this goal we have recently demonstrated direct
double ionization of Kr and Ar atoms through two-XUV-photon absorption from
superpositions of harmonics [4].
References
[1] P. Tzallas et al. Nature 426, 270 (2003)
[2] P. Tzallas et al. J. of Mod. Opt. 52, 321 (2005)
[3] L.A.A. Nikolopoulos et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 113905 (2005)
[4] E. Benis et al. Phys. Rev. A (submitted)
141
Sub-Project 2: Frequency resolved two-XUV-photon gating
Towards an extension of the so-called “Frequency Resolved Optical Gating” method to
the XUV spectral region, utilizing two-XUV-photon ionization energy resolved photoelectron
spectroscopy, the in the previous report discussed observation of the first two-XUV-photon
ionization photoelectron spectra (two photon ionization of He), induced by a superposition of
higher order harmonics, has been finalized and published.
References
[1] E. Benis New J. of Phys. 8 92 (2006)
Sub-Project 3: Mode sensitive Harmonic-Fundamental cross-correlation / Complete
temporal reconstruction of ultra-short high frequency pulses.
The temporal intensity distribution of the third harmonic of a Ti:Sapph laser
generated in Xe gas is fully reconstructed from its spectral phase and amplitude distributions.
The spectral phases are retrieved by cross correlating the fundamental laser frequency field
with that of the third harmonic, in a three laser vs one harmonic photon coupling scheme. The
third harmonic spectral amplitude distribution is extracted from its field autocorrelation. The
measured pulse duration is found to be in agreement with that expected from lowest order
perturbation theory both for un-stretched and chirped pulses. [1].
The approach has been extended to the superposition of the 3rd and 5th harmonic
stretched through propagation in optical materials. Full spectral phase retrieval and temporal
pulse reconstruction was achieved and found in good agreement with simulations. [2]
References
[1] E. Papalazarou et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 163901 (2006).
[2] P. Tzallas (in preparation)
Relevant publications in 2006
-“Spectral phase distribution retrieval through coherent control of harmonic generation” E.
Papalazarou, M. Kovacev, P. Tzallas, E. P. Benis, C. Kalpouzos, G. D. Tsakiris and D.
Charalambidis Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 163901 (2006).
- “Frequency Resolved Photoelectron Spectra of Two-Photon Ionization of He by an
Attosecond Pulse Train” E. P. Benis, P. Tzallas, L. A.A. Nikolopoulos, M. Kovačev, C.
Kalpouzos, D. Charalambidis, and G. D. Tsakiris New J. of Phys. 8 92 (2006)
- Comment on “Photoionization of helium atoms irradiated with intense vacuum ultraviolet
free-electron laser light. Part I. Experimental study of multiphoton and single-photon
processes” D. Charalambidis, N. Papadogiannis, N.A.A. Nikolopoulos, P. Tzallas, E. Benis
and G. Tsakiris Phys. Rev. A 74, 037401 (2006)
Relevant invited and oral conference presentations

“Interaction of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas with Intense Ultrashort Laser Pulses”
(IAMPI 2006) October 1-5, 2006, Szeged, Hungary (given by P. Tzallas)
142
Related funded projects



MC RTN “Ultrashort XUV pulses for Time Resolved and Non –linear Applications”
(XTRA)
MC IRG “Characterization and Research Applications of Attosecond Pulses” (CHARA)
MC TOK “XUV-High Order Harmonic Metrology Tools for Novel Spectroscopic
Applications” (X-HOMES)
CELIA (Bordeaux group)
PROJECT COST P14 “ULTRA”
Report (2006)
WG1 project 1 “Interaction of atoms, molecules and clusters with super-intense, ultrashort few cycle infrared and visible laser pulses and generation of attosecond pulses”
XXVII. Dynamics of laser-Ar cluster interaction
Many experimental works have recently been dedicated to ultra-intense laser-cluster
interactions; while interesting per se, these interactions were demonstrated to yield efficiently
multi-keV X-ray bursts, of great interest for ultrafast X-ray science applications. In CELIA,
we focus intense (up to a few 1017 W/cm2) femtosecond (down to 40 fs) laser pulses onto a
partially clusterized argon gas jet. An experimental set-up has been specifically designed to
get both a spectral resolution of the X-ray emission (~ 1 eV) and a picosecond temporal
resolution. Our experiments have demonstrated, for the first time, that the K-shell emission
duration is shorter than our temporal resolution (3 ps). Further, the ionization dynamics, that
yield Ar ions up to Ar16+, have been observed to occur within a timescale shorter than 1 ps,
which corresponds to our data analysis resolution. These observations have been quite well
reproduced by simulations including "nano-plasma" model and collisional-radiative
calculations, that indicate that the X-ray emission should occur within a few 100 fs scale.
Enhancement of activation and decay rates of nuclear levels through laser heating of
plasmas
It has recently been shown (A. V. Andreev et al. JETP 91, 1163 (2000)) that the activation
and decay of the 6.238 keV nuclear level of 181Ta can be enhanced in femtosecond laser
heated Ta plasmas. This enhancement is due to the high density surrounding plasma and high
ionization states of Ta ions. A detailed knowledge of the plasma conditions is required to
understand further the enhancement mechanisms. A Ta target was thus heated in CELIA
using 45 fs Ti :sapphire laser pulses with intensities ranging from1 to 6 1016 W/cm2.
Langmuir probes have been used to characterize the ion emission and we employed both CCD
and NaI(Tl) pulse height detection systems to measure the X-ray emission. The deposition
and implantation of the escaping Ta ions and atoms were also characterized by means of
Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry. These experiments have shed light on the plasma
conditions and have allowed to carry out analytical models and hydrodynamical calculations
to elicit the mechanisms responsible for the enhancement of the nuclear rates.
143
XAFS calculations in dense matter
Phase transitions are fundamental processes of nature. The most familiar among them are
structural changes such as melting or freezing, vaporization or condensation, and sublimation
that define the transitions between the three states of matter, namely, solid, liquid, and gas.
Understanding phase boundaries and transition kinetics has long been a focus of research in
material science, chemistry, and biology. Moreover, while most studies are concerned with
thermodynamical equilibrium, there is also a growing interest (see the recent review, T.
Pfeifer et al, Rep. Prog. Phys. 69, 443 (2006)) in the investigation of nonequilibrium behavior
over time scales pertinent to atomic and molecular motion, that is femtosecond to picosecond.
Experimental studies in such time scales have been both enabled and driven by advances in
femtosecond lasers. They offer unparalleled temporal resolution for following the evolution of
dynamical processes. The adequate combination of a femtosecond laser « pump » (triggering
a change in a sample of interest) together with a laser-produced X-ray probe beam enables the
capture of ultrafast processes (C. Bressler, M. Chergui, Chem. Rev. 104, 1781 (2004)). In that
context, X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (XAFS), which refers to the oscillatory
structure in the X-ray absorption coefficient just above a photoionization edge, gives access to
the short-range order in a material. For the purpose of designing and interpreting future pumpprobe experiments at CELIA, we started calculations of photoionization edge profiles in
metals and melting metals. These calculations are based on a combination of a DFT approach
of dense matter with the full multiple scattering technique for the calculation of the
photoionization cross section.
A.
B.
Transport of intense laser-produced electron beams in matter
Fast electron transport in matter is a key issue for assessing the feasibility of fast ignition in
inertial confinement fusion or the development of laser-produced ion beam sources. A series
of experiments with ultra-intense laser (up to 6 1019 W/cm2) studying fast electron transport in
metallic (Al) and insulating (CH) foil targets have been realized at Laboratoire d’Optique
Appliquée (LOA). The dynamics of the fast electron propagation as well as the level of
induced heating was investigated using the optical self-emission of the targets rear side.
A detailed analysis of the experimental data has been carried at CELIA:
- In Aluminium, the spatially-resolved images show a 33° (HWHM) divergent bulk
population. The study of the total emitted energy and spectrum against target thickness and
the discrimination of the coherent (transition radiation) and the incoherent (thermal emission)
parts of the signal allowed to characterize a two-temperature fast electron population:
moderately relativistic (Thot  0.3MeV) bulk electrons and a highly collimated micro-bunched
and relativistic (Thot  7MeV) tail. An important heating of the rear of the thinner targets was
estimated (Te>10eV at 30-40µm depth). We have shown this heating is mainly due to a
resistive mechanism upon the background electrons return current balancing the incoming fast
electrons current.
- In plastic, optical emission is mainly due to the Cherenkov effect and it is orders of
magnitude larger than in Al. Besides that, the fast-electron beam undergoes strong
filamentation and the number of filaments increases with the target thickness. This
filamented behaviour in insulators was attributed to the instability of the ionization front
related to the electric field ionization process. The filamentary structures characteristic
growth rate and characteristic transversal scale are in agreement with analytical
predictions.
Publications (WG1 – project 1)
- F. Gobet, F. Hannachi, M.M. Aléonard, J.F. Chemin, G. Claverie, M. Gerbaux, G. Malka,
J.N. Scheurer, M. Tarsien, F. Blasco, D. Descamps, F. Dorchies, R. Fedosejevs, C. Fourment,
144
S. Petit, V. Méot, P. Morel, S. Hanvey, L. Robson, B. Liesfeld, Rev. Sc. Instr. 77, 093302
(2006)
Absolute energy distribution of hard X-rays produced in the interaction of a kHz femtosecond
laser with tantalum targets
- T. Caillaud, F. Blasco, C. Bonté, F. Dorchies, P. Mora, Physics of Plasmas 13, 033105
(2006)
Study of intense femtosecond laser propagation into a dense Ar gas and cluster jet
- M. Manclossi, J.J. Santos, D. Batani, J. Faure, A. Debayle, V. T. Tikhonchuk, V. Malka,
Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 125002 (2006)
Study of Ultraintense Laser-Produced Fast-Electron Propagation and Filamentation
in Insulator and Metal Foil Targets by Optical Emission Diagnostics
- C. Bonté, M. Harmand, F. Dorchies, S. Magnan, V. Pitre, J.C. Kieffer, P. Audebert, J.P.
Geindre, Rev. Sc. Instr. (submitted)
High dynamic range streak camera for sub-picosecond time-resolved X-ray spectroscopy
WG1 project 2 “Interaction of atoms, molecules and clusters with high-frequency
radiation including attosecond pulses and pulses from free-electron lasers and X-ray
lasers”
Interactions of atoms, molecules with super-intense, ultra-short
generation of attosecond pulse
-
laser pulses and
Theory
If the strong field approximation (SFA) and Coulomb-Volkov approximations have been
widely studied in the context of infrared lasers (IR), much less is known in the UV or X
range, the purpose of our research is to investigate this wavelength range. In fact, in previous
works, it was established that a simple theoretical approach called CV2-, which is based on
Coulomb-Volkov-type (CV) states, could supply reliable predictions of atomic ionization by
extreme ultraviolet laser pulses down to the subfemtosecond regime. For any field parameter,
it was shown that CV2- provides accurate energy distributions of ejected electrons, including
many above-threshold ionization (ATI) peaks, as long as the two following conditions are
simultaneously fulfilled: (i) the photon energy is greater than or equal to the ionization
potential I P ; (ii) the ionization process is not saturated. The condition (i) restricts CV2application to VUV laser pulses (e.g., high enough harmonics of Ti-Sapphire lasers), while
the condition (ii) limits CV2- application to laser intensities compatible with the perturbation
regime. Therefore, further systematic studies have been conducted to extend the field of
application of Coulomb-Volkov approaches to laser pulse-induced transitions.
Keeping condition (i), a renormalization procedure, which takes into account the depletion of
the initial state in the course of irradiation, has been introduced successfully. This new
approach, called RCV2- (renormalized CV2-), permits to get rid of condition (ii), thus opening
the way to application of Coulomb-Volkov approaches to ionization by laser pulses with
  I P whatever the laser intensity.
Recently, we have showed that, beyond the perturbation theory, the depletion of the
population of the initial state is easily determined by means of a reduced set of coupled
equation.
These results have been presented at the 43rd Conference on Matter in Super-Intence Laser
Fields, Erice, Italy, 25 June – 5 July 2006, organized with the support of the P14 program:
145
R. Guichard, “Ionization and excitation induced by femtosecond laser pulses, CoulombVolkov approach”, Erice (Italy), 27 june-5 july 2006, International School of Quantum
Electronics.
Besides the application of the SFA for the study of the ionization of atoms irradiated by UV
and X lasers, we have pursued our investigation of multielectronic atoms and molecules in
strong fields, resolving the time dependent Schrödinger equation (TDSE). Emphasis has been
put on the study of two-photon two-electron ionization of helium in ultra short XUV fields
and the excitation and ionization of molecular hydrogen by vuv laser pulses. The dynamics
inherent to the sub-femtosecond regime, and its effects on electron spectra (and KED of
protons in the molecular case), have been investigated.
-
Experiment
During this period, we also further studied the confinement of the XUV emission induced
by the so called “polarization gating” technique that we have developed.
This technique relies on controlling the temporal evolution of the polarization of a short pulse
that is used to generate XUV via high order harmonic emission. We had already observed the
temporal confinement of this XUV emission in a CELIA-LLC collaboration with relatively
long pulses (30 fs). These observations allowed us to define the optimum condition for single
attosecond pulse generation.
We managed to observe the XUV emission under these conditions thanks to collaboration
with the Cusbo laboratory from Milan (M. Nisoli, Milan). By modulating the polarization of a
short (5 fs) pulse having its carrier envelop phase (CEP) stabilized, we observed the transition
between the generation of a single isolated attosecond pulse and two attosecond pulses or
more. This allowed to show that, with this approach, broadband isolated attosecond pulses can
be generated with several gases. The central frequency of these attosecond pulses can
therefore easily be tuned which is very important for application of these pulses.
This CELIA-Cusbo collaboration allowed us to define the optimal conditions for generating
isolated attosecond pulses with the Cusbo laser and allowed them to implement this technique
on their laser system to deliver isolated attosecond pulses.
Publications (WG1 – project 2)
- R. Gayet, J. Phys. B 38, 3905-16 (2005)
- R. Guichard and R. Gayet, Phys. Rev. A 74, 011402 (2006)
- A. Palacios, H. Bachau and F. Martin, Phys Rev A 74, 031402(R) (2006)
- E. Foumouo, S. Laulan, B. Piraux and H. Bachau, J. Phys. B 39, S427 (2006)
- A. Palacios, H. Bachau and F. Martin, Phys Rev Lett 96, 143001 (2006)
- J. L. Sanz-Vicario, H. Bachau and F. Martin, Phys. Rev. A 73, 033410 (2005)
- A. Palacios, S. Barmaki, H. Bachau and F. Martin, Phys. Rev. A 71, 063405 (2005)
- I. J. Sola, E. Mével, L. Elouga, E. Constant, V. Strelkov, L. Poletto, P. Villoresi, E.
Benedetti, J-P. Caumes, S. Stagira, C. Vozzi, G. Sansone and M. Nisoli, Nature physics vol.
2, n° 5, 319-322 (2006)
- I. J. Sola, A. Zaïr, R. López-Martens, P. Johnsson, K. Varjú, E. Cormier, J. Mauritsson, A.
L’Huillier, V. Strelkov, E. Mével and E. Constant, Phys. Rev. A 74, 013810 (2006)
146
- V. Strelkov, A. Zair, O. Tcherbakoff, R. Lopez-Martens, E. Cormier, E. Mével and E.
Constant, “Single attosecond pulse production with ellipticity modulated driving IR pulse”, J.
Phys. B 38, L161-L167 (2005)
- V. Strelkov, A. Zair, O. Tcherbakoff, R. Lopez-martens, E. Cormier, E. Mével and E.
Constant, “Attosecond pulse generation with an ellipticity modulated laser pulse”, Laser
Physics 15-6, 1-9 (2005)
- K. Varju, P. Johnsson, R. Lopez-Martens, T. Remetter, E. Gustafsson, A. L’huillier, J.
Mauritsson, M.B.Gaarde, K.J.Schaffer, C.Erny, I.Sola, A.Zair, E.Constant, E.Cormier,
E.Mével, “Experimental Studies of Attosecond Pulse Trains”, Laser Physics 15-6, 888-898
(2005)
3) LIST OF PUBLICATIONS RELATED TO THE ACTIVITIES OF WG#1
(EXTRACTED FROM THE WEB OF SCIENCE DATA BASE)
1. Orts, RS; Harman, Z; Lopez-Urrutia, JRC; et al.
Exploring relativistic many-body recoil effects in highly charged ions
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 97 (10): Art. No. 103002 SEP 8 2006
2. Akozbek, N; Trushin, SA; Baltuska, A; et al.
Extending the supercontinuum spectrum down to 200 nm with few-cycle pulses
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, 8: Art. No. 177 SEP 5 2006
3. Panek, P; Becker, A
Dark pulses for resonant two-photon transitions
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 74 (2): Art. No. 023408 AUG 2006
4. Nakajima, T; Buica, G
Above-threshold ionization of Mg by linearly and circularly polarized laser fields: Origin
of the subpeaks in the photoelectron energy spectra
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 74 (2): Art. No. 023411 AUG 2006
5. Potvliege, RM; Vucic, S
High-order above-threshold ionization of argon: Plateau resonances and the Floquet
quasienergy spectrum
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 74 (2): Art. No. 023412 AUG 2006
6. Maquet, A; Piraux, B; Scrinzi, A; et al.
Comment on "Photoionization of helium atoms irradiated with intense vacuum ultraviolet
free-electron laser light. Part II. Theoretical modeling of multiphoton and single-photon
processes"
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 74 (2): Art. No. 027401 AUG 2006
7. Di Piazza, A; Hatsagortsyan, KZ; Keitel, CH
Light diffraction by a strong standing electromagnetic wave
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 97 (8): Art. No. 083603 AUG 25 2006
147
8. Dal Col, M; Macovei, M; Keitel, CH
Controlling multiparticle correlations with a strong laser field
OPTICS COMMUNICATIONS, 264 (2): 407-412 AUG 15 2006
9. Chipperfield, LE; Knight, PL; Tisch, JWG; et al.
Tracking individual electron trajectories in a high harmonic spectrum
OPTICS COMMUNICATIONS, 264 (2): 494-501 AUG 15 2006
10. Siedschlag, C; Shir, OM; Back, T; et al.
Evolutionary algorithms in the optimization of dynamic molecular alignment
OPTICS COMMUNICATIONS, 264 (2): 511-518 AUG 15 2006
11. Potvliege, RM; Adams, CS
Photo-ionization in far-off-resonance optical lattices
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, 8: Art. No. 163 AUG 30 2006
12. Liu, X; de Morisson Faria, CF; Becker, W; et al.
Attosecond electron thermalization by laser-driven electron recollision in atoms
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39
(16): L305-L311 AUG 28 2006
13. Sundvor, I; Hansen, JP; Taieb, R
On the description of nuclear dynamics in ionization of diatomic molecules in short strong
electromagnetic fields
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39
(16): 3299-3307 AUG 28 2006
14. Rodenas, A; Garcia, JAS; Jaque, D; et al.
Optical investigation of femtosecond laser induced microstress in neodymium doped
lithium niobate crystals
JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS, 100 (3): Art. No. 033521 AUG 1 2006
15. Meyer, M; Cubaynes, D; O'Keeffe, P; et al.
Two-color photoionization in xuv free-electron and visible laser fields
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 74 (1): Art. No. 011401 JUL 2006
16. Guichard, R; Gayet, R
Approach to ionization by intense laser pulses through a reduced set of coupled state
equations
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 74 (1): Art. No. 011402 JUL 2006
17. Smirnov, MB; Becker, W
X-ray generation in laser-heated cluster beams
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 74 (1): Art. No. 013201 JUL 2006
18. Sola, IJ; Zair, A; Lopez-Martens, R; et al.
Temporal and spectral studies of high-order harmonics generated by polarizationmodulated infrared fields
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 74 (1): Art. No. 013810 JUL 2006
19. Persson, E; Schiessl, K; Scrinzi, A; et al.
Generation of attosecond unidirectional half-cycle pulses: Inclusion of propagation effects
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 74 (1): Art. No. 031818 JUL 2006
20. Jordan, G; Caillat, J; Ede, C; et al.
148
Strong field ionization of linear molecules: a correlated three-dimensional calculation
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39
(13): S341-S347 JUL 14 2006
21. Gubbini, E; Eichmann, U; Kalashnikov, M; et al.
Multiple ionization of Kr in an intense circularly polarized laser field
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39
(13): S381-S387 JUL 14 2006
22. Foumouo, E; Laulan, S; Piraux, B; et al.
Dynamics of two-photon double-ionization of helium at the attosecond scale
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39
(13): S427-S435 JUL 14 2006
23. Vozzi, C; Calegari, F; Benedetti, E; et al.
Probing two-centre interference in molecular high harmonic generation
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39
(13): S457-S466 JUL 14 2006
24. Milosevic, DB; Paulus, GG; Bauer, D; et al.
Above-threshold ionization by few-cycle pulses
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39
(14): R203-R262 JUL 28 2006
25. Moreno, P; Mendez, C; Garcia, A; et al.
Synthesis of ceramic nanoparticles by ultrafast laser ablation of solid targets in water
JOURNAL OF NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY, 6 (7): 1961-1967 JUL
2006
26. Cohen, S; Liontos, I; Bolovinos, A; et al.
Two-photon ionization spectra of calcium above the 4s(1/2) threshold
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39
(12): 2693-2708 JUN 28 2006
27. Theberge, F; Akozbek, N; Liu, WW; et al.
Tunable ultrashort laser pulses generated through filamentation in gases
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 97 (2): Art. No. 023904 JUL 14 2006
28. Lin, Q; Li, S; Becker, W
High-order harmonic generation in a tightly focused laser beam
OPTICS LETTERS, 31 (14): 2163-2165 JUL 15 2006
29. Torchia, GA; Mendez, C; Vazquez De Aldana, JR; et al.
Spatial modulation of linear and quadratic susceptibilities in lithium niobate crystals by
using femtosecond laser pulses
FERROELECTRICS, 333: 151-156 2006
30. Shir, OM; Siedschlag, C; Back, T; et al.
Niching in evolution strategies and its application to laser pulse shaping
LECTURE NOTES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE, 3871: 85-96 2006
31. Mauritsson, J; Johnsson, P; Gustafsson, E; et al.
Attosecond pulse trains generated using two color laser fields
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 97 (1): Art. No. 013001 JUL 7 2006
149
32. Kim, KY; Milchberg, HM; Faenov, AY; et al.
X-ray spectroscopy of 1 cm plasma channels produced by self-guided pulse propagation in
elongated cluster jets
PHYSICAL REVIEW E, 73 (6): Art. No. 066403 Part 2 JUN 2006
33. Sherrill, ME; Abdallah, J; Csanak, G; et al.
Spectroscopic characterization of an ultrashort-pulse-laser-driven Ar cluster target
incorporating both Boltzmann and particle-in-cell models
PHYSICAL REVIEW E, 73 (6): Art. No. 066404 Part 2 JUN 2006
34. Serebryannikov, EE; Zheltikov, AM; Kohler, S; et al.
Diffraction-arrested soliton self-frequency shift of few-cycle laser pulses in a photoniccrystal fiber
PHYSICAL REVIEW E, 73 (6): Art. No. 066617 Part 2 JUN 2006
35. Milstein, AI; Muller, C; Hatsagortsyan, KZ; et al.
Polarization-operator approach to electron-positron pair production in combined laser and
Coulomb fields
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (6): Art. No. 062106 JUN 2006
36. Ruiz, C; Plaja, L; Taieb, R; et al.
Quantum and semiclassical simulations in intense laser-H-2(+) interactions
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (6): Art. No. 063411 JUN 2006
37. Comanici, R; Gabel, B; Gustavsson, T; et al.
Femtosecond spectroscopic study of carminic acid-DNA interactions
CHEMICAL PHYSICS, 325 (2): 509-518 JUN 20 2006
38. Jarque, EC; Roso, L
Hydrogen atom interacting with a multifrequency laser field: ionization and harmonic
generation
OPTICS EXPRESS, 14 (12): 4998-5006 JUN 12 2006
39. Andersen, TV; Schmidt, O; Bruchmann, C; et al.
High repetition rate tunable femtosecond pulses and broadband amplification from fiber
laser pumped parametric amplifier
OPTICS EXPRESS, 14 (11): 4765-4773 MAY 29 2006
40. Benis, EP; Tzallas, P; Nikolopoulos, LAA; et al.
Frequency-resolved photoelectron spectra of two-photon ionization of He by an attosecond
pulse train
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, 8: Art. No. 92 JUN 9 2006
41. Wonisch, A; Neuhausler, U; Kabachnik, NM; et al.
Design, fabrication, and analysis of chirped multilayer mirrors for reflection of extremeultraviolet attosecond pulses
APPLIED OPTICS, 45 (17): 4147-4156 JUN 10 2006
42. Haas, M; Jentschura, UD; Keitel, CH; et al.
Two-photon excitation dynamics in bound two-body Coulomb systems including ac Stark
shift and ionization
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (5): Art. No. 052501 MAY 2006
150
43. Martinez, AJG; Lopez-Urrutia, JRC; Braun, J; et al.
Benchmarking high-field few-electron correlation and QED contributions in Hg75+ to
Hg78+ ions. I. Experiment
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (5): Art. No. 052710 MAY 2006
44. Harman, Z; Tupitsyn, II; Artemyev, AN; et al.
Benchmarking high-field few-electron correlation and QED contributions in Hg75+ to
Hg78+ ions. II. Theory
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (5): Art. No. 052711 MAY 2006
45. Klaiber, M; Hatsagortsyan, KZ; Keitel, CH
Gauge-invariant relativistic strong-field approximation
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (5): Art. No. 053411 MAY 2006
46. Kuehl, T; Bock, R; Borneis, S; et al.
PHELIX - Status and first experiments
HYPERFINE INTERACTIONS, 162 (1-4): 55-62 2005
47. Ishii, N; Teisset, CY; Fuji, T; et al.
Seeding of an eleven femtosecond optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier and its Nd3+
picosecond pump laser from a single broadband Ti : Sapphire oscillator
IEEE JOURNAL OF SELECTED TOPICS IN QUANTUM ELECTRONICS, 12 (2): 173180 MAR-APR 2006
48. Moreno, P; Mendez, C; Garcia, A; et al.
Femtosecond laser ablation of carbon reinforced polymers
APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE, 252 (12): 4110-4119 APR 15 2006
49. Torchia, GA; Mendez, C; Arias, I; et al.
Laser gain in femtosecond microstructured Nd : MgO : LiNbO3 crystals
APPLIED PHYSICS B-LASERS AND OPTICS, 83 (4): 559-563 JUN 2006
50. Sola, IJ; Mevel, E; Elouga, L; et al.
Controlling attosecond electron dynamics by phase-stabilized polarization gating
NATURE PHYSICS, 2 (5): 319-322 MAY 2006
51. Remetter, T; Johnsson, P; Mauritsson, J; et al.
Attosecond electron wave packet interferometry
NATURE PHYSICS, 2 (5): 323-326 MAY 2006
52. Emmanouilidou, A; Rost, JM
Triple photoionization of lithium near threshold
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39 (5):
L99-L103 MAR 14 2006
53. Morlens, AS; Lopez-Martens, R; Boyko, O; et al.
Design and characterization of extreme-ultraviolet broadband mirrors for attosecond
science
OPTICS LETTERS, 31 (10): 1558-1560 MAY 15 2006
54. Papalazarou, E; Kovacev, M; Tzallas, P; et al.
Spectral phase distribution retrieval through coherent control of harmonic generation
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 96 (16): Art. No. 163901 APR 28 2006
151
55. Islam, MR; Saalmann, U; Rost, JM
Kinetic energy of ions after Coulomb explosion of clusters induced by an intense laser
pulse
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (4): Art. No. 041201 APR 2006
56. Saugout, S; Cornaggia, C
Temporal separation of H-2 double-ionization channels using intense ultrashort 10-fs laser
pulses
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (4): Art. No. 041406 APR 2006
57. Altucci, C; Velotta, R; Heesel, E; et al.
High-order harmonic generation in alkanes
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (4): Art. No. 043411 APR 2006
58. Staudt, A; Keitel, CH
Two-electron ionization and stabilization beyond the dipole approximation
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (4): Art. No. 043412 APR 2006
59. Mese, E; Potvliege, RM
Ellipticity dependence of harmonic generation in atomic hydrogen
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39 (2):
431-442 JAN 28 2006
60. Staudt, A; Keitel, CH; Briggs, JS
Ionization suppression of excited atomic states beyond the stabilization regime
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39 (3):
633-639 FEB 14 2006
61. Saalmann, U; Siedschlag, C; Rost, JM
Mechanisms of cluster ionization in strong laser pulses
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39 (4):
R39-R77 FEB 28 2006
62. Nikolopoulos, LAA; Lambropoulos, P
Helium double ionization signals under soft-x-ray coherent radiation
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39 (4):
883-893 FEB 28 2006
63. Beylerian, C; Saugout, S; Cornaggia, C
Non-sequential double ionization of H-2 using ultrashort 10 fs laser pulses
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39 (6):
L105-L112 MAR 28 2006
64. Baker, S; Robinson, JS; Haworth, CA; et al.
Probing proton dynamics in molecules on an attosecond time scale
SCIENCE, 312 (5772): 424-427 APR 21 2006
65. Burvenich, TJ; Evers, J; Keitel, CH
Nuclear quantum optics with X-ray laser pulses
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 96 (14): Art. No. 142501 APR 14 2006
66. Palacios, A; Bachau, H; Martin, F
Enhancement and control of H-2 dissociative ionization by femtosecond VUV laser pulses
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 96 (14): Art. No. 143001 APR 14 2006
152
67. Arbo, DG; Yoshida, S; Persson, E; et al.
Interference oscillations in the angular distribution of laser-ionized electrons near
ionization threshold
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 96 (14): Art. No. 143003 APR 14 2006
68. Jaron-Becker, A; Becker, A; Faisal, FHM
Saturated ionization of fullerenes in intense laser fields
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 96 (14): Art. No. 143006 APR 14 2006
69. Kling, MF; Siedschlag, C; Verhoef, AJ; et al.
Control of electron localization in molecular dissociation
SCIENCE, 312 (5771): 246-248 APR 14 2006
70. Salamin, YI; Hu, SX; Hatsagortsyan, KZ; et al.
Relativistic high-power laser-matter interactions
PHYSICS REPORTS-REVIEW SECTION OF PHYSICS LETTERS, 427 (2-3): 41-155
APR 2006
71. Fuji, T; Ishii, N; Teisset, CY; et al.
Parametric amplification of few-cycle carrier-envelope phase-stable pulses at 2.1 mu m
OPTICS LETTERS, 31 (8): 1103-1105 APR 15 2006
72. San Roman, J; Ruiz, C; Perez, JA; et al.
Non-linear Young's double-slit experiment
OPTICS EXPRESS, 14 (7): 2817-2824 APR 3 2006
73. Quere, F; Thaury, C; Monot, P; et al.
Coherent wake emission of high-order harmonics from overdense plasmas
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 96 (12): Art. No. 125004 MAR 31 2006
74. Requate, A; Becker, A; Faisal, FHM
S-matrix theory of inelastic vibronic ionization of molecules in intense laser fields
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (3): Art. No. 033406 MAR 2006
75. Sanz-Vicario, JL; Bachau, H; Martin, F
Time-dependent theoretical description of molecular autoionization produced by
femtosecond xuv laser pulses
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (3): Art. No. 033410 MAR 2006
76. Yoshida, S; Reinhold, CO; Burgdorfer, J; et al.
Influence of a dc offset field on kicked quasi-one-dimensional Rydberg atoms:
Stabilization and frustrated field ionization
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (3): Art. No. 033411 MAR 2006
77. Vrakking, M
Direct and indirect methods to study attosecond timescale electron dynamics
PHYSICA SCRIPTA, 73 (1): C36-C41 JAN 2006
78. Koch, O; Kreuzer, W; Scrinzi, A
Approximation of the time-dependent electronic Schrodinger equation by MCTDHF
APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTATION, 173 (2): 960-976 FEB 15 2006
79. Ruiz, C; Plaja, L; Roso, L; et al.
Ab initio calculation of the double ionization of helium in a few-cycle laser pulse beyond
the one-dimensional approximation
153
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 96 (5): Art. No. 053001 FEB 10 2006
80. Simon, M; Journel, L; Guillemin, R; et al.
Femtosecond nuclear motion of HCl probed by resonant x-ray Raman scattering in the Cl
1s region
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (2): Art. No. 020706 FEB 2006
81. Barna, IF; Wang, JY; Burgdorfer, J
Angular distribution in two-photon double ionization of helium by intense attosecond softx-ray pulses
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (2): Art. No. 023402 FEB 2006
82. van der Hart, HW
Ionization rates for He, Ne, and Ar subjected to laser light with wavelengths between 248.6
and 390 nm
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (2): Art. No. 023417 FEB 2006
83. Verhoef, AJ; Seres, J; Schmid, K; et al.
Compression of the pulses of a Ti : sapphire laser system to 5 femtoseconds at 0.2 terawatt
level
APPLIED PHYSICS B-LASERS AND OPTICS, 82 (4): 513-517 MAR 2006
84. Gavrilenko, VP; Faenov, AY; Magunov, AI; et al.
Observation of modulations in Lyman-alpha line profiles of multicharged ions in clusters
irradiated by femtosecond laser pulses: Effect of a dynamic electric field
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (1): Art. No. 013203 JAN 2006
85. Zhao, W; Mestayer, JJ; Lancaster, JC; et al.
Bidirectionally kicked Rydberg atoms: Population trapping near the continuum
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (1): Art. No. 015401 JAN 2006
86. de Aldana, JRVA; Mendez, C; Roso, L
Saturation of ablation channels micro-machined in fused silica with many femtosecond
laser pulses
OPTICS EXPRESS, 14 (3): 1329-1338 FEB 6 2006
87. Becker, W; Brabec, T; Ehlotzky, F; et al.
Foreword - Special issue: Selected papers from a workshop of the 340th Wilhelm and Else
Heraeus Seminar on High-Field Attosecond Physics, 9-15 January 2005, Universitatszentrum
Obergurgl, Austria
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS, 53 (1-2): 5-5 JAN 20 2006
88. Marangos, JP; Altucci, C; Velotta, R; et al.
Molecular orbital dependence of high-order harmonic generation
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS, 53 (1-2): 97-111 JAN 20 2006
89. Milosevic, DB; Bauer, D; Becker, W
Quantum-orbit theory of high-order atomic processes in intense laser
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS, 53 (1-2): 125-134 JAN 20 2006
90. Bauer, D; Milosevic, DB; Becker, W
On the validity of the strong field approximation and simple man's theory
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS, 53 (1-2): 135-147 JAN 20 2006
154
91. Rottke, H; Liu, X; Eremina, E; et al.
Non-sequential double ionization in a few-cycle laser pulse: the influence of the carrierenvelope phase
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS, 53 (1-2): 149-162 JAN 20 2006
92. Dombi, P; Krausz, F; Farkas, G
Ultrafast dynamics and carrier-envelope phase sensitivity of multiphoton photoemission
from metal surfaces
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS, 53 (1-2): 163-172 JAN 20 2006
93. Faria, CFD; Liu, X; Becker, W
Classical aspects of laser-induced non-sequential double ionization above and below the
threshold
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS, 53 (1-2): 193-206 JAN 20 2006
94. Johnsson, P; Varju, K; Remetter, T; et al.
Trains of attosecond electron wave packets
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS, 53 (1-2): 233-245 JAN 20 2006
95. Wickenhauser, M; Burgdorfer, J; Krausz, F; et al.
Attosecond streaking of overlapping Fano resonances
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS, 53 (1-2): 247-257 JAN 20 2006
96. Libisch, F; Rotter, S; Burgdorfer, J
Non-retracing orbits in Andreev billiards
PHYSICAL REVIEW B, 73 (4): Art. No. 045324 JAN 2006
97. Tsakiris, GD; Eidmann, K; Meyer-ter-Vehn, J; et al.
Route to intense single attosecond pulses
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, 8: Art. No. 19 JAN 31 2006
98. Jiang, YH; Puttner, R; Hentges, R; et al.
Partial photoionization cross sections of doubly excited helium below the ionization
thresholds I-8 and I-9
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39 (1):
L9-L16 JAN 14 2006
99. Scrinzi, A; Ivanov, MY; Kienberger, R; et al.
Attosecond physics
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39 (1):
R1-R37 JAN 14 2006
100. Ayvazyan, V; Baboi, N; Bahr, J; et al.
First operation of a free-electron laser generating GW power radiation at 32 nm wavelength
EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL D, 37 (2): 297-303 FEB 2006
101. Rauschenberger, J; Fuji, T; Hentschel, M; et al.
Carrier-envelope phase-stabilized amplifier system
LASER PHYSICS LETTERS, 3 (1): 37-42 JAN 2006
102. Stampfer, C; Rotter, S; Burgdorfer, J
Comment on "Dynamic range of nanotube- and nanowire-based electromechanical
systems" [Appl. Phys. Lett. 86, 223105 (2005)]
APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS, 88 (3): Art. No. 036101 JAN 16 2006
155
103. Deiss, C; Rohringer, N; Burgdorfer, J; et al.
Laser-cluster interaction: X-ray production by short laser pulses
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 96 (1): Art. No. 013203 JAN 13 2006
104. Heesel, E; Garraway, BM; Marangos, JP
Analysis of adiabatic passage by light-induced potentials with chirped laser pulses in threeand four-level diatomic systems
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS, 124 (2): Art. No. 024320 JAN 14 2006
105. Barragan-Campos, HM; Vallee, JN; Lo, D; et al.
Percutaneous vertebroplasty for spinal metastases: Complications
RADIOLOGY, 238 (1): 354-362 JAN 2006
106. Meyer-ter-Vehn, J; Honrubia, J; Geissler, M; et al.
On electron transport in fast ignition research and the use of few-cycle PW-range laser
pulses
PLASMA PHYSICS AND CONTROLLED FUSION, 47: B807-B813 Sp. Iss. SI Suppl.
12B DEC 2005
107. Bottcher, M; Rottke, H; Zhavoronkov, N; et al.
Reaction microscope study of near-threshold photo double ionization of xenon using high
harmonics
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 38
(23): L389-L396 DEC 14 2005
108. Czasch, A; Schoffler, M; Hattass, M; et al.
Partial photoionization cross sections and angular distributions for double excitation of
helium up to the N=13 threshold
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 95 (24): Art. No. 243003 DEC 9 2005
109. Horndl, M; Yoshida, S; Wolf, A; et al.
Enhancement of low energy electron-ion recombination in a magnetic field: Influence of
transient field effects
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 95 (24): Art. No. 243201 DEC 9 2005
110. Varju, K; Mairesse, Y; Agostini, P; et al.
Reconstruction of attosecond pulse trains using an adiabatic phase expansion
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 95 (24): Art. No. 243901 DEC 9 2005
111. Guyetand, O; Gisselbrecht, M; Huetz, A; et al.
Multicolour above-threshold ionization of helium: quantum interference effects in angular
distributions
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 38
(22): L357-L363 NOV 28 2005
112. Madine, M; van der Hart, HW
Competition between multi-photon emission of the 1s and the 2s electron from He 1s2s S-1
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 38
(22): 3963-3972 NOV 28 2005
113. Carniato, S; Taieb, R; Kukk, E; et al.
N-K near-edge x-ray-absorption fine structures of acetonitrile in gas phase
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS, 123 (21): Art. No. 214301 DEC 1 2005
156
114. Serebryannikov, EE; Zheltikov, AM; Ishii, N; et al.
Nonlinear-optical spectral transformation of few-cycle laser pulses in photonic-crystal
fibers
PHYSICAL REVIEW E, 72 (5): Art. No. 056603 Part 2 NOV 2005
115. Milstein, AI; Terekhov, IS; Jentschura, UD; et al.
Laser-dressed vacuum polarization in a Coulomb field
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 72 (5): Art. No. 052104 NOV 2005
116. Martchenko, T; Siedschlag, C; Zamith, S; et al.
Optimal control of femtosecond laser-cluster interactions
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 72 (5): Art. No. 053202 NOV 2005
117. Buica, G; Nakajima, T
Effects of laser polarization on photoelectron angular distribution through laser-induced
continuum structure
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 72 (5): Art. No. 053416 NOV 2005
118. Buffa, R; Tognetti, MV; Anscombe, MP; et al.
Propagation dynamics of coherence and nonlinear mixing in an ionizing three-level
medium
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 72 (5): Art. No. 053811 NOV 2005
119. Gayet, R
Renormalized Coulomb-Volkov approach to strong ionization by feintosecond laser pulses
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 38
(21): 3905-3916 NOV 14 2005
120. Kenfack, A; Rost, JM
Stochastic dissociation of diatomic molecules
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS, 123 (20): Art. No. 204322 NOV 22 2005
121. Kovacev, M; Fomichev, SV; Priori, E; et al.
Extreme ultraviolet fourier-transform spectroscopy with high order harmonics
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 95 (22): Art. No. 223903 NOV 25 2005
122. Di Piazza, A; Hatsagortsyan, KZ; Keitel, CH
Harmonic generation from laser-driven vacuum
PHYSICAL REVIEW D, 72 (8): Art. No. 085005 OCT 2005
123. Winter, HP; Lederer, S; Winter, H; et al.
Kinetic electron emission induced by grazing scattering of slow atoms: Local probe of the
Compton profile near the Fermi edge
PHYSICAL REVIEW B, 72 (16): Art. No. 161402 OCT 2005
124. Arevalo, E; Becker, A
Theoretical analysis of fluorescence signals in filamentation of femtosecond laser pulses in
nitrogen molecular gas
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 72 (4): Art. No. 043807 OCT 2005
125. Lapierre, A; Jentschura, UD; Lopez-Urrutia, JRC; et al.
Relativistic electron correlation, quantum electrodynamics, and the lifetime of the
1s(2)2s(2)2p P-2(3/2)o level in boronlike argon
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 95 (18): Art. No. 183001 OCT 28 2005
157
126. Rotter, S; Kuhl, U; Libisch, F; et al.
Fano resonances and decoherence in transport through quantum dots
PHYSICA E-LOW-DIMENSIONAL SYSTEMS & NANOSTRUCTURES, 29 (1-2): 325333 OCT 2005
127. Roso, L; Plaja, L; Moreno, P; et al.
Multielectron atomic models using the Rochester one-dimensional potential
LASER PHYSICS, 15 (10): 1393-1409 OCT 2005
128. Tavella, F; Schmid, K; Ishii, N; et al.
High-dynamic range pulse-contrast measurements of a broadband optical parametric
chirped-pulse amplifier
APPLIED PHYSICS B-LASERS AND OPTICS, 81 (6): 753-756 OCT 2005
129. Zhao, W; Mestayer, JJ; Lancaster, JC; et al.
Engineering very-high-n polarized Rydberg states using tailored half-cycle-pulse sequences
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 95 (16): Art. No. 163007 OCT 14 2005
130. Naumov, S; Fernandez, A; Graf, R; et al.
Approaching the microjoule frontier with femtosecond laser oscillators
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, 7: Art. No. 216 OCT 10 2005
131. van der Hart, HW
Two-photon detachment of inner-shell electrons from LiPHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 95 (15): Art. No. 153001 OCT 7 2005
132. Vozzi, C; Calegari, F; Benedetti, E; et al.
Controlling two-center interference in molecular high harmonic generation
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 95 (15): Art. No. 153902 OCT 7 2005
133. Saalmann, U; Rost, JM
Electron dynamics in strong laser pulse illumination of large rare gas clusters
EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL D, 36 (2): 159-164 NOV 2005
134. Weingartner, B; Rotter, S; Burgdorfer, J
Simulation of electron transport through a quantum dot with soft walls
PHYSICAL REVIEW B, 72 (11): Art. No. 115342 SEP 2005
135. Mahmoudi, M; Salamin, YI; Keitel, CH
Free-electron quantum signatures in intense laser fields
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 72 (3): Art. No. 033402 SEP 2005
136. Gundry, S; Anscombe, MP; Abdulla, AM; et al.
Off-resonant preparation of a vibrational coherence for enhanced stimulated Raman
scattering
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 72 (3): Art. No. 033824 SEP 2005
137. Gohle, C; Rauschenberger, J; Fuji, T; et al.
Carrier envelope phase noise in stabilized amplifier systems
OPTICS LETTERS, 30 (18): 2487-2489 SEP 15 2005
138. Serebryannikov, EE; Zheltikov, AM; Ishii, N; et al.
Soliton self-frequency shift of 6-fs pulses in photonic-crystal fibers
APPLIED PHYSICS B-LASERS AND OPTICS, 81 (5): 585-588 SEP 2005
158
139. Servol, M; Quere, F; Bougeard, M; et al.
New target for high-intensity laser-matter interaction: Gravitational flow of micrometersized powders
REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS, 76 (8): Art. No. 083105 AUG 2005
140. Zamith, S; Ansari, Z; Lepine, F; et al.
Single-shot measurement of revival structures in femtosecond laser-induced alignment of
molecules
OPTICS LETTERS, 30 (17): 2326-2328 SEP 1 2005
159
Programme COST P14
LASER-MATTER INTERACTIONS WITH ULTRA-SHORT PULSES, HIGHFREQUENCY PULSES AND ULTRA-INTENSE PULSES:
(From Attophysics to Petawatt Physics)
Working Group # 2
“Interactions of atoms, molecules and clusters with high-frequency radiation
including attosecond pulses and pulses from free-electron lasers and X-ray
lasers”
Brief Scientific Report for 2006
Outline
1) Main scientific advances
2) Reports from the teams
3) List of publications
p. 1
p. 3
p.14
1) Main scientific advances
Over the perio the participating groups have published many papers in
internationally renowned journals (see the list below). Many team members have
participated in international workshops and conferences. Several exchange visits
(STSMs) have been organized, see the enclosed list. Most groupswere represented
at the Budapest Meeting and the Szeged IAMPI Conference (Oct. 1 – Oct. 5).
Keeping in mind that there are strong overlaps with themes developed in other
working groups, (notably with WG # 1), the main scientific advances related to
Project # 2, can be summarized as follows:
• Harmonic generation and "Attophysics"
In the absence over the period of published experimental results from use of Free
Electron Lasers (although experiments have commenced – see next section), the
interaction of ultra-short attosecond pulses of XUV light with matter – where the
pulses are produced as a consequence of high harmonic generation, has
monopolised the experimental literature. Such short pulses provide an opportunity to
track electronic motion in atoms and/or molecules `as it happens’ in the course of
excitation or dissociation process. Most of the groups from Working Group # 2,
contributed significantly to progress (Amsterdam, Belfast, Bordeaux, Garching,
Heraklion, Lund, London, Palaiseau, Saclay, Wien). Notable results have been
obtained on the following non-exhaustive list of topics:
- production of ultra-short laser pulses (of durations of a few femtoseconds)
with controlled carrier-envelope phase;
- optimization of new harmonic sources;
- design and optimization of optical components for the UV and XUV spectral
ranges;
- characterization of the attosecond pulses;
- theory and simulation of the time evolution of electronic and nuclear
wavepackets;
- "attophysics" applications, among which the possibility of “imaging”
molecular
electronic wave functions is actively investigated, see below;
- etc.
160
• Atomic and ionic species
The advent of new European facilities joining improved laser sources and
COLTRIMS-like detection devices for coincidence measurements, has provided
experimentalists with the opportunity to obtain high precision data which should
provide a stimulus to theoretical understanding (Berlin, Heidelberg, Lund, Oxford,
Palaiseau, Saclay).
New photoionization measurements are now possible with the recent advent
of the FLASH source, now in operation at DESY, providing 25 fs pulses of XUV and
soft x-ray light with unprecedented intensities. Experiments are underway to observe
non-linear processes at these frequencies (e.g. multiphoton ionization at XUV
frequencies) and theoretical work is in progress. Another class of experiments have
explored two-colour (IR-XUV) multiphoton ionization, by mixing XFEL light with that
from an IR laser (Belfast, Hamburg, Orsay, Saclay, Paris).
A non-exhaustive list of other topics include:
- the question of relativistic effects - expected to become dominant in the high
intensity regime, beyond 1017 W/cm2. Several new effects have been predicted
(Heidelberg). At these intensities, multiple ionization of atoms is observed and the
question of deriving an adequate theoretical treatment of the process remains open
(Berlin, Durham, Heidelberg, Salamanca).
- the role of atomic excited states in the dynamics of Above-Threshold
Ionization process has been investigated (Belgrad, Bucharest, Durham, Paris).
- the calculation of atomic phase-shifts of the wave functions for the
continuum states in complex atoms, needed for interpreting the photoelectron
angular distributions, represents still a challenge for the theoreticians. Significant
advances have been realized in the interpretation of recent experimental results
(Lund, Palaiseau, Paris).
• Molecules, clusters and condensed matter
In molecular physics, a principal question still concerns the possibility of
controlling molecular fragmentation, either via dissociation or Coulomb explosion. In
view of the potential applications in the control of chemical processes, this continues
to be actively investigated. Moreover, a closely related theme, that has emerged very
recently, is the possibility to “image”, through a tomographic analysis of the harmonic
signal, the electronic molecular wave function in in the course of a molecular
transition. Several COST 14 groups in Europe actively contribute to these studies,
either in experiments or in theory: Belfast, Berlin, Bordeaux, Heidelberg, London,
Louvain, Oxford, Saclay, Salamanca.
The question of the response of clusters and more generally of macroscopic
samples of dense materials to ultra-intense and short laser pulses represents also a
challenge in several areas of basic as well as applied sciences. In comparison to
atoms and molecules, the absorption of the laser energy by a mesoscopic or
macroscopic sample involves a subtle interplay between the microscopic response of
the atoms and the collective response of the nano- (or micro-)plasma which is
created during the rising part of the pulse. A new area is also currently investigated,
that is related to the study of the dynamics of the clusters, when irradiated by a
strong XFEL pulse, i.e. in the high-frequency regime. Several groups contribute
actively to these topics: Amsterdam, Berlin, Bordeaux, Darmstadt, Dresden,
Hamburg, Palaiseau, Saclay, etc.
161
2) Reports from the teams
A brief report involving the main scientific advances of MISDC VNIIFTRI, Russia team
obtained in collaboration with different Laboratories since January 2006
1) A model that solves simultaneously both the electron and atomic kinetics was used to
generate a synthetic Heα and satellite x-ray spectra to characterize a high intensity ultrashort
laser driven Ar cluster target experiment. In particular, level populations were obtained from a
detailed collisional-radiative model where collisional rates were computed from a time
varying electron distribution function obtained from the solution of the zero-dimensional
Boltzmann equation. In addition, a particle-in-cell simulation was used to model the laser
interaction with the cluster target and provided the initial electron energy distribution function
(EEDF) for the Boltzmann solver. This study suggests that a high density average, <Na > high,
of 3.2x1020 cm−3 was held by the system for a time, τ, of 5.7 ps, and during this time the
plasma was in a highly nonequilibrium state in both the EEDF and the ion level populations.
Article in Phys. Rev. E., 73, 066404 (2006) was published.
2) Plasma satellites of x-ray spectral lines were observed for the first time in the experiments
on the interaction of powerful laser pulses (laser flux up to 4x1017 W/cm2) with large N2O
clusters. The experimental spectra of plasma satellites of the Lyman doublet 2P1/2,3/2 − 1S1/2 in
H-like O VIII ions in a dense plasma were simulated theoretically, allowing an interpretation
of the experimental results. It were shown that allowing for oscillating electric fields of the
amplitude E0 ~ (0.5–1.0)x109 V/cm and frequency ω~(0.7–2.4)x1015 s−1 leads to spectral
features in the theoretical profiles of the Lyα O VIII line that are similar to the features
observed experimentally. Article in Phys. Rev. A., 73, 013203 (2006) was published.
3) The self-channeled propagation of intense femtosecond pulses over an extended distance in
a N2O cluster gas target using high resolution kilovolt x-ray pinhole images of the channel
and spatially resolved x-ray spectra we diagnosed. The x-ray images are consistent with
femtosecond optical scattering, shadowgraphy, and interferometry images. Extended plasma
channels (~ 9 mm) limited either by the cluster jet length or by absorption, for injected laser
intensities in the range of 1016–1017 W/cm2 were observed. Spectral line shapes for the OVII
1s2-1s3p and OVIII 1s-2p transitions (at 1.8627 and 1.8969 nm, respectively) show significant
broadening to the blue side and with truncated emission on the red side. This effect were
attribute to Doppler blueshifted emission from fast ions with energy up to 1 MeV from
exploding clusters moving toward the spectrometer; redshifted emission from the opposite
side of the cluster is absorbed. Article in Phys. Rev. E., 73,
XXVIII.
162
DURHAM Group
In a collaboration with the Institute of Physics of Belgrade (Serbia), the Durham group has
completed a study of the relation between quasienergy curves crossings in the Floquet
spectrum of argon and the conspicuous plateaus enhancements which were found in the highorder above-threshold ionization of that species several years ago [1,2]. The calculations
showed that these enhancements occur at intensities where the dressed ground state is in
resonance, or in the wing of resonances, with dressed excited states. The calculations involved
in this work have since been extended to other wavelenghts, in collaboration with Dicle
University (Diyarbakir, Turkey), so as to achieve a better understanding of the structure of the
quasienergy spectrum [3].
The Durham group, together with Dr Chirila (University of Kassel, Germany) has also
completed a study of the spectrum of slow photoelectrons created when an intense ultrashort
laser pulse interacts with an atom, more particularly of how the spectrum varies with pulse
duration [4].
References:
[1] R. M. Potvliege and S. Vucic, Phys. Rev. A 74 (2006) 023412.
[2] R. M. Potvliege and S. Vucic, Phys. Scripta 74 (2006) C55.
[3] E. Mese and R. M. Potvliege, in preparation.
[4] C. C. Chirila and R. M. Potvliege, in preparation.
163
2006 report of FORTH-IESL for the COST P14 program
PROJECT: Generation, characterization and applications of high frequency, ultra short
duration pulses.
Sub-Project 1: Second order autocorrelation of an XUV attosecond pulse train
As described in our 2005 report we have recently performed and fully evaluated a
second order autocorrelation (AC) of a superposition of higher harmonics, demonstrating that
they form a train of sub-fs pulses [1-3].
During the reporting period progress has been made in extending these measurements
towards frequency resolved AC approaches (see next paragraph) as well as towards shorter
wavelengths. The so far utilized “non-linear detector” was the two photon ionization of
atomic He, which is restricted to XUV photon energies up to 24.6 eV, i.e. up to the 15 th
harmonic of the Ti:Sapph laser. Extension to shorter wavelengths is realizable either trough
ATI or Direct Multiple Ionization. Towards this goal we have recently demonstrated direct
double ionization of Kr and Ar atoms through two-XUV-photon absorption from
superpositions of harmonics [4].
References
[1] P. Tzallas et al. Nature 426, 270 (2003)
[2] P. Tzallas et al. J. of Mod. Opt. 52, 321 (2005)
[3] L.A.A. Nikolopoulos et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 113905 (2005)
[4] E. Benis et al. Phys. Rev. A (submitted)
Sub-Project 2: Frequency resolved two-XUV-photon gating
Towards an extension of the so-called “Frequency Resolved Optical Gating” method to
the XUV spectral region, utilizing two-XUV-photon ionization energy resolved photoelectron
spectroscopy, the in the previous report discussed observation of the first two-XUV-photon
ionization photoelectron spectra (two photon ionization of He), induced by a superposition of
higher order harmonics, has been finalized and published.
References
[1] E. Benis New J. of Phys. 8 92 (2006)
Sub-Project 3: Mode sensitive Harmonic-Fundamental cross-correlation / Complete
temporal reconstruction of ultra-short high frequency pulses.
The temporal intensity distribution of the third harmonic of a Ti:Sapph laser
generated in Xe gas is fully reconstructed from its spectral phase and amplitude distributions.
The spectral phases are retrieved by cross correlating the fundamental laser frequency field
with that of the third harmonic, in a three laser vs one harmonic photon coupling scheme. The
third harmonic spectral amplitude distribution is extracted from its field autocorrelation. The
measured pulse duration is found to be in agreement with that expected from lowest order
perturbation theory both for un-stretched and chirped pulses. [1].
The approach has been extended to the superposition of the 3rd and 5th harmonic
stretched through propagation in optical materials. Full spectral phase retrieval and temporal
pulse reconstruction was achieved and found in good agreement with simulations. [2]
References
[1] E. Papalazarou et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 163901 (2006).
[2] P. Tzallas (in preparation)
164
Relevant publications in 2006
-“Spectral phase distribution retrieval through coherent control of harmonic generation” E.
Papalazarou, M. Kovacev, P. Tzallas, E. P. Benis, C. Kalpouzos, G. D. Tsakiris and D.
Charalambidis Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 163901 (2006).
- “Frequency Resolved Photoelectron Spectra of Two-Photon Ionization of He by an
Attosecond Pulse Train” E. P. Benis, P. Tzallas, L. A.A. Nikolopoulos, M. Kovačev, C.
Kalpouzos, D. Charalambidis, and G. D. Tsakiris New J. of Phys. 8 92 (2006)
- Comment on “Photoionization of helium atoms irradiated with intense vacuum ultraviolet
free-electron laser light. Part I. Experimental study of multiphoton and single-photon
processes” D. Charalambidis, N. Papadogiannis, N.A.A. Nikolopoulos, P. Tzallas, E. Benis
and G. Tsakiris Phys. Rev. A 74, 037401 (2006)
Relevant invited and oral conference presentations

“Interaction of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas with Intense Ultrashort Laser Pulses”
(IAMPI 2006) October 1-5, 2006, Szeged, Hungary (given by P. Tzallas)
Related funded projects



MC RTN “Ultrashort XUV pulses for Time Resolved and Non –linear Applications”
(XTRA)
MC IRG “Characterization and Research Applications of Attosecond Pulses” (CHARA)
MC TOK “XUV-High Order Harmonic Metrology Tools for Novel Spectroscopic
Applications” (X-HOMES)
165
CELIA (Bordeaux group)
PROJECT COST P14 “ULTRA”
Report (2006)
WG1 project 1 “Interaction of atoms, molecules and clusters with super-intense, ultrashort few cycle infrared and visible laser pulses and generation of attosecond pulses”
XXIX. Dynamics of laser-Ar cluster interaction
Many experimental works have recently been dedicated to ultra-intense laser-cluster
interactions; while interesting per se, these interactions were demonstrated to yield efficiently
multi-keV X-ray bursts, of great interest for ultrafast X-ray science applications. In CELIA,
we focus intense (up to a few 1017 W/cm2) femtosecond (down to 40 fs) laser pulses onto a
partially clusterized argon gas jet. An experimental set-up has been specifically designed to
get both a spectral resolution of the X-ray emission (~ 1 eV) and a picosecond temporal
resolution. Our experiments have demonstrated, for the first time, that the K-shell emission
duration is shorter than our temporal resolution (3 ps). Further, the ionization dynamics, that
yield Ar ions up to Ar16+, have been observed to occur within a timescale shorter than 1 ps,
which corresponds to our data analysis resolution. These observations have been quite well
reproduced by simulations including "nano-plasma" model and collisional-radiative
calculations, that indicate that the X-ray emission should occur within a few 100 fs scale.
Enhancement of activation and decay rates of nuclear levels through laser heating of
plasmas
It has recently been shown (A. V. Andreev et al. JETP 91, 1163 (2000)) that the activation
and decay of the 6.238 keV nuclear level of 181Ta can be enhanced in femtosecond laser
heated Ta plasmas. This enhancement is due to the high density surrounding plasma and high
ionization states of Ta ions. A detailed knowledge of the plasma conditions is required to
understand further the enhancement mechanisms. A Ta target was thus heated in CELIA
using 45 fs Ti :sapphire laser pulses with intensities ranging from1 to 6 1016 W/cm2.
Langmuir probes have been used to characterize the ion emission and we employed both CCD
and NaI(Tl) pulse height detection systems to measure the X-ray emission. The deposition
and implantation of the escaping Ta ions and atoms were also characterized by means of
Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry. These experiments have shed light on the plasma
conditions and have allowed to carry out analytical models and hydrodynamical calculations
to elicit the mechanisms responsible for the enhancement of the nuclear rates.
XAFS calculations in dense matter
Phase transitions are fundamental processes of nature. The most familiar among them are
structural changes such as melting or freezing, vaporization or condensation, and sublimation
that define the transitions between the three states of matter, namely, solid, liquid, and gas.
Understanding phase boundaries and transition kinetics has long been a focus of research in
material science, chemistry, and biology. Moreover, while most studies are concerned with
thermodynamical equilibrium, there is also a growing interest (see the recent review, T.
Pfeifer et al, Rep. Prog. Phys. 69, 443 (2006)) in the investigation of nonequilibrium behavior
over time scales pertinent to atomic and molecular motion, that is femtosecond to picosecond.
Experimental studies in such time scales have been both enabled and driven by advances in
femtosecond lasers. They offer unparalleled temporal resolution for following the evolution of
dynamical processes. The adequate combination of a femtosecond laser « pump » (triggering
a change in a sample of interest) together with a laser-produced X-ray probe beam enables the
166
capture of ultrafast processes (C. Bressler, M. Chergui, Chem. Rev. 104, 1781 (2004)). In that
context, X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (XAFS), which refers to the oscillatory
structure in the X-ray absorption coefficient just above a photoionization edge, gives access to
the short-range order in a material. For the purpose of designing and interpreting future pumpprobe experiments at CELIA, we started calculations of photoionization edge profiles in
metals and melting metals. These calculations are based on a combination of a DFT approach
of dense matter with the full multiple scattering technique for the calculation of the
photoionization cross section.
A.
B.
Transport of intense laser-produced electron beams in matter
Fast electron transport in matter is a key issue for assessing the feasibility of fast ignition in
inertial confinement fusion or the development of laser-produced ion beam sources. A series
of experiments with ultra-intense laser (up to 6 1019 W/cm2) studying fast electron transport in
metallic (Al) and insulating (CH) foil targets have been realized at Laboratoire d’Optique
Appliquée (LOA). The dynamics of the fast electron propagation as well as the level of
induced heating was investigated using the optical self-emission of the targets rear side.
A detailed analysis of the experimental data has been carried at CELIA:
- In Aluminium, the spatially-resolved images show a 33° (HWHM) divergent bulk
population. The study of the total emitted energy and spectrum against target thickness and
the discrimination of the coherent (transition radiation) and the incoherent (thermal emission)
parts of the signal allowed to characterize a two-temperature fast electron population:
moderately relativistic (Thot  0.3MeV) bulk electrons and a highly collimated micro-bunched
and relativistic (Thot  7MeV) tail. An important heating of the rear of the thinner targets was
estimated (Te>10eV at 30-40µm depth). We have shown this heating is mainly due to a
resistive mechanism upon the background electrons return current balancing the incoming fast
electrons current.
- In plastic, optical emission is mainly due to the Cherenkov effect and it is orders of
magnitude larger than in Al. Besides that, the fast-electron beam undergoes strong
filamentation and the number of filaments increases with the target thickness. This
filamented behaviour in insulators was attributed to the instability of the ionization front
related to the electric field ionization process. The filamentary structures characteristic
growth rate and characteristic transversal scale are in agreement with analytical
predictions.
Publications (WG1 – project 1)
- F. Gobet, F. Hannachi, M.M. Aléonard, J.F. Chemin, G. Claverie, M. Gerbaux, G. Malka,
J.N. Scheurer, M. Tarsien, F. Blasco, D. Descamps, F. Dorchies, R. Fedosejevs, C. Fourment,
S. Petit, V. Méot, P. Morel, S. Hanvey, L. Robson, B. Liesfeld, Rev. Sc. Instr. 77, 093302
(2006)
Absolute energy distribution of hard X-rays produced in the interaction of a kHz femtosecond
laser with tantalum targets
- T. Caillaud, F. Blasco, C. Bonté, F. Dorchies, P. Mora, Physics of Plasmas 13, 033105
(2006)
Study of intense femtosecond laser propagation into a dense Ar gas and cluster jet
- M. Manclossi, J.J. Santos, D. Batani, J. Faure, A. Debayle, V. T. Tikhonchuk, V. Malka,
Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 125002 (2006)
Study of Ultraintense Laser-Produced Fast-Electron Propagation and Filamentation
in Insulator and Metal Foil Targets by Optical Emission Diagnostics
167
- C. Bonté, M. Harmand, F. Dorchies, S. Magnan, V. Pitre, J.C. Kieffer, P. Audebert, J.P.
Geindre, Rev. Sc. Instr. (submitted)
High dynamic range streak camera for sub-picosecond time-resolved X-ray spectroscopy
WG1 project 2 “Interaction of atoms, molecules and clusters with high-frequency
radiation including attosecond pulses and pulses from free-electron lasers and X-ray
lasers”
Interactions of atoms, molecules with super-intense, ultra-short
generation of attosecond pulse
-
laser pulses and
Theory
If the strong field approximation (SFA) and Coulomb-Volkov approximations have been
widely studied in the context of infrared lasers (IR), much less is known in the UV or X
range, the purpose of our research is to investigate this wavelength range. In fact, in previous
works, it was established that a simple theoretical approach called CV2-, which is based on
Coulomb-Volkov-type (CV) states, could supply reliable predictions of atomic ionization by
extreme ultraviolet laser pulses down to the subfemtosecond regime. For any field parameter,
it was shown that CV2- provides accurate energy distributions of ejected electrons, including
many above-threshold ionization (ATI) peaks, as long as the two following conditions are
simultaneously fulfilled: (i) the photon energy is greater than or equal to the ionization
potential I P ; (ii) the ionization process is not saturated. The condition (i) restricts CV2application to VUV laser pulses (e.g., high enough harmonics of Ti-Sapphire lasers), while
the condition (ii) limits CV2- application to laser intensities compatible with the perturbation
regime. Therefore, further systematic studies have been conducted to extend the field of
application of Coulomb-Volkov approaches to laser pulse-induced transitions.
Keeping condition (i), a renormalization procedure, which takes into account the depletion of
the initial state in the course of irradiation, has been introduced successfully. This new
approach, called RCV2- (renormalized CV2-), permits to get rid of condition (ii), thus opening
the way to application of Coulomb-Volkov approaches to ionization by laser pulses with
  I P whatever the laser intensity.
Recently, we have showed that, beyond the perturbation theory, the depletion of the
population of the initial state is easily determined by means of a reduced set of coupled
equation.
These results have been presented at the 43rd Conference on Matter in Super-Intence Laser
Fields, Erice, Italy, 25 June – 5 July 2006, organized with the support of the P14 program:
R. Guichard, “Ionization and excitation induced by femtosecond laser pulses, CoulombVolkov approach”, Erice (Italy), 27 june-5 july 2006, International School of Quantum
Electronics.
Besides the application of the SFA for the study of the ionization of atoms irradiated by UV
and X lasers, we have pursued our investigation of multielectronic atoms and molecules in
strong fields, resolving the time dependent Schrödinger equation (TDSE). Emphasis has been
put on the study of two-photon two-electron ionization of helium in ultra short XUV fields
and the excitation and ionization of molecular hydrogen by vuv laser pulses. The dynamics
inherent to the sub-femtosecond regime, and its effects on electron spectra (and KED of
protons in the molecular case), have been investigated.
-
Experiment
During this period, we also further studied the confinement of the XUV emission induced
by the so called “polarization gating” technique that we have developed.
168
This technique relies on controlling the temporal evolution of the polarization of a short pulse
that is used to generate XUV via high order harmonic emission. We had already observed the
temporal confinement of this XUV emission in a CELIA-LLC collaboration with relatively
long pulses (30 fs). These observations allowed us to define the optimum condition for single
attosecond pulse generation.
We managed to observe the XUV emission under these conditions thanks to collaboration
with the Cusbo laboratory from Milan (M. Nisoli, Milan). By modulating the polarization of a
short (5 fs) pulse having its carrier envelop phase (CEP) stabilized, we observed the transition
between the generation of a single isolated attosecond pulse and two attosecond pulses or
more. This allowed to show that, with this approach, broadband isolated attosecond pulses can
be generated with several gases. The central frequency of these attosecond pulses can
therefore easily be tuned which is very important for application of these pulses.
This CELIA-Cusbo collaboration allowed us to define the optimal conditions for generating
isolated attosecond pulses with the Cusbo laser and allowed them to implement this technique
on their laser system to deliver isolated attosecond pulses.
Publications (WG1 – project 2)
- R. Gayet, J. Phys. B 38, 3905-16 (2005)
- R. Guichard and R. Gayet, Phys. Rev. A 74, 011402 (2006)
- A. Palacios, H. Bachau and F. Martin, Phys Rev A 74, 031402(R) (2006)
- E. Foumouo, S. Laulan, B. Piraux and H. Bachau, J. Phys. B 39, S427 (2006)
- A. Palacios, H. Bachau and F. Martin, Phys Rev Lett 96, 143001 (2006)
- J. L. Sanz-Vicario, H. Bachau and F. Martin, Phys. Rev. A 73, 033410 (2005)
- A. Palacios, S. Barmaki, H. Bachau and F. Martin, Phys. Rev. A 71, 063405 (2005)
- I. J. Sola, E. Mével, L. Elouga, E. Constant, V. Strelkov, L. Poletto, P. Villoresi, E.
Benedetti, J-P. Caumes, S. Stagira, C. Vozzi, G. Sansone and M. Nisoli, Nature physics vol.
2, n° 5, 319-322 (2006)
- I. J. Sola, A. Zaïr, R. López-Martens, P. Johnsson, K. Varjú, E. Cormier, J. Mauritsson, A.
L’Huillier, V. Strelkov, E. Mével and E. Constant, Phys. Rev. A 74, 013810 (2006)
- V. Strelkov, A. Zair, O. Tcherbakoff, R. Lopez-Martens, E. Cormier, E. Mével and E.
Constant, “Single attosecond pulse production with ellipticity modulated driving IR pulse”, J.
Phys. B 38, L161-L167 (2005)
- V. Strelkov, A. Zair, O. Tcherbakoff, R. Lopez-martens, E. Cormier, E. Mével and E.
Constant, “Attosecond pulse generation with an ellipticity modulated laser pulse”, Laser
Physics 15-6, 1-9 (2005)
- K. Varju, P. Johnsson, R. Lopez-Martens, T. Remetter, E. Gustafsson, A. L’huillier, J.
Mauritsson, M.B.Gaarde, K.J.Schaffer, C.Erny, I.Sola, A.Zair, E.Constant, E.Cormier,
E.Mével, “Experimental Studies of Attosecond Pulse Trains”, Laser Physics 15-6, 888-898
(2005)
169
REPORT from Professor Viorica Stanaclie, Bucharest, Romania
Activity related to the project 2" Interaction of atoms, molecules and clusters with
high-frequency
radiation including attosecond pulses and pulses from free-electron lasers and X-ray
lasers"
The work which has been undertaken refers the following activities:
1. Atomic data calculations for Li-like Al ions as related to the laser-produced
plasma on aluminum target.
2. Analysis of electron-impact excitation and related collision strengths for Co3+
3. Short term scientific mission V. Stancalie at QUB.
1. Electron collision strengths for electron-impact excitation of the Li-like Al ion have
been evaluated in the close-coupling approximation on the use of the R-matrix
method. Five LS target eigenstates are included in the expansion of the total wave
function, consisting of the two n =2 states with configurations 1s22s, 1s22p, and the
three n =3 states with configurations 1s23s, 1s23p, 1s23d. Collision strengths are
obtained in LS coupling using FARM code and in intermediate coupling scheme
using SUPERSTRUCTURE program. The effective collision strengths are calculated
as function of temperature, up to a temperature that does not exceed half of the
maximum energy in the R-matrix run [1]. These data are to be compared with those
calculated for proton-impact excitation [2].
Laser-induced degenerate state model has been implemented to describe di-electronic
recombination process in Al10+[3].
We implemented the web services for accessing data and building distributed
applications. Currently, such an application is constructed for numerical calculations
of dipole matrix elements between bound-bound, bound-free and free-free states
belonging to complex atoms and used in the evaluation of effective oscillator
strengths averaged over the continuum. A data access service exposes the atomic data
from the database in a system independent and auto descriptive format offering
methods for data filtering and sorting [4].
2. The second aim was the study of complex atoms as Co and Ni using the R-matrix
code. These species are complicated by having open 3d shells, which gives rise to
large numbers of low-lying target energy levels, whose associated channels are
strongly coupled. In electron-impact excitation of these complex atoms, large number
of target states are required both to allow for coupling between levels, and to obtain
accurate atomic structure via a large configuration –interaction basis. The importance
of the contribution from resonances to the rate coefficients for many transitions
makes the R-matrix method the optimal close-coupling theory to use. New algorithms
to treat d –shells efficiently, and associated computer codes for implement them, have
been developed at Queen’s University of Belfast [5]
3. During 12/03/2006 to 25/03/2006 V. Stancalie visited The Queen’s University of
Belfast, Dept. of Appl. Math and Theoretical Phys., under Short Term Scientific
Mission. We studied complex atoms as Co and Ni using the R-matrix codes. These
species are complicated by having open 3d shells, which gives rise to large numbers
of low-lying target energy levels, whose associated channels are strongly coupled.
The importance of the contribution from resonances to the rate coefficients for many
170
transitions makes the R-matrix method the optimal close-coupling theory to use.
A second topic that was preliminary addressed during this STSM was to investigate
the mechanism of resonant multiphoton ionization and recombination in short pulse
lasers using R-matrix Floquet theory and code. The study is essential for furthering a
new research project, which aims at developing of a new theoretical non-perturbative
approach for the study of electron-scattering followed by photon emission process.
Publications
1. V. Stancalie, V. Pais, “Effective collision strengths for electron-impact excitation
of Al10+”
Laser and Particle Beams, 24(2006)235;
2. V. Stancalie, V. Pais, M. Totolici, A. Mihailescu « Forbidden transitions in
excitation by
proton impact in Li-like Al ions » to be presented at the IAMPI Conf. , Szeged,
Oct.2006
3. V. Stancalie, “MQDT/R-Matrix Floquet Method for Dielectronic Recombination”,
AIP
Conference Proceedings, April 7,2006, Vol.827,pp448-453
4. V. Pais, V. Stancalie, “ Using Web Services for Remote Data Access and
Distributed
Applications” Fusion Engineering and Device, 81(2006)15;
5. V. Pais, V. Stancalie, “Development of remote participation environment in fusion
research” Paper presented at TERENA Networking Conference 2006, 15 – 18 May
2006,
Catania (Sicily), Italy, in press FED(2006)
6. P.G. Burke, V.M.Burke, A. Hibbert, B.M. McLaughlin, C.J.Noble, C.A.
Ramsbottom,
M.P.Scott, V. Stancalie “Electron impact excitation of Fe-peak ions of astrophysical
interest” to be presented at The International Conference on Atomic and Molecular
Data,
October 15-19,2006, Meudon, France
171
3) LIST OF PUBLICATIONS RELATED TO THE ACTIVITIES OF WG#2
(EXTRACTED FROM THE WEB OF SCIENCE DATA BASE, UP TO SEPT. 2006)
1. Orts, RS; Harman, Z; Lopez-Urrutia, JRC; et al.
Exploring relativistic many-body recoil effects in highly charged ions
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 97 (10): Art. No. 103002 SEP 8 2006
2. Akozbek, N; Trushin, SA; Baltuska, A; et al.
Extending the supercontinuum spectrum down to 200 nm with few-cycle pulses
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, 8: Art. No. 177 SEP 5 2006
3. Panek, P; Becker, A
Dark pulses for resonant two-photon transitions
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 74 (2): Art. No. 023408 AUG 2006
4. Nakajima, T; Buica, G
Above-threshold ionization of Mg by linearly and circularly polarized laser fields: Origin
of the subpeaks in the photoelectron energy spectra
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 74 (2): Art. No. 023411 AUG 2006
5. Potvliege, RM; Vucic, S
High-order above-threshold ionization of argon: Plateau resonances and the Floquet
quasienergy spectrum
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 74 (2): Art. No. 023412 AUG 2006
6. Maquet, A; Piraux, B; Scrinzi, A; et al.
Comment on "Photoionization of helium atoms irradiated with intense vacuum ultraviolet
free-electron laser light. Part II. Theoretical modeling of multiphoton and single-photon
processes"
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 74 (2): Art. No. 027401 AUG 2006
7. Di Piazza, A; Hatsagortsyan, KZ; Keitel, CH
Light diffraction by a strong standing electromagnetic wave
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 97 (8): Art. No. 083603 AUG 25 2006
8. Dal Col, M; Macovei, M; Keitel, CH
Controlling multiparticle correlations with a strong laser field
OPTICS COMMUNICATIONS, 264 (2): 407-412 AUG 15 2006
9. Chipperfield, LE; Knight, PL; Tisch, JWG; et al.
Tracking individual electron trajectories in a high harmonic spectrum
OPTICS COMMUNICATIONS, 264 (2): 494-501 AUG 15 2006
10. Siedschlag, C; Shir, OM; Back, T; et al.
Evolutionary algorithms in the optimization of dynamic molecular alignment
OPTICS COMMUNICATIONS, 264 (2): 511-518 AUG 15 2006
11. Potvliege, RM; Adams, CS
Photo-ionization in far-off-resonance optical lattices
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, 8: Art. No. 163 AUG 30 2006
172
12. Liu, X; de Morisson Faria, CF; Becker, W; et al.
Attosecond electron thermalization by laser-driven electron recollision in atoms
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39
(16): L305-L311 AUG 28 2006
13. Sundvor, I; Hansen, JP; Taieb, R
On the description of nuclear dynamics in ionization of diatomic molecules in short strong
electromagnetic fields
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39
(16): 3299-3307 AUG 28 2006
14. Rodenas, A; Garcia, JAS; Jaque, D; et al.
Optical investigation of femtosecond laser induced microstress in neodymium doped
lithium niobate crystals
JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS, 100 (3): Art. No. 033521 AUG 1 2006
15. Meyer, M; Cubaynes, D; O'Keeffe, P; et al.
Two-color photoionization in xuv free-electron and visible laser fields
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 74 (1): Art. No. 011401 JUL 2006
16. Guichard, R; Gayet, R
Approach to ionization by intense laser pulses through a reduced set of coupled state
equations
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 74 (1): Art. No. 011402 JUL 2006
17. Smirnov, MB; Becker, W
X-ray generation in laser-heated cluster beams
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 74 (1): Art. No. 013201 JUL 2006
18. Sola, IJ; Zair, A; Lopez-Martens, R; et al.
Temporal and spectral studies of high-order harmonics generated by polarizationmodulated infrared fields
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 74 (1): Art. No. 013810 JUL 2006
19. Persson, E; Schiessl, K; Scrinzi, A; et al.
Generation of attosecond unidirectional half-cycle pulses: Inclusion of propagation effects
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 74 (1): Art. No. 031818 JUL 2006
20. Jordan, G; Caillat, J; Ede, C; et al.
Strong field ionization of linear molecules: a correlated three-dimensional calculation
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39
(13): S341-S347 JUL 14 2006
21. Gubbini, E; Eichmann, U; Kalashnikov, M; et al.
Multiple ionization of Kr in an intense circularly polarized laser field
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39
(13): S381-S387 JUL 14 2006
22. Foumouo, E; Laulan, S; Piraux, B; et al.
Dynamics of two-photon double-ionization of helium at the attosecond scale
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39
(13): S427-S435 JUL 14 2006
173
23. Vozzi, C; Calegari, F; Benedetti, E; et al.
Probing two-centre interference in molecular high harmonic generation
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39
(13): S457-S466 JUL 14 2006
24. Milosevic, DB; Paulus, GG; Bauer, D; et al.
Above-threshold ionization by few-cycle pulses
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39
(14): R203-R262 JUL 28 2006
25. Moreno, P; Mendez, C; Garcia, A; et al.
Synthesis of ceramic nanoparticles by ultrafast laser ablation of solid targets in water
JOURNAL OF NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY, 6 (7): 1961-1967 JUL
2006
26. Cohen, S; Liontos, I; Bolovinos, A; et al.
Two-photon ionization spectra of calcium above the 4s(1/2) threshold
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39
(12): 2693-2708 JUN 28 2006
27. Theberge, F; Akozbek, N; Liu, WW; et al.
Tunable ultrashort laser pulses generated through filamentation in gases
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 97 (2): Art. No. 023904 JUL 14 2006
28. Lin, Q; Li, S; Becker, W
High-order harmonic generation in a tightly focused laser beam
OPTICS LETTERS, 31 (14): 2163-2165 JUL 15 2006
29. Torchia, GA; Mendez, C; Vazquez De Aldana, JR; et al.
Spatial modulation of linear and quadratic susceptibilities in lithium niobate crystals by
using femtosecond laser pulses
FERROELECTRICS, 333: 151-156 2006
30. Shir, OM; Siedschlag, C; Back, T; et al.
Niching in evolution strategies and its application to laser pulse shaping
LECTURE NOTES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE, 3871: 85-96 2006
31. Mauritsson, J; Johnsson, P; Gustafsson, E; et al.
Attosecond pulse trains generated using two color laser fields
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 97 (1): Art. No. 013001 JUL 7 2006
32. Kim, KY; Milchberg, HM; Faenov, AY; et al.
X-ray spectroscopy of 1 cm plasma channels produced by self-guided pulse propagation in
elongated cluster jets
PHYSICAL REVIEW E, 73 (6): Art. No. 066403 Part 2 JUN 2006
33. Sherrill, ME; Abdallah, J; Csanak, G; et al.
Spectroscopic characterization of an ultrashort-pulse-laser-driven Ar cluster target
incorporating both Boltzmann and particle-in-cell models
PHYSICAL REVIEW E, 73 (6): Art. No. 066404 Part 2 JUN 2006
34. Serebryannikov, EE; Zheltikov, AM; Kohler, S; et al.
Diffraction-arrested soliton self-frequency shift of few-cycle laser pulses in a photoniccrystal fiber
174
PHYSICAL REVIEW E, 73 (6): Art. No. 066617 Part 2 JUN 2006
35. Milstein, AI; Muller, C; Hatsagortsyan, KZ; et al.
Polarization-operator approach to electron-positron pair production in combined laser and
Coulomb fields
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (6): Art. No. 062106 JUN 2006
36. Ruiz, C; Plaja, L; Taieb, R; et al.
Quantum and semiclassical simulations in intense laser-H-2(+) interactions
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (6): Art. No. 063411 JUN 2006
37. Comanici, R; Gabel, B; Gustavsson, T; et al.
Femtosecond spectroscopic study of carminic acid-DNA interactions
CHEMICAL PHYSICS, 325 (2): 509-518 JUN 20 2006
38. Jarque, EC; Roso, L
Hydrogen atom interacting with a multifrequency laser field: ionization and harmonic
generation
OPTICS EXPRESS, 14 (12): 4998-5006 JUN 12 2006
39. Andersen, TV; Schmidt, O; Bruchmann, C; et al.
High repetition rate tunable femtosecond pulses and broadband amplification from fiber
laser pumped parametric amplifier
OPTICS EXPRESS, 14 (11): 4765-4773 MAY 29 2006
40. Benis, EP; Tzallas, P; Nikolopoulos, LAA; et al.
Frequency-resolved photoelectron spectra of two-photon ionization of He by an attosecond
pulse train
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, 8: Art. No. 92 JUN 9 2006
41. Wonisch, A; Neuhausler, U; Kabachnik, NM; et al.
Design, fabrication, and analysis of chirped multilayer mirrors for reflection of extremeultraviolet attosecond pulses
APPLIED OPTICS, 45 (17): 4147-4156 JUN 10 2006
42. Haas, M; Jentschura, UD; Keitel, CH; et al.
Two-photon excitation dynamics in bound two-body Coulomb systems including ac Stark
shift and ionization
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (5): Art. No. 052501 MAY 2006
43. Martinez, AJG; Lopez-Urrutia, JRC; Braun, J; et al.
Benchmarking high-field few-electron correlation and QED contributions in Hg75+ to
Hg78+ ions. I. Experiment
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (5): Art. No. 052710 MAY 2006
44. Harman, Z; Tupitsyn, II; Artemyev, AN; et al.
Benchmarking high-field few-electron correlation and QED contributions in Hg75+ to
Hg78+ ions. II. Theory
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (5): Art. No. 052711 MAY 2006
45. Klaiber, M; Hatsagortsyan, KZ; Keitel, CH
Gauge-invariant relativistic strong-field approximation
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (5): Art. No. 053411 MAY 2006
46. Kuehl, T; Bock, R; Borneis, S; et al.
175
PHELIX - Status and first experiments
HYPERFINE INTERACTIONS, 162 (1-4): 55-62 2005
47. Ishii, N; Teisset, CY; Fuji, T; et al.
Seeding of an eleven femtosecond optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier and its Nd3+
picosecond pump laser from a single broadband Ti : Sapphire oscillator
IEEE JOURNAL OF SELECTED TOPICS IN QUANTUM ELECTRONICS, 12 (2): 173180 MAR-APR 2006
48. Moreno, P; Mendez, C; Garcia, A; et al.
Femtosecond laser ablation of carbon reinforced polymers
APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE, 252 (12): 4110-4119 APR 15 2006
49. Torchia, GA; Mendez, C; Arias, I; et al.
Laser gain in femtosecond microstructured Nd : MgO : LiNbO3 crystals
APPLIED PHYSICS B-LASERS AND OPTICS, 83 (4): 559-563 JUN 2006
50. Sola, IJ; Mevel, E; Elouga, L; et al.
Controlling attosecond electron dynamics by phase-stabilized polarization gating
NATURE PHYSICS, 2 (5): 319-322 MAY 2006
51. Remetter, T; Johnsson, P; Mauritsson, J; et al.
Attosecond electron wave packet interferometry
NATURE PHYSICS, 2 (5): 323-326 MAY 2006
52. Emmanouilidou, A; Rost, JM
Triple photoionization of lithium near threshold
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39 (5):
L99-L103 MAR 14 2006
53. Morlens, AS; Lopez-Martens, R; Boyko, O; et al.
Design and characterization of extreme-ultraviolet broadband mirrors for attosecond
science
OPTICS LETTERS, 31 (10): 1558-1560 MAY 15 2006
54. Papalazarou, E; Kovacev, M; Tzallas, P; et al.
Spectral phase distribution retrieval through coherent control of harmonic generation
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 96 (16): Art. No. 163901 APR 28 2006
55. Islam, MR; Saalmann, U; Rost, JM
Kinetic energy of ions after Coulomb explosion of clusters induced by an intense laser
pulse
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (4): Art. No. 041201 APR 2006
56. Saugout, S; Cornaggia, C
Temporal separation of H-2 double-ionization channels using intense ultrashort 10-fs laser
pulses
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (4): Art. No. 041406 APR 2006
57. Altucci, C; Velotta, R; Heesel, E; et al.
High-order harmonic generation in alkanes
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (4): Art. No. 043411 APR 2006
58. Staudt, A; Keitel, CH
Two-electron ionization and stabilization beyond the dipole approximation
176
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (4): Art. No. 043412 APR 2006
59. Mese, E; Potvliege, RM
Ellipticity dependence of harmonic generation in atomic hydrogen
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39 (2):
431-442 JAN 28 2006
60. Staudt, A; Keitel, CH; Briggs, JS
Ionization suppression of excited atomic states beyond the stabilization regime
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39 (3):
633-639 FEB 14 2006
61. Saalmann, U; Siedschlag, C; Rost, JM
Mechanisms of cluster ionization in strong laser pulses
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39 (4):
R39-R77 FEB 28 2006
62. Nikolopoulos, LAA; Lambropoulos, P
Helium double ionization signals under soft-x-ray coherent radiation
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39 (4):
883-893 FEB 28 2006
63. Beylerian, C; Saugout, S; Cornaggia, C
Non-sequential double ionization of H-2 using ultrashort 10 fs laser pulses
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39 (6):
L105-L112 MAR 28 2006
64. Baker, S; Robinson, JS; Haworth, CA; et al.
Probing proton dynamics in molecules on an attosecond time scale
SCIENCE, 312 (5772): 424-427 APR 21 2006
65. Burvenich, TJ; Evers, J; Keitel, CH
Nuclear quantum optics with X-ray laser pulses
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 96 (14): Art. No. 142501 APR 14 2006
66. Palacios, A; Bachau, H; Martin, F
Enhancement and control of H-2 dissociative ionization by femtosecond VUV laser pulses
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 96 (14): Art. No. 143001 APR 14 2006
67. Arbo, DG; Yoshida, S; Persson, E; et al.
Interference oscillations in the angular distribution of laser-ionized electrons near
ionization threshold
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 96 (14): Art. No. 143003 APR 14 2006
68. Jaron-Becker, A; Becker, A; Faisal, FHM
Saturated ionization of fullerenes in intense laser fields
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 96 (14): Art. No. 143006 APR 14 2006
69. Kling, MF; Siedschlag, C; Verhoef, AJ; et al.
Control of electron localization in molecular dissociation
SCIENCE, 312 (5771): 246-248 APR 14 2006
70. Salamin, YI; Hu, SX; Hatsagortsyan, KZ; et al.
Relativistic high-power laser-matter interactions
177
PHYSICS REPORTS-REVIEW SECTION OF PHYSICS LETTERS, 427 (2-3): 41-155
APR 2006
71. Fuji, T; Ishii, N; Teisset, CY; et al.
Parametric amplification of few-cycle carrier-envelope phase-stable pulses at 2.1 mu m
OPTICS LETTERS, 31 (8): 1103-1105 APR 15 2006
72. San Roman, J; Ruiz, C; Perez, JA; et al.
Non-linear Young's double-slit experiment
OPTICS EXPRESS, 14 (7): 2817-2824 APR 3 2006
73. Quere, F; Thaury, C; Monot, P; et al.
Coherent wake emission of high-order harmonics from overdense plasmas
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 96 (12): Art. No. 125004 MAR 31 2006
74. Requate, A; Becker, A; Faisal, FHM
S-matrix theory of inelastic vibronic ionization of molecules in intense laser fields
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (3): Art. No. 033406 MAR 2006
75. Sanz-Vicario, JL; Bachau, H; Martin, F
Time-dependent theoretical description of molecular autoionization produced by
femtosecond xuv laser pulses
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (3): Art. No. 033410 MAR 2006
76. Yoshida, S; Reinhold, CO; Burgdorfer, J; et al.
Influence of a dc offset field on kicked quasi-one-dimensional Rydberg atoms:
Stabilization and frustrated field ionization
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (3): Art. No. 033411 MAR 2006
77. Vrakking, M
Direct and indirect methods to study attosecond timescale electron dynamics
PHYSICA SCRIPTA, 73 (1): C36-C41 JAN 2006
78. Koch, O; Kreuzer, W; Scrinzi, A
Approximation of the time-dependent electronic Schrodinger equation by MCTDHF
APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTATION, 173 (2): 960-976 FEB 15 2006
79. Ruiz, C; Plaja, L; Roso, L; et al.
Ab initio calculation of the double ionization of helium in a few-cycle laser pulse beyond
the one-dimensional approximation
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 96 (5): Art. No. 053001 FEB 10 2006
80. Simon, M; Journel, L; Guillemin, R; et al.
Femtosecond nuclear motion of HCl probed by resonant x-ray Raman scattering in the Cl
1s region
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (2): Art. No. 020706 FEB 2006
81. Barna, IF; Wang, JY; Burgdorfer, J
Angular distribution in two-photon double ionization of helium by intense attosecond softx-ray pulses
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (2): Art. No. 023402 FEB 2006
82. van der Hart, HW
Ionization rates for He, Ne, and Ar subjected to laser light with wavelengths between 248.6
and 390 nm
178
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (2): Art. No. 023417 FEB 2006
83. Verhoef, AJ; Seres, J; Schmid, K; et al.
Compression of the pulses of a Ti : sapphire laser system to 5 femtoseconds at 0.2 terawatt
level
APPLIED PHYSICS B-LASERS AND OPTICS, 82 (4): 513-517 MAR 2006
84. Gavrilenko, VP; Faenov, AY; Magunov, AI; et al.
Observation of modulations in Lyman-alpha line profiles of multicharged ions in clusters
irradiated by femtosecond laser pulses: Effect of a dynamic electric field
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (1): Art. No. 013203 JAN 2006
85. Zhao, W; Mestayer, JJ; Lancaster, JC; et al.
Bidirectionally kicked Rydberg atoms: Population trapping near the continuum
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 73 (1): Art. No. 015401 JAN 2006
86. de Aldana, JRVA; Mendez, C; Roso, L
Saturation of ablation channels micro-machined in fused silica with many femtosecond
laser pulses
OPTICS EXPRESS, 14 (3): 1329-1338 FEB 6 2006
87. Becker, W; Brabec, T; Ehlotzky, F; et al.
Foreword - Special issue: Selected papers from a workshop of the 340th Wilhelm and Else
Heraeus Seminar on High-Field Attosecond Physics, 9-15 January 2005, Universitatszentrum
Obergurgl, Austria
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS, 53 (1-2): 5-5 JAN 20 2006
88. Marangos, JP; Altucci, C; Velotta, R; et al.
Molecular orbital dependence of high-order harmonic generation
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS, 53 (1-2): 97-111 JAN 20 2006
89. Milosevic, DB; Bauer, D; Becker, W
Quantum-orbit theory of high-order atomic processes in intense laser
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS, 53 (1-2): 125-134 JAN 20 2006
90. Bauer, D; Milosevic, DB; Becker, W
On the validity of the strong field approximation and simple man's theory
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS, 53 (1-2): 135-147 JAN 20 2006
91. Rottke, H; Liu, X; Eremina, E; et al.
Non-sequential double ionization in a few-cycle laser pulse: the influence of the carrierenvelope phase
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS, 53 (1-2): 149-162 JAN 20 2006
92. Dombi, P; Krausz, F; Farkas, G
Ultrafast dynamics and carrier-envelope phase sensitivity of multiphoton photoemission
from metal surfaces
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS, 53 (1-2): 163-172 JAN 20 2006
93. Faria, CFD; Liu, X; Becker, W
Classical aspects of laser-induced non-sequential double ionization above and below the
threshold
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS, 53 (1-2): 193-206 JAN 20 2006
94. Johnsson, P; Varju, K; Remetter, T; et al.
179
Trains of attosecond electron wave packets
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS, 53 (1-2): 233-245 JAN 20 2006
95. Wickenhauser, M; Burgdorfer, J; Krausz, F; et al.
Attosecond streaking of overlapping Fano resonances
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS, 53 (1-2): 247-257 JAN 20 2006
96. Libisch, F; Rotter, S; Burgdorfer, J
Non-retracing orbits in Andreev billiards
PHYSICAL REVIEW B, 73 (4): Art. No. 045324 JAN 2006
97. Tsakiris, GD; Eidmann, K; Meyer-ter-Vehn, J; et al.
Route to intense single attosecond pulses
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, 8: Art. No. 19 JAN 31 2006
98. Jiang, YH; Puttner, R; Hentges, R; et al.
Partial photoionization cross sections of doubly excited helium below the ionization
thresholds I-8 and I-9
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39 (1):
L9-L16 JAN 14 2006
99. Scrinzi, A; Ivanov, MY; Kienberger, R; et al.
Attosecond physics
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 39 (1):
R1-R37 JAN 14 2006
100. Ayvazyan, V; Baboi, N; Bahr, J; et al.
First operation of a free-electron laser generating GW power radiation at 32 nm wavelength
EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL D, 37 (2): 297-303 FEB 2006
101. Rauschenberger, J; Fuji, T; Hentschel, M; et al.
Carrier-envelope phase-stabilized amplifier system
LASER PHYSICS LETTERS, 3 (1): 37-42 JAN 2006
102. Stampfer, C; Rotter, S; Burgdorfer, J
Comment on "Dynamic range of nanotube- and nanowire-based electromechanical
systems" [Appl. Phys. Lett. 86, 223105 (2005)]
APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS, 88 (3): Art. No. 036101 JAN 16 2006
103. Deiss, C; Rohringer, N; Burgdorfer, J; et al.
Laser-cluster interaction: X-ray production by short laser pulses
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 96 (1): Art. No. 013203 JAN 13 2006
104. Heesel, E; Garraway, BM; Marangos, JP
Analysis of adiabatic passage by light-induced potentials with chirped laser pulses in threeand four-level diatomic systems
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS, 124 (2): Art. No. 024320 JAN 14 2006
105. Barragan-Campos, HM; Vallee, JN; Lo, D; et al.
Percutaneous vertebroplasty for spinal metastases: Complications
RADIOLOGY, 238 (1): 354-362 JAN 2006
106. Meyer-ter-Vehn, J; Honrubia, J; Geissler, M; et al.
On electron transport in fast ignition research and the use of few-cycle PW-range laser
pulses
180
PLASMA PHYSICS AND CONTROLLED FUSION, 47: B807-B813 Sp. Iss. SI Suppl.
12B DEC 2005
107. Bottcher, M; Rottke, H; Zhavoronkov, N; et al.
Reaction microscope study of near-threshold photo double ionization of xenon using high
harmonics
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 38
(23): L389-L396 DEC 14 2005
108. Czasch, A; Schoffler, M; Hattass, M; et al.
Partial photoionization cross sections and angular distributions for double excitation of
helium up to the N=13 threshold
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 95 (24): Art. No. 243003 DEC 9 2005
109. Horndl, M; Yoshida, S; Wolf, A; et al.
Enhancement of low energy electron-ion recombination in a magnetic field: Influence of
transient field effects
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 95 (24): Art. No. 243201 DEC 9 2005
110. Varju, K; Mairesse, Y; Agostini, P; et al.
Reconstruction of attosecond pulse trains using an adiabatic phase expansion
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 95 (24): Art. No. 243901 DEC 9 2005
111. Guyetand, O; Gisselbrecht, M; Huetz, A; et al.
Multicolour above-threshold ionization of helium: quantum interference effects in angular
distributions
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 38
(22): L357-L363 NOV 28 2005
112. Madine, M; van der Hart, HW
Competition between multi-photon emission of the 1s and the 2s electron from He 1s2s S-1
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 38
(22): 3963-3972 NOV 28 2005
113. Carniato, S; Taieb, R; Kukk, E; et al.
N-K near-edge x-ray-absorption fine structures of acetonitrile in gas phase
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS, 123 (21): Art. No. 214301 DEC 1 2005
114. Serebryannikov, EE; Zheltikov, AM; Ishii, N; et al.
Nonlinear-optical spectral transformation of few-cycle laser pulses in photonic-crystal
fibers
PHYSICAL REVIEW E, 72 (5): Art. No. 056603 Part 2 NOV 2005
115. Milstein, AI; Terekhov, IS; Jentschura, UD; et al.
Laser-dressed vacuum polarization in a Coulomb field
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 72 (5): Art. No. 052104 NOV 2005
116. Martchenko, T; Siedschlag, C; Zamith, S; et al.
Optimal control of femtosecond laser-cluster interactions
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 72 (5): Art. No. 053202 NOV 2005
117. Buica, G; Nakajima, T
Effects of laser polarization on photoelectron angular distribution through laser-induced
continuum structure
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 72 (5): Art. No. 053416 NOV 2005
181
118. Buffa, R; Tognetti, MV; Anscombe, MP; et al.
Propagation dynamics of coherence and nonlinear mixing in an ionizing three-level
medium
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 72 (5): Art. No. 053811 NOV 2005
119. Gayet, R
Renormalized Coulomb-Volkov approach to strong ionization by feintosecond laser pulses
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 38
(21): 3905-3916 NOV 14 2005
120. Kenfack, A; Rost, JM
Stochastic dissociation of diatomic molecules
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS, 123 (20): Art. No. 204322 NOV 22 2005
121. Kovacev, M; Fomichev, SV; Priori, E; et al.
Extreme ultraviolet fourier-transform spectroscopy with high order harmonics
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 95 (22): Art. No. 223903 NOV 25 2005
122. Di Piazza, A; Hatsagortsyan, KZ; Keitel, CH
Harmonic generation from laser-driven vacuum
PHYSICAL REVIEW D, 72 (8): Art. No. 085005 OCT 2005
123. Winter, HP; Lederer, S; Winter, H; et al.
Kinetic electron emission induced by grazing scattering of slow atoms: Local probe of the
Compton profile near the Fermi edge
PHYSICAL REVIEW B, 72 (16): Art. No. 161402 OCT 2005
124. Arevalo, E; Becker, A
Theoretical analysis of fluorescence signals in filamentation of femtosecond laser pulses in
nitrogen molecular gas
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 72 (4): Art. No. 043807 OCT 2005
125. Lapierre, A; Jentschura, UD; Lopez-Urrutia, JRC; et al.
Relativistic electron correlation, quantum electrodynamics, and the lifetime of the
1s(2)2s(2)2p P-2(3/2)o level in boronlike argon
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 95 (18): Art. No. 183001 OCT 28 2005
126. Rotter, S; Kuhl, U; Libisch, F; et al.
Fano resonances and decoherence in transport through quantum dots
PHYSICA E-LOW-DIMENSIONAL SYSTEMS & NANOSTRUCTURES, 29 (1-2): 325333 OCT 2005
127. Roso, L; Plaja, L; Moreno, P; et al.
Multielectron atomic models using the Rochester one-dimensional potential
LASER PHYSICS, 15 (10): 1393-1409 OCT 2005
128. Tavella, F; Schmid, K; Ishii, N; et al.
High-dynamic range pulse-contrast measurements of a broadband optical parametric
chirped-pulse amplifier
APPLIED PHYSICS B-LASERS AND OPTICS, 81 (6): 753-756 OCT 2005
129. Zhao, W; Mestayer, JJ; Lancaster, JC; et al.
Engineering very-high-n polarized Rydberg states using tailored half-cycle-pulse sequences
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 95 (16): Art. No. 163007 OCT 14 2005
182
130. Naumov, S; Fernandez, A; Graf, R; et al.
Approaching the microjoule frontier with femtosecond laser oscillators
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, 7: Art. No. 216 OCT 10 2005
131. van der Hart, HW
Two-photon detachment of inner-shell electrons from LiPHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 95 (15): Art. No. 153001 OCT 7 2005
132. Vozzi, C; Calegari, F; Benedetti, E; et al.
Controlling two-center interference in molecular high harmonic generation
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 95 (15): Art. No. 153902 OCT 7 2005
133. Saalmann, U; Rost, JM
Electron dynamics in strong laser pulse illumination of large rare gas clusters
EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL D, 36 (2): 159-164 NOV 2005
134. Weingartner, B; Rotter, S; Burgdorfer, J
Simulation of electron transport through a quantum dot with soft walls
PHYSICAL REVIEW B, 72 (11): Art. No. 115342 SEP 2005
135. Mahmoudi, M; Salamin, YI; Keitel, CH
Free-electron quantum signatures in intense laser fields
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 72 (3): Art. No. 033402 SEP 2005
136. Gundry, S; Anscombe, MP; Abdulla, AM; et al.
Off-resonant preparation of a vibrational coherence for enhanced stimulated Raman
scattering
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 72 (3): Art. No. 033824 SEP 2005
137. Gohle, C; Rauschenberger, J; Fuji, T; et al.
Carrier envelope phase noise in stabilized amplifier systems
OPTICS LETTERS, 30 (18): 2487-2489 SEP 15 2005
138. Serebryannikov, EE; Zheltikov, AM; Ishii, N; et al.
Soliton self-frequency shift of 6-fs pulses in photonic-crystal fibers
APPLIED PHYSICS B-LASERS AND OPTICS, 81 (5): 585-588 SEP 2005
139. Servol, M; Quere, F; Bougeard, M; et al.
New target for high-intensity laser-matter interaction: Gravitational flow of micrometersized powders
REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS, 76 (8): Art. No. 083105 AUG 2005
140. Zamith, S; Ansari, Z; Lepine, F; et al.
Single-shot measurement of revival structures in femtosecond laser-induced alignment of
molecules
OPTICS LETTERS, 30 (17): 2326-2328 SEP 1 2005
141. Parker JS, Doherty BJS, Taylor KT, Schultz KD, Blaga CI and DiMauro LF
High-energy cutoff in the spectrum of strong-field nonsequential double ionization
Phys. Rev. Lett. 96 133001 (2006)
142. Taylor KT, Parker JS Dundas D, Meharg KJ, Doherty BJS, Murphy DS and McCann JF
Multiphoton double ionization of atoms and molecules by FEL XUV light
J. Electron. Spectrosc. Relat. Phen. 144-147, 1191-1196 (2005)
183
The European Concerted Research Action
COST P14
LASER-MATTER INTERACTIONS WITH ULTRA-SHORT PULSES, HIGHFREQUENCY PULSES AND ULTRA-INTENSE PULSES: From
Attophysics to Petawatt Physics
Project 3: Study of the interaction of ultra-short pulses, high-frequency
pulses and ultra-intense pulses with plasmas
Progress Report 2006
Contributions:
FRANCE
-GREAT BRITAIN
-CELIA-J.C. Gauthier/F.Dorchies
-CEA-SACLAY-P. Monot
-LULI-P. Audebert
HUNGARIA
-Research Institute for particle and Nuclear Physics-I.B. Foldes
ITALY
-Università di Pisa-F. Pegoraro
ROMANIA
-University of Bucharest-V. Stancalie
SERBIA-MONTENEGRO
-Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences, B. Gakovic
SUMMARY
The study of interaction of ultra short lasers with plasmas has covered a particular
wide range of domain during the 2006 year. The behaviour of plasmas generated from
solid targets as well as from gas or even clusters has been explored by many European
groups on the existing laser facilities.
-Different aspects of the harmonic generation by non-linear reflection onto soliddensity plasmas have been investigated by several teams. The attosecond temporal
emission structure has been theoretically studied while experiments have shown
evidence for a new mechanism of generation. Careful observations of harmonic
properties have lead to the conclusion that emission can reveal the signature of surface
rippling.
184
-The equation of state plasmas resulting from solid target irradiation has been
extensively studied. This concerns both theoretical studies and experiments involving
fast X-ray diagnostics. Electron transport into dense matter was also studied.
-The propagation behaviour of intense laser pulses in under dense plasmas was
investigated. The development of filamentation was underlined for specific
conditions.
-Experimental evidences of the short pulse duration of X-rays generated by clusters
were obtained.
All these studies have contributed to improve our knowledge in various fundamental
physics domain. We can note that in most case, the help of the COST action P14 has
been significant, via its ability to bring together a large number of national teams
(support of missions or international meetings).
Great Britain
Harmonic generation from plasma in the relativistic regime
A large transnational collaboration has led to a clear experimental demonstration of
high harmonic generation in the relativistic limit, obtained on the Vulcan Petawatt
laser. High conversion efficiencies ( >10-6 per harmonic) and bright emission (>1022
photons s-1 mm-2 mrad-2 (0.1% bandwidth)) have been obseerved within the `waterwindow' region of particular interest for bio-microscopy (  <4 nm).
The measured harmonic yield shows a good agreement with recent theoretical
predictions. These observations confirm the slow decay of harmonic radiation with
harmonic order which was expected. It opens up the way to exciting new physics by
providing a route to high-power attosecond pulses and substantial field enhancement
by means of coherent harmonic focusing. The high source brightness makes this
source attractive for a range of applications that require high instantaneous brightness.
C.
Publications:
High harmonic generation in the relativistic limit, B. Dromey, M. Zepf, A. Gopal,
K. Lancaster, M. S. Wei, K. Krushelnick, M. Tatarakis, N. Vakakis, S. Moustaizis, R.
Kodama, M. Tampo, C. Stoeckl, R. Clarke, H. Habara, D. Neely, S. Karsch and P.
Norreys, Nature Physics 2, 456 - 459 (2006)
ITALY
Corresponding author:
Francesco Pegoraro
Dipartimento di Fisica Universita' di Pisa largo Pontecorvo 3, 56127 Pisa
tel. +39 050 2214844 f ax. +39 050 2214333 [email protected]
Research Activity
185
The Pisa-theory group has been active in the development of models and numerical
simulations of ion acceleration by intense laser pulses, in conditions of relevance for
the new proposed laser plasma installations. In particular, the group is investigating
the stability of ultrahigh-intensity regimes of ion acceleration which may open new
perspectives for high-energy physics (HEP) experiments [Pegoraro et al., in
preparation].
The group has recently proposed a novel regime of ion acceleration, based on the use
of circularly polarized laser pulses, which could lead to efficient ion acceleration.
With ultrashort few-cycle pulses, ion bunches produced using circular polarization
may have femtosecond duration as well and possibly be used to drive a source of
fusion neutrons of similar duration.
In collaboration with the research group of Marco Borghesi at Queen's University, the
pondero-motive ion acceleration in underdense and overdense plasmas has been
simulated with 2D PIC codes in order to interpret the measurements of the plasma
channels obtained with the technique of proton imaging.
A full 3D fluid analysis of the development of the current filamentation instability has
been performed, focussing on the effect of spatial localization (due to the ``Weibel
resonance ‘’) of the magnetic structures that are formed and on their spatial coherence
[Three-Dimensional Magnetic Structures Generated by the Development of the
Filamentation (Weibel) Instability in the Relativistic Regime.
A new technique of producing attosecond pulses in the interaction of a breaking wake
wave, acting as a relativistic mirror, with laser produced plasma structures like
solitons and magnetic vortices has been proposed and studied analytically and with
2D PIC simulations. [Single-cycle high-intensity electromagnetic pulse generation in
the interaction of a plasma wakefield with regular nonlinear structures.
Publications
“Enabling pulse compression and proton acceleration in a modular ICF driver for
nuclear and particle physics applications” Terranova, F.; Bulanov, S.V.; Collier, J.L.;
Kiriyama, H.; Pegoraro, F. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research
Section A, Volume 558, Issue 2, p. 430-436./2006,
"Multi-GeV laser driven proton acceleration in the high current regime", Terranova,
F. Bulanov, S.V. Esirkepov, T. Migliozzi, P. Pegoraro, F. Tajima, T, , Nuclear
Physics B Proceedings Supplements, 155, 307-308 , 2006
Macchi, A Femtosecond Neutron Source, Appl. Phys. B 82 (2006) 337
F. Ceccherini, F. Cornolti, T.V. Liseykina, A. Macchi, S. Kar, M. Borghesi ICOPS
2006, and EPS 06
Califano F.; Del Sarto D.; Pegoraro F., Phys. Rev.Lett., 96, 105008 (2006)
Bulanov S.S.; Esirkepov T.Zh.; Kamenets F.F.; Pegoraro F., Phys Rev E, 73, 036408+,92006
186
Short Term Scientific Missions
F. Ceccherini and A. Macchi visited the research group of Marco Borghesi at the
Department of Pure and Applied Physics of Queen's University, Belfast (QUB), UK,
Contrary to what happened in 2005, these visits were not covered by COST funds.
Workshops
F. Pegoraro attended the steering committee meeting in Budapest 30 September 2006
XXX. SERBIA
Institute of Nuclear Sciences “VINCA”, Belgrade
1.
Corresponding author: B. Gakovic
2.
Atomic Physics Laboratory
POB 522, 11001 Belgrade, SERBIA
Phone: (381-11) 2455 451
Fax: (381-11) 344 0100
e-mail [email protected]
3.
Research activity
The main contribution has been on the experimental side. In our experiments target
materials bulk (titanium, aluminium, steel, silicon) and thin solid films (Ti and Albased ceramic) were used. The results were analysed and compared with those
previously obtained by picosecond and nanosecond laser pulses. In the case where the
minimal focal spot diameter was used, high laser intensities were reached and effects
concerning extreme states of matter induced. The numerical simulation of these
effects could be tested for conditions corresponding to the experimental parameters.
The obtained results were presented at International Conferences and published in
some significant Physics Journals.
4.
Participation to Cost actions
Our group has benefited from several Short Term Scientific Mission –STSM.
Incoming STMS:
- dr. Tara Desai, from the Universita di Milano Bicocca, Italy
Outcoming STMS:
- dr. Biljana Gakovic (3 weeks) at Universita di Milano Bicocca, Italy
- dr. Milan Trtica (2 weeks) at Universita di Milano Bicocca, Italy
5.
Collaboration with cost action members
- Università di Milano Bicocca, ITALY
- National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, Bucharest, ROMANIA
6.
Publications
187
XXXI.
XXXII.
M. Trtica, B. Gakovic, D. Batani, T. Desai, P. Panjan and B. Radak,
“SURFACE MODIFICATIONS of a TITANIUM IMPLANT by a
PICOSECOND Nd:YAG LASER OPERATING at 1064 and 532 nm”
Applied Surface Science- In press (2006) (www.scincedirect.com)
XXXIII.
XXXIV.
B. Gakovic, I. Pongrac, S. Petrovic, D. Minic, M.Trtica
XXXV.
“NANO-SECOND SURFACE MODIFICATION OF TITANIUM
NITRIDE BY ND: YAG AND TEA CO2 LASERS”
XXXVI.
Materials Science Forum, Vol 518 (2006) 161-166
XXXVII.
B. Gakovic, M. Trtica,D. Batani, T. Desai, R. Redaelli
PICOSECOND-LASER MODIFICATION OF THIN FILMS,
AIP Conference Proceedings Editor(s): Maurizio Lontano,Dimitri Batani, Volume
827 (2006) 546-551
XXXVIII.
XXXIX.
M.S. Trtica, B.M. Gakovic, D. Batani, T. Desai, R. Redaelli
XL. “SURFACE MODIFICATION OF TI BY THE HIGH INTENSITY ULTRASHORT Nd:YAG LASER”
XLI. Materials Science Forum, Vol 518 (2006) 167-173
Participation in International Conferences period Jan. - Dec. 2006
PHOTON 2006, Conference in Optics and Photonics, 4-7 September 2006,
Manchester, UK.
Int. Conference “Micro- to Nano-Photonics, - ROMOPTO 2006” August 28-31, 2006,
Sibiu, Romania.
14th Conference on Materials and Technology, 10-12 October 2006, Portorož,
Slovenia.
Int. Conference Physical Chemistry, 26-29 September,
Belgrade, Serbia.
IAMPI 2006, 30 Sep. - 05 October, Szeged, Hungary.
FRANCE
188
LULI
Corresponding author:
P. Audebert
SPRINT group
LULI
91128 Palaiseau cedex
France
T:
33 1 6908 35 67
F:
33 1 6908 30 09
[email protected]
1.
Research activity
Recombination dynamic studies using ultrafast X-ray
The ionization and recombination dynamics of transient aluminum plasmas was
measured using point projection K-shell absorption spectroscopy. An aluminum
plasma was produced with a subpicosecond beam of the 100-TW laser at the LULI
facility and probed at different times with a picosecond X-ray backlighter created with
a synchronized subpicosecond laser beam. Fourier-Domain-Interferometry (FDI) was
used to measure the electron temperature at the peak of the heating laser pulse.
Absorption X-ray spectra at early times are characteristic of a dense and rather
homogeneous plasma, with limited longitudinal gradients as shown by hydrodynamic
simulations. The shift of the Al K-edge was measured in the cold dense plasma
located at the edge of the heated plasma. From the 1s–2p absorption spectra, the
average ionization was measured as a function of time and was also modeled with a
collisional-radiative atomic physics code coupled with hydrodynamic simulations.
The analysis of the K-edge and 1s–3p Al3+ absorption lines at early times permits the
observation of the transition from cold solid to heated plasma and deserves further
investigation. Further, these absorption measurements show that at the peak of the
heating laser pulse the plasma remains dense, i.e., on order of 0.25 solid density. The
experimental ionization dynamics were compared to simulations performed with a
STA collisional-radiative model coupled to hydrodynamic simulations constrained by
the measured plasma parameters. Time history of aluminum ions from Al4+ to Al8+
have been measured and we find that there is agreement with the recombination times
predicted by an LTE simulation. This experimental arrangement permits the study of
plasmas at high density and low temperature, i.e., in the warm dense matter regime,
which is still not well understood.
Publication:
Time- and space-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy of aluminum irradiated by a
subpicosecond high-power laser, S. Tzortzakis, P. Audebert, P. Renaudin, S. BastianiCeccotti, J.P. Geindre,C. Chenais-Popovics, V. Nagels, S. Gary, R. Shepherd, F.
Girard, I. Matsushima, O. Peyrusse, J.-C. Gauthier, Journal of Quantitative
Spectroscopy & Radiative Transfer 99 (2006) 614–626
CELIA
2.
Corresponding authors :
3.
-J.C. Gauthier
Directeur Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications (CELIA)
UMR5107
189
Université Bordeaux I
F-33405 Talence Cedex
T:
+33 5 400 03775
F:
+33 5 400 02580
[email protected]
- F. Dorchies
Chargé de Recherche CNRS
CEntre Lasers Intenses et Applications(CELIA)
Université Bordeaux I
351 cours de la Libération
33405 Talence France
Tel: 33 / (0)5 40 00 25 87
Fax: 33 / (0)5 40 00 25 80
[email protected]
4.
Research activity
XLII. Dynamics of laser-Ar cluster interaction
Many experimental works have recently been dedicated to ultra-intense laser-cluster
interactions; while interesting per se, these interactions were demonstrated to yield
efficiently multi-keV X-ray bursts, of great interest for ultrafast X-ray science
applications. In CELIA, we focus intense (up to a few 1017 W/cm2) femtosecond
(down to 40 fs) laser pulses onto a partially clusterized argon gas jet. An experimental
set-up has been specifically designed to get both a spectral resolution of the X-ray
emission (~ 1 eV) and a picosecond temporal resolution. Our experiments have
demonstrated, for the first time, that the K-shell emission duration is shorter than our
temporal resolution (3 ps). Further, the ionization dynamics, that yield Ar ions up to
Ar16+, have been observed to occur within a timescale shorter than 1 ps, which
corresponds to our data analysis resolution. These observations have been quite well
reproduced by simulations including "nano-plasma" model and collisional-radiative
calculations, that indicate that the X-ray emission should occur within a few 100 fs
scale.
Enhancement of activation and decay rates of nuclear
levels through laser heating of plasmas
It has recently been shown (A. V. Andreev et al. JETP 91, 1163 (2000)) that the
activation and decay of the 6.238 keV nuclear level of 181Ta can be enhanced in
femtosecond laser heated Ta plasmas. This enhancement is due to the high density
surrounding plasma and high ionization states of Ta ions. A detailed knowledge of the
plasma conditions is required to understand further the enhancement mechanisms. A
Ta target was thus heated in CELIA using 45 fs Ti :sapphire laser pulses with
intensities ranging from1 to 6 1016 W/cm2. Langmuir probes have been used to
characterize the ion emission and we employed both CCD and NaI(Tl) pulse height
detection systems to measure the X-ray emission. The deposition and implantation of
the escaping Ta ions and atoms were also characterized by means of Rutherford
Backscattering Spectrometry. These experiments have shed light on the plasma
conditions and have allowed to carry out analytical models and hydrodynamical
190
calculations to elicit the mechanisms responsible for the enhancement of the nuclear
rates.
XAFS calculations in dense matter
Phase transitions are fundamental processes of nature. The most familiar among them
are structural changes such as melting or freezing, vaporization or condensation, and
sublimation that define the transitions between the three states of matter, namely,
solid, liquid, and gas. Understanding phase boundaries and transition kinetics has long
been a focus of research in material science, chemistry, and biology. Moreover, while
most studies are concerned with thermodynamical equilibrium, there is also a growing
interest (see the recent review, T. Pfeifer et al, Rep. Prog. Phys. 69, 443 (2006)) in the
investigation of nonequilibrium behavior over time scales pertinent to atomic and
molecular motion, that is femtosecond to picosecond.
Experimental studies in such time scales have been both enabled and driven by
advances in femtosecond lasers. They offer unparalleled temporal resolution for
following the evolution of dynamical processes. The adequate combination of a
femtosecond laser « pump » (triggering a change in a sample of interest) together with
a laser-produced X-ray probe beam enables the capture of ultrafast processes (C.
Bressler, M. Chergui, Chem. Rev. 104, 1781 (2004)). In that context, X-ray
absorption fine structure spectroscopy (XAFS), which refers to the oscillatory
structure in the X-ray absorption coefficient just above a photoionization edge, gives
access to the short-range order in a material. For the purpose of designing and
interpreting future pump-probe experiments at CELIA, we started calculations of
photoionization edge profiles in metals and melting metals. These calculations are
based on a combination of a DFT approach of dense matter with the full multiple
scattering technique for the calculation of the photoionization cross section.
A. Transport of intense laser-produced electron beams in matter
Fast electron transport in matter is a key issue for assessing the feasibility of fast
ignition in inertial confinement fusion or the development of laser-produced ion beam
sources. A series of experiments with ultra-intense laser (up to 6 1019 W/cm2)
studying fast electron transport in metallic (Al) and insulating (CH) foil targets have
been realized at Laboratoire d’Optique Appliquée (LOA). The dynamics of the fast
electron propagation as well as the level of induced heating was investigated using the
optical self-emission of the targets rear side.
A detailed analysis of the experimental data has been carried at CELIA:
- In Aluminium, the spatially-resolved images show a 33° (HWHM) divergent bulk
population. The study of the total emitted energy and spectrum against target
thickness and the discrimination of the coherent (transition radiation) and the
incoherent (thermal emission) parts of the signal allowed to characterize a twotemperature fast electron population: moderately relativistic (Thot  0.3MeV) bulk
electrons and a highly collimated micro-bunched and relativistic (Thot  7MeV) tail.
An important heating of the rear of the thinner targets was estimated (Te>10eV at 3040µm depth). We have shown this heating is mainly due to a resistive mechanism
upon the background electrons return current balancing the incoming fast electrons
current.
- In plastic, optical emission is mainly due to the Cherenkov effect and it is orders
of magnitude larger than in Al. Besides that, the fast-electron beam undergoes
strong filamentation and the number of filaments increases with the target
thickness. This filamented behaviour in insulators was attributed to the instability
191
of the ionization front related to the electric field ionization process. The
filamentary structures characteristic growth rate and characteristic transversal
scale are in agreement with analytical predictions.
Publications
Rev. Sc. Instr. (submitted)
High dynamic range streak camera for sub-picosecond time-resolved X-ray
spectroscopy
C. Bonté, M. Harmand, F. Dorchies, S. Magnan, V. Pitre, J.C. Kieffer, P. Audebert,
J.P. Geindre.
Rev. Sc. Instr. 77, 093302 (2006)
Absolute energy distribution of hard X-rays produced in the interaction of a kHz
femtosecond laser with tantalum targets
F. Gobet, F. Hannachi, M.M. Aléonard, J.F. Chemin, G. Claverie, M. Gerbaux, G.
Malka, J.N. Scheurer, M. Tarsien, F. Blasco, D. Descamps, F. Dorchies, R.
Fedosejevs, C. Fourment, S. Petit, V. Méot, P. Morel, S. Hanvey, L. Robson, B.
Liesfeld.
Physics of Plasmas 13, 033105 (2006)
Study of intense femtosecond laser propagation into a dense Ar gas and cluster jet
T. Caillaud, F. Blasco, C. Bonté, F. Dorchies, P. Mora.
Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 125002 (2006)
Study of Ultraintense Laser-Produced Fast-Electron Propagation and Filamentation
in Insulator and Metal Foil Targets by Optical Emission Diagnostics
M. Manclossi, J.J. Santos, D. Batani, J. Faure, A. Debayle, V. T. Tikhonchuk, V.
Malka
Physics of Plasmas (to be submitted)
Study of Laser-Produced Fast-Electron Transport and Induced Heating in Aluminium
Foils by Optical Emission Diagnostics
J.J. Santos, M. Manclossi, D. Batani, A. Guemnie-Tafo, J. Faure, V. Malka, Ph.
Nicolaï, V. Tikhonchuck, J.J. Honrubia.
B.
-CEA-SACLAY.
1.
Corresponding author :-P. Monot
P. Monot
PHI group
SPAM-Bât 522
CEA SACLAY
91191 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex
France
T:
33 1 6908 10 35
F:
33 1 6908 12 13
192
[email protected]
High order Harmonic Generation from solid plasmas
When an intense laser beam reflects on an overdense plasma generated on a solid
target, high-order harmonics of the incident laser frequency are observed in the
reflected beam. This process provides a way to produce XUV femtosecond and
attosecond pulses in the µJ range from ultrafast ultraintense lasers. Studying the
mechanisms responsible for this harmonic emission is also of strong fundamental
interest : just as HHG in gases has been instrumental in providing a comprehensive
understanding of basic intense laser-atom interactions, HHG from solid-density
plasmas is likely to become a unique tool to investigate many key features of laserplasma interactions at high intensities.
Two very different mechanisms can lead to HHG from overdense plasmas.:
- Coherent Wake Emission : in this process, harmonics are emitted by plasma
oscillations in the overdense plasma, triggered in the wake of energetic electron jets
generated by the laser field.
- The relativistic oscillating mirror : as the intense laser field drives a relativistic
oscillation of the plasma surface, it gives rise to a periodic phase modulation of the
reflected beam, and hence to the generation of harmonics of the incident frequency.
In 2006, we obtained the first direct experimental evidence of these two mechanisms,
by irradiating solid targets with ultrahigh temporal contrast (1010) 60 fs pulses at 1019
W/cm2.
In a second experiment, we have carried out the first experimental study of the
spectral and spatial properties of harmonics generated by the coherent wake emission
process. This study reveals that these harmonics have an intensity-dependent phase,
which is intrinsic to the generation process, and affects their spectral, temporal and
spatial profiles.
One important objective for the near future is to measure the temporal properties of
the electromagnetic field associated to these harmonics, and in particular the
attosecond structure of this field. Among the possible techniques that can be used to
this end, one is the non-linear auto-correlation. As a first step towards this difficult
measurement, we have tried to induce a non-linear effect with the harmonic beam, i.e.
the single ionization of Helium by the absorption of two harmonic photons. This
experiment has not been successful yet, but we have identified several experimental
problems, which we will try to solve in a future experiment.
Publication
Coherent Wake Emission of high-order harmonics from overdense plasmas, Quere F.
, Thaury C., Monot P., Dobosz S., Martin Ph., Geindre J.-P., Audebert P.,Physical
Review Letters, 96, (2006) 125004/1-4
XLIII.
HUNGARIA
193
A.
-Research Institute for particle and Nuclear Physics
1.
Corresponding author : -I.B. Foldes
KFKI Research Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics
Department of Plasma Physics, Association EURATOM
H-1525 Budapest, P.O. Box 49
T:
+36-1-392-22-22-3464
F:
+36-1-395-91-51
[email protected]
2.
Research activities
Evidence of plasma-surface rippling
Experiments have been carried out using a tightly focused, prepulse-free KrF laser of
700 fs pulse duration. Harmonics up to 20 eV were generated at an intensity of
1.5×1017 W/cm2 from the plasma on the surface of solid targets. The observation of
diffuse harmonics propagation for intensities above 1016 W/cm2 and the fact that
polarization of the harmonics appears to be mixed for the highest intensities are
attributed to the surface rippling which is an intrinsic consequence of the unstable
balance between plasma expansion and light pressure.This observation might have an
important consequence for the fast ignitor physics. The ultraintense short pulse, which
is needed to accelerate fast electrons, has a long pulse duration of 10 ps compared to
the Rayleigh–Taylor instability rising time. This can have serious consequences for
the generation and propagation of fast electrons. The recent success observed when
using conical structures for guiding and focusing the fast electrons show,however, that
these effects arising from the RT instability can be possibly overcome.
publication
On the effect of surface rippling on the generation of harmonics in laser
plasmas,E. Rácz , I.B. Földes, G. Kocsis, G. Veres, K. Eidmann and S. Szatmári
Appl. Phys. B 82, 13–18 (2006)
194
2006 Report on Task 4 activities within COST P14
compiled by J. Meyer-ter-Vehn, chairman of Working Group 4
Applications of relativistic laser plasma interaction considered under task 4 to particle
acceleration, laboratory astrophysics, laser induced nuclear reactions and the fast
ignition approach to inertial confinement fusion are rapidly developing, and many
important results
have been obtained in 2006 by the groups contributing to the COST P14 project.
Results are too numerous and diverse to be covered completely within a short report.
We include here just a selection of results and publications which may serve as
representative examples.
Report Max-Planck-Institute for Quantum Optics (MPQ), Garching
(submitted by J. Meyer-ter-Vehn)
The experimental group of the high-field and atto-second division of MPQ is
presently developing table-top lasers for generating few-cycle TW - PW pulses and is
preparing experiments relevant for task 4, e.g. for laser particle acceleration and attosecond pulses from plasma surfaces. Published results from MPQ in the area of Task
4 were mainly of theoretical nature.
Laser electron acceleration
Electron acceleration in the bubble regime with few-cycle TW - PW laser pulses, as
they are now becoming available at MPQ, have been investigated by threedimensional particle-in-cell (3D-PIC) simulation. Bubble dynamics and scaling
properties have been studied in detail. Results including movie presentation have been
published in
M. Geissler, J. Schreiber, J. Meyer-ter-Vehn, New Journal of Physics 8, 186 (2006):
"Bubble acceleration with few-cycle laser pulses".
High harmonics and attosecond pulses
The interaction of few-cycle TW - PW optical pulses with plasma surface leads to
extremely high harmonics generation and ultra-bright single atto-second pulses. This
has been studied theoretically and by 1D-PIC simulation with emphasis on near-future
experiments in
G. Tsakiris, K. Eidmann, F. Krausz, J. Meyer-ter-Vehn, New Journal of Physics 8, 19
(2006):
"Route to intense single atto-second pulses".
Fast ignition of inertial confinement fusion targets
Energy transport of laser-driven GA-scale electron currents through overdense plasma
is the central open problem for fast ignition of inertial confinement fusion targets.
This problem has been studied in cooperation with Professor Honrubia from
UPM/Madrid by hybrid simulation,
treating the relativistic beam by particle-in-cell and the background plasma by
resistive magneto-hydrodynamics. First three-dimensional results for a realistic
ignition-scale configuration have been obtained and have been published in
J. Honrubia, J. Meyer-ter-Vehn, Nuclear Fusion 46, 25 (2006):
"Three-dimensional fast electron transport for ignition-scale inertial fusion capsules"
195
Report from University of Milano Bicocca
(submitted by D. Batani)
1) FAST IGNITION
our group has investigated the propagation of ultra-high-intensity-laser-produced fast
electrons in matter.
The propagation in gas jets has evidenced the importance of: i) the background
density of the material in establishing the conditions for propagation; ii) the
importance of the ionization phase for dielectrics; iii) the importance of electrostatic
fields produced by the charge separation at the edge of the ionization front in the gas.
Such fields have also been directly evidenced by using the proton radiography
diagnostics. By using the novel diagnostics of chirped shadowgraphy, we have also
evidenced a slowing down of the fast electron cloud as it penetrates in the gas (ref. 1)
The detailed study of fast electron induced OTR emission has shown how emission is
really dominated by coherent OTR. Also it appears that at least part of the fast
electrons are generated in bunches and undergo a bunched propagation in the target
(ref. 2)
The propagation in solid target by using rear side emission as diagnostics has
evidenced how the beam propagates quite uniformly in metal targets while it
undergoes break-up and filamentation in insulators. Models seem to show how this
filamentation is related to a corrugation instability of the ionization front. Also we
have seen again that CTR gives the main contribution to emission for metals, while in
transparent dielectrics the main contribution come sfrom Cherenkov emission (ref. 3)
We have also studied the propagation of fast electrons in presence of a cone guide. In
our conditions it seems that the cones has no guiding effect on te laser beam nor on
the produced fast electrons. On the contrary the cone geometry is very sensitive to
laser prepulse which may bring to cone filling by the preplasma with the net result of
absolutely no beam penetration inside the cone (ref. 4)
Finally we have performed an experiment devoted to the study of fast electron
induced heating in metal targets by using the K-alpha emission from ionized atoms in
the background materials as diagnostics. Our results show how heating is very
sensitive to the details of the atomic physics (ion-electron ionization times) (ref. 5).
1. D.Batani, S.D.Baton, M.Manclossi, J.J. Santos, F.Amiranoff, M. Koenig, E.
Martinolli, A.Antonicci, C.Rousseaux, M.Rabec Le Gloahec, T.Hall, V.Malka,
T.E.Cowan, J.King R.Freeman ¡§Ultra-intense laser-produced fast electron
propagation in gas jets¡¨ Physical Review Letters, 94, 055004 (2005)
2. H. Popescu, S. D. Baton, F. Amiranoff, C. Rousseaux, M. Rabec Le Gloahec, J.
J. Santos, L. Gremillet, M. Koenig, E. Martinolli, T. Hall, J. C. Adam, A. Heron, D.
Batani ¡§Subfemtosecond, coherent, relativistic, and ballistic electron bunches
generated at £so and 2£so in high intensity laser-matter interaction¡¨ Physics of
Plasmas, 12, 063106 (2005)
196
3. M. Manclossi, J. J. Santos, D. Batani, J. Faure, A. Guemnie-Tafo, V.
Tikhonchuk, A. Debayle, and V. Malka ¡§Ultraintense laser Produced Fast Electron
Propagation and Filamentation in Insulators vs Conductors by Optical diagnostics¡¨
Physical Review Letters, 96, 125002 (2006)
4. S.D.Baton, D.Batani, M.Manclossi, A.Morace, D.Piazza, A.Benuzzi-Mounaix,
M.Koenig, P.Guillou, B.Loupias, J.Fuchs, F.Amiranoff, M.Rabec Le Gloahec,
H.Poposcu, C.Rousseaux, M.Borghesi, C.Cecchetti , R.Kodama, T. Norimatsu,
M.Nakatsutsumi, and Y.Aglitskiy ¡§Recent experiments on electron transport in highintensity laser matter interaction¡¨ Plasma Phys. Contr. Fusion, 47 B777¡VB789
(2005)
5. E. Martinolli, M. Koenig, S.D. Baton, J.J. Santos, F.Amiranoff, D. Batani, E.
Perelli-Cippo, F. Scianitti, L.Gremillet, C.Rousseaux, T.A. Hall, M.H. Key, R.
Snavely, A. MacKinnon, R.R. Freeman, J.A. King, D. Neely, R.J. Clark ¡§Fast
Electron Transport and Heating of Solid Targets in High Intensity Laser Interaction
Measured by K Fluorescence¡¨ Physical Review E, 73, 046402 (2006)
2) PROTON GENERATION
We have studied the acceleration of energetic protons by suing small-size 10 Hz
repetition frequency lasers working in the 1e19 W/cm2 intensity range. We have
observed the emission of 10 MeV protons with the laser at LOA (ref.1). The
experiment at Lund has shown the importance of the ASE-induced-shock in fixing the
conditions of the target (especially on rear side) (ref. 2)
1. V Malka, A. Guemnie-Tafo, F. Ewald, J. Faure, S. Fritzler, E. d¡¦Humiˆores, E
Lefebvre, M. Manclossi, D. Batani ¡§Production of energetic proton beams with
lasers¡¨ Rev. Sci. Instrum., 67, 03B302 (2006)
2. F.Lindau, O.Lundh, A.Persson, P.McKenna, K.Osvay, D.Batani, and C.-G.
Wahlstrom ¡§Laser-Accelerated Protons with Energy Dependent Beam Direction¡§
Physical Review Letters, 95, 175002 (2005).
3) LABORATORY ASTROPHYSICS
we have collaborated to a series of experiments at LULI devoted to the study of
radiative shocks and their complete characterization using multiple diagnostics (ref.s
1-4)
Also we have realized an experiment at PALS Prague aimed at measuring the
acceleration of a shock front as it crosses the interface between a heavy medium (Al)
and a light one (plastic foam). We have measured the acceleration as a function of
foam density. Our results closely follow the model by Ryutov and Remington, who in
their paper pointed out as this is an important measurement preliminary to the
measurement of the acceleration in a continuously decreasing density profile. the last
one is the situation which is met, for instance, during shock propagation (and
197
acceleration) in the exponentially decaying density atmospheres of supernovae (ref. 5)
1. M.Koenig, Vinci T, Benuzzi-Mounaix A, Lepape S, Ozaki N, Bouquet S,
Boireau L, Leygnac S, Michaut C, Stehle C, Chieze JP, Batani D, Hall T, Tanaka K,
Yoshida M, ¡§Radiative shock experiments at LULI¡¨ Astrophysics and Space
Science, 298 (1-2) 69-74 (2005)
2. T.Vinci, Koenig M, Benuzzi-Mounaix A, Boireau L, Bouquet S Leygnac S,
Michaut C, Stehle C, Peyrusse O, Batani D ¡§Density and temperature measurements
on laser generated radiative shocks¡¨ Astrophysics and Space Science, 298 (1-2)
333-336 (2005)
3. T. Vinci, M. Koenig, A. Benuzzi-Mounaix, C. Michaut, L. Boireau, S. Leygnac,
S. Bouquet, O. Peyrusse, D. Batani ¡§Temperature and Electron Density
Measurements on Laser Driven Radiative Shocks¡¨ Phys. Plasmas, 13, 010702
(2006)
4. M. Koenig, T. Vinci, A. Benuzzi-Mounaix, N.Ozaki, A.Ravasio, L. Boireau, C.
Michaut, S. Bouquet, S.Atzeni, A.Schiavi, O. Peyrusse, D. Batani, R.P. Drake, A.B.
Reighard ¡§Radiative Shocks: an opportunity to study Laboratory Astrophysics¡¨
Physics of Plasmas, 13, 056504 (2006)
5. R.Dezulian, F.Canova, S.Barbanotti, F.Orsenigo, R.Redaelli, T.Vinci,
G.Lucchini, D.Batani, B.Rus, J.Polan, M.Kozlovˆh, M.Stupka, A.R.Praeg, P.Homer,
T.Havlicek, M.Soukup, E.Krousky, J.Skala, R.Dudzak, M.Pfeifer, H.Nishimura,
K.Nagai, F. Ito, T.Norimatsu, A.Kilpio, E.Shashkov, I.Stuchebrukhov, V.Vovchenko,
V.Chernomyrdin, I.Krasuyk ¡§Hugoniot Data of Plastic Foams obtained from LaserDriven Shocks¡¨ Physical Review E, 73, 047401 (2006)
Report from KFKI-Research Institute Budapest
(submitted by I. Foldes)
As KrF lasers are expected to be efficient in isochoric heating, x-ray spectroscopical
experiments were started on Al using a von Hamos crystal spectrometer with
phosphor-coated CMOS detectors. The sensitivity of our CMOS detectors of the von
Hamos crystal spectrometer was investigated with an ECR ion-source and with the
van-de-Graaf accelerator of our institution. It was shown that the sensitivity in the 1.52keV range of our interest is not much lower than it is for 5-6 keV. The first Al
spectra were obtained with this spectrometer, and a good resolution of >500 was
obtained. The total sensitivity of the system was however still low, 1000 laser shots
were needed for an acceptable spectrum.
We are planning to start in the fall of 2006 with our upgraded KrF laser system which is before finalization and which will give nearly ~1018 W/cm2 focused intensity
with a 60 mJ, 600 fs pulse - experiments with differently layered targets. The higher
198
intensity will result in improved S/N, therefore it is hoped that isochoric heating can
be studied systematically for the 248 nm radiation.
Publications:
1. E. Rácz, I.B. Földes, L. Ryć: X-ray Radiation Measurements with Photodiodes in
Plasmas Generated by 1017 W/cm2 Intensity KrF Excimer Laser Pulses, AIP
Conference Proceedings Vol. 812 (Editors: Marek J. Sadowski, Michel Dudeck,
Hans-Jürgen Hartfuss, Ewa Pawelec), pp. 287-290. (2006)
2. E. Rácz, I.B. Földes, and S. Szatmári: Investigation of Plasma Critical Surface
Rippling by Harmonics Generation in Laser Plasmas, AIP Conference Proceedings
Vol. 812 (Editors: Marek J. Sadowski, Michel Dudeck, Hans-Jürgen Hartfuss, Ewa
Pawelec), pp. 291-294. (2006)
Report from University of Pisa
(submitted by F. Pegoraro)
Research Activity and publications
The Pisa-theory group has been active in the development of models and numerical
simulations of ion acceleration by intense laser pulses, in conditions of relevance for the new
proposed laser plasma installations.[‘’Enabling pulse compression and proton acceleration in
a modular ICF driver for nuclear and particle physics applications’’ Terranova, F.; Bulanov,
S.V.; Collier, J.L.; Kiriyama, H.; Pegoraro, F. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics
Research Section A, Volume 558, Issue 2, p. 430-436./2006, Terranova, F. Bulanov, S.V.
Esirkepov, T. Migliozzi, P. Pegoraro, F. Tajima, T, "Multi-GeV laser driven proton acceleration
in the high current regime", Nuclear Physics B Proceedings Supplements, 155, 307-308 ,
2006,] In particular, the group is investigating the stability of ultrahigh-intensity regimes of ion
acceleration which may open new perspectives for high-energy physics (HEP) experiments
[Pegoraro et al., in preparation].
The group has recently proposed a novel regime of ion acceleration, based on the use of
circularly polarized laser pulses, which could lead to efficient ion acceleration. With ultrashort
few-cycle pulses, ion bunches produced using circular polarization may have femtosecond
duration as well and possibly be used to drive a source of fusion neutrons of similar duration
[Macchi, A Femtosecond Neutron Source, Appl. Phys. B 82 (2006) 337].
In collaboration with the research group of Marco Borghesi at Queen's University, the
pondero-motive ion acceleration in underdense and overdense plasmas has been simulated
with 2D PIC codes in order to interpret the measurements of the plasma channels obtained
with the technique of proton imaging.[F. Ceccherini, F. Cornolti, T.V. Liseykina, A. Macchi, S.
Kar, M. Borghesi ICOPS 2006, and EPS 06]
A full 3D fluid analysis of the development of the current filamentation instability has been
performed, focusing on the effect of spatial localization (due to the ``Weibel resonance ‘’) of
the magnetic structures that are formed and on their spatial coherence [Three-Dimensional
Magnetic Structures Generated by the Development of the Filamentation (Weibel) Instability
in the Relativistic Regime, Califano F.; Del Sarto D.; Pegoraro F., Phys. Rev.Lett., 96, 105008
(2006)]
A new technique of producing atto-second pulses in the interaction of a breaking wake wave,
acting as a relativistic mirror, with laser produced plasma structures like solitons and magnetic
199
vortices has been proposed and studied analytically and with 2D PIC simulations. [Singlecycle high-intensity electromagnetic pulse generation in the interaction of a plasma wakefield
with regular nonlinear structures, Bulanov S.S.; Esirkepov T.Zh.; Kamenets F.F.; Pegoraro F.,
Phys Rev E, 73, 036408-+,92006)]
Report from University of Helsinki
(submitted by Salomaa)
Laser-plasma activities at AES/TKK (Advanced Energy Systems/Helsinki University
of Finland) in 2005/2006
A.A. Andreev (Vavilov Optical Institute), Rainer Salomaa (TKK): We have continued
to investigate laser-plasma interactions for their applications in superintense lasers. In
a proper laser configuration a parametric instability launched by a pump pulse creates
a plasma grating which temporarily compresses and amplifies a seed pulse. To
increase the reflection from over-dense plasma a four-wave scheme was analyzed;
two beams generate a surface grating and a signal beam reflects from such a grating.
Our numerical code show that at short plasma length and the optimal parameters of
plasma grating the diffraction efficiency can be high enough and consequently such
gratings can be used for laser pulse compression. Studies on an initial plasma surface
shape as grating was extended from a previous planar geometry. Optimal conditions
for maximal conversion efficiency and minimal duration of a compressed seed pulse
were found.
1. A.A. Andreev, K.Yu. Platonov, E.G.Sall, V.D.Vinokurova, R. Salomaa.
Manipulating high energy ultrashort laser pulse by over-dense plasma gratings, Proc.
of the XII Conference on Laser Optics, 23-26 June 2006, St. Petersburg,
2. A.A. Andreev, V.G. Bespalova, E.V. Ermolaeva, R.R.E. Salomaa, Compression of
a high-intensity
laser pulse by parametric scattering in an inhomogeneous plasma slab, Optics and
Spectroscopy, 2006 (in press)
F. Ogando (Marie Curie grant, TKK), AMR (Advanced Mesh Refinement)
Techniques have been used for modelling of inertial fusion targets. Presently the
method is being studied for plasma turbulence in tokamak plasmas. The main work
was accomplished at UPM(Madrid).
3. P. Velarde, D. García-Senz, E. Bravo, F. Ogando, A. Relaño, C. García, E.
González, M. Lachaise and E. Oliva, Interaction of supernovae remnants: from the
circumstellar medium to the terrestrial
laboratory, in Inertial Fusion Sciences and Applications (IFSA), Biarritz, France,
September 2005, pp. Pr1.1 (2005).
4. P. Velarde, F. Ogando, S. Eliezer and J. Martínez-Val, Fast ignition heavy-ion
fusion by jet impact, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 544,
329 (2005).
5. P. Velarde, F. Ogando, S. Eliezer, J. Martínez-Val, J. Perlado and M. Murakami,
Comparison between jet collision and shell impact concepts for fast ignition, Laser
and Particle Beams 23, 43 (2005).
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MATTER IN SUPER-INTENSE LASER FIELDS
ERICE-SICILY: 27 JUNE - 5 JULY 2006
Scientific Report
The International Conference on MATTER IN SUPER-INTENSE LASER
FIELDS was held in ERICE, SICILY, from 27 JUNE to 5 JULY 2006 within the
activities of the INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF QUANTUM ELECTRONICS
of the Ettore Majorana Center. The conference has been sponsored by the
Ettore Majorana Center, the University of Milano Bicocca, The EUROPEAN
PHYSICAL SOCIETY (EPS), and first of all, by the COST Action P14
“ULTRA”, chaired by Prof. Charles Joachain. The Directors of the conference
have been Professors D. Batani, C. Joachain and S. Martellucci.
About 70 among senior scientists, post doc fellows and Ph.D. students took
part in the event. 37 of these scientists were supported by COST in various
forms (travel expenses or living expenses) and for various amount of money,
as reported in the relevant table.
The purpose of the conference was related to the advent of laser systems
capable of delivering very short pulses and very high intensities, which has
made accessible new regimes to experimental investigations and has opened
new horizons in the interaction of laser fields with atoms, solids and plasmas.
In these extreme conditions, electrons are accelerated at velocities close to
the velocity of light and electromagnetic fields become much larger than
atomic electric fields, so that strongly non-linear and relativistic interactions
take place. The traditional distinction between solids and atoms on one side
and plasmas on the other side tends to vanish and exotic states of matter are
created. A large variety of applications as arisen, from novel light and X-ray
sources, to new particle acceleration techniques and the "fast ignition"
approach to Inertial Confinement Fusion. The conference has covered areas
of interest to the atomic physics and to the plasma physics scientific
201
communities and was opened in particular to Ph.D. students and researchers
wishing to enter this new field. Invited talks and specialised seminars covered
current developments in theory and experiments but were also intended to
give the basics of the field.
The list of main (invited) speakers included: P. Agostini, Ohio State Univ. USA
(Strong field physics and ultrashort pulses), D.Batani, Univ. Milano Bicocca,
Italy (Fast electron transport in matter), D.Bauer, Max-Planck-Institut für
Kernphysik, Germany (Quantum and classical dynamics of finite manyelectron systems in intense laser fields), S. Bivona, Univ. Palermo, Italy
(Radiative processes in intense fields), J.Collier, Rutherford Appleton
Laboratory, UK (High-energy PW laser systems), C.Joachain, Univ. Libre
Bruxelles, Belgium (Atoms in intense laser fields), J.C.Kieffer, Univ. du
Québec and INRS, Canada (Structural and functional imaging with intense
ultrafast lasers: from molecule dynamics to small animal models), M. Koenig,
LULI, Palaiseau, France (Physics of laser generated shocks and applications
to laboratory astrophysics), M.Lontano, IFP, CNR, Milano, Italy (Proton
acceleration: theoretical models), A.Maquet, Univ. Paris, France (Interaction
of strong laser fields: IR vs. XUV radiation), J. Marangos, Imperial College,
London, U.K. (Attophysics in atoms and molecules in strong laser fields), J.
Meyer-ter-Vehn, MPQ, Garching, Germany (Laser acceleration of electrons),
P. Mulser, Univ. Darmstadt, Germany (Basic Laser-Plasma Interaction and
Essential Relativity), H.Nishimura, ILE, Osaka Univ., Japan (An overview of
inertial confinement fusion research with high power laser), R. Potvliege, Univ.
Durham, UK (Semiclassical theory of multiphoton physics in intense pulses),
S.Uryupin, Lebedev Institute, Moscow (Optics of dense photo-ionized
plasmas), K.Yamanouchi, Tokyo Univ., Japan (Ultrafast nuclear dynamics of
molecules in intense laser fields), K.Witte, GSI Darmstadt, Germany (HighIntensity Few-Cycle Pulses)
3.
The conference was organized in two sessions per day (Morning: 4 invited
talks for a total of 3 hours, 9.00 to 12. 30, Afternoon: 4 invited talks for a total
of 3 hours, 15.30 to 19.00, both with half a hour coffee breaks)
Two excursion were included in the conferences: 30 June, Friday, afternoon
202
to the beach2 July, Sunday, full day excursion to the Greek temples and cities
of Sagesta and Selinunte.
Poster sessions (in the evenings and during coffee breaks and lunch time)
allowed younger people to present their contributions. Two Poster Prizes were
assigned respectively for best poster presented in the field of ATOMIC
PHYSICS and the field of PLASMA PHYSICS. These were respectively
assigned to Mr F.Wiljen and Mr. C.Thaury for the posters:
“Non-Sequential Ionization in Laser-Driven Helium: Adiabatic Approximation
of the Correlation Function in Time-Dependent Density-Functional Theory” by
Florian Wilken and Dieter Bauer, and
“Harmonic generation from solid targets in relativistic and linear regimes” by
C. Thaury, F. Quere, P.Monot, Ph. Martin, P. Audebert, J.P. Geindre.
The proceedings of the conference will be published in the form of a CD with
the support of the COST publication office.
The organizers of the Erice event
Prof. Sergio Martellucci
Prof. Charles Joachain
Prof. Dimitri Batani
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204
International Workshop on ATOMIC PHYSICS
Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden
November 27 – December 1, 2006
COST-Workshop-P14-00848
The "International Workshop on ATOMIC PHYSICS" with focus days on
"Relativistic Laser-Matter Interaction" at the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of
Complex Systems in Dresden brought together specialists in relativistic laser-matter
interaction and researchers with a more general atomic physics background, a total of
about 80 participants, roughly half of them on the junior level (PhD students and early
postdocs). The participants came from all over the world with a majority from
Germany and Europe. In more than 40 talks and about 50 posters recent progress was
reported and ideas exchanged in two poster sessions. Emphasis was put on discussion
and interaction, we alloted 15 min discussion time for each talk of 30 min duration,
and we held two poster sessions.
It was interesting to observe that imaging is a universal topic which emerges in all
advanced and challenging techniques these days, from proton acceleration used to
image plasmas, over imaging with the upcoming X-ray free electron lasers to classical
X-ray diffraction which makes its way to time resolved images through the slicing
technique in synchrotrons.
In the more general atomic physics part of the workshop hot topics from a new
proposal for prime factorization with the help of Gaussiann sums (W Schleich, Ulm)
over the recent progress in the understanding of antihydorgen formation from a
positron-antiproton plasma (T Pohl, ITAMP, Harvard) to steering molecular electroncurrents in circles by femtosecond lasers (J Manz, Berlin) were discussed.
Attosecond- and high(er) frequency driving of atomic systems turned out to be of
strong interest, where early results as well as predictions became a source of intense
and very fruitful discussion.
J.-M. Rost
Co-Chairman of the Workshop
205
High Power Laser Science Community meeting
140 delegates participated in the High Power Laser Science Community meeting (hosted by
the Central Laser Facility, CCLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory) between 18th - 19th
December 2006. 25 delegates from the EU (many sponsored by the COST P14 Action) were
able to attend the meeting. Invited speakers from Portugal, Japan, Canada and the United
States also attended.
Over 40 papers were given orally at the meeting. Results from a wide range of experiments
were presented, including many new results on electron acceleration from laser wakefield
accelerators, ion acceleration from laser-solid density plasmas, fast ignition of fusion targets,
magnetic reconnection physics, X-ray lasers and atomic physics with few cycle laser pulse
interactions.
More than 30 posters were also presented at the meeting. The student poster prize
competition was judged by Prof. Greg Tallents (Univ. York) Prof. Alan Cairns (Univ. St
Andrews) and Dr. Raoul Trines (RAL). The judges commended all post-graduate entrants on
the high standard of presentation and knowledge of the subject area.
3rd prize went to Mr Stefan Kneip (Imperial College London) for his poster entitled
"Monoenergetic electron beam acceleration in gas filled capillary discharges".
2nd prize went to Mr Joseph Wood (University College London) for his poster entitled "Fieldfree dynamic alignment of deuterium with few cycle laser pulses".
The winner of the student poster competition for 2006 was Mr David Carroll (University of
Strathclyde) for his poster entitled "Proton beam manipulation by resistive confinement of
electrons".
The prizes were sponsored by the Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion journal and
were awarded at the Christmas Dinner on 18th December.
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Programme COST P14
LASER-MATTER INTERACTIONS WITH ULTRA-SHORT PULSES, HIGHFREQUENCY PULSES AND ULTRA-INTENSE PULSES:
MC Meeting: Brussels, 07 December 2007
Working Group # 2
“Interactions of atoms, molecules and clusters with high-frequency radiation
including attosecond pulses and pulses from free-electron lasers and X-ray
lasers”
Brief Scientific Report (January 2007 - December 2007)
1) Main scientific advances (January 2007 - December 2007)
In project # 2, over the period (January 2007 - December 2007), the
participating groups have published more than 100 papers in internationallyrenowned journals. A large number of members of the teams have participated in
international workshops and conferences. Keeping in mind that there are strong
overlaps with the themes developed in the other working groups, (notably with WG #
1), the main scientific advanceswith regard to project # 2, can be summarized as
follows:
• Harmonic generation and "Attophysics"
During the harmonic generation process, ultra-short pulses of XUV radiation
with duration in the attosecond (1 as = 10-18 s) range are emitted. This has been
demonstrated several years ago and the questions now at stake relate to
optimization of the sources and to their implementation in applications. One can
consider by now that the field has "come of age". Most of the teams from Working
Group # 2, have contributed significantly to the progress achieved, both in theory and
experiment, in this area (Amsterdam, Belfast, Bordeaux, Garching, Heraklion, Lund,
London, Palaiseau, Saclay, Wien). Notable results have been obtained on the
following non-exhaustive list of topics:
- Towards the production of isolated XUV radiation pulse with duration in the
attosecond range; several schemes are under investigation in the groups.
- attosecond "real-time" observation of the motion of electronic wave-packets
in
fundamental atomic processes (tunnel ionization, Auger decay, etc.)
- tomographic imaging of molecular wave functions.
- production of ultra-short laser pulses (of durations of a few femtoseconds)
with controlled carrier-envelope phase;
- design and optimization of optical components for the UV and XUV spectral
ranges;
- characterization of the attosecond pulses;
- theory and simulation of the time evolution of electronic and nuclear
wavepackets;
- etc.
• Atomic and ionic species
The question of the role of the electron correlations in the dynamics of the
highly non-linear response of polyelectronic species in ultra strong and ultra-short
pulses, remains a very hot topic in the field. From the theory side, a major challenge
is to solve the Time-Dependent Schrödinger Equation (TDSE) for systems involving
several active electrons. Benchmark calculations are under way for the paradigmatic
214
case of the multiphoton double ionization of Helium. Computing quantitatively reliable
data remains a challenge. The groups in Belfast, Bordeaux, Dresden, Louvain, Wien,
etc. are involved in these investigations.
From the side of experiments, the advent of new European facilities joining
improved laser sources and COLTRIMS-like and Velocity-Map Imaging detection
devices for coincidence measurements, has provided high precision data which have
been analysed with the input of theory (Berlin, Heidelberg, Lund, Oxford, Palaiseau,
Saclay).
A new type of photoionization measurement has benefited from the recent
advent of the FLASH source, in Hamburg, that provides 25 fs pulses of XUV and soft
x-ray radiations with unprecedented intensities. Highly non-linear processes have
been observed at these frequencies. Most remarkable is the recent observation of
the multiple ionization of Xenon leading to the production of Xe21+ ions. Another class
of new experiments have evidenced two-colour (IR-XUV) multiphoton ionization, by
synchronizing the XUV radiation with an IR laser (Belfast, Hamburg, Orsay, Saclay,
Paris).
A non-exhaustive list of other topics include:
- the question of the relativistic effects that are expected to become dominant
in the high intensity regime, beyond 1017 W/cm2. Several new effects have been
predicted (Heidelberg). At these intensities, multiple ionization of atoms is observed
and the question of deriving an adequate theoretical treatment of the process
remains open (Belfast, Berlin, Durham, Heidelberg, Hamburg, Salamanca).
- the role of the atomic excited states in the dynamics of Above-Threshold
Ionization process has been investigated (Belfast, Belgrad, Bucharest, Durham,
Paris).
- the calculation of the atomic phase-shifts of the wave functions for the
continuum states in complex atoms, that are needed for interpreting the
photoelectron angular distributions, represents still a challenge for the theoreticians.
Significant advances have been realized in the interpretation of recent experimental
results (Lund, Palaiseau, Paris).
• Molecules, clusters and condensed matter
In molecular physics, the main questions that are currently addressed are
related to the possibility to control the fragmentation of a molecule, either via
dissociation or Coulomb explosion. In view of the potential applications towards the
control of chemical processes, this continues to be actively investigated. Moreover, a
closely related theme, that has emerged very recently, is the possibility to “image” in
real time, through a tomographic analysis of the harmonic signal, the electronic wave
function in the course of a molecular transition. Several COST 14 groups actively
contribute to these studies, either in experiments or in theory: Belfast, Berlin,
Bordeaux, Heidelberg, London, Louvain, Oxford, Paris, Saclay, Salamanca.
The question of the response of clusters and more generally of macroscopic
samples of dense materials to ultra-intense and short laser pulses represents also a
challenge in several areas of basic as well as applied sciences. In comparison to
atoms and molecules, the absorption of the laser energy by a mesoscopic or
macroscopic sample involves a subtle interplay between the microscopic response of
the atoms and the collective response of the nano- (or micro-)plasma which is
created during the rising part of the pulse. In this respect a major advance has been
the realization of "plasma mirrors" when irradiating a metal surface. A new area is
also currently investigated, that is related to the study of the dynamics of the clusters,
when irradiated by a strong XFEL pulse, i.e. in the high-frequency regime. Several
groups contribute actively to these topics: Amsterdam, Berlin, Bordeaux, Darmstadt,
Dresden, Hamburg, Palaiseau, Saclay, etc.
215
CONFERENCES
COST Action P14 support enabled members from participating teams to attend and
participate in the European Physical Society 9th Conference on Atomic and Molecular
Physics (ECAMPIX) held in Crete 6th to 11th May 2007 and also to participate in a
satellite one-day workshop following this conference devoted to double-ionization of
the helium atom by XUV light where many theoretical and two experimental
presentatyions dfrom participating COST Action P14 groups were made.
COST Action P14 support also enabled members from participating teams to
participate in the ULIS (Ultra-intense Laser Interaction Sciences) conference
organized in Bordeaux on October 1-5, 2007.
A SUBSEQUENT ACTION
An Action in the area of Project 2 with the title 'Chemistry With Ultrashort Pulses and
Free-Electron Lasers: Looking for Control Strategies through Exact Computations’
and involving many participating teams from the present Action has recently been
approved
2) Reports from the teams
BELFAST Group
In Belfast Phil Burke (working with Hugo van der Hart and Michael Lysaght) has got
out first results on single ionization of rare gas atoms using the time-dependent Rmatrix method - Hugo van der Hart presented some of these results at the Peter Knight
meeting at the Royal Society in September 2007.
Jonathan Parker, Laura Moore and Ken Taylor have very recently obtained first
results on energy-resolved double ionization of helium by intense 800 nm Ti:sapphire
laser light using our HELIUM code. These calculations have been carried out using
early-time on the new 6,000 dual-core Cray supercomputer purchased by the UK
Research Councils. They are at minimum a factor of 4 larger than any similar
previous ones we did for 390 nm and are obviously worth doing because the
experimentalists love the Ti:sapphire fundamental wavelength!
We also published earlier this year single ionization rates for helium exposed to 780
nm and also to 390 nm laser light over very fine and extended intensity ranges. These
results demonstrated the gross inadequacies of the ADK model but also showed that
an intensity-dependent form of perturbation theory could gain good results over a
much more extensive range of intensity than possible with conventional perturbation
theory. Moreover a scaling law was found allowing deduction of ionization rates at
all laser wavelengths between the 390 nm and 780 nm extreme values.
The reference is:
Parker JS, Meharg KJ, McKenna GA and Taylor KT
J. Phys. B: Atom. Molec. Opt. Phys. 40 1729- 1743 (2007).
Single-ionization of helium at Ti:Sapphire wavelengths: rates and
scaling laws
216
BUCHAREST (University of Buchareest and the Institute of Space Science )
Working group 1 of the COST Action P14
REPORT for 2007
I Scientific work
• Study of the possibility to represent the wave function for an atom in a
monochromatic laser field as a superposition of Floquet solutions. We did numerical
simulations for 1D case, implying solutions of time dependent Schr¨odinger equation
(TDSE) and of the Floquet problem. The populations of the Floquet states are
determined using an orthogonality property of these states at time moments equal to a
multiple of the laser period. This property, initially inferred from TDSE calculations,
was tested also directly using the results of the Floquet problem.
• Design of a new algorithm to numerically solve the time dependent Schr¨odinger
equation for an electron under the simultaneous influence of a potential and a linear
polarized laser field (3D case). The algorithm is based on the finite differences
method for the spatial derivatives (radial and angular) in hamiltonian; it does not
involve the decomposition of the wave function in series of spherical harmonics (at
least not for time evolution). The algorithm is limited to states with m = 0 but can be
used for potentials having axial symmetry around the field direction. Based on the
mentioned algorithm a numerical code was written and tested for several cases.
• The analysis of the wave function at the end of the interaction with laser pulses:
i) Preliminary results were obtained for the energy distribution and angle distribution
of photoelectrons in the case a hydrogen atom exposed to a superposition two pulses:
IR and XUV with different intensities and durations.
ii) For the hydrogen atom in interaction with a short IR laser pulse we have obtained
results for the most detailed photoelectron distribution: over energies and directions.
This distribution is computed from the wave function at a fixed large radius R
(hundreds or thousands a.u.), known for all directions and for a time duration such
that all the photoelectrons have been passed through the sphere of radius R. A
limitation of the method comes from the fact that at the radius R the wave function
should be zero to the end of the laser pulse - it is supposed that no photoelectron
arrives t here before the pulse is turned off.
• Relativistic and retardation effects in the interaction of atoms with a ultra-intense
laser pulse
• Laser assisted processes: the Compton effect
• Multiphoton ionization of two valence electron atoms
We remark that the work of Mihai Dondera on the first and third subjects was
stimulated by the collaboration with Prof. Alfred Maquet, started during of a STSM in
2006.
II Publications
1. ”Laser polarization effects on K-shell Compton scattering”, O. Budriga and V.
Florescu, Eur. Phys. J. D. 41, 205-210 (2007)
2. ”Laser modified processes: Bremsstrahlung and inelastic photon-scattering ”, O.
Budriga, M. Dondera and V. Florescu, NIMB 261, 180-183 (2007)
3. ”Relativistic effects in the time evolution of an one-dimensional model atom in
a laser pulse”, M. Boca and V. Florescu, Published Online: 26 September 2007, DOI:
10.1140/epjd/e2007-00273-7
217
4. ”Two-, three-, and four-photon ionization of Mg in the circularly and linearly
polarized
laser fields: Comparative study using the Hartree-Fock and model potentials”, G.
Buic˘a and T. Nakajima, accepted to Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and
Radiative
Transfer, 2007
III. Participation to Conferences:
At ECAMP IX, Grecia, May 2007
1. ”Atoms in intense laser fields: the Floquet analysis of wave functions”, M. Dondera
(poster)
2. ”Numerical solution of the one dimensional Dirac equation for an atom in external
laser field: the influence of the potential depth”, M. Boca, V. Florescu (poster)
At ICPEAC XXV Germany, July 2007
1. ” Spin-orbit effects in electron-hydrogen-like ion elastic scattering in a laser field”,
G. Buic˘a and T. Nakajima (poster)
2. ” Laser assisted Compton scattering on free electrons”, M. Boca, O Budriga, M.
Dondera and V. Florescu (poster)
DURHAM Group
In a collaboration with Dicle University (Diyarbakir, Turkey), the Durham group has
completed a detailed study of the structure of the quasienergy spectrum of atoms
exposed to a strong laser field, in particular of the dependence on the laser wavelength
of the pattern of crossings and anti-crossings which are described by the quasienergy
curves as the laser intensity varies [1,2]. The fine details of the spectrum are speciesdependent. However, the way in which its general structure changes with the laser
wavelength between the UV and the near-infrared regions is generic. Moreover, largescale changes arise from laser-induced degeneracies with states without physical highintensity or low-intensity limits.
[1] E. Mese and R. M. Potvliege, Laser Phys. Lett. 4, 357 (2007).
[2] E. Mese and R. M. Potvliege, submitted to Phys. Rev. A (2007).
******
2007 report of FORTH-IESL for the COST P14 program
Highlight 1) Interferometric polarization gating of many optical cycle, high
peak power laser pulses
A novel approach for intense broadband XUV continuum generation,
utilizinghigh peak power, many cycle pulses has been established and implemented.
Through an interferometrically controlled ellipticity modulation of 50 fs long driving
pulses we demonstrate broad continuum XUV emission. The generated bandwidth is
as broad as to allow the synthesis of isolated XUV pulses with pulse duration of few
hundreds of asec. The present results opened up excellent prospects for the
generation of intense, tunable in duration and frequency, isolated asec XUV pulses,
the emphasis here being on the high XUV intensity, to a large number of existing high
218
peak power laser installations. In particular the approach is straightforward applicable
to the XUV generation from laser surface plasma interactions at relativistic intensities
aiming at the generation of isolated attosecond pulses with unprecedented XUV
intensities.
The work is presented in the following publications:
1)
P. Tzallas et al. Nature Phys. (2007), doi:10.1038/nphys747
2)
D. Charalambidis et al. New J. Phys. (accepted)
Highlight 2) Full spectral amplitude/phase
andwaveform reconstruction in the VUV
distribution
retrieval
Applying a recently developed novel cross IR-UV/VUV correlation
approach(see E. Papalazarou et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 163901 (2006))we have
demonstrated the measurement of complete spectral phase and amplitude distributions
of a superposition of two low harmonics of a Ti:Saph laser beam. The retrieved
distributions are used in order to reconstruct the temporal profile of the superposition.
The reconstruction is complete except for spatial effects.
The work can be found in:
1) P. Tzallas et al. New J. Phys. 9, 232, (2007)
CELIA (Bordeaux group)
Report (2006-2007)
Our group at CELIA is currently developing attosecond XUV beam lines
based on high order harmonic generation and suitable for applications in ultrafast and
strong field science. A polarization gating technique developed in Bordeaux has
demonstrated its capability in selecting broadband isolated attosecond pulses [Sola I.
et al., Nature Physics, 2, 319-322 (2006)]. An attosecond source with an increased
energy is actually under progress and should enable to observe XUV non linear
transitions.
In parallel, we have started our studies on molecular dynamics. We are taking
advantage of a new approach consisting in using high harmonics as a probe of the
electronic structure of the emitting medium with an attosecond temporal resolution
and an Ångström spatial resolution. We are currently able to align molecules and
characterize the harmonic dipole (spectrum, phase and polarization) in order to
perform tomographic reconstruction of molecular orbitals. One very attractive
perspective (albeit ambitious) offered by the technique is the possibility to probe the
electronic wave function of a molecule as a chemical reaction takes place.
Nevertheless, the detected signal can be dominated by the contributions of nonexcited molecules or from a buffer gas used for safety purpose. Therefore, a crucial
issue is to extract selectively the signal from excited molecules. We have
demonstrated that polarization resolved pump probe spectroscopy enables to achieve
this issue. We have measured the harmonic field generated orthogonally to the driving
field and shown that the contrast in the detection of alignment revivals in nitrogen can
be significantly increased. By using this configuration, it was possible to detect
alignment revivals in an argon/nitrogen mixture, whereas the total harmonic signal
219
was strongly dominated by the contribution from argon [Mairesse Y. et al., to be
published in New Journal of Physics.]
Study of two-photon double-ionization of helium
H. Bachau (CELIA, Bordeaux)
1 Presentation
During the last years a strong collaboration has been established between the
laboratoire CELIA (H. Bachau) and the ”Unité PAMO de l’Université Catholique de
Louvain” (Prof. B. Piraux). This collaboration has received the support of the Action
P14 (STSM in 2007). Our objective is the theoretical study of two-photon double
ionization (TPDI) of helium, to calculate total cross-sections and TPDI electron
energy and angular distributions. We have examined the situations where sequential
double ionization is permitted ( ≥ 2. a.u.) and where only the direct two-photon
double ionization is allowed ( < 2. a.u.). All the calculations rely on both a model
and the numerical solution of the time-dependent Schr¨odinger equation in its full
dimensionality.
2 Results
We have studied [1, 2, 3, 4] the electron energy spectrum resulting from TPDI of
He1S; emphasis has been put on the sequential regime (> 2. a.u.). Within a single
pulse, the first photon ionizes He while the second one ”probes” the initial
photoionization process. The photon energy we considered ranges from about 40 eV
till 60 eV so that double ionization occurs by absorption of two photons. Note that
experiments have been recently performed in this energy range with the 27th
harmonic generated by a Ti:sapphire laser [5, 6], in the fs domain (23 fs). The crosssection evaluated in the experiment is in good agreement with our theoretical
predictions [2, 3]. There are numerous other theoretical calculations, they are
generally of the same order of magnitude than our value (see table I and references in
[5]) but there are still large differences between the calculated cross-sections.
Therefore the problem of two-electron ejection from an atom with two photons is far
to be closed. A direct comparison of the theoretical cross-sections with the
experimental results is now possible and it is conceivable that these experiments will
be continued in the sub-femtosecond domain in a near future. TPDI in He has been
also observed with longer pulses (fs) at the free electron laser source FLASH
(Hamburg) [8].
Besides the calculation of TPDI cross-sections we have recently focused on the
calculation of energy and angular distributions, for both direct and sequential TPDI
[7]. With further experimental results anticipated in the immediate future, the
observation of the TPDI outcome should begin providing hitherto insight into the
three body problem. The COLTRIM technique has already been successfully applied
for Ne2+ and Ne3+ [9], it appears to be a promising technique to observe TPDI electron
energy and angular distributionsin helium.
The results have been presented at the Conference ULIS (October 2007,
Bordeaux, invited conference) [10].
References
[1] Laulan S., Bachau H., Piraux B., Bauer J. and Lagmago Kamta G.
2003 J. Mod. Opt. 50, 353
[2] Laulan S. and Bachau H. 2003 Phys. Rev. A68, 013409
[3] Piraux B., Bauer J., Laulan S. and Bachau H 2003 Eur. Phys. J. D26,
7
220
[4] Laulan S. and Bachau H. 2004 Phys. Rev. A 69, 033408
[5] Hasegawa H., Takahashi E., Nabekawa Y., Ishikawa K.L. and Midorikawa
K. 2005 Phys. Rev. A 71, 023407
[6] Nabekawa Y., Hasegawa H., Takahashi E.J. and Midorikawa K. 2005
Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 043001
[7] Foumouo E., Bachau H. and Piraux B. 2007 New J. Phys., accepted
2
[8] Sorokin A.A. et al Phys. Rev. A 75, 051402
[9] Moshammer R. 2007 et al Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 203001
[10] Foumouo E., Bachau H. and Piraux B., 2007 Eur. Phys. J., ULIS proceedings,
submitted
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The European Concerted Research Action
COST P14
LASER-MATTER INTERACTIONS WITH ULTRA-SHORT PULSES, HIGHFREQUENCY PULSES AND ULTRA-INTENSE PULSES: From
Attophysics to Petawatt Physics
Project 3: Study of the interaction of ultra-short pulses, high-frequency
pulses and ultra-intense pulses with plasmas
Progress Report 12/2007
Contributions:
ROMANIA
-University of Bucharest
FRANCE
-CELIA
-CEA-SACLAY
-LOA
GREAT BRITAIN
-Queens University Belfast
-Imperial College London
-University of Strathclyde
-Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.
GERMANY
-University Düsseldorf,
-Max-Planck Institut für Quantenoptik, Garching
-Universität Duisburg-Essen
XLIV.SERBIA
-Institute of Nuclear Sciences “VINČA”, Belgrade
HUNGARY
-KFKI
SUMMARY
An increasing level of effort has been devoted this year to the domain of laser-matter
interaction with ultra-short pulses, high frequency pulses and ultra-intense pulses.
This has led to a significant improvement of our theoretical knowledge in this wide
area of physics, as well as to especially “brilliant” experimental results.
A large number of subjects have been investigated:
-Atomic physics
222
-New X-ray laser pumping schemes
-Cluster X-emission
-EXAFS using laser-induced K- sources
-Plasma jets generation
-Harmonic generation by solid targets
-Betatron X-ray sources
Many of these studies have been partially supported by the Cost action P14 via Short
Term Scientific Mission, and participation to conference fees. It has also to be
underlined that the ULIS 2007 conference which has been sustained by our Cost
action, has successfully encouraged the scientific exchanges between the major actors
of our field.
ROMANIA
Corresponding author:
1.
V. Stancalie
National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics,
Laser Dept.,
P.O.Box MG-36
Bucharest, 077125 ROMANIA
Tel/Fax +402-1-457.44.67
[email protected]
Research Activity
It is noted that atomic physics influences most aspects of plasma behavior[1], but the
effectiveness of analysis depends on the quality of the bi-directional pathway from
fundamental data production through atomic/plasma model development to the
confrontation with experiment. Scientists from the INFLPR in collaboration with the
University of Bucharest and the University ‚Politehnica” Bucharest, contributed to the
project 3 in two areas of interest.
The first one refers to the generation of energetic protons and ions from the
interaction of ultra-intense lasers with solid targets. The Li-like scheme appears to be
a good candidate for lasing in the water window, owing to its relatively low
requirement for driving-laser energy. We have calculated cross sections and collision
strengths for proton-impact excitation of optically forbidden transitions in Al10+[2].
These data, calculated in the impact parameter formalism, covering the expected
range of energies/temperature in laser-produced plasma are believed to represent the
first such detailed treatment of this system. The cross sections decrease with energy as
E-1, while the collision strengths tend to finite limit as the energy of colliding proton
becomes infinitely great. This high-energy limiting value has been evaluated
combining results from the semi-classical treatment of ion-impact excitation processes
and the Born approximation for high-energy behavior of the collision strengths.
223
The second area covers the use of caching web services[3] to allow caching of any
object to a network cache, presented in the form of a web service. Currently, such
application is constructed to expose atomic and spectroscopic data as output from the
excitation of Al targets with the second harmonic (  =0.532  m, 180 mJ energy), of
a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser (  =1,064  m, 360 mJ energy), 4.5 pulse duration,
0.1  10 Hz repetition frequency, and registered using an Acton Research spectrometer
with 0.5 nm spectral resolution and an optical fibre. A caching web service was
developed [4] to increase the speed of previously implemeted web service[5] and the
new one. Various tests were conducted to determine the impact of using this cahing
web service in the existing network environement and where it should be placed in
order to achieve the greatest increased performance. Since the cache is presented to
applications as a web service, it can also be used for remote access to stored data and
data sharing between applications.
B.
Publications:
1. "Atomic structure calculation for Zn-like W ion", A. Mihailescu, V. Stancalie,
2007, 9th European Conference on Atoms Molecules & Photons, ECAMP IX,
6-11 May 2007, Heraklion, Greece, Europhysics Conference Abstracts Th2-58
2. "Forbidden transitions in excitation by proton impact in Li-like Al ions", V.
Stancalie, V. Pais, M. Totolici, A. Mihailescu, 2007, Laser and Particle
Beams, Volume 25, Issue 2, June 2007, pp 267-275
3. "Development of remote participation environment in fusion research", V.
Pais, V. Stancalie, 2006, TNC2006, Terena Networking Conference, Catania,
Italy, 15-18 May 2006
4. "Caching Web Service for TICF Project", V. Pais, V. Stancalie, 2007, 6th
IAEA Technical Meeting on Control, Data Acquisition and Remote
Participation for Fusion Research, 4-8 June 2007, Inuyama, Japan, Fusion
Engineering and Design(2007) in press
5. "Performance Issues Related to Web Service Usage", V. Pais, V. Stancalie,
2007, TNC2007, Terena Networking Conference, Lyngby, Denmark, 21-24
May 2007
Participation at the international Conferences supported by COST
P14:
1. V. Stancalie, 9th European Conference on Atoms Molecules & Photons,
ECAMP IX, 6-11 May 2007, Heraklion, Greece, Europhysics Conference;
2. V. Stancalie, ULIS07 Bordeaux, France
224
FRANCE
CELIA
Corresponding author :
- F. Dorchies
Chargé de Recherche CNRS
CEntre Lasers Intenses et Applications(CELIA)
Université Bordeaux I
351 cours de la Libération
33405 Talence France
Tel: 33 / (0)5 40 00 25 87
Fax: 33 / (0)5 40 00 25 80
[email protected]
Research Activity
1. Dynamics of laser-Ar cluster interaction
Many experimental works have recently been dedicated to ultra-intense laser-cluster
interactions; while interesting per se, these interactions were demonstrated to yield
efficiently multi-keV X-ray bursts, of great interest for ultrafast X-ray science
applications. In CELIA, we focus intense (up to a few 1017 W/cm2) femtosecond
(down to 40 fs) laser pulses onto a partially clusterized argon gas jet. A high dynamic
range X-ray detector has been specifically designed to get both a spectral resolution of
the X-ray emission (~ 1 eV) and a 0.8 ps rms temporal response. We achieved the first
experimental evidence of the sub-picosecond duration of the K-shell X-ray pulses
emitted from laser-irradiated clusters, demonstrating the suitability of such a debris
free target for ultrafast X-ray science applications. The observations are supported by
hydrodynamical model and collisional-radiative calculations that reproduce the
extremely short X-ray pulse duration (a few 100 fs). This extremely short X-ray
duration is understood as the combined effect of both the very efficient laser energy
coupling with clusters and the ultrafast expansion and cooling enhancement of such
spherical nano-targets.
2. XAFS calculations and experiments in dense matter
Phase transitions are fundamental processes of nature. The most familiar among them
are structural changes such as melting or freezing, vaporization or condensation, and
sublimation that define the transitions between the three states of matter, namely,
solid, liquid, and gas. Understanding phase boundaries and transition kinetics has long
been a focus of research in material science, chemistry, and biology. Moreover, while
most studies are concerned with thermodynamical equilibrium, there is also a growing
interest (see the recent review, T. Pfeifer et al, Rep. Prog. Phys. 69, 443 (2006)) in the
investigation of nonequilibrium behavior over time scales pertinent to atomic and
molecular motion, that is femtosecond to picosecond.
225
Experimental studies in such time scales have been both enabled and driven by
advances in femtosecond lasers. They offer unparalleled temporal resolution for
following the evolution of dynamical processes. The adequate combination of a
femtosecond laser « pump » (triggering a change in a sample of interest) together with
a laser-produced X-ray probe beam enables the capture of ultrafast processes (C.
Bressler, M. Chergui, Chem. Rev. 104, 1781 (2004)). In that context, X-ray
absorption fine structure spectroscopy (XAFS), which refers to the oscillatory
structure in the X-ray absorption coefficient just above a photoionization edge, gives
access to the short-range order in a material. For the purpose of designing and
interpreting future pump-probe experiments at CELIA, we started calculations of
photoionization edge profiles in metals and melting metals. These calculations are
based on a combination of a DFT approach of dense matter with the full multiple
scattering technique for the calculation of the photoionization cross section.
Based on high-Z solid target irradiated by a kHz fs laser, a broadband ultrafast X-ray
source has been optimized, emitting close to the K-edge of Al (1.5 – 1.75 keV). A
first experiment has demonstrated the possibility to achieve XANES measurements
with such an X-ray source. Solid aluminium samples at room temperature have been
X-probed with various thicknesses. Accumulating over 10.000 laser shots (i.e. 10s),
we get clear and exploitable XANES structures with Al thickness as thin as 1000 Å,
compatible with a possible homogeneous laser heating. We plan to extend this
technique to the study to heated Al sample in the Warm Dense regime (density close
to solid density and temperature from 0.1 to 10 eV), using pump and probe (X-ray)
scheme. The pump, or heating beam will be a laser beam at CELIA, and a lasergenerated proton beam in a future LULI experiment (2008).
3. Plasma jets generation, characterization and their interaction with a gas cloud
[Participants in the project:
CELIA, University of Bordeaux 1: Ph. Nicolai (PI), X. Ribeyre, C. Stenz, V. T.
Tikhonchuk
Collaborators from other laboratories:
IPPLM (Warsaw) A. Kasperczuk, T. Pisarczyk
PALS (Prague) E. Krousky, D. Klir, J. Kravarik and P. Kubes, L. Juha, K. Masek, M.
Pfeifer, K. Rohlena, J. Skala, J. Ullschmied, M. Kalal ]
The formation, propagation and stability of plasma jets are fundamental issues in the
astrophysical context and for the Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF). The laboratory
experiments could provide some information on the processes of jet formation and
could allow to study the processes of jet interaction with itself or with another
medium.
We developed recently in the experiments at the PALS laser facility a new, more
simple and robust method of hydrodynamic jets production was found. Supersonic
jets with the density above 1019 cm-3, the velocity more than 500 km/s and the life
time more than 10 ns were created in interaction of a single laser pulse with a simple
plain target. The theoretical analysis and dedicated numerical simulations
demonstrated that the jet formation is due to an efficient radiation cooling of laserproduced plasmas before the expansion process takes over.
In the experimental campaign in spring 2007 we studied a collision of such a jet made
of copper with plasma created from argon or helium gas jet. The variation of gas
allowed us to explore a large domain of density ratios from very low ~ 0.1, for helium
at low pressure to rather large, ~10, for a high pressure argon. The collision of a
226
copper jet with the argon plasma is an origin of a double structure: the outer part is a
bow shock, which propagates in argon, the inner part is due to the density
accumulation in the jet head. It is a combination of the surface of contact and the
reverse shock propagating in the copper plasma.
Preliminary conclusions of this first campaign are:
- using a relatively small laser energy, of the order of 100 J, strong collisions
between a plasma jet and a gas puff have been observed.
- varying gas composition, one modifies the efficiency of radiation cooling and
so the nature of the interaction.
- the different mechanisms which appear in the working surface have been
identified and simulated using a 2-D radiation hydrodynamics code.
The results of this campaign are prepared for publication. A new campaign is
proposed for the next year.
Publications
Review with referees
Rev. Sc. Instr. 78, 043503 (2007)
High dynamic range streak camera for sub-picosecond time-resolved X-ray
spectroscopy
C. Bonté, M. Harmand, F. Dorchies, S. Magnan, V. Pitre, J.C. Kieffer, P. Audebert,
J.P. Geindre.
Phys. Plasmas 14, 103107 (2007)
Fast Electron Transport and Induced Heating in Aluminium Foils
J. J. Santos, A. Debayle, Ph. Nicolaï, V. Tikhonchuk, M. Manclossi, D. Batani, A
Guemnie-Tafo, J. Faure, V. Malka, J. J. Honrubia
Phys. Rev. Letters 98 095002 (2007)
Revisiting Nonlocal Electron-Energy Transport in Inertial-Fusion Conditions
G.Schurtz, S.Gary, S.Hulin, C.Chenais-Popovics, J.-C.Gauthier, F.Thais, J.Breil,
F.Durut, J.-L.Feugeas,P.-H.Maire, P.Nicolaï, O.Peyrusse, C.Reverdin, G. Soullié, V.
Tikhonchuk, B.Villette, and C.Fourment
Nature Physics (submitted 19-10-2007)
Electron confinement and localized isochoric heating in high-contrast ultra-intense
laser irradiation of sharp micro-cone targets
J. Rassuchine, E. D’Humières, S.D. Baton, P. Guillou, M. Koenig, J. Fuchs, R.
Kodama, M. Nakatsutsumi, N. Ozaki, D. Batani, A. Morace, R. Redaelli, L.
Gremillet, C. Rousseaux, F. Dorchies, C. Fourment, J.J. Santos, J. Adams, G. Korgan,
S. Malekos, S.B. Hansen, Y. Sentoku, T.E. Cowan.
Physics of Plasmas (submitted 07-11-2007)
Inhibition of fast electron energy deposition due to preplasma filling of cone-attached
targets
227
S.D. Baton, M. Koenig, J. Fuchs, A. Benuzzi-Mounaix, P. Guillou, B. Loupias, T.
Vinci, L. Gremillet, C. Rousseaux, M. Drouin, E. Lefebvre, F. Dorchies, C. Fourment,
J.J. Santos, D. Batani, A. Morace, R. Redaelli, M. Nakatsutsumi, R. Kodama, A.
Nishida, N. Ozaki, T. Norimatsu, Y. Aglitskiy, S. Atzeni, A. Schiavi.
Physical Review Letters (submitted 20-11-2007)
Observation of sub-picosecond X-ray emission from laser-cluster interaction
F. Dorchies, F. Blasco, C. Bonté, T. Caillaud, C. Fourment, O. Peyrusse.
Physical Review E (submitted Nov 2007)
Particles characterization for an evaluation of the 181Tam excitation yield in plasmas
F. Gobet, M.M. Aléonard, G. Claverie, M. Gerbaux, F. Hannachi, G. Malka, J.N.
Scheurer, M. Tarisien, D. Descamps, F. Dorchies, R. Fedosejevs, C. Fourment, S.
Petit, V. Méot, P. Morel.
Phys. Rev. E (submitted July 2007)

Study of Fast Electron Transport and
Induced Heating in Solid Targets by Interferometry
G. Malka, E. Brambrink, Ph. Nicolaï, J. J. Santos, M. M. Aléonard, K. Amthor, P. Audebert,
J. Breil, G. Claverie, M. Gerbaux, F. Gobet, F. Hannachi, V. Méot, P. Morel, J. N.
Scheurer, V. Tikhonchuk
Rev. Sci. Instrum. (submitted 2007)
High Flux of Relativistic Electrons Produced in femtosecond Laser-Thin Foil target
Interactions : Characterization with Nuclear Techniques
M. Gerbaux, M. M. Aléonard, G. Claverie, F. Gobet, F. Hannachi, G. Malka, J. N.
Scheurer, M. Tarisien, V. Méot, P. Morel, J. Faure, Y. Glinec, A. Guemnie-Tafo, V.
Malka, M. Manclossi, J. J. Santos
Invited conferences
S.D. Baton et al.
Experimental results on fast electron transport with and without cone
1st International Conference on Ultra-intense Laser Interaction Sciences ULIS ,
Talence, France (X 2007)
F. Dorchies
Sources plasma de rayonnement X créées par laser
6e Journées du Réseau Plasmas Froids, Bonascre, France (X 2007)
S. Baton et al.
Recent experiment on fast electron transport in ultra-high intensity laser interaction.
3rd international conference on the frontiers of plasma physics and technology,
Bangkok, Thailand (III 07)
M. Harmand et al.
X-ray Emission from high-Z plasmas for X-ray absorption fine spectroscopy of WDM.
International workshop on warm dense matter, Porquerolles, France (VI 07)
228
H. Nishimura et al.
X-ray polarization spectroscopy to study energy transport in ultra-high intensity laser
produced plasmas.
5th Internat. Conf. Inertial Fusion Sciences and Applications, IFSA2007). Kobe,
Japan. (IX 07)
O. Peyrusse
Theoretical calculations of K-edge absorption spectra in warm dense matter.
International workshop on warm dense matter, Porquerolles, France (VI 07)
Conference proceedings
F. Dorchies
Sources plasma de rayonnement X créées par laser
6èmes Journées du Réseau Plasmas Froids, Bonascre, France (2-5 Octobre 2007)
M.M. Aléonard, F. Gobet, G. Claverie, M. Gerbaux, F. Hannachi, G. Malka, J.N.
Scheurer, M. Tarisien, F. Dorchies, D. Descamps, C. Fourment, S. Petit, R.
Fedosejevs, V. Méot, P. Morel
Energetic electrons produced in the interaction of a kilohertz femtosecond laser with
tantalum targets
37th Winter Colloquium on the Physics and Quantum Electronics, Snowbird, January
2-6 2007, USA, Journal of Modern Optics (accepté)
S. Micheau, C. Bonté, F. Dorchies, C. Fourment, M. Harmand, H. Jouin, O. Peyrusse,
B. Pons, J.J. Santos
Dynamics of rare gas nanoclusters irradiated by short and intense laser pulses
RPHDM, Albufeira, Portugal, High Energy Density Physics 3 (2007) 191-197
International conferences
C.Fourment, D.Batani, A.Boscheron, A.Casner, Y.Inubushi, M.Koenig, G.Malka,
A.Morace, H.Nishimura, Y.Okano, R.Redaelli, J.J.Santos, S.Fujioka, T.Johzaki,
T.Kai, T.Kawamura, K.Mima, H.Nagatomo, T.Nakamura, W.Nazarov
Experimental Electron Velocity Distribution Function In High Intensity Laser
Produced Plasmas
International Conference on Ultra Intense Laser Interaction Sciences (ULIS07), 1-5
october 2007, Talence, France
J.J.Santos, A.Debayle, Ph.Nicolaï, V.Tikhonchuk, M.Manclossi, D.Batani,
A.Guemnie-tafo, J.Faure, V.Malka, J.Honrubia
2.
Fast Electron Transport and Induced Heating in Aluminium Foils
International Conference on Ultra Intense Laser Interaction Sciences (ULIS07), 1-5
october 2007, Talence, France
H. Nishimura, Y. Inubushi, Y. Okano, S. Fujioka, T. Kai, T. Kawamura, D. Batani, A.
Morace, R. Redaelli, C. Fourment, J.J. Santos, G. Malka, A. Boscheron, A. Casner,
M. Koenig, T. Nakamura, T. Johzaki, H. Nagatomo, and K. Mima
229
X-ray polarization spectroscopy to study energy transport in ultra-high intensity laser
produced plasmas
49th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics, November 12-16, 2007;
Orlando, Florida, USA
Y. Inubushi, Y. Okano, H. Nishimura, T. Kai, T. Kawamura, S. Fujioka, D. Batani, A.
Morace, R. Redaelli, C. Fourment, J. Santos, G. Malka, A. Boscheron, A. Casner, M.
Koenig, T. Nakamura, T. Johzaki, H. Nagatomo, K. Mima
Diagnostics of anisotropic hot electron velocity distribution using x-ray polarization
spectroscopy
49th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics, November 12-16, 2007;
Orlando, Florida, USA
Y. Okano, Y. Inubushi, H. Nishimura, S. Fujioka, T. Kai, T. Kawamura, D. Batani, A.
Morace, R. Redaelli, C. Fourment, J. Santos, G. Malka, A. Boscheron, A. Casner, W.
Nazarov, M. Koenig, T. Nakamura, T. Johzaki, H. Nagatomo, K. Mima
Polarized x-ray spectroscopic study of fast electrons in intense-laser-produced plasma
under oblique incidence
49th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics, November 12-16, 2007;
Orlando, Florida, USA
Y. Inubushi, Y. Okano, H. Nishimura, T. Kai, T. Kawamura, S. Fujioka, D. Batani, A.
Morace, R. Redaelli, C. Fourment, J. Santos, G. Malka, A. Boscheron, A. Casner, M.
Koenig, T. Nakamura, T. Johzaki, H. Nagatomo, K. Mima
Diagnostics of anisotropic hot electron velocity distribution using x-ray polarization
spectroscopy
Fifth International Conference on Inertial Fusion Science and Applications
(IFSA2007) September 9-14 2007, Kobe, Japan.
Y. Okano, Y. Inubushi, H. Nishimura, S. Fujioka, T. Kai, T. Kawamura, D. Batani, A.
Morace, R. Redaelli, C. Fourment, J. Santos, G. Malka, A. Boscheron, A. Casner, W.
Nazarov, M. Koenig, T. Nakamura, T. Johzaki, H. Nagatomo, K. Mima
Polarized x-ray spectroscopic study of fast electrons in intense-laser-produced plasma
under oblique incidence
Fifth International Conference on Inertial Fusion Science and Applications
(IFSA2007) September 9-14 2007, Kobe, Japan.
M. Harmand, F. Dorchies, C. Fourment, S. Hulin, M. Lassausaie, O. Peyrusse, J.J.
Santos
X-ray Emission from high-Z plasmas for ultrafast XANES of Aluminum
International Conference on Ultra Intense Laser Interaction Science, October 1-5,
Talence, France (2007)
T.E. Cowan, J. Rassuchine, E. D’Humières, Y. Sentoku, S.D. Baton, P. Guillou, M.
Koenig, J. Fuchs, P. Audebert, F. Dorchies, C. Fourment, J.J. Santos, R. Kodama, M.
Nakatsutsumi, T. Norimatsu, D. Batani, A. Morace, R. Bedaello, L. Gremillet, C.
Rousseaux, S.B. Hansen
Enhanced Isochoric Heating in High Contrast Laser-Nano-Cone Interactions
49th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics, November 12-16,
Orlando, Florida, USA (2007)
230
M. Harmand, F. Dorchies, C. Fourment, J.J. Santos , O. Peyrusse
X-ray Emission from high-Z plasmas created by a high repetition rate fs laser
15th International Conf. on Atomic Processes in Plasmas, March 19-22, NIST,
Gaithersburg, MD, USA (2007)
C.
-CEA-SACLAY.
1.
Corresponding author :-P. Monot
P. Monot
PHI group
SPAM-Bât 522
CEA SACLAY
91191 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex
France
T:
33 1 6908 10 35
F:
33 1 6908 12 13
[email protected]
Research Activity
When an intense laser pulse impinges a solid target, it creates a dense plasma at its surface.
During an ultrashort laser pulse—typically below 100 fs—this plasma only expands by a
small fraction of the light wavelength, and thus behaves as a high-flatness mirror, called a
plasma mirror. In appropriate interaction conditions, high-order harmonics of the incident
laser frequency are observed in the beam reflected by such a plasma mirror. This process
should provide a way to produce XUV femtosecond and attosecond pulses in the µJ range
from ultrafast ultraintense lasers. Studying the mechanisms responsible for this harmonic
emission is also of strong fundamental interest: just as HHG in gases has been instrumental in
providing a comprehensive understanding of basic intense laser-atom interactions, HHG from
plasma mirrors is likely to become a unique tool to investigate many key features of laserplasma interactions at high intensities.
Two mechanisms can lead to harmonic emission from plasma mirrors :
- Coherent Wake Emission : in this process, harmonics are emitted by plasma oscillations
excited in the sharp density gradient at the interface between the overdense plasma and
vacuum. These plasma oscillations are triggered in the wake of jets of Brunel electrons
generated by the laser field.
- The relativistic oscillating mirror : in this process, the intense laser field drives a relativistic
oscillation of the plasma mirror surface. This oscillating mirror in turn gives rise to a periodic
phase modulation of the reflected beam, and hence to the generation of harmonics of the
incident frequency.
A special effort has been devoted this year to the study of CWE properties. We have
demonstrated experimentally that CWE harmonics have an intensity-dependent intrinsic
phase, which, according to PIC simulations, is directly related to the dynamics of Brunel
electrons. Lastly, we will have observed the first experimental evidence of the mutual
coherence of several harmonic sources from a plasma mirror, a result that proves the
coherence of the CWE mechanism.
Publications
C.Thaury et al, Nature Physics 3 (2007) 424 - 429
231
F. Quéré et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96 (2006), 125004
D.
-LOA.
1.
Corresponding author :-A. Rousse
Physics of Femtosecond X-ray group
Group Leader
Laboratoire d'Optique Appliquee (LOA)
CNRS, ENSTA, Ecole Polytechnique.
Surface mail:
Antoine Rousse
LOA/ENSTA
Chemin de la Huniere
F-91761 Palaiseau
FRANCE
phone: +33 (0)1 69 31 98 90
fax:
+33 (0)1 69 31 99 96
email:
[email protected]
Web site: http://loa.ensta.fr/pxf/
Research Activity
Characterization and applications of the betatron x-ray source
At the frontier between plasmas and accelerators, the betatron x-ray radiation
generated in relativistic laser plasma interaction reproduces the principle of a
synchrotron in a millimeter scale[1,2]. In this laser-based x-ray source, a plasma
cavity driven by an intense femtosecond laser replaces the conventional electron
accelerator and wiggler. This conceptually new mechanism has been recently
validated by the observation of the first keV x-ray beams generated from a plasma of
helium[2].
Following this result, which has provided a novel approach for x-ray generation, the
main parameters of the betatron source have been investigated[3,4,5]. This year we
have performed a numerical and experimental characterization of the source : spatial
distribution, the accurate measurement of the spectrum, the source size and the
correlation between x-rays and electrons.
Then, two application experiments were performed with the betatron x-ray beam.
First, by measuring the far field spatial profile of the radiation, we have been able to
characterize the electron’s trajectories inside the plasma accelerator structure with a
resolution better than 0.5 micrometers[6]. Second, the betatron radiation has been
used as a probe to perform a time resolved x-ray diffraction experiment. By
measuring an ultrafast phase transition, the non thermal melting in InSb, we have
demonstrated the ultrafast nature of the source [7].
232
References:
1. A. Rousse, K. Ta Phuoc, R. Shah, A. Pukhov, E. Lefebvre, V. Malka, S. Kiselev, F. Burgy, J.-P.
Rousseau, D. Umstadter, and D. Hulin, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 13, 135005 (2004).
2. S. Kiselev, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett 93,13, 135004 (2004).
3. K. Ta Phuoc, R. Shah, A. Pukhov, V. Malka, S. Kiselev, D. Umstadter, F. Burgy, J.P. Rousseau and
A. Rousse, Phys. Plasmas, 12, 023101 (2005).
4. R. Shah, K. Ta Phuoc, F. Albert and A. Rousse, Phys. Rev. E. 74, 045401(R) (2006)
5. F. Albert, R. Shah, R. Fitour, K. Ta Phuoc, F. Burgy, J.-P. Rousseau, A. Tafzi, D. Douillet, Th.
Lefrou, and A. Rousse., Submitted to Phys. Rev. E., (2007)
6. K. Ta Phuoc, S. Corde, R. Shah, F. albert, R. Fitour, J.P. Rousseau, F. Burgy, B. Mercier, and A.
Rousse, Phys. Rev. Lett., 97, 225002 (2006).
7. K. Ta Phuoc, R. Fitour, D. E. Kim, A. Pukhov, V. Seredov, I. Kostyuokov, A. Tafzi, Th. Garl, N.
Artemiev, R. Shah, F. Albert, D. Boschetto, and A. Rousse, accepted Phys. plasmas (June 2007)
GERMANY
Max-Planck Institut für Quantenoptik, Garching in collaboration
with Department of Physics and Astronomy, Queen's University,
Belfast
Research Activity
SURFACE HARMONIC GENERATION WITH HIGH POWER LASER PULSES
High harmonic generation from the interaction of a high power laser pulse with a
solid target is a promising source to generate single attosecond pulses with peak
intensities orders of magnitude beyond present techniques using gas jets. Recent
experiments [1] and theoretical work [2] showed the great potential this method has.
The striking advantages of surface generated harmonics are the scaleability to higher
laser intensities, the power law decay of the harmonic spectrum and the coherence of
the different harmonics. Assuming perfect focusability the harmonics can represent a
single atto- or even sub-attosecond pulse with peak intensities close to the Schwinger
limit. Although the concept of surface harmonic generation looks promising, some
problems have to be solved like measuring the pulses in the time domain and to
provide a well-defined surface during the interaction of the main part of the laser.
We have performed simulations of an experimentally realizable parameter range by
high power laser systems to become available in the near future using the three
dimensional code ILLUMINATION. The emphasis of the investigation is on the
coherent nature of the emission. We studied the influence of the plasma scale length
233
on the harmonic efficiency, angular distribution and the focusability. Finally we will
present a polarization gating scheme to generate a single atto-second pulse.
To give an insight into the complex nature of the generation process, the Lasersurface interaction for the presented cases can be followed by movies from the
simulation.
[1] Dromey B et al 2006 Nature Phys. 2 456
[2] Baeva T, Gordienko S and Pukhov A 2006 Phys. Rev. E 74 046404
Institut für experimentelle Physik, Universität Duisburg-Essen
Research Activity
HIGH ORDER HARMONIC GENERATION FROM SOLID TARGETS:
TOWARDS INTENSE ATTOSECOND PULSES
Recent theoretical work suggests that high order harmonic generation (HOHG) from
surfaces could offer significant advantages over HOHG in gases. These include new ways
of generating single intense attosecond pulses and the possibility of reaching extremely
high intensities. The crucial point in all these ideas is to carry laser-solid interaction into
the highly relativistic regime using femtosecond pulses.
We studied non-relativistic and relativistic regimes of HOHG. By changing the pump
intensity and target parameters the transition to relativistic HOHG is demonstrated both
experimentally and using particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. This transition depends not
only on the pump intensity but also on the plasma parameters (density and scale length).
Important is that a parameter range can be found in which the harmonics are emitted in a
narrow cone in the specular direction. Very good agreement between the simulations and
experimental results is achieved.
The issue of spectral filtering of the high order harmonic radiation for attosecond pulse
production will be discussed. Simulations show that with proper filtering attosecond
pulses should be already available in our experiments both in relativistic and nonrelativistic regimes. The drawback of spectral filtering is a significant energy loss. We
consider a method of overcoming this problem.
For a number of applications single attosecond pulse generation is important. We
demonstrate the potential of a two-beam/two-colour HOHG. These schemes allow not
only improving the HOHG/attosecond pulse generation, but also suggest methods for
single attosecond pulse production using multi-cycle pump pulses.
Institute for Theoretical Physics, University Düsseldorf
ULTRA-RELATIVISTIC SPIKES AND HIGH HARMONIC GENERATION
FROM OVERDENSE PLASMA
Research Activity
The analytical theory provides an essentially new approach to relativistic matter
interaction and predicts a unique property of the harmonics: universal spectrum,
3
which includes the power-law part In~n-8/3 for n< 8  max
, followed by exponential
decay. Here γmax is the largest relativistic γ-factor of the plasma surface and α
represents the second derivative of the surface velocity at this moment [1,2]. The
thorough microscopic analysis demonstrates that the high harmonic generation is not a
234
surface effect, but is the result of the coherent electron motion inside the whole slab of
the plasma skin layer [3].
These predictions of the relativistic spikes were confirmed recently in a spectacular
experiment where up to 3200 harmonics were generated for the first time of lasermatter interaction [4,5]. The fact that these harmonics were observed, although their
wavelength is of the order of the inter-atomic distances is explained by the
microscopic mechanism of high harmonic generation presented here [3].
1. T. Baeva, S. Gordienko, A. Pukhov, PRE 74, 046404 (2006).
2. T. Baeva, S. Gordienko, A. Pukhov, PRE 74, 065401 (2006).
3. T. Baeva et.al., in preparation (2007)
4. B. Dromey, M. Zepf, A. Gopal et. al., Nature Physics 2, 456 (2006).
5. B. Dromey, et. al., submitted (2007)
GREAT BRITAIN
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Queens University
Belfast
Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London
Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow,
Central Laser Facility, CCLRC Rutherford Appleton
Laboratory
Research Activity
Multi-keV harmonic radiation from solid targets
.
The first observation of x-ray harmonic radiation (extending to 3.3 Å, 3.8 keV) from
Petawatt class laser-solid interactions has been performed this year, corresponding to the
most extreme non-linear optical process detected in the laboratory to date (harmonic order
n>3200). The coherent nature of the generated harmonics is demonstrated by the highly
directional beamed emission, which for photon energy hν >1 keV is found to be into a
cone angle <4°, significantly less than that of the incident laser cone (20°). The harmonic
-Prel
th
spectra, display scaling in the relativistic limit, n , up to ~ 2500 order (fitting
parameter Prel=2.55(+0.25,-0.15)), above which an intensity dependent scaling roll-over
is observed for the first time (n > na and n > nb ).
max
max
SERBIA
Institute of Nuclear Sciences “VINČA”, Belgrade
2.
Atomic Physics Laboratory
235
3.
Corresponding author: B. Gakovic
POB 522, 11001 Belgrade, SERBIA
Phone: (381-11) 2455 451
Fax: (381-11) 344 0100
e-mail [email protected]
Research Activity
The main contribution has been on the experimental side. Programme topics of our
group: “High-intensity laser-matter interactions at the microscopic level” are mainly
incorporated in the program of Working Group 2. In our experiments as target
materials bulk (titanium, titanium-based medical implant and silicon) and thin solid
films (Ti and W- based ceramic) were used. The results were analysed and compared
with those previously obtained by short/ ultra short laser pulses. In the case where the
minimal focal spot diameter was used, high laser intensities were reached and effects
concerning extreme states of matter induced. Specially, morphological changes of
irradiated surface were monitored. The obtained results were presented at
International Conferences and published in some significant Physics Journals.
4.
Participation to Cost actions
- dr. Biljana Gakovic, participation in “Christmas Meeting of the High Power Laser
Science Community” ABINGDON, 18-19 December 2006
Outcoming STMS:
- dr. Biljana Gakovic and dr. Milan Trtica at Universita di Milano Bicocca, Italy
(STSM- P14 – 01915, Biljana Gakovic, 10 – 30 Nov. 2006
STSM - P14-02168, Trtica Milan, 05- 20 Dec. 2006 and
STSM - P14 – 03224, Trtica Milan, 15 Nov - 02 Dec. 2007)
5.
Collaboration with cost action members
- Università di Milano Bicocca, ITALY
- National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, Bucharest, ROMANIA
6.
Relevant invited, oral or poster conference presentations
-
TOMSK, Russia, Sept. 2007, M. Trtica (invited lecture)
NASM, University of Southampton, UK, Sept. 2007, B Gakovic (plenar lecture )
YUCOMAT, Montenegro, Sept. 2007, B. Gakovic (plenar lecture)
HPLSC, Abingdon, UK, Dec. 2006, B. Gakovic (poster presentation)
7.
Publications
1. Milan Trtica, Biljana Gakovic, Dimitri Batani, Tara Desai, Peter Panjan and
Bojan Radak
SURFACE MODIFICATIONS OF A TITANIUM IMPLANT BY A PICOSECOND
ND:YAG LASER OPERATING at 1064 and 532 nm, Applied Surface Science, 253,
Issue 5, (2006) 2551-2556
2. S. Petrović, N. Bundaleski, D. Peruško, M. Radović, J. Kovač, M. Mitrić, B.
Gaković, Z. Rakočević
SURFACE ANALYSIS OF NANOSTRUCTURED W-TI THIN FILM DEPOSITED ON
SILICON, Applied Surface Science, 253 (2007) 5196-5202.
3. M. Bussoli, D. Batani, T. Desai, F. Canova, M. Milani, M.S. Trtica, B.M.
Gaković, E. Krouski
236
STUDY OF LASER INDUCED ABLATION WITH FIB/SEM
Laser and Particle Beams, 25 (2007) 121-125
4. B.Gaković, M. Trtica, D. Batani, T. Desai, D. Vasiljević-Radović
SURFACE MODIFICATION OF TITANIUM NITRIDE BY PICOSECOND Nd:YAG
LASER
Journal of Optics A: Pure and Applied Optics, 9 (2007) S76–S80
5. M.S. Trtica, B.M. Gaković, D. Maravić, D. Batani, T. Desai, R. Redaelli
SURFACE MODIFICATION OF CRYSTALLINE SILICON CREATED BY HIGH
INTENSITY 1064 NM PICOSECOND Nd:YAG LASER PULSES
Applied Surface Science, 253 (2007) 9315-9318
HUNGARY
Corresponding author: István B Földes
KFKI-Research Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics
Department of Plasma Physics, Association EURATOM
H-1525 Budapest, POB 49.
Research Activity
A strong effort have been carried out to characterize our upgraded KrF laser system at
the University of Szeged. The energy of the laser was increased from 15 to 70 mJ.
The applied spatial filters provided a 5-time contrast increase. The pulse duration was
measured to be 62010 fs. The intensity of 1018W/cm2 can obtained either in single
shots or in 1Hz repetition rate with the prepulse intensity as low as 107 W/cm2.
We continued the VUV spectroscopical investigations with the upgraded system. The
higher beam quality of our system allows ta better comparison of experimental data
with simulations for a 2-component plasma for LiF. Also the plasma behaviour has
been followed in the broad range of intensity (1012 to 1017 W/cm2) without changing
the focusing, i.e. focusing the beam with a simple f/10 lens.
8.
Publications
1. I.B. Földes, E. Rácz, T. Suta, Yu. Ralchenko, D. Salzmann: Spectroscopy of
Plasmas Generated by Ultrashort KrF Lasers; 3rd Int. Conf. on the Frontiers of
Plasma Physics and Technology; Bangkok, Thailand, 2007, (Book of Abstracts)
2. I.B. Földes, E. Rácz, T. Suta and S. Szatmári: Spectroscopical investigations in
the VUV of laser plasmas generated by a short-pulse KrF laser; Proc. XXIX ECLIM,
Eds. O. Cabellos, J. Sanz, G. Velarde, J.M. Perlado, Madrid, 2006, ISBN: 84-6902624-0, p. 413-418
237
J. Meyer-ter-Vehn
31, 2007
Garching, December
Progess Report on COST Action P14, Task 4:
Applications of laser-plasma studies to particle acceleration,
laboratory astrophysics and laser induced nuclear reactions,
the fast ignition approach to inertial confinement fusion.
Outstanding achievements in 2006/2007
Laser particle acceleration
Following the first demonstration of laser-driven GeV electron beams at Berkeley
and controlled electron injection by a second counterpropagating laser beam at
LOA, systematic studies of the wake field acceleration in the bubble regime have
been performed within the COST P14 activities both experimentally and
theoretically. Quasi-monoenergetic electron pulses with energies in the range of
100 MeV and higher are now observed by many groups. First generation of 50 100 MeV pulses with sub-10 fs laser pulses has been achieved at MPQ Garching
in agreement with 3D-PIC simulations. These few-cycle laser pulses are shorter
than the plasma wavelength, thus fitting into the wakefield as required for the pure
bubble regime, and therefore produce stable, reproducible electron bunches.
Concerning ion acceleration from thin target foils, first ion pulses with peaked
spectra
have been produced at MBI Berlin and other places. Such pulses are of great
interest for
future medical applications. New simulation results from the universities of
Belfast, Bordeaux and Pisa indicate that proton and carbon pulses adequate for ion
therapy should be achievable when using circular polarized light pulses at the
level of a few 1020 W/cm2 and ultra-thin (10 - 100 nm) foils.
Warm dense matter studies
First experiments with intense VUV-FEL photon pulses at the FLASH facility
have been performed at DESY Hamburg, heating solid foils to a few eV
temperature with 30 nm photon pulses. A new theoretical model for VUV
absorption in metals and warm dense matter has been developed at MPQ Garching;
it covers solids at temperatures of 10 - 100 eV and also cold metals.
Fast ignition approach to inertial confinement fusion.
Within COST activities, significant results on high-current electron transport in the
context of fast ignition have been obtained at UP Madrid in collaboration with
MPQ Garching,
based on hybrid PIC simulation. For the first time, actual ignition of
precompressed DT fuel could be simulated, taking full account of magnetized
238
transport of GA currents through density profiles realistic for cone-guided fast
ignition.
Short summaries of results from different COST P14 groups
(More detailed reports by these groups are attached as appendices)
1. Bordeaux group
Special emphasis of the Bordeaux group has been put on laser-generated electron
transport in dense plasma and corresponding effects of plasma heating. EXAFS and
XANES methods
for studying configurational changes in solids due to heating have been developed
both theoretically and experimentally. Also 181Ta activation in laser heated plasma has
been investigated as a potential nuclear diagnostic. Electron transport in conical
targets was studied in view of its particular importance for fast ignition; different from
findings of other groups, no enhancement of electron emission from the cone tip was
observed.
A second line of research was devoted to laser ion acceleration, paying special
attention to the generation of peaked ion spectra. In particular, circularly polarized
laser pulses irradiating ultrathin foils appear promising. Also the interaction of lasergenerated ion jets with other
plasma clouds were investigated motivated by astrophysical applications.
The work was performed by cooperation with LULI inside France and in
collaboration with
the COST P14 groups at Prague and Warsaw and also with associated groups at
Moscow and St. Petersburg. Most of the work has been published or is in print.
2. Budapest group
The focus of the Budapest group is on the development of KrF lasers and their
possible application to fast ignition, the obvious advantage being the short wavelength
which allows the laser light to penetrate much deeper into dense plasma and carrying
energy closer to the
compressed core in ICF applications.
The group also participated in experiments at the PALS laser facility to generate on
ion jets in laser-solid interaction using subnanosecond laser pulses (see Warsaw
group).
3. Garching group
The focus of laser development at MPQ Garching is on generating phase-controlled
few-cycle TW-to-PW laser pulses and to use them for ultra-short ultra-bright particle
and photon sources. Pulses in the range of 10 TW, 10 fs have been demonstrated.
Interacting with gas targets, they have produced 50 - 100 MeV electron pulses. GeV-
239
scale electron acceleration was achieved in a gas-filled capillary discharge waveguide,
verifying corresponding 3D-PIC
simulations performed at Garching.
Ion acceleration has been studied theoretically and in joint experiments with other
groups, usind laser facilities at Berlin, LULI, RAL, and Los Alamos, the main interest
being in future medical applications.
In collaboration with the Madrid group (GIFI), hybrid PIC simulation was developed
and applied to the ignition of pre-compressed fusion targets. Heating of sold foils by
VUV radiation was simulated to analyse corresponding experiments at the DESY
XUV-FEL 'FLASH'.
4. Helsinki group
A major interest of the Helsinki group is in laser applications to nuclear engineering,
in particular in laser-enhanced radioactive decay and selective transmutation of
nuclear waste. This work is done in collaboration with A.A.Andreev at the State
Optical Institute in St. Petersburg.
The group has also performed and published theoretical work on laser pulse
compression in inhomogeneous plasma upon backward stimulated Raman scattering
and on reflection of high-intensity short laser pulses from plasma gratings.
5. Pisa group
The Pisa-theory group has been active in the development of models and numerical
simulations of ion acceleration by intense laser pulses, in conditions of relevance for
the new proposed laser plasma installations.
Particular attention has been paid to the regime of laser ion acceleration by means of
circularly polarized laser light and to the evolution of transverse surface instabilities
in radiation pressure driven acceleration schemes. Corresponding publications deal
with "Photon bubbles and ion acceleration in a plasma dominated by the radiation
pressure of an electromagnetic pulse" as well as "Ion dynamics and coherent structure
formation following laser pulse self-channeling".
The group has also considered applications of laser-generated ion beams to highenergy particle physics such as Multi-GeV laser driven proton acceleration in the high
current regime and is use for neutrino beam sources.
6. Warsaw group
The group has studied different regimes of laser ion acceleration.. They have recently
pioneered the long-pulse (few 100 ps) experiments on ion acceleration, performed
mainly at the PALS laser facility in Prague, and have published a larger number of
publications devoted to the generation of highly collimated plasma jets and highcurrent ion beams.
240
A second line of theoretical activities is concerned with ultrahigh-current proton
beams from short-pulse laser-solid interaction in the regime of Skin-Layer
Ponderomotive Acceleration (SLPA). Various double-layer configurations using
plastic targets covered by 0.1 – 0.2m Au front layers have been investigated. The
SLPA regime is found to be superior to the TNSA (transverse normal sheath
acceleration regime.
Appendix collating individual group reports
Bordeaux
CELIA contribution to COST P14 Annual Report (2007)
1. Dynamics of laser-Ar cluster interaction
Many experimental works have recently been dedicated to ultra-intense laser-cluster
interactions; while interesting per se, these interactions were demonstrated to yield
efficiently multi-keV X-ray bursts, of great interest for ultrafast X-ray science
applications. In CELIA, we focus intense (up to a few 1017 W/cm2) femtosecond
(down to 40 fs) laser pulses onto a partially clusterized argon gas jet. A high dynamic
range X-ray detector has been specifically designed to get both a spectral resolution of
the X-ray emission (~ 1 eV) and a 0.8 ps rms temporal response. We achieved the first
experimental evidence of the sub-picosecond duration of the K-shell X-ray pulses
emitted from laser-irradiated clusters, demonstrating the suitability of such a debris
free target for ultrafast X-ray science applications. The observations are supported by
hydrodynamical model and collisional-radiative calculations that reproduce the
extremely short X-ray pulse duration (a few 100 fs). This extremely short X-ray
duration is understood as the combined effect of both the very efficient laser energy
coupling with clusters and the ultrafast expansion and cooling enhancement of such
spherical nano-targets.
2. Enhancement of activation and decay rates of nuclear levels through laser
heating of plasmas
It has recently been shown (A. V. Andreev et al. JETP 91, 1163 (2000)) that the
activation and decay of the 6.238 keV nuclear level of 181Ta can be enhanced in
femtosecond laser heated Ta plasmas. This enhancement is due to the high density
surrounding plasma and high ionization states of Ta ions. A detailed knowledge of the
plasma conditions is required to understand further the enhancement mechanisms. A
Ta target was thus heated in CELIA using 45 fs Ti :sapphire laser pulses with
intensities ranging from 1 to 6 1016 W/cm2. Langmuir probes have been used to
characterize the ion emission and we employed both CCD and NaI(Tl) pulse height
detection systems to measure the X-ray emission. The deposition and implantation of
the escaping Ta ions and atoms were also characterized by means of Rutherford
Backscattering Spectrometry. These experiments have shed light on the plasma
241
conditions and have allowed to carry out analytical models and hydrodynamical
calculations to elicit the mechanisms responsible for the enhancement of the nuclear
rates.
3. XAFS calculations and experiments in dense matter
Phase transitions are fundamental processes of nature. The most familiar among them
are structural changes such as melting or freezing, vaporization or condensation, and
sublimation that define the transitions between the three states of matter, namely,
solid, liquid, and gas. Understanding phase boundaries and transition kinetics has long
been a focus of research in material science, chemistry, and biology. Moreover, while
most studies are concerned with thermodynamical equilibrium, there is also a growing
interest (see the recent review, T. Pfeifer et al, Rep. Prog. Phys. 69, 443 (2006)) in the
investigation of nonequilibrium behavior over time scales pertinent to atomic and
molecular motion, that is femtosecond to picosecond.
Experimental studies in such time scales have been both enabled and driven by
advances in femtosecond lasers. They offer unparalleled temporal resolution for
following the evolution of dynamical processes. The adequate combination of a
femtosecond laser « pump » (triggering a change in a sample of interest) together with
a laser-produced X-ray probe beam enables the capture of ultrafast processes (C.
Bressler, M. Chergui, Chem. Rev. 104, 1781 (2004)). In that context, X-ray
absorption fine structure spectroscopy (XAFS), which refers to the oscillatory
structure in the X-ray absorption coefficient just above a photoionization edge, gives
access to the short-range order in a material. For the purpose of designing and
interpreting future pump-probe experiments at CELIA, we started calculations of
photoionization edge profiles in metals and melting metals. These calculations are
based on a combination of a DFT approach of dense matter with the full multiple
scattering technique for the calculation of the photoionization cross section.
Based on high-Z solid target irradiated by a kHz fs laser, a broadband ultrafast X-ray
source has been optimized, emitting close to the K-edge of Al (1.5 – 1.75 keV). A
first experiment has demonstrated the possibility to achieve XANES measurements
with such an X-ray source. Solid aluminium samples at room temperature have been
X-probed with various thicknesses. Accumulating over 10.000 laser shots (i.e. 10s),
we get clear and exploitable XANES structures with Al thickness as thin as 1000 Å,
compatible with a possible homogeneous laser heating. We plan to extend this
technique to the study to heated Al sample in the Warm Dense regime (density close
to solid density and temperature from 0.1 to 10 eV), using pump and probe (X-ray)
scheme. The pump, or heating beam will be a laser beam at CELIA, and a lasergenerated proton beam in a future LULI experiment (2008).
4. Transport of intense laser-produced electron beams in matter
Fast electron transport in matter is a key issue for assessing the feasibility of fast
ignition in inertial confinement fusion. An advanced scheme of fast ignition of a
fusion target consists in inserting a gold cone in the DT sphere. A PW laser pulse
would be focused in this cone, in order to produce an intense electron beam close
to the compressed core of the target. The cone in itself could also improve the
electron generation and transport. We have participated to an experiment at LULI
100 TW (Palaiseau, France) in collaboration with M. Koenig and S.D. Baton
(LULI). The goal was to study the cone influence on the electron beam generation
and transport through a solid foil attached at the tip of the cone. At , the electron
energy deposition in the foil was observed to be drastically reduced with the cone,
242
due to the presence of a long pre-plasma. At 2 (laser frequency doubled
improving the temporal contrast), no difference was clearly observed with and
without the cone.
In order to characterize the 3-dimensional velocity distribution function (VDF) of
the electron beam, another experiment was performed with the Alisé laser
(CEA/DAM/CESTA, Le Barp, France) in collaboration with D. Batani (Milano,
Italia) and H. Nishimura (Osaka, Japan). Using the polarized X-ray spectroscopy
technique and laser intensity of a few 1018 W/cm2, the VDF was observed to be
schematically parallel to the target surface in the under-dense plasma, and
perpendicular in the over-dense zone.
5. Plasma jets generation, characterization and their interaction with a gas cloud
[Participants in the project:
CELIA, University of Bordeaux 1: Ph. Nicolai (PI), X. Ribeyre, C. Stenz, V. T.
Tikhonchuk
Collaborators from other laboratories:
IPPLM (Warsaw) A. Kasperczuk, T. Pisarczyk
PALS (Prague) E. Krousky, D. Klir, J. Kravarik and P. Kubes, L. Juha, K. Masek, M.
Pfeifer, K. Rohlena, J. Skala, J. Ullschmied, M. Kalal ]
The formation, propagation and stability of plasma jets are fundamental issues in the
astrophysical context and for the Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF). The laboratory
experiments could provide some information on the processes of jet formation and
could allow to study the processes of jet interaction with itself or with another
medium.
We developed recently in the experiments at the PALS laser facility a new, more
simple and robust method of hydrodynamic jets production was found. Supersonic
jets with the density above 1019 cm-3, the velocity more than 500 km/s and the life
time more than 10 ns were created in interaction of a single laser pulse with a simple
plain target. The theoretical analysis and dedicated numerical simulations
demonstrated that the jet formation is due to an efficient radiation cooling of laserproduced plasmas before the expansion process takes over.
In the experimental campaign in spring 2007 we studied a collision of such a jet made
of copper with plasma created from argon or helium gas jet. The variation of gas
allowed us to explore a large domain of density ratios from very low ~ 0.1, for helium
at low pressure to rather large, ~10, for a high pressure argon. The collision of a
copper jet with the argon plasma is an origin of a double structure: the outer part is a
bow shock, which propagates in argon, the inner part is due to the density
accumulation in the jet head. It is a combination of the surface of contact and the
reverse shock propagating in the copper plasma.
Preliminary conclusions of this first campaign are:
- using a relatively small laser energy, of the order of 100 J, strong collisions
between a plasma jet and a gas puff have been observed.
- varying gas composition, one modifies the efficiency of radiation cooling and
so the nature of the interaction.
- the different mechanisms which appear in the working surface have been
identified and simulated using a 2-D radiation hydrodynamics code.
The results of this campaign are prepared for publication. A new campaign is
proposed for the next year.
243
6. Study of the interaction of ultra-intense short laser pulses with mass-limited
target. Optimisation of the ion acceleration in targets with multiple ion species
[Participants in the project:
CELIA, University of Bordeaux 1: V. T. Tikhonchuk
Collaborators from other laboratories:
Czech Technical University (Prague) J Limpouch, J Psikal1, O Klimo
Lebedev Institute (Moscow) A. Brantov
State Optical Institute (St. Petersburg) A. A. Andreev]
Two works related to the theoretical development and numerical simulations have
been performed.
First one concerns the ion acceleration in mass limited targets.
Intense short laser pulses may accelerate ions in thin targets to energies of several
MeV per nucleon and highly collimated ion beams may be formed. Quasimonoenergetic ion beams were generated last year from foils with a specially treated
rear surface and from the water droplets. Mass-limited targets such as water μm-sized
spheres or small metal discs offer an advantage of reducing the absorbed laser energy
spread in the transverse directions compared to the traditional foil targets. Ion
acceleration in targets irradiated by short ultraintense laser pulses is studied here via a
2D3V relativistic electromagnetic particle-in-cell code. Simulations were performed
for plane and curved foil sections and cylindrical targets that serve as a twodimensional model of spherical micro-droplets. Two ion species with different
charge-to-mass ratios facilitate the formation of persistent peak in energy distribution
of the lighter ions, while the heavier ions act like a piston.
Second one concerns the effect on laser polarization on the ion acceleration.
Acceleration of ions from ultrathin foils irradiated by intense circularly polarized laser
pulses is investigated using one- and two-dimensional particle simulations. A
circularly polarized laser wave heats the electrons much less efficiently than the wave
of linear polarization and the ion acceleration process takes place on the front side of
the foil. The ballistic evolution of the foil becomes important after all ions contained
in the foil have been accelerated. In the ongoing acceleration process, the whole foil is
accelerated as a dense compact bunch of quasineutral plasma implying that the energy
spectrum of ions is quasi-monoenergetic. The ion acceleration process is described by
the momentum transfer from the laser beam to the foil and it might be fairly efficient
in terms of the energy transferred to the heavy ions even if the foil contains a
comparable number of light ions. Two-dimensional simulations confirm the formation
of the quasi-monoenergetic spectrum of ions and relatively good collimation of the
ion bunch, however the spatial distribution of the laser intensity poses constraints on
the maximum velocity of the ion beam. The present ion acceleration mechanism
might be suitable for obtaining of a dense high energy beam of quasi-monoenergetic
heavy ions which can be subsequently applied in nuclear physics experiments. Our
simulations are complemented by a simple theoretical model which provides the
insights how to control the energy, number and energy spread of accelerated ions.
Both papers are prepared for publication.
244
Publications relative to the activities described above (2007)
Review with referees
Rev. Sc. Instr. 78, 043503 (2007)
High dynamic range streak camera for sub-picosecond time-resolved X-ray
spectroscopy
C. Bonté, M. Harmand, F. Dorchies, S. Magnan, V. Pitre, J.C. Kieffer, P. Audebert,
J.P. Geindre.
Phys. Plasmas 14, 103107 (2007)

Fast Electron Transport and Induced Heating
in Aluminium Foils
J. J. Santos, A. Debayle, Ph. Nicolaï, V. Tikhonchuk, M. Manclossi, D. Batani, A.
Guemnie-Tafo, J. Faure, V. Malka, J. J. Honrubia
Phys. Rev. Letters 98 095002 (2007)
Revisiting Nonlocal Electron-Energy Transport in Inertial-Fusion Conditions
G.Schurtz, S.Gary, S.Hulin, C.Chenais-Popovics, J.-C.Gauthier, F.Thais, J.Breil,
F.Durut, J.-L.Feugeas,P.-H.Maire, P.Nicolaï, O.Peyrusse, C.Reverdin, G. Soullié, V.
Tikhonchuk, B.Villette, and C.Fourment
Nature Physics (submitted 19-10-2007)
Electron confinement and localized isochoric heating in high-contrast ultra-intense
laser irradiation of sharp micro-cone targets
J. Rassuchine, E. D’Humières, S.D. Baton, P. Guillou, M. Koenig, J. Fuchs, R.
Kodama, M. Nakatsutsumi, N. Ozaki, D. Batani, A. Morace, R. Redaelli, L.
Gremillet, C. Rousseaux, F. Dorchies, C. Fourment, J.J. Santos, J. Adams, G. Korgan,
S. Malekos, S.B. Hansen, Y. Sentoku, T.E. Cowan.
Physics of Plasmas (submitted 07-11-2007)
Inhibition of fast electron energy deposition due to preplasma filling of cone-attached
targets
S.D. Baton, M. Koenig, J. Fuchs, A. Benuzzi-Mounaix, P. Guillou, B. Loupias, T.
Vinci, L. Gremillet, C. Rousseaux, M. Drouin, E. Lefebvre, F. Dorchies, C. Fourment,
J.J. Santos, D. Batani, A. Morace, R. Redaelli, M. Nakatsutsumi, R. Kodama, A.
Nishida, N. Ozaki, T. Norimatsu, Y. Aglitskiy, S. Atzeni, A. Schiavi.
Physical Review Letters (submitted 20-11-2007)
Observation of sub-picosecond X-ray emission from laser-cluster interaction
F. Dorchies, F. Blasco, C. Bonté, T. Caillaud, C. Fourment, O. Peyrusse.
Physical Review E (submitted Nov 2007)
Particles characterization for an evaluation of the 181Tam excitation yield in plasmas
F. Gobet, M.M. Aléonard, G. Claverie, M. Gerbaux, F. Hannachi, G. Malka, J.N.
Scheurer, M. Tarisien, D. Descamps, F. Dorchies, R. Fedosejevs, C. Fourment, S.
Petit, V. Méot, P. Morel.
Phys. Rev. E (submitted July 2007)
245

Study of Fast Electron Transport and
Induced Heating in Solid Targets by Interferometry
G. Malka, E. Brambrink, Ph. Nicolaï, J. J. Santos, M. M. Aléonard, K. Amthor, P. Audebert,
J. Breil, G. Claverie, M. Gerbaux, F. Gobet, F. Hannachi, V. Méot, P. Morel, J. N.
Scheurer, V. Tikhonchuk
Rev. Sci. Instrum. (submitted 2007)
High Flux of Relativistic Electrons Produced in femtosecond Laser-Thin Foil target
Interactions : Characterization with Nuclear Techniques
M. Gerbaux, M. M. Aléonard, G. Claverie, F. Gobet, F. Hannachi, G. Malka, J. N.
Scheurer, M. Tarisien, V. Méot, P. Morel, J. Faure, Y. Glinec, A. Guemnie-Tafo, V.
Malka, M. Manclossi, J. J. Santos
Invited conferences
S.D. Baton et al.
Experimental results on fast electron transport with and without cone
1st International Conference on Ultra-intense Laser Interaction Sciences ULIS ,
Talence, France (X 2007)
F. Dorchies
Sources plasma de rayonnement X créées par laser
6e Journées du Réseau Plasmas Froids, Bonascre, France (X 2007)
S. Baton et al.
Recent experiment on fast electron transport in ultra-high intensity laser interaction.
3rd international conference on the frontiers of plasma physics and technology,
Bangkok, Thailand (III 07)
M. Harmand et al.
X-ray Emission from high-Z plasmas for X-ray absorption fine spectroscopy of WDM.
International workshop on warm dense matter, Porquerolles, France (VI 07)
H. Nishimura et al.
X-ray polarization spectroscopy to study energy transport in ultra-high intensity laser
produced plasmas.
5th Internat. Conf. Inertial Fusion Sciences and Applications, IFSA2007). Kobe,
Japan. (IX 07)
O. Peyrusse
Theoretical calculations of K-edge absorption spectra in warm dense matter.
International workshop on warm dense matter, Porquerolles, France (VI 07)
Conference proceedings
F. Dorchies
Sources plasma de rayonnement X créées par laser
6èmes Journées du Réseau Plasmas Froids, Bonascre, France (2-5 Octobre 2007)
246
M.M. Aléonard, F. Gobet, G. Claverie, M. Gerbaux, F. Hannachi, G. Malka, J.N.
Scheurer, M. Tarisien, F. Dorchies, D. Descamps, C. Fourment, S. Petit, R.
Fedosejevs, V. Méot, P. Morel
Energetic electrons produced in the interaction of a kilohertz femtosecond laser with
tantalum targets
37th Winter Colloquium on the Physics and Quantum Electronics, Snowbird, January
2-6 2007, USA, Journal of Modern Optics (accepté)
S. Micheau, C. Bonté, F. Dorchies, C. Fourment, M. Harmand, H. Jouin, O. Peyrusse,
B. Pons, J.J. Santos
Dynamics of rare gas nanoclusters irradiated by short and intense laser pulses
RPHDM, Albufeira, Portugal, High Energy Density Physics 3 (2007) 191-197
International conferences
C.Fourment, D.Batani, A.Boscheron, A.Casner, Y.Inubushi, M.Koenig, G.Malka,
A.Morace, H.Nishimura, Y.Okano, R.Redaelli, J.J.Santos, S.Fujioka, T.Johzaki,
T.Kai, T.Kawamura, K.Mima, H.Nagatomo, T.Nakamura, W.Nazarov
Experimental Electron Velocity Distribution Function In High Intensity Laser
Produced Plasmas
International Conference on Ultra Intense Laser Interaction Sciences (ULIS07), 1-5
october 2007, Talence, France
J.J.Santos, A.Debayle, Ph.Nicolaï, V.Tikhonchuk, M.Manclossi, D.Batani,
A.Guemnie-tafo, J.Faure, V.Malka, J.Honrubia
9.
Fast Electron Transport and Induced Heating in Aluminium Foils
International Conference on Ultra Intense Laser Interaction Sciences (ULIS07), 1-5
october 2007, Talence, France
H. Nishimura, Y. Inubushi, Y. Okano, S. Fujioka, T. Kai, T. Kawamura, D. Batani, A.
Morace, R. Redaelli, C. Fourment, J.J. Santos, G. Malka, A. Boscheron, A. Casner,
M. Koenig, T. Nakamura, T. Johzaki, H. Nagatomo, and K. Mima
X-ray polarization spectroscopy to study energy transport in ultra-high intensity laser
produced plasmas
49th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics, November 12-16, 2007;
Orlando, Florida, USA
Y. Inubushi, Y. Okano, H. Nishimura, T. Kai, T. Kawamura, S. Fujioka, D. Batani, A.
Morace, R. Redaelli, C. Fourment, J. Santos, G. Malka, A. Boscheron, A. Casner, M.
Koenig, T. Nakamura, T. Johzaki, H. Nagatomo, K. Mima
Diagnostics of anisotropic hot electron velocity distribution using x-ray polarization
spectroscopy
49th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics, November 12-16, 2007;
Orlando, Florida, USA
Y. Okano, Y. Inubushi, H. Nishimura, S. Fujioka, T. Kai, T. Kawamura, D. Batani, A.
Morace, R. Redaelli, C. Fourment, J. Santos, G. Malka, A. Boscheron, A. Casner, W.
Nazarov, M. Koenig, T. Nakamura, T. Johzaki, H. Nagatomo, K. Mima
Polarized x-ray spectroscopic study of fast electrons in intense-laser-produced plasma
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under oblique incidence
49th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics, November 12-16, 2007;
Orlando, Florida, USA
Y. Inubushi, Y. Okano, H. Nishimura, T. Kai, T. Kawamura, S. Fujioka, D. Batani, A.
Morace, R. Redaelli, C. Fourment, J. Santos, G. Malka, A. Boscheron, A. Casner, M.
Koenig, T. Nakamura, T. Johzaki, H. Nagatomo, K. Mima
Diagnostics of anisotropic hot electron velocity distribution using x-ray polarization
spectroscopy
Fifth International Conference on Inertial Fusion Science and Applications
(IFSA2007) September 9-14 2007, Kobe, Japan.
Y. Okano, Y. Inubushi, H. Nishimura, S. Fujioka, T. Kai, T. Kawamura, D. Batani, A.
Morace, R. Redaelli, C. Fourment, J. Santos, G. Malka, A. Boscheron, A. Casner, W.
Nazarov, M. Koenig, T. Nakamura, T. Johzaki, H. Nagatomo, K. Mima
Polarized x-ray spectroscopic study of fast electrons in intense-laser-produced plasma
under oblique incidence
Fifth International Conference on Inertial Fusion Science and Applications
(IFSA2007) September 9-14 2007, Kobe, Japan.
M. Harmand, F. Dorchies, C. Fourment, S. Hulin, M. Lassausaie, O. Peyrusse, J.J.
Santos
X-ray Emission from high-Z plasmas for ultrafast XANES of Aluminum
International Conference on Ultra Intense Laser Interaction Science, October 1-5,
Talence, France (2007)
T.E. Cowan, J. Rassuchine, E. D’Humières, Y. Sentoku, S.D. Baton, P. Guillou, M.
Koenig, J. Fuchs, P. Audebert, F. Dorchies, C. Fourment, J.J. Santos, R. Kodama, M.
Nakatsutsumi, T. Norimatsu, D. Batani, A. Morace, R. Bedaello, L. Gremillet, C.
Rousseaux, S.B. Hansen
Enhanced Isochoric Heating in High Contrast Laser-Nano-Cone Interactions
49th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics, November 12-16,
Orlando, Florida, USA (2007)
M. Harmand, F. Dorchies, C. Fourment, J.J. Santos , O. Peyrusse
X-ray Emission from high-Z plasmas created by a high repetition rate fs laser
15th International Conf. on Atomic Processes in Plasmas, March 19-22, NIST,
Gaithersburg, MD, USA (2007)
248
Budapest
Report to COST P14 project 4: "Applications of laser-plasma studies to particle
acceleration, laboratory astrophysics, laser-induced nuclear reactions and the
fast ignition approach to inertial confinement fusion"
István B Földes
KFKI-Research Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics
Department of Plasma Physics, Association EURATOM
H-1525 Budapest, POB 49.
A fast ignitor scheme has been proposed using a KrF laser even for the short pulse,
fast ignitor beam. KrF systems have the possible advantage that the same amplifiers
can be used for the petawatt laser as for the driver. If one wants to avoid the
application of cones for fast ignitors, the wavelength of the laser must be as short as
possible. We considered the requirements for a KrF fast ignitor and compared the
advantages of short 1ps and longer, 20ps fast ignitors. It was shown that for the
planned NRL 0.5MJ system a ~30% pumping time increase of the e-beam amplifiers
is needed. A new scheme of multiple beam fast ignitor is proposed which uses
hundreds of 1ps pulses focused in different parts of the pellet. The scheme was
demonstrated at the ULIS’2007 conference in Bordeaux (supported by COST).
Data acquisition of the experiments of the fall 2006 on the PALS laser in
collaboration with the IFPILM group have been carried out. The result of J. Badziak
et al., that the main reason of the observed plasma jets (counterpropagating to the
laser beam) is caused by radiation cooling, has been supported by our spectroscopic
data, i.e. that the Cu L-shell spectra was stronger than that of the Al K-shell. The
spectral intensity dependence on the focusing condition was in agreement with the
model, too.
Publications:
1. J. Badziak, A. Kasperczuk, P. Parys, T. Pisarczyk, L. Ryc, J. Wolowski, S.
Jablonski, R. Suchanska, E. Krosky, L. Láska, K. Masek, M. Pfeiffer, J. Ullschmied,
L.J. Dareshwar, I. Földes, L. Torrisi, P. Pisarczyk: Production of high-current heavy
ion jets at the short-wavelength subnanosecond laser-solid interaction, Appl. Phys.
Lett. 91, 081502 (2007)
2. István B. Földes: Guest Editorial: IAMPI2006: International Conference on the
Interaction of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas with Intense Ultrashort Laser Pulses,
Laser and Particle Beams 25, 331-332 (2007)
3. I.B. Földes, S. Szatmári: On the possibilities of KrF lasers for fast ignition;
Technical Digest of the Int. Conf. On Ultra Intense Laser Interaction Sciences,
ULIS2007, Bordeaux, France, 2007, P. 108
COST activities:
Selected publications of the COST workshop and IAMPI2006 conference which were
held in Szeged appeared in the Laser and Particle Beams journal.
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Garching
Progress Report for Task 4 activities within COST P14
The major part of the MPQ activities related to Task 4 is devoted (a) to the
development and construction of three new class of tabletop laser systems delivering
extremely short pulses and therefore capable of producing high intensities and (b)
using these lasers, to experimental investigations of physics issues relevant to fast
ignition concept for inertial fusion energy.
1. Laser development
Light Wave Synthesizer (LWS)-10: An upgrade of the LWS-10 laser system (10 TW, 8.5 fs) [F.
Tavella et al., Optics Express 14 12822 (2006)] is under way to reach even higher peak powers of 2025 TW and to allow carrier envelope phase stabilization on a longer time scale. Steps towards reducing
the superfluorescence [F. Tavella et al., New J. Phys. 8 219 (2006)] have been successfully
implemented by stronger seeding of the OPCPA. As a result the output pulses possess now a much
improved contrast ratio of 8-9 orders of magnitude on the ps-scale. This allows the performance of
several experiments.
Petawatt Field Synthesizer (PFS): The Frontend for PFS was installed and upgraded to deliver
synchronized seed pulses for the OPCPA chain and the Yb:YAG pump laser. A first OPCPA stage
working as a phase-stabilized seed for the power amplifier chain is under construction. A proof-ofprinciple experiment on short-pulse pumped, high-energy OPCPA has been performed and delivered
encouraging results. Meanwhile, work at Jena to construct the first amplification stages of the Yb:YAG
pump laser is under way, currently at the level of producing 2J at 1 Hz.
ATLAS-upgrade: A set of new pump lasers for ATLAS has been ordered in order to double its output
energy, while an upgrade of the frontend for shorter pulses and better contrast has started, yielding in a
first step 35 fs pulses (compared to 45 fs before).
2. Laser-driven electron acceleration
In recent experiments using the ATLAS-upgrade laser system, quasi-monoenergetic electron beams
with energies of 150-250 MeV and very good divergence properties were generated. It was found that
a capillary waveguide of 15mm length without discharge gives rise to an electron beam with excellent
pointing stability. Using the 10 TW OPCPA laser system LWS-10 delivering output pulses of 8 fs and
100 mJ energy, fast electrons in the energy range of 10-40 MeV were also produced in simple gas jet
geometry. The short pulses provide for the first time direct access to the “Bubble” acceleration regime.
This leads to excellent reproducibility.
3. Attosecond backlighting for investigation of fast dynamic processes
The harmonics emitted from the interaction of intense laser pulse with solid targets was recorded in the
10 – 100 nm spectral range. At the same time, different thin filters were used to confine the radiation to
the spectral range that is appropriate for the 2-photon ionization. A number of changes have been
implemented aiming at the increase of the XUV collection efficiency and the suppression of the IR
laser light. Some preliminary measurements have been performed to measure the divergence of the
harmonic emission in different spectral ranges and their temporal coherence. In parallel, a detailed
study of the coherent properties of the harmonic emission under various conditions has been performed
by the theory group at MPQ using the 3D-PIC code illumination [M Geissler et al., New J. Phys. 9 218
(2007)]. Recently, the polarization gating technique to generate single attosecond pulses is theoretically
under scrutiny.
4. Laser ion acceleration
The simple analytical model for the maximum ion energy obtained from laser irradiated thin foils [J.
Scheiber et al., Phys Rev. Lett., 97, 045005(2006)] was extended to spherical target geometry. First
experiments with mass-limited targets (plastic micro-spheres) delivered proton and carbon beams with
energies of 6 MeV and 20 MeV, respectively. Those energies are considerably higher as compared to
ion acceleration from extended foils, where 1-2 MeV protons and 5 MeV carbon ions were produced
under the same laser conditions. Theoretical predictions promise a further increase of the proton
energies up to 30 MeV with the ATLAS-upgrade laser system at MPQ which is the subject of
upcoming experiments with optimized size and material of the mass-limited targets.
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5. Three-dimensional fast electron transport for ignition-scale inertial fusion
capsules
In close cooperation with Prof. Javier Honrubia of UPM Madrid, we have performed hybrid
simulations describing
laser-driven electron transport for cone-guided fast ignition. For the first time, we succeeded to
simulate actual ignition of pre-compressed fusion fuel including all the complexity of magnetized
electron transport together with hydrtodynamics and ignition physics. These leading results have been
presented at the 2007 IFSA conference at Kobe and represent a highlight of the 2007 HiPER proposal
for a European Fast Ignition Facility.
6.
Radiative properties of solid-density plasma generated by new FEL
sources
The new model for the absorption of intense VUV light developed in the thesis of Annika Tronnier (see
previous report) is presently implemented into the hydrodynamic code MULTI-fs at MPQ by Dr. Yu
Cang and will be used to describe new FLASH experiments at DESY in Hamburg exploring Thomson
scattering in dense H-plasma.
7. Selected publications
GeV-scale electron acceleration in a gas-filled capillary discharge waveguide
S. Karsch, J. Osterhoff, A. Popp, T. P. Rowlands-Rees, Zs. Major, M. Fuchs, B. Marx, R. Hörlein, K.
Schmid, L. Veisz, S. Becker, U. Schramm, B. Hidding, G. Pretzler, D. Habs, F. Grüner, F. Krausz, S.
M. Hooker
New Journal of Physics 9, 415 (2007)
Dispersion management for a sub-10-fs, 10 TW optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier. F.
Tavella, Y. Nomura, L. Veisz, V. Pervak, A. Marcinkevicius, F. Krausz
Opt. Lett. 32, 2227 (2007)
3D simulations of surface harmonic generation with few-cycle laser pulses
M. Geissler, S. Rykovanov, J. Schreiber, J. Meyer-ter-Vehn, G. D. Tsakiris
New J. Phys. 9, 218 (2007)
Analytical model for ion acceleration by high-intensity laser pulses
J. Schreiber, F. Bell, F. Grüner, U. Schramm, M. Geissler, M. Schnürer, S. Ter-Avetisyan, B. M.
Hegelich, J. Cobble, E. Brambrink, J. Fuchs, P. Audebert, D. Habs
Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 045005 (2006)
90 mJ parametric chirped pulse amplification of 10 fs pulses
F. Tavella, A. Marcinkevicius, F. Krausz
Opt. Expr. 14, 12822 (2006)
Ignition of pre-compressed fusion targets by fast electrons
J.J. Honrubia and J. Meyer-ter-Vehn
Proceedings of Inertial Fusion Sciences & Applications, Kobe, September 2007.
Characteristics of focused soft X-ray free-electron laser beam determined by ablation of organic
molecular solids
J. Chalupský, L. Juha, J. Kuba, J. Cihelka, V. Hájková, S. Koptyaev, J. Krása, A. Velyhan, M. Bergh,
C. Caleman, J. Hajdu, R. M. Bionta, H. Chapman,
S. P. Hau-Riege, R. A. London, M. Jurek, J. Krzywinski, R. Nietubyc, J. B. Pelk,
R. Sobierajski, J. Meyer-ter-Vehn, A. Tronnier, K. Sokolowski-Tinten,
N. Stojanovic, K. Tiedtke, S. Toleikis, T. Tschentscher, H. Wabnitz, U. Zastrau,
OPTICS EXPRESS 15, 6036 (2007)
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Helsinki
Cost P14 activity report for 1.1.2006-31.12.2007
Unit:
Contact:
Helsinki University of Technology, Department of Engineering Physics
and Mathematics, Advanced Energy Systems
Prof. Rainer Salomaa,
Helsinki University of Technology,
POB 4100, FIN-02015 TKK, Finland
[email protected]
Pulse compression by laser plasma interactions. This work has been carried out in
collaboration with Prof. A. A. Andreev, Institute for Laser Physics, St. Petersburg.
The goal is to provide an alternative to CPA-based optical systems to utilize
parametric laser-plasma interactions to temporally compress the laser pulses. Back
reflection of a short, intense laser pulses at oblique incidence on solid targets is
explained with a model where a periodic electron density modulation acts as a
diffraction grating. The pump and reflected electromagnetic waves drive through the
ponderomotive force the grating and the overall system becomes parametrically
unstable. The instability is shown to saturate, because the higher harmonics in the
electron density modulation turn the diffraction more diffuse. The have calculated
reflection coefficient value is close to the experimental one at the same conditions.
We considered the conversion of pump laser long pulse energy into seed short pulse
energy on surface plasma gratings. The optimal conditions for maximal conversion
efficiency into a back reflected pulse are found. The analytical model and numerical
code, which simulate and explain the processes were developed. The result of
calculations show that at short plasma length and the optimal parameters of plasma
grating the diffraction efficiency can be enough high and such gratings can be used
for laser pulse compression.
Laser applications for nuclear engineering. We have investigated intense narrowband electromagnetic radiation sources - ranging from visible to X- and to gamma-ray
region – and their applications to direct interactions in photon-nucleus couplings and
indirect photon-electron and electron-nucleus interactions. In particular, we discuss
means of selective excitation of nuclear resonance states by narrow-band photons.
During relaxation an excited mother nucleus may end into its isomeric or initial
ground-state or decay via various channels into new daughter nuclei. In the latter case
the mother nucleus is transmuted into a daughter which may have beneficial
properties regarding for instance radioactivity. One potential application could be the
destruction of long-lived nuclear waste isotopes into
faster decaying ones. The essential presumption is that the excitation process is both
selective and efficient enough as compared to parasitic background phenomena. The
paper consists of 1) a brief discussion of generation of short wave length narrow-band
light sources, 2) an exploration of exciting nuclear states by induced photon
absorption and of their decay channels, and 3) an assessment of the feasibility of this
method e.g. for nuclear waste transmutation or other applications. According to our
252
findings, the method is promising for basic nuclear physics studies but still calls for
proper laser sources and is not yet suitable for processing any larger amounts of
nuclides
The activities in the autumn of 2007 include studies of X-ray excitation of isomeric
states by high-intense lasers and their potential for narrow-band X- ray emission and
production for Mössbauer isotopes
Prof. A. A. Andreev visited TKK in Aug-Oct 2003 and in Oct-Dec 2007
Publications:
1. A. A. Andreev, V. G. Bespalov, E. V. Ermolaeva, and R. R. E. Salomaa, Compression of
Ultraintense Laser Pulses in Inhomogeneous Plasma upon Backward Stimulated Raman Scattering,
Optics and Spectroscopy 102 (2007) 98-105.
2. A. A. Andreev, K. Yu. Platonov, E. G. Sall, V. D. Vinokurova, and R. Salomaa, Reflection of high
intensity short pulse by plasma gratings, Proc. of XII Conference on Laser Optics, St. Petersburg, 2630, June 2006.
3. R. Salomaa, A. Hakola, and M. Santala, Applications of super-high intensity lasers in nuclear
engineering, the 13th International Conference on Emerging Nuclear Energy Systems (ICENES´2007),
3-8 June 2007, Istanbul, Turkey, p. 146 (2007).
4. R. Salomaa, P. Aarnio, J. Ala-Heikkilä, A. Hakola, and M. Santala, Laser enhanced radioactive
decay and selective transmutation of nuclear waste, the 13th International Conference on Emerging
Nuclear Energy Systems (ICENES´2007), 3-8 June 2007, Istanbul, Turkey, p. 193 (2007); a paper in
press.
PISA
Cost Action P 14 Pisa Group
Project 3: "Laser-plasma physics with ultra-short pulses, high-frequency pulses and ultra-intense
pulses".
F Pegoraro F Cornolti F Califano A. Macchi F Ceccherini T Liseikina
Short Term Scientific Missions:
Hosted by the Pisa group:
Dr Dieter Bauer, Heisenberg fellow and group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in
Heidelberg, Germany, and Privatdozent at the University of Heidelberg, visited the Pisa group in
December 2006, and gave a seminar on collisionless absorption and harmonic emission in laser-cluster
interaction. Following this visit a stronger collaboration between the two groups has started and will be
boosted in early 2008 as Dr Tatiana Liseikina will start a fellowship in Heidelberg.
Dr Antonino DI Piazza, post-doctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in
Heidelberg, Germany, will visit the Pisa group in December 2007, with the aim to give a seminar and
establish a collaboration on the topic of vacuum polarization effects during ultraintense laser
propagation in a plasma. The proposed work would combine Dr Di Piazza’s expertise on QED effects in
ultrastrong fields with the expertise of the Pisa group on theory and simulation of laser propagation in
plasmas.
Performed by members of the Pisa group:
Miss Alessandra Bigongiari, undergraduate student under the supervision of A. Macchi, visited the
group lead by M. Borghesi at the School of Mathematics and Physics and IRCEP, Queen’s University,
Belfast, UK, in November 2007. During the STSM, particle tracing simulations have been used to
reproduce proton diagnostic data showing the onset of slowly varying, patterned electromagnetic
structures generated during the ultraintense laser interaction with an underdense plasma as indicated by
particle-in-cell simulations. The work performed during the STSM was essential to recognizing the role
of quasi-steady, self generated Megagauss magnetic fields in determining the experimental
253
observations, giving an insight on their dynamics and long-term stability.
Workshops
A. Macchi attended the 6th International Symposium on Ultrafast Intense Laser Science (ISUILS6) in
Tirrenia, Italy, September 23rd-28th, 2007.
F. Pegoraro attended the steering committee meeting in Brussels 7 December 2007
Research Activity and publications
The Pisa-theory group has been active in the development of models and numerical simulations of ion
acceleration by intense laser pulses, in conditions of relevance for the new proposed laser plasma
installations.
1) Previous work on proton acceleration for proton dumping facilities for neutrino beam sources has
been completed
’Enabling pulse compression and proton acceleration in a modular ICF driver for nuclear and particle
physics applications’’ Terranova, F.; Bulanov, S.V.; Collier, J.L.; Kiriyama, H.; Pegoraro, F. Nuclear
Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A, Volume 558, Issue 2, p. 430-436./2006,
Terranova, F. Bulanov, S.V. Esirkepov, T. Migliozzi, P. Pegoraro, F. Tajima, T, "Multi-GeV laser driven
proton acceleration in the high current regime", Nuclear Physics B Proceedings Supplements, 155, 307308 , 2006,
and
`Exploring new physics regimes with laser-driven proton beams’’ F. Pegoraro, S.V. Bulanov, F.
Terranova ULIS 2007 October, 1 - 5, 2007,
2) New work has been performed on the stability of the Pressure Dominated Ion Acceleration
mechanism against the onset of a relativistic Rayleigh Taylor instability
F. Pegoraro, S.V. Bulanov, Photon bubbles and ion acceleration in a plasma dominated by the radiation
pressure of an electromagnetic pulse, PRL 99, 065002 (2007).
In particular it has been shown analytically and with Particle in Cell Simulations that in relativistic
regime, the R-T instability of a plasma foil accelerated by the radiation pressure of the reflected e.m.
pulse develops much more slowly than in the nonrelativistic regime with a time scale proportional to the
square root of the ratio between the radiation pressure and the ion mass. A properly tailored e.m. pulse
with a steep intensity rise can stabilize the foil acceleration. Numerical simulations show in addition that
the nonlinear development of the instability leads to the formation of high-density, high energy plasma
clumps and to a higher rate of ion acceleration in the regions between the clumps.
3) The group has obtained new results on the regime of Radiation Pressure Acceleration (RPA) of ions
using circularly polarized laser pulses [T. Liseikina and A. Macchi, “Features of ion acceleration by
circularly polarized laser pulses“, Appl. Phys. Lett. 91 (2007) 171502]. Most recent results on scaling
laws and polarization dependence of surface instabilities have been shown at several workshops and
meetings and submitted for publication in a special issue on IEEE Trans. Plasma Science (to appear in
2008). The interest in the proposed use of circular polarization to optimize RPA has been recently
shown by the work published or communicated by at least three theoretical groups and the relevant
number of citations to the first paper on the topic [A. Macchi et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 94 (2005) 165003].
4) In collaboration with the research group of Marco Borghesi at Queen's University, novel effects on the
electric field dynamics and ion acceleration in a laser-plasma channel has been unfolded by the use of
particle-in-cell simulations and a ponderomotive, electrostatic model to analyze proton diagnostic data
[S. Kar et al, “Dynamics of charge-displacement channeling in intense laser-plasma interactions”, New
J. Phys 9 (2007) 402] . Further work is being performed to characterise the observation of patterns of
slowly-varying fields in the channel which may be interpreted as due to the generation of coherent
electromagnetic structures. Related simulation results showing the complex and “hybrid” nature of such
structures (resembling electromagnetic “post-solitons” and magnetic vortices at the same time) have
been presented in several conferences, including an invited talk by A. Macchi at the EPS conference on
Plasma Physics in Warsaw (July 2-6, 2007) , and published in a symposium paper [A. Macchi et al, “Ion
dynamics and coherent structure formation following laser pulse self-channeling “, Plasma Phys. Contr.
Fus. 49 (2007) B71-B78].
Pisa 4 12 2007
254
Francesco Pegoraro
Dipartimento di Fisica Universita' di Pisa largo Pontecorvo 3, 56127 Pisa
tel. +39 050 2214844 f ax. +39 050 2214333 [email protected]
Warsaw
1.
Ultrahigh-current proton beams from short-pulse laser-solid
interactions
Studies of high-current proton beam generation from thin (1-3m) solid targets
irradiated by 0.35-ps laser pulse of intensity up to 2×1019 W/cm2 were performed in
LULI (Palaiseau, France) within cooperative experiment. It is shown that the proton
beams of multi-MA currents and multi-TA/cm2 current densities at the source can be
produced when the laser-target interaction conditions approach the Skin-Layer
Ponderomotive Acceleration (SLPA) requirements. Using a double-layer plastic target
covered by 0.1 – 0.2m Au front layer results in two-fold higher proton currents and
higher proton energies than in the case of a plastic target. The number and energy
spectrum of protons depend on the target structure.
For producing dense high-ion-current beams the SLPA mechanism seems to
be a more promising method than Target Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA). In this
method, ponderomotive forces induced by a short laser pulse near the critical plasma
surface drive dense neutralized ion bunches (plasma blocks) of ion densities
comparable to (or higher than) the plasma critical density. As these densities are about
a thousand times higher than those produced by TNSA, even at moderate ion
velocities the ion current densities can be much higher than in the case of TNSA.
Proton beam production efficiencies (~10%) and intensities (~ 1018 W/cm2)
achieved with subps laser pulses are fairly high but still lower than required for proton
fast ignition (PFI); a significant increase of these parameters seems to be feasible
using longer (5 – 10 ps) laser pulses of high contrast and optimized structured targets.
2.
Highly collimated, plasma jets and high-current ion beams from
the subnanosecond laser-plasma interaction
Production of heavy ion fluxes at the interaction of subnanosecond pulse of PALS
laser in Prague (70 J, 0.438 m) with a massive planar target has been investigated
using the time-of-flight method and precise three-frame interferometry. Generation of
highly collimated fast Cu plasma jet was distinctly observed using the interferometric
measurements. Similar results were obtained for Ta targets, in which case the
distribution was as peaked as for Cu. The most striking phenomenon revealed by the
measurements performed with the use of ion collectors is the generation of a highly
collimated ion jet of very high ion current when the laser beam interacts with the Cu
target at the laser focus behind the target surface.
It is found that after proper optimization of high-Z (Cu or Ta) target
irradiation, a highly collimated, energetic (0.1 – 1 MeV) heavy ion beam of the ion
current > 100A and the ion current density > 1A/cm2 at 1m from the target can be
produced with an energy conversion efficiency nearly 10%.
The generation of highly collimated plasma jets was observed only under
specific conditions of the laser-target interaction, and particularly when: (a) the laser
beam diameter on the target, dL, was sufficiently large, (b) high-Z (Cu or Ta) target
was used (we did not observe distinct plasma (ion) jets from Al and plastic targets for
the laser beam diameters applied in the experiment, i.e. of dL ≤ 800m.), (c) the laser
255
focus was behind the target surface (for laser intensities on the target ~ 10 14W/cm2 or
higher). Radiative cooling of the expanding high-z plasma acts in favour of the ion
beam collimation, while laser beam self-focusing in the plasma seems to be the main
effect, which hinders it.
The possibility of simulation of the astrophysical plasma jet properties using
laser-generated plasma jets was analysed on the basis of scaling lows.
Publications related to works performed in 2007 by IPPLM group:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
A. Kasperczuk, T. Pisarczyk, S. Borodziuk, S. Yu. Gus’kov, J. Ullschmied, E. Krousky, K.
Masek, M. Pfeifer, K. Rohlena, J. Skala, M. Kalal, J. Limpouch and P. Pisarczyk, Plasma jet
generation by flyer disk collision with massive target, Optica Applicata, 37(1), 141-152,
(2007).
J. Badziak, “Laser-driven generation of fast particles”, Opto-Electronics Review, 15, (1),
2007, 1-12.
J. Badziak, S. Jabłoński, „Focusing of high-current laser-driven ion beams”, Applied Physics
Letters 90, 151503 (2007).
H. Hora, J. Badziak, M. N. Read, Yu-Tong Li, Tian-Jiao Liang, Yu Cang, Hong Liu, ZhengMing Sheng, Jie Zhang, F. Osman, G. H. Miley, Weiyan Zhang, Xiantu He, Hansheng Peng,
S. Glowacz, S. Jablonski, J. Wolowski, Z. Skladanowski, K. Jungwirth, K. Rohlena, J.
Ullschmied, „Fast ignition by laser driven particle beams of very high intensity”, Physics of
Plasmas 14, 072701 (2007)
J. Badziak, A. Kasperczuk, P. Parys, T. Pisarczyk, M. Rosiński, L. Ryć, J. Wołowski, S.
Jabłoński, R. Suchańska, E. Krousky, L. Laska, K. Masek, M. Pfeifer, J. Ullschmied, L.J.
Dareshwar, I. Foldes, L. Torrisi, P. Pisarczyk; „Production of high-current heavy ion jets at
the short-wavelength subnanosecond laser-solid interaction”, Applied Physics Letters, 91,
081502/1-3, (2007).
A. Kasperczuk, T. Pisarczyk, S. Borodziuk, J. UllschmiedE. Krousky, K. Masek, M. Pfeifer,
K. Rohlena, J. Skala and P. Pisarczyk, „The influence of target irradiation conditions on the
parameters of laser-produced plasma jets“. Physics of Plasmas , 14, 032701, 2007.
A. Kasperczuk, T. Pisarczyk, S. Borodziuk, J. Ullschmied, E. Krousky, K. Masek, M. Pfeifer,
K. Rohlena, J. Skala, and P. Pisarczyk. „Interferometric investigations of influence of target
irradiation on the parameters of laser-produced plasma jets”. Laser and Particle Beams, 25,
pp. 425-433, 2007.
S. Borodziuk, A. Kasperczuk, T. Pisarczyk, S.Yu. Gus.kov, J. Ullschmied, E. Krousky, K.
Masek, M. Pfeifer, K. Rohlena, J. Skala M. Kalal, J. Limpouch, and P. Pisarczyk, „Study of
the conditions for the effective energy transfer in a process of acceleration and collision of the
thin metal disks with the massive target”, Eur. Phys. J. D, 2007, 41, 311.317.
L. Láska, J. Badziak, F.P. Boody, S. Gammino, K. Jungwirth, J. Krása, E. Krousky, P. Parys,
M. Pfeifer, K. Rohlena, L. Ryć, J Skála, L. Torrisi, J. Ullschmied, J. Wołowski, „Factors
influencing parameters of laser ion sources”, Laser and Particle Beams (2007), 25, 199-205.
J. Badziak, S. Jabłoński, J. Wołowski, „Progress and prospect of fast ignition of ICF targets”,
Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 49, (2007) B651-B666.
T. Pisarczyk, A. Kasperczuk, E. Krousky, K. Masek, R. Miklaszewski, Ph. Nicolai, M. Pfeifer,
P. Pisarczyk, R. Rohlena, K. Stenc, J. Skala, V. Tikhonchuk and J. Ullschmied, „The PALS
iodine laser-driven jets”, Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 49 (2007) B611-B619.
A. Kasperczuk,T. Pisarczyk, J. Badziak, R. Miklaszewski, P. Parys, M. Rosinski, J.
Wolowski, CH. Stenz, J. Ullschmied, E. Krousky, K. Masek, M. Pfeifer, K. Rohlena, and J.
Skala, P. Pisarczyk, Influence of the focal point position on properties of a laser-produced
plasma, Physics of Plasmas 14, 102706/1-8 (2007).
P. Velarde, F. Ogando , C. Garc´ıa, E. Oliva, A. Kasperczuk, T. Pisarczyk, J. Ullschmied, S
Eliezer, M. Perlado, “Recent results on fast ignition jet impact scheme”, Nuclear Fusion, 2007
(in press).
256
ECAMP IX
6-11th May 2007, Heraklion, Crete
Scientific report
ECAMP IX (http://www.iesl.forth.gr/conferences/ecamp9) has been successfully
organized between the 6th and 11th of May 2007. 401 participants from 40 different
countries have attended the conference.
The program of the conference, as put together by the Atomic, Molecular and Optical
Physics Division (AMOPD) of the European Physical Society (EPS), consisted of 6
Plenary Talks, 48 Invited Talks, 12 Hot Topic Presentations, 13 Oral Presentations
and 545 Poster Presentations. The Plenary Talks included one presentation by J. Hall
(Nobel Prize 2005 in Physics). Except for the Plenary Talks, all other talks took place
in two parallel sessions. The total number of the parallel sessions was 16. The detailed
program including titles of the presentations, presenters and session chair persons can
be found in the attached document “Program” or can be downloaded:
http://www.iesl.forth.gr/conferences/ecamp9/downloads/program.pdf.
The participants’ country breakdown is given in the attached file “ECAMP IX
Statistics”. 31% of the attendees have been students, while 14% have been plenary
and invited speakers.
The conference has no proceedings. A book of abstracts has been edited, which can be
downloaded from: http://www.iesl.forth.gr/conferences/ecamp9/abstracts.aspx
Prof. D. Charalambidis
Co-chair of the local organizing committee
257
258
ULIS2007 – CONFERENCE PROGRAM
Sunday 30th Septembre 2007 – Celia
17:00 – 19:00
Registration & Welcome coktail
Monday 1st October 2007
8 :30
Opening ceremony
A- New laser sources : High Energy – High Intensity
08:50
D. Besnard (CEA, France) The Megajoule laser program: an overview
09:30
D. Neely (CLF-RAL, UK) An overview on HiPER
09:55
G. Mourou (LOA-ENSTA, France) tba
10:20
Coffee break
10:40
A.M. Sergeev (IAP, Russia) OPCPA at Petawatt level
11:00
L.A. Gizzi (IPCF-CNR, Italy) An integrated approach to ultra-intense laser sciences: the
Plasmon-X project
11:25
J.F. Hergott (CEA, France) Carrier envelope phase stabilization and post compression of the
CEA Saclay PLFA laser: Lips project
11:45
R. Li (SIOM, China) Development of ultrafast intense lasers at SIOM
12:10
C. Altucci (CNISM, Italy) Hollow fiber compression of visible, 200 fs laser pulses to 40 fs
pulse duration
12:30
Concluding remarks
12:35
Lunch
B- Attophysics
14:00
P. Corkum (NRC, Canada) Attosecond science and technology
14:40
Th. Uphues (MPQ, Germany) Attosecond real-time observation of electron tunneling and
multi-electron dynamics in atoms
15:00
J.P. Marangos (Imperial College, UK) Probing attosecond dynamics with chirp encoded
electron recollisions
15:25
A. Scrinzi (Vienna U. of Technology, Austria) Modulation of attosecond XUV
259
photo-ionization by an IR field
15:45
J. Mauritsson (Lund University, Sweden) Above, around, and below threshold ionization
using attosecond pulses
16:10
Coffee break
16:30
M. Nisoli (CUSBO, Italy) Characterization and application of few-cycle isolated attosecond
pulses
16:55
H. Mashiko (Kansas State University, USA) Generation of attosecond pulses by double
gating
17:15
K. Midorikawa (RIKEN, Japan) Direct observation of an attosecond pulse train by
autocorrelation measurements
17:40
V. Strelkov (GPI-RAS, Russia) Single attopulse generation with flat-top laser beam
18:00
Concluding remarks
18:30 – 20:30 Sponsor session and buffet (inside the Agora patio)
Tuesday 02nd October 2007
8:30-14:00
LIL – LMJ Tour or CELIA visit (mandatory registration) (lunch boxes provided)
D. Inertial Confinement Fusion for Energy and Fast Ignition
14:30 S. Atzeni (Universita’ la Sapienza, Roma, Italy) Fast ignition of inertial confinement
fusion targets: an introduction
15:10
T. Sangster (LLE, University of Rochester, USA) Fast ignition research at the Laboratory
for Laser Energetics
15:35
S. Le Pape (LLNL, USA) Proton radiography of magnetic field in laser produced plasma
15:55
D. Batani (Universita’ di Milano Bicocca, Italy) Some open issues in fast ignition:
comparison between fast electron and proton approach and questions on fast electron transport
16:20
J.J. Santos (CELIA, France) Fast electron transport and induced heating in aluminium foils
16:40
Coffee break
17:00
S. Baton (LULI-Ecole Polytechnique, France) Experimental results on fast electron transport
with and without cone
260
17:25
S. Hüller (CPTh-Ecole Polytechnique, France) Modelling of scattering instabilities for laser
interaction with expanding plasmas
17:45
G.J. Tallents (University of York, UK) EUV laser transmission as a diagnostic of laser
ablation and plasma opacity
18:05 P. Mulser (TQE, University of Darmstadt, Germany) Coronal fast ignition by laser:
constraints on energy fluxes and maximum laser wavelength
18:25
Concluding remarks
18:30
Light buffet
19:00 – 20:00 Short talks session (poster presentation)
Wednesday 03rd October 2007
F. Secondary Sources, Applications and Radioprotection Issues
08:30
E. Lefebvre (CEA-DAM, France) Electron acceleration and radiation sources during
high-intensity laser-plasma interaction
09:10
J. Galy (EU-JRC-ITU, Germany) Laser-induced-nuclear beam of photons, neutrons and ions
with potential applications
09:35
A. Klisnick (LIXAM, Université Paris-Sud, France) Transient X-ray lasers seeded with
high-order harmonic radiation: recent progress at LIXAM
10:00
N. Booth. (University of York, UK) Grazing Incidence Pumping of an 18.9 nm Ni-like
Mo X-ray Laser
10:20
Coffee break
10:40
S. Sebban (LOA-ENSTA, France) High quality soft x-ray laser beam at 32.8 nm
11:00
J-R. Marquès (LULI-Ecole Polytechnique, France) Estimation and measurement of the
photon dose generated by high intensity laser interaction
11:25
B. Carré (CEA, France) Applications of high harmonics at CEA-Saclay
11:50
A. Pirri (LENS, Italy) Harmonic enhancement by an array of gas jets
12:10
E. and J. Seres (Wuerzburg University, Germany) Sub 20-fs examination of the optically
pumped amorphous silicon with keV absorption spectroscopy
12:30
Concluding remarks
261
12:35
Poster session (around the Agora cloister)
Buffet
15:00
Wine tasting tour
19:30
Conference dinner
Thursday 04th October 2007
C. Relativistic Plasma Optics
08:30
novel
A. Pukhov (ITP, University of Dusseldorf, Germany) Relativistic laser plasmas for
radiation sources
09:10 A. Tarasevitch (University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany) High order harmonic
generation
from solid targets: towards intense attosecond pulses
09:35 R. Lopez-Martens (LOA-ENSTA, France) Towards kHz-driven plasma source of
intense
attosecond pulses
09:55
F. Quéré. (CEA, France) High-order harmonic generation from plasma mirrors
10:20
Coffee break
10:40 M. Geissler (MPQ, Germany) Surface harmonic generation with high power laser
pulses
11:05 Y. Fukuda (Kansai Institute, JAEA, Japan)
multiplication by
Demonstration of frequency
the relativistic flying mirror
11:25 Z. M. Sheng (IOP, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China) Studies on monoenergetic
proton beam generation and THz emission in relativistic laser-plasma interactions
11:50 A. Rousse (LOA-ENSTA, France) Characterization and applications of the betatron
x-ray
source
12:10 B. Dromey (Queen’s University, Northern Ireland) Multi-keV harmonic radiation
from solid
targets
12:30
Concluding remarks
262
12:35
Lunch
E. Particle Acceleration
14:00
laser
P. Mora (CPTh, Ecole Polytechnique, France) Particle acceleration in ultra-intense
plasma interaction
14:40 M. Borghesi (Queen’s University, Northern
acceleration
Ireland)
Laser-driven proton
and applications: recent results and future perspectives
15:05
laser
M. Amin (Heinrich Heine University, Germany) Time-resolved proton probing of
induced front and rear side plasma expansion phenomena
15:25 S.P.D. Mangles (Imperial College, UK) Mono-energetic electrons from laser
wakefield
experiments: stability and future scaling
15:50 P. McKenna (University of Strathclyde, UK) Active manipulation of the spatial
energy
distribution of laser accelerated proton beams
16:10
Coffee break
16:30 C. Toth (LBNL, USA) Optimization and applications of GeV electron beams from
capillary
laser wake-field accelerators
16:55
J. Faure (LOA-ENSTA, France) Controlled injection of electrons in a laser plasma
accelerator
17:20 A. Lévy (CEA, France) Laser polarization and contrast dependence on proton
emission
from thin foils
17:40
S. Ter-Avetisyan (MBI, Germany) Electron sheath dynamics and structure in intense
laser driven ion acceleration
18:00
A. Andreev (ILPh, Russia) Laser ion acceleration in mass-limited targets
18:20
Concluding remarks
263
Friday 05th October 2007
G. Fundamental Processes at Ultra-High-Intensities
08:30 S.V. Bulanov (APRC, JAEA, Japan) Fundamental processes in relativistic laser
plasma
09:10
for
H. Bachau (CELIA, France) (2γ,2e) Total and differential cross-section calculations
helium with ħω=42-54 eV
09:35 T. Martchenko (FOM, The Netherlands) Wavelength dependence of strong-field
ionization
in argon and xenon
09:55 D. Habs (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Germany) Unruh-radiation and paircreation
in ultra-high fields
10:20
Coffee break
10:40 F. Pegoraro (Univ. di Pisa, Italy) Exploring new physics regimes with laser-driven
proton
beams
11:05
A. Di Piazza (MPQ, Germany) QED effects in strong laser fields
11:25
C. Müller (MPQ, Germany) Particle and nuclear physics in strong laser fields
11:45
R. Taïeb (LCPMR,UPMC, France) Two-color photoionization in FEL and laser fields
12:05 E. Cormier (CELIA, France) Direct observation of quantum-path interferences in
high order
harmonic generation
12:25
Concluding remarks
12:30 – 13:30 Closing ceremony
264
265
2008 Report of the Working Group 1
Extensive work continued in COST P14 participating groups of Working Group 1, as
evidenced in the large list of publications attached. On the experimental side
work continued using the high-frequency radiation generated as atto-second scale
pulses in the high harmonic process as a source of radiation in its own right.
Moreover results from new experiments by participants using the FLASH Free
Electron Laser light source at Hamburg have been published. A number of
publications also report technological developments in `seeding' FELs and in
producing increasingly short duration atto-second scale pulses in the high harmonic
generation process. On the theoretical side there has been a steadily increasing
interest in two-photon double ionization of atoms with considerable controversy
arising through differing approaches yielding very different results for double
ionization yields in the fundamental helium case. R-matrix methods and
wavefunction propagator methods for handling the time-dependent Schroedinger
equation for a general multi-electron atom or molecule have been under development
and first results reported. An EU Marie Curie Fellow (Dr Lampros Nikolpoulos) has
been centrally involved in this work. Progress has also been made in handling the
intense, very high frequency radiation (spanning the soft and hard x-ray range and
soon to be available from the Stanford Free Electron Laser) in its interaction with Kshell electrons of atoms and opositive ions. The K-shell response to radiation of such
high frequency butof atto-second duration (as arises in the high harmonicgeneration
process in over-dense plasmas) has also been investigated.
No conferences were organised or attended using Project 2 support during the first 6
months of 2008. Only one STSM occurred, namely that of Dr Madalina Boca from
the University of Bucharest to Queen's University Belfast for 6 weeks January to
March 2008. Work done through the collaboration this STSM made possible has
been recently accepted for publication.
Publications by participating groups
Gu, X (Gu, Xun); Marcus, G (Marcus, Gilad); Deng, YP (Deng, Yunpei); Metzger, T (Metzger,
Thomas); Teisset, C (Teisset, Catherine); Ishii, N (Ishii, Nobuhisa); Fuji, T (Fuji, Takao);
Baltuska, A (Baltuska, Andrius); Butkus, R (Butkus, Rytis); Pervak, V (Pervak, Volodymyr);
Ishizuki, H (Ishizuki, Hideki); Taira, T (Taira, Takunori); Kobayashi, T (Kobayashi, Takayoshi);
Kienberger, R (Kienberger, Reinhard); Krausz, F (Krausz, Ferenc)
Generation of carrier-envelope-phase-stable 2-cycle 740-mu J pulses at 2.1-mu m carrier
wavelength
OPTICS EXPRESS, 17 (1): 62-69 JAN 5 2009
Graf, U (Graf, U.); Fiess, M (Fiess, M.); Schultze, M (Schultze, M.); Kienberger, R (Kienberger,
R.); Krausz, F (Krausz, F.); Goulielmakis, E (Goulielmakis, E.)
Intense few-cycle light pulses in the deep ultraviolet
OPTICS EXPRESS, 16 (23): 18956-18963 NOV 10 2008
Fill, EE (Fill, E. E.); Krausz, F (Krausz, F.); Raizen, MG (Raizen, M. G.)
Single-molecule electron diffraction imaging with charge replacement
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, 10: Art. No. 093015 SEP 12 2008
266
Horlein, R (Hoerlein, R.); Dromey, B (Dromey, B.); Adams, D (Adams, D.); Nomura, Y
(Nomura, Y.); Kar, S (Kar, S.); Markey, K (Markey, K.); Foster, P (Foster, P.); Neely, D (Neely,
D.); Krausz, F (Krausz, F.); Tsakiris, GD (Tsakiris, G. D.); Zepf, M (Zepf, M.)
High contrast plasma mirror: spatial filtering and second harmonic generation at 10(19)Wcm(2)
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, 10: Art. No. 083002 AUG 5 2008
Kling, M (Kling, Matthias); Krausz, F (Krausz, Ferenc)
Attoscience: An attosecond stopwatch
NATURE PHYSICS, 4 (7): 515-516 JUL 2008
Pervak, V (Pervak, V.); Teisset, C (Teisset, C.); Sugita, A (Sugita, A.); Naumov, S (Naumov,
S.); Krausz, F (Krausz, F.); Apolonski, A (Apolonski, A.)
High-dispersive mirrors for femtosecond lasers
OPTICS EXPRESS, 16 (14): 10220-10230 JUL 7 2008
Ozawa, A (Ozawa, A.); Rauschenberger, J (Rauschenberger, J.); Gohle, C (Gohle, Ch.);
Herrmann, M (Herrmann, M.); Walker, DR (Walker, D. R.); Pervak, V (Pervak, V.); Fernandez,
A (Fernandez, A.); Graf, R (Graf, R.); Apolonski, A (Apolonski, A.); Holzwarth, R (Holzwarth,
R.); Krausz, F (Krausz, F.); Hansch, TW (Haensch, T. W.); Udem, T (Udem, Th.)
High harmonic frequency combs for high resolution spectroscopy
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 100 (25): Art. No. 253901 JUN 27 2008
Krausz, F (Krausz, Ferenc)
Attosecond physics
2007 PACIFIC RIM CONFERENCE ON LASERS AND ELECTRO-OPTICS, VOLS 1-4: 248248 2007
Goulielmakis, E (Goulielmakis, E.); Schultze, M (Schultze, M.); Hofstetter, M (Hofstetter, M.);
Yakovlev, VS (Yakovlev, V. S.); Gagnon, J (Gagnon, J.); Uiberacker, M (Uiberacker, M.);
Aquila, AL (Aquila, A. L.); Gullikson, EM (Gullikson, E. M.); Attwood, DT (Attwood, D. T.);
Kienberger, R (Kienberger, R.); Krausz, F (Krausz, F.); Kleineberg, U (Kleineberg, U.)
Single-cycle nonlinear optics
SCIENCE, 320 (5883): 1614-1617 JUN 20 2008
Kling, MF (Kling, M. F.); Siedschlag, C (Siedschlag, Ch.); Znakovskaya, I (Znakovskaya, I.);
Verhoef, AJ (Verhoef, A. J.); Zherebtsov, S (Zherebtsov, S.); Krausz, F (Krausz, F.); Lezius, M
(Lezius, M.); Vrakking, MJJ (Vrakking, M. J. J.)
Strong-field control of electron localisation during molecular dissociation
MOLECULAR PHYSICS, 106 (2-4): 455-465 2008
Reckenthaeler, P (Reckenthaeler, P.); Centurion, M (Centurion, M.); Yakovlev, VS (Yakovlev,
V. S.); Lezius, M (Lezius, M.); Krausz, F (Krausz, F.); Fill, EE (Fill, E. E.)
Proposed method for measuring the duration of electron pulses by attosecond streaking
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 77 (4): Art. No. 042902 APR 2008
Tosa, V (Tosa, V.); Yakovlev, VS (Yakovlev, V. S.); Krausz, F (Krausz, F.)
Generation of tunable isolated attosecond pulses in multi-jet systems
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, 10: Art. No. 025016 FEB 29 2008
Ivanov, M (Ivanov, Misha); Yakovlev, V (Yakovlev, Vlad); Krausz, F (Krausz, Ferenc)
Opportunities for mid-IR sources in intense-field and attosecond physics
MID-INFRARED COHERENT SOURCES AND APPLICATIONS: 589-598 2008
Book series NATO Science for Peace and Security Series B - Physics and Biophysics
Editor(s): Ebrahim-Zadeh, M; Sorokina, IT
267
Boutu, W (Boutu, W.); Haessler, S (Haessler, S.); Merdji, H (Merdji, H.); Breger, P (Breger, P.);
Waters, G (Waters, G.); Stankiewicz, M (Stankiewicz, M.); Frasinski, LJ (Frasinski, L. J.);
Taieb, R (Taieb, R.); Caillat, J (Caillat, J.); Maquet, A (Maquet, A.); Monchicourt, P
(Monchicourt, P.); Carre, B (Carre, B.); Salieres, P (Salieres, P.)
Coherent control of attosecond emission from aligned molecules
NATURE PHYSICS, 4 (7): 545-549 JUL 2008
Guyetand, O (Guyetand, O.); Gisselbrecht, M (Gisselbrecht, M.); Huetz, A (Huetz, A.); Agostini,
P (Agostini, P.); Taieb, R (Taieb, R.); Maquet, A (Maquet, A.); Carre, B (Carre, B.); Breger, P
(Breger, P.); Gobert, O (Gobert, O.); Garzella, D (Garzella, D.); Hergott, JF (Hergott, J-F);
Tcherbakoff, O (Tcherbakoff, O.); Merdji, H (Merdji, H.); Bougeard, M (Bougeard, M.); Rottke,
H (Rottke, H.); Bottcher, M (Boettcher, M.); Ansari, Z (Ansari, Z.); Antoine, P (Antoine, P.)
Evolution of angular distributions in two-colour, few-photon ionization of helium
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 41 (5): Art.
No. 051002 MAR 14 2008
Zair, A (Zair, A.); Holler, M (Holler, M.); Guandalini, A (Guandalini, A.); Schapper, F
(Schapper, F.); Biegert, J (Biegert, J.); Gallmann, L (Gallmann, L.); Keller, U (Keller, U.);
Wyatt, AS (Wyatt, A. S.); Monmayrant, A (Monmayrant, A.); Walmsley, IA (Walmsley, I. A.);
Cormier, E (Cormier, E.); Auguste, T (Auguste, T.); Caumes, JP (Caumes, J. P.); Salieres, P
(Salieres, P.)
Quantum path interferences in high-order harmonic generation
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 100 (14): Art. No. 143902 APR 11 2008
Guyetand, O (Guyetand, O.); Gisselbrecht, M (Gisselbrecht, M.); Huetz, A (Huetz, A.); Agostini,
P (Agostini, P.); Carre, B (Carre, B.); Breger, P (Breger, P.); Gobert, O (Gobert, O.); Garzella, D
(Garzella, D.); Hergott, JF (Hergott, J-F); Tcherbakoff, O (Tcherbakoff, O.); Merdji, H (Merdji,
H.); Bougeard, M (Bougeard, M.); Rottke, H (Rottke, H.); Bottcher, M (Boettcher, M.); Ansari,
Z (Ansari, Z.); Antoine, P (Antoine, P.); DiMauro, LF (DiMauro, L. F.)
Complete momentum analysis of multi-photon photo-double ionization of xenon by XUV and
infrared photons
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 41 (6): Art.
No. 065601 MAR 28 2008
Foumouo, E (Foumouo, Emmanuel); Antoine, P (Antoine, Philippe); Bachau, H (Bachau, Henri);
Piraux, B (Piraux, Bernard)
Attosecond timescale analysis of the dynamics of two-photon double ionization of helium
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, 10: Art. No. 025017 FEB 29 2008
Foumouo, E (Foumouo, E.); Antoine, P (Antoine, Ph); Piraux, B (Piraux, B.); Malegat, L
(Malegat, L.); Bachau, H (Bachau, H.); Shakeshaft, R (Shakeshaft, R.)
Evidence for highly correlated electron dynamics in two-photon double ionization of helium
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 41 (5): Art.
No. 051001 MAR 14 2008
Antoine, P (Antoine, Philippe); Foumouo, E (Foumouo, Emmanuel); Piraux, B (Piraux, Bernard)
Two-photon double ionization of helium: An experimental lower bound of the total cross section
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 78 (2): Art. No. 023415 Part B AUG 2008
Sansone, G (Sansone, G.); Benedetti, E (Benedetti, E.); Ferrari, E (Ferrari, E.); Nisoli, M (Nisoli,
M.); Kelkensberg, F (Kelkensberg, F.); Siu, WK (Siu, W. K.); Ghafur, O (Ghafur, O.); Johnsson,
P (Johnsson, P.); Vrakking, MJJ (Vrakking, M. J. J.); Znakovskaya, I (Znakovskaya, I.); Uphues,
T (Uphues, T.); Zherebtsov, S (Zherebtsov, S.); Kling, MF (Kling, M. F.); Lepine, F (Lepine, F.);
Schafer, KJ (Schafer, K. J.); Remetter, T (Remetter, T.); Mauritsson, I (Mauritsson, I.);
Swoboda, M (Swoboda, M.); L'Huillier, A (L'Huillier, A.)
268
Attosecond excitation of electron wavepackets
2008 CONFERENCE ON LASERS AND ELECTRO-OPTICS & QUANTUM ELECTRONICS
AND LASER SCIENCE CONFERENCE, VOLS 1-9: 2000-2001 2008
L'Huillier, A (L'Huillier, Anne)
The physics of high-order harmonic generation
2008 CONFERENCE ON LASERS AND ELECTRO-OPTICS & QUANTUM ELECTRONICS
AND LASER SCIENCE CONFERENCE, VOLS 1-9: 1983-1983 2008
Book series IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society (LEOS) Annual Meeting
Sansone, G (Sansone, G.); Benedetti, E (Benedetti, E.); Ferrari, E (Ferrari, E.); Nisoli, M (Nisoli,
M.); Kelkensberg, F (Kelkensberg, F.); Siu, WK (Siu, W. K.); Ghafur, O (Ghafur, O.); Johnsson,
P (Johnsson, P.); Vrakking, MJJ (Vrakking, M. J. J.); Znakovskaya, I (Znakovskaya, I.); Uphues,
T (Uphues, T.); Zherebtsov, S (Zherebtsov, S.); Kling, MF (Kling, M. F.); Lepine, F (Lepine, F.);
Schafer, KJ (Schafer, K. J.); Remetter, T (Remetter, T.); Mauritsson, I (Mauritsson, I.);
Swoboda, M (Swoboda, M.); L'Huillier, A (L'Huillier, A.)
Attosecond excitation of electron wavepackets
2008 CONFERENCE ON LASERS AND ELECTRO-OPTICS & QUANTUM ELECTRONICS
AND LASER SCIENCE CONFERENCE, VOLS 1-9: 2000-2001 2008
Kling, MF (Kling, M. F.); Zherebtsov, S (Zherebtsov, S.); Znakovskaya, I (Znakovskaya, I.);
Uphues, T (Uphues, T.); Sansone, G (Sansone, G.); Benedetti, E (Benedetti, E.); Ferrari, F
(Ferrari, F.); Nisoli, M (Nisoli, M.); Lepine, F (Lepine, F.); Swoboda, M (Swoboda, M.);
Remefter, T (Remefter, T.); L'Huillier A (L'Huillier, A.); Kelkensberg, F (Kelkensberg, F.); Siu,
WK (Siu, W. K.); Ghafur, O (Ghafur, O.); Johnsson, P (Johnsson, P.); Vrakking, MJJ (Vrakking,
M. J. J.)
Attosecond control of electron localization in one- and two-color dissociative ionization of H-2
and D-2
2008 CONFERENCE ON LASERS AND ELECTRO-OPTICS & QUANTUM ELECTRONICS
AND LASER SCIENCE CONFERENCE, VOLS 1-9: 2018-2019 2008
Schwenke, J (Schwenke, J.); Mai, A (Mai, A.); Miranda, M (Miranda, M.); He, X (He, X.);
Genoud, G (Genoud, G.); Mikkelsen, A (Mikkelsen, A.); Pettersson, SG (Pettersson, S. -G.);
Persson, A (Persson, A.); L'Huillier, A (L'Huillier, A.)
Single-shot holography using high-order harmonics
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS, 55 (16): 2723-2730 2008
Mansten, E (Mansten, E.); Dahlstrom, JM (Dahlstroem, J. M.); Johnsson, P (Johnsson, P.);
Swoboda, M (Swoboda, M.); L'Huillier, A (L'Huillier, A.); Mauritsson, J (Mauritsson, J.)
Spectral shaping of attosecond pulses using two-colour laser fields
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, 10: Art. No. 083041 AUG 28 2008
Ruchon, T (Ruchon, T.); Hauri, CP (Hauri, C. P.); Varju, K (Varju, K.); Mansten, E (Mansten,
E.); Swoboda, M (Swoboda, M.); Lopez-Martens, R (Lopez-Martens, R.); L'Huillier, A
(L'Huillier, A.)
Macroscopic effects in attosecond pulse generation
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, 10: Art. No. 025027 FEB 29 2008
Mauritsson, J (Mauritsson, J.); Johnsson, P (Johnsson, P.); Mansten, E (Mansten, E.); Swoboda,
M (Swoboda, M.); Ruchon, T (Ruchon, T.); L'Huillier, A (L'Huillier, A.); Schafer, KJ (Schafer,
K. J.)
Coherent electron scattering captured by an attosecond quantum stroboscope
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 100 (7): Art. No. 073003 FEB 22 2008
269
Genoud, G (Genoud, G.); Guilbaud, O (Guilbaud, O.); Mengotti, E (Mengotti, E.); Pettersson,
SG (Pettersson, S. -G.); Georgiadou, E (Georgiadou, E.); Pourtal, E (Pourtal, E.); Wahlstrom, CG
(Wahlstrom, C.-G.); L'Huillier, A (L'Huillier, A.)
XUV digital in-line holography using high-order harmonics
APPLIED PHYSICS B-LASERS AND OPTICS, 90 (3-4): 533-538 MAR 2008
Johnsson, P (Johnsson, P.); Mauritsson, J (Mauritsson, J.); Remetter, T (Remetter, T.); L'Huillier,
A (L'Huillier, A.); Schafer, KJ (Schafer, K. J.)
Attosecond control of ionization by wave-packet interference
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 99 (23): Art. No. 233001 DEC 7 2007
Nubbemeyer, T (Nubbemeyer, T.); Gorling, K (Gorling, K.); Saenz, A (Saenz, A.); Eichmann, U
(Eichmann, U.); Sandner, W (Sandner, W.)
Strong-Field Tunneling without Ionization
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 101 (23): Art. No. 233001 DEC 5 2008
Ansari, Z (Ansari, Z.); Bottcher, M (Boettcher, M.); Manschwetus, B (Manschwetus, B.); Rottke,
H (Rottke, H.); Sandner, W (Sandner, W.); Verhoef, A (Verhoef, A.); Lezius, M (Lezius, M.);
Paulus, GG (Paulus, G. G.); Saenz, A (Saenz, A.); Milosevic, DB (Milosevic, D. B.)
Interference in strong-field ionization of a two-centre atomic system
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, 10: Art. No. 093027 SEP 25 2008
Nickles, PV (Nickles, P. V.); Schnurer, A (Schnuerer, A.); Steinke, S (Steinke, S.); Sokollik, T
(Sokollik, T.); Ter-Avetisyan, S (Ter-Avetisyan, S.); Sandner, W (Sandner, W.); Nakamura, T
(Nakamura, T.); Mima, M (Mima, M.); Andreev, A (Andreev, A.)
Editor(s): Bulanov, SV; Daido, H
Prospects for ultrafast lasers in ion-radiography
LASER DRIVEN RELATIVISTIC PLASMAS APPLIED FOR SCIENCE, INDUSTRY, AND
MEDICINE, 1024: 183-193 2008
Book series AIP CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
Bottcher, FM (Boettcher, F. M.); Manschwetus, B (Manschwetus, B.); Rottke, H (Rottke, H.);
Zhavoronkov, N (Zhavoronkov, N.); Ansari, Z (Ansari, Z.); Sandner, W (Sandner, W.)
Interferometric long-term stabilization of a delay line: a tool for pump-probe photoelectronphotoion-coincidence spectroscopy on the attosecond time scale
APPLIED PHYSICS B-LASERS AND OPTICS, 91 (2): 287-293 MAY 2008
Becker, W (Becker, Wilhelm); Burgdorfer, J (Burgdoerfer, Joachim); Ehlotzky, F (Ehlotzky,
Fritz)
Selected papers from the 402nd Wilhelm and Else Heraeus seminar 'novel light sources and
applications' - Foreword
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS, 55 (16): 2501-2501 2008
Krajewska, K (Krajewska, K.); Kaminski, JZ (Kaminski, J. Z.); Potvliege, RM (Potvliege, R.
M.)
Long-lived resonances supported by a contact interaction in crossed magnetic and electric fields
ANNALS OF PHYSICS, 323 (11): 2639-2653 NOV 2008
Mese, E (Mese, E.); Potvliege, M (Potvliege, M.)
Quasienergy spectrum of complex atoms
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 77 (2): Art. No. 023414 FEB 2008
270
Roso, L (Roso, L.); Roman, JS (Roman, J. San); Sola, IJ (Sola, I. J.); Ruiz, C (Ruiz, C.);
Collados, V (Collados, V.); Perez, JA (Perez, J. A.); Mendez, C (Mendez, C.); Vazquez De
Aldana, JR (Vazquez de Aldana, J. R.); Arias, I (Arias, I.); Plaja, L (Plaja, L.)
Propagation of terawatt laser pulses in the air
APPLIED PHYSICS A-MATERIALS SCIENCE & PROCESSING, 92 (4): 865-871 SEP 2008
Boca, M (Boca, M.); Florescu, V (Florescu, V.)
THE INTERACTION OF FREE ELECTRONS WITH INTENSE ELECTROMAGNETIC
RADIATION
ROMANIAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, 53 (9-10): 1033-1038 2008
Boca, M (Boca, M.); Florescu, V (Florescu, V.)
Relativistic effects in the time evolution of an one-dimensional model atom in a laser pulse
EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL D, 46 (1): 15-20 JAN 2008
Eckle, P (Eckle, P.); Pfeiffer, AN (Pfeiffer, A. N.); Cirelli, C (Cirelli, C.); Staudte, A (Staudte,
A.); Dorner, R (Doerner, R.); Muller, HG (Muller, H. G.); Buttiker, M (Buettiker, M.); Keller, U
(Keller, U.)
Attosecond Ionization and Tunneling Delay Time Measurements in Helium
SCIENCE, 322 (5907): 1525-1529 DEC 5 2008
Eckle, P (Eckle, Petrissa); Smolarski, M (Smolarski, Mathias); Schlup, P (Schlup, Philip);
Biegert, J (Biegert, Jens); Staudte, A (Staudte, Andre); Schoffler, M (Schoeffler, Markus);
Muller, HG (Muller, Harm G.); Dorner, R (Doerner, Reinhard); Keller, U (Keller, Ursula)
Attosecond angular streaking
NATURE PHYSICS, 4 (7): 565-570 JUL 2008
Charalambidis, D (Charalambidis, D.); Tzallas, P (Tzallas, P.); Benis, EP (Benis, E. P.);
Skantzakis, E (Skantzakis, E.); Maravelias, G (Maravelias, G.); Nikolopoulos, LAA
(Nikolopoulos, L. A. A.); Conde, AP (Conde, A. Peralta); Tsakiris, GD (Tsakiris, G. D.)
Exploring intense attosecond pulses
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, 10: Art. No. 025018 FEB 29 2008
Tzallas, P (Tzallas, P.); Skantzakis, E (Skantzakis, E.); Kalpouzos, C (Kalpouzos, C.); Benis, EP
(Benis, E. P.); Tsakiris, GD (Tsakiris, G. D.); Charalambidis, D (Charalambidis, D.)
Generation of intense continuum extreme-ultraviolet radiation by many-cycle laser fields
NATURE PHYSICS, 3 (12): 846-850 DEC 2007
Dunning, FB (Dunning, F. B.); Mestayer, JJ (Mestayer, J. J.); Reinhold, CO (Reinhold, C. O.);
Yoshida, S (Yoshida, S.); Burgdorfer, J (Burgdoerfer, J.)
Engineering atomic Rydberg states with pulsed electric fields
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 42 (2): Art.
No. 022001 JAN 28 2009
Prigent, C (Prigent, Christophe); Deiss, C (Deiss, Cornelia); Lamour, E (Lamour, Emily); Rozet,
JP (Rozet, Jean-Pierre); Vernhet, D (Vernhet, Dominique); Burgdorfer, J (Burgdoerfer, Joachim)
Effect of pulse duration on the x-ray emission from Ar clusters in intense laser fields
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 78 (5): Art. No. 053201 NOV 2008
Ishikawa, KL (Ishikawa, Kenichi L.); Schiessl, K (Schiessl, Klaus); Persson, E (Persson, Emil);
Burgdorfer, J (Burgdoerfer, Joachim)
Book Group Author(s): IEEE
Quantum Path Interference in the Wavelength Dependence of High-Harmonic Generation
271
2008 CONFERENCE ON LASERS AND ELECTRO-OPTICS & QUANTUM ELECTRONICS
AND LASER SCIENCE CONFERENCE, VOLS 1-9: 2006-2007 2008
Book series IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society (LEOS) Annual Meeting
Mestayer, JJ (Mestayer, J. J.); Wyker, B (Wyker, B.); Dunning, FB (Dunning, F. B.); Reinhold,
CO (Reinhold, C. O.); Yoshida, S (Yoshida, S.); Burgdorfer, J (Burgdoerfer, J.)
Generation of quasiclassical Bohr-like wave packets using half-cycle pulses
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 78 (4): Art. No. 045401 OCT 2008
Schiessl, K (Schiessl, K.); Ishikawa, KL (Ishikawa, K. L.); Persson, E (Persson, E.); Burgdorfer,
J (Burgdoerfer, J.)
Wavelength dependence of high-harmonic generation from ultrashort pulses
JOURNAL OF MODERN OPTICS, 55 (16): 2617-2630 2008
Arbo, DG (Arbo, Diego G.); Dimitriou, KI (Dimitriou, Konstantinos I.); Persson, E (Persson,
Emil); Burgdorfer, J (Burgdoerfer, Joachim)
Sub-Poissonian angular momentum distribution near threshold in atomic ionization by short
laser pulses
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 78 (1): Art. No. 013406 JUL 2008
Kroo, N (Kroo, N.); Farkas, G (Farkas, Gy.); Dombi, P (Dombi, P.); Varro, S (Varro, S.)
Nonlinear processes induced by the enhanced, evanescent field of surface plasmons excited by
femtosecond laser pulses
OPTICS EXPRESS, 16 (26): 21656-21661 DEC 22 2008
Varro, S (Varro, S.); Farkas, G (Farkas, Gy.)
Attosecond electron pulses from interference of above-threshold de Broglie waves
LASER AND PARTICLE BEAMS, 26 (1): 9-19 MAR 2008
Romero, C (Romero, Carolina); de Aldana, JRV (Vazquez de Aldana, Javier R.); Mendez, C
(Mendez, Cruz); Roso, L (Roso, Luis)
Non-collinear sum-frequency generation of femtosecond pulses in a micro-structured betaBaB2O4 crystal
OPTICS EXPRESS, 16 (22): 18109-18117 OCT 27 2008
Xie, XH (Xie, Xinhua); Scrinzi, A (Scrinzi, Armin); Wickenhauser, M (Wickenhauser, Marlene);
Baltuska, A (Baltuska, Andrius); Barth, I (Barth, Ingo); Kitzler, M (Kitzler, Markus)
Internal momentum state mapping using high harmonic radiation
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 101 (3): Art. No. 033901 JUL 18 2008
Kitzler, M (Kitzler, Markus); Xie, XH (Xie, Xinhua); Roither, S (Roither, Stefan); Scrinzi, A
(Scrinzi, Armin); Baltuska, A (Baltuska, Andrius)
Angular encoding in attosecond recollision
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, 10: Art. No. 025029 FEB 29 2008
Jordan, G (Jordan, G.); Scrinzi, A (Scrinzi, A.)
Core-polarization effects in molecular high harmonic generation
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, 10: Art. No. 025035 FEB 29 2008
Kitzler, M (Kitzler, M.); Caillat, J (Caillat, J.); Scrinzi, A (Scrinzi, A.); Baltuska, A (Baltuska,
A.)
Editor(s): Corkum, P; Jonas, D; Miller, RJD; Weiner, AM
Attosecond pulse production and orbital tomography with orthogonally polarized two-color fewcycle pulses
Ultrafast Phenomena XV, 88: 36-38 2007
272
Book series SPRINGER SERIES IN CHEMICAL PHYSICS
Lysaght, MA (Lysaght, M. A.); Burke, PG (Burke, P. G.); van der Hart, HW (van der Hart, H.
W.)
Ultrafast Laser-Driven Excitation Dynamics in Ne: An Ab Initio Time-Dependent R-Matrix
Approach
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 101 (25): Art. No. 253001 DEC 19 2008
van der Hart, HW (van der Hart, H. W.); Lysaght, MA (Lysaght, M. A.); Burke, PG (Burke, P.
G.)
Momentum distributions of electrons ejected during ultrashort laser interactions with
multielectron atoms described using the R-matrix basis sets
PHYSICAL REVIEW A, 77 (6): Art. No. 065401 JUN 2008
Hamonou, L (Hamonou, Linda); van der Hart, HW (van der Hart, Hugo W.)
On the importance of inner-shell contributions to multiphoton ionization of complex atoms in the
VUV regime
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 41 (12): Art.
No. 121001 JUN 28 2008
Hamonou, L (Hamonou, Linda); van der Hart, HW (van der Hart, Hugo W.); Dunseath, KM
(Dunseath, Kevin M.); Terao-Dunseath, M (Terao-Dunseath, Mariko)
Two-photon emission of a 2p electron from Ne+ and consequences for sequential double
ionization of Ne
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, 41 (1): Art.
No. 015603 JAN 14 2008
273
2008 Report of the Working Group 2
Laser particle acceleration
Significant progress has been made in 2008 in laser particle acceleration, with respect
to both electron and ion beams. A milestone within COST P14 activities has been the
generation of intense, well collimated, 25 MeV electron pulses with the 8 fs, 5 TW, 10
Hz repetition rate laser pulses at MPQ. The electron pulses had sharply peaked spectra
(10% energy spread) and showed almost no background.
Most promising results on ion acceleration have been obtained by the groups in Pisa,
Bordeaux, and Prague, on the basis of numerical simulation and theoretical modelling.
The important new observation is that circular polarized laser pulses can jointly
accelerate the electrons and ions of thin solid foils, very smoothly and efficiently and
with sharply peaked energy spectra. Experiments still need to confirm these results. In
experiments with linear polarized light, shock acceleration of protons up to 8 MeV
was demonstrated, using so-called reduced mass targets.
Fast ignition approach to inertial confinement fusion.
Systematic experiments on intense proton beam generation in the context of ion beam
fast ignition have been performed by the Warsaw group at the LULI laser facility in
France. Single- and double-layer foil targets were used. Powerful proton beams with
peak intensities
of 1018 W/cm2 close to the source layer were demonstrated, using laser pulses with
intensities of 2×1019 W/cm2. The use of KrF lasers for applications to fast ignition
were studied by the group in Budapest.
At present, cone-guided fast ignition is considered the most promising approach due
to the successful experiments at Osaka in 2004. Here an electron beam with a current
in the order of 1 GA is envisioned to ignite the compressed core. The magnetized
transport of such electron pulses toward the compressed DT fuel core has been studied
in a collaboration of the groups in Madrid and Garching. The conditions for target
ignition were obtained. The results were presented at the 2008 EPS Plasma Physics
Conference on Crete.
Short summaries of results from different COST P14 groups
1. Bordeaux and Prague group
A main line of research was devoted to laser ion acceleration, paying special attention
to the generation of peaked ion spectra. In particular, circularly polarized laser pulses
274
irradiating ultrathin foils appear promising. Also the interaction of laser-generated ion
jets with other
plasma clouds were investigated motivated by astrophysical applications
Recently achieved high intensities of short laser pulses open new prospects in their
application to hole boring in inhomogeneous overdense plasmas and for ignition in
precompressed DT fusion targets. A simple analytical model and numerical
simulations have been developed [4] that demonstrate that pulses with intensities
exceeding 1022 W/cm2 may penetrate deeply into the plasma as a result of efficient
ponderomotive acceleration of ions in the forward direction. The penetration depth as
big as hundreds of microns depends on the laser fluence, which has to exceed a few
tens of GJ/cm2. The fast ions, accelerated at the bottom of the channel with an
efficiency of more than 20%, show a high directionality and may heat the
precompressed target core to fusion conditions. Figure 3 shows the shape of the
plasma channel and the energy and angular distribution of accelerated ions. This work
was done in collaboration between French groups and GSI.
Figure 5: Channel formation in plasma and ion acceleration in the laser piston regime. Left: ion
density distribution at the instant of 190 laser periods. Right: angular energy distribution of
accelerated ions near the laser beam axis. Simulation parameters are given in the text.
The work was performed by cooperation with LULI inside France and in
collaboration with
the COST P14 groups at Prague and Warsaw and also with associated groups at
Moscow and St. Petersburg. Most of the work has been published or is in print.
J. Psikal, V.T. Tikhonchuk, J. Limpouch, A.A. Andreev, A.V. Brantov, Ion acceleration by
femtosecond laser pulses in small multispecies targets, Physics of Plasmas 15, 053102 (2008)
S. Ter-Avetisyan, M. Schnürer, P.V. Nickles, M.B. Simrnov, W. Sandner, A. Andreev, K. Platonov,
and V. Tikhonchuk, Laser proton acceleration in a water spray target, Physics of Plasmas 15, 083106
(2008)
J. Limpouch, O. Klimo, J. Psikal, V.T. Tikhonchuk, S. Kawata, A.A. Andreev, PIC simulations of ion
acceleration by linearly and circularly polarized laser pulses, AIP Conference Proceedings 1024, 104
113 (2008)
G. Malka, Ph. Nicolaï, E. Brambrink, J.J. Santos, M.M. Aléonard, K. Amthor, P. Audebert, G.
Claverie, M. Gerbaux, F. Gobet, F. Hannachi, V. Méot, P. Morel, J.-N. Scheurer, M. Tarisien, and V.
Tikhonchuk, Fast electron transport and induced heating in solid targets from rear-side interferometry
imaging, Physical Review E 77, 026408 (2008).
O. Klimo, J. Psikal, J. Limpouch, and V.T. Tikhonchuk, Monoenergetic ion beams from ultrathin foils
irradiated by ultrahigh-contrast circularly polarized laser pulses, Physical Review Special Topics Accelerators and Beams 11, 031301 (2008)
275
A. Debayle and V. T. Tikhonchuk, Filamentation instability of a fast electron beam in a dielectric
target, Phys. Rev. E 78, 066404 (2008)
X. Ribeyre, Ph. Nicolaï, G. Schurtz, M. Olazabal-Loumé, J. Breil, P.H. Maire, J.-L. Feugeas, L. Hallo,
and V.T. Tikhonchuk, Compression phase study of the HiPER baseline target, Plasma Physics and
Controlled Fusion 50, 025007 (2008).
X. Ribeyre, G. Schurtz, M. Lafon, S. Galera, and S. Weber, Shock ignition: an alternative scheme for
HiPER, Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion 51, 015013 (2009).
N. Naumova, Th. Schlegel, V. Tikhonchuk, C. Labaune, I.V. Sokolov, and G. Mourou, Hole boring in
a DT pellet and fast ignition with ultra-intense laser pulses. Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 025002 (2009).
2. Budapest group
The studies on fast ignition principles using KrF lasers were continued. Using the
properties of the KrF laser amplifiers for fast ignition using either 1ps or 20ps KrF
laser pulses were compared. Although the scheme with the new, 1ps pulses seem to be
encouraging, it was shown that the extension of interferometric multiplexing from 2-3
beams to multiple beams is important for the realization of the scheme [1,2]. It was
orally presented at th EPS Plasma Physics Conference in Héraklion.
[1] I.B. Földes, S. Szatmári: Multiple-beam fast ignition with KrF laser; Proc. 35th
EPS Conference on Plasma Phys. Hersonissos, 9 - 13 June 2008 ECA Vol.32, O2.014 (2008).
[2] I.B. Földes, S. Szatmári: On the use of KrF lasers for fast ignition; Laser and
Particle Beams 26, 575-582 (2008).
3. Garching group
Laser development:
Laser development is the key requisite for all laser applications to particle
acceleration and inertial fusion. MPQ is presently world-leading in few-cyclce TW –
PW systems. In 2008, the upgrading of the Light Wave Synthesizer (LWS) laser
system is near completion and soon will become operative delivering 200mJ, 8fs
pulses at 10 Hz. The ATLAS Upgrade is also modified to accommodate additional
pump lasers that will more than double its energy output. The development of the
Petawatt Field Synthesizer (PFS) continues and currently the grating compressor is
under construction. Meanwhile the LWS and ATLAS laser systems are routinely
used in a number of high-intensity experiments conducted at MPQ.
Experiments on laser electron acceleration:
Few-cycle TW pulses should be ideal for electron acceleration in the bubble regime
because the laser pulse fits into a plasma wavelength in gas jet targets. These
expectations have been confirmed first time, producing intense electron beams with
sharply peaked energy spectra at 25 MeV and with almost no background. These
276
results were obtained with 8 fs, 5 TW laser pulses at 10 Hz repetition rate from the
LWS10 system [1].
Experiments related to the physics of fast ignition:
Other breakthroughs have been achieved in 2008. In a capillary discharge waveguide,
quasi-monoenergetic electron beams with excellent pointing stability were produced
(ATLAS) [2]. Preliminary experiments towards ion acceleration from small spherical
targets produced protons with up to 8 MeV energy [3]. In another experiment, it was
demonstrated that the harmonic emission from solid targets possesses the prerequisite
of phase locking and therefore gives rise to sub-fs XUV pulses [4-6]. These ultrabright XUV pulses are expected to be useful for time-resolved investigation of ultrafast plasma dynamics occurring in fast ignition experiments.
Collaboration MPQ/UPM on fast ignition simulations
In collaboration between the Spanish group (GIFI) at UP Madrid and MPQ, a series of
hybrid PIC simulations of fast electron transport and energy deposition in precompressed fusion targets have been performed, taking full account of collective
magnetic effects and the hydrodynamic response of the background plasma [7].
Results on actual ignition of an imploded fast ignition configuration have been
obtained, accounting for the increased beam divergence found in recent experiments
and the reduction in the electron kinetic energy due to profile steepening predicted by
advanced PIC simulations. Target ignition is studied as a function of injected electron
energy, distance of cone tip to dense core, initial divergence and kinetic energy of the
relativistic electron beam. A major result is that self-generated magnetic fields
improve substantially beam collimation (see Fig. 1).
Figure 1. Magnetic field distribution after injection of a 36 kJ, 18 ps electron pulse from the left into
compressed fusion fuel; (a) at peak power, (b) at end of pulse. Broken circles: isocontours of a 500
g/cm3 peak density core, rectangular box: penetration volume of 1.6 MeV electrons without B-field
interaction. Plasma interaction drives return currents, current filamentation, and collimation of the
ignitor beam. For more details see [6].
References:
[1] K. Schmid, L. Veisz, F. Tavella, S. Benavides, R. Tautz, D. Herrmann, A. Buck, B. Hidding, A.
Marcin-kevicius, U. Schramm, M. Geissler, J. Meyer-ter-Vehn, D. Habs and F. Krausz, , to appear in
PRL (2009).
277
Few-Cycle-Laser-Driven Electron Acceleration .
[2] J. Osterhoff, A. Popp, Zs. Major, B. Marx, T. P. Rowlands-Rees, M. Fuchs, M. Geissler, R.
Hoerlein,
B. Hidding, S. Becker, E. A. Peralta, U. Schramm, F. Gruener, D. Habs, F. Krausz, S. M. Hooker, and
S. Karsch.. Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 085002 (2008). Generation of Stable, Low-Divergence Electron
Beams by Laser-Wakefield Acceleration in a Steady-State-Flow Gas Cell.
[3] A. Henig, D. Kiefer, M. Geissler, S.G. Rykovanov, R. Ramis, R. Hörlein, J. Osterhoff, Zs. Major,
L. Veisz, S. Karsch, F. Krausz, D. Habs, and J. Schreiber, to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett. (2009) . Laserdriven shock acceleration of ion beams from spherical mass-limited targets.
[4] B. Dromey, D. Adams, R. Hörlein, Y. Nomura, S. G. Rykovanov, D. C. Carroll, P. S. Foster, S.
Kar, K. Markey, P. McKenna, D. Neely, M. Geissler, G. D. Tsakiris and M. Zepf. Nature Physics, 5, .
147 (2009). Diffraction-limited performance and focusing of high harmonics from relativistic plasmas.
[5] Y. Nomura, R. Hörlein, P. Tzallas, B. Dromey, S. Rykovanov, Zs. Major, J. Osterhoff, S. Karsch,
L. Veisz, M. Zepf, D. Charalambidis, F. Krausz, & G. D. Tsakiris, Nature Physics, 5, 124 (2009).
Attosecond phase locking of harmonics emitted from laser-produced plasmas.
[6] J. Honrubia and J. Meyer-ter-Vehn, PPCF 9, 014008 (2009). Fast Ignition by laser-driven
electrons.
4. Helsinki group
A major interest of the Helsinki group is in laser applications to nuclear
engineering, in particular in laser-enhanced radioactive decay and selective
transmutation of nuclear waste. This work is done in collaboration with
A.A.Andreev at the State Optical Institute in St. Petersburg.
[1] R. Salomaa, P. Aarnio, J. Ala-Heikkilä, A. Hakola, and M. Santala, Laserenhanced radioactive decay and selective transmutation of nuclei revisited.
Energy Conversion and Management 49, 1910-1916 (2008).
5. Pisa group
The Pisa-theory group has been active in the development of models and
numerical simulations of ion acceleration by intense laser pulses, in conditions
of relevance for the new proposed laser plasma installations.
Particular attention has been paid to the regime of laser ion acceleration by
means of circularly polarized laser light and to the evolution of transverse
surface instabilities in radiation pressure driven acceleration schemes.
Corresponding publications deal with "Photon bubbles and ion acceleration in
a plasma dominated by the radiation pressure of an electromagnetic pulse" as
well as "Ion dynamics and coherent structure formation following laser pulse
self-channeling".
The group has also considered applications of laser-generated ion beams to
high-energy particle physics such as Multi-GeV laser driven proton
acceleration in the high current regime and is use for neutrino beam sources.
278
[1] F.Terranova, H. Kiriyama, F. Pegoraro, Bandwidth enhancement for parametric
amplifiers operated in chirped multi-beam mode. Optics Comm. 281, 4993-4997
(2008).
[2] F. Pegoraro, S.V. Bulanov, General properties of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability
in different plasma configurations: the plasma foil model, in New Aspects of Plasma
Physics. E, P.K. Shukla et al. World Scientific PC – Proceedings (2008).
[3] S. Kar, M. Borghesi, S. V. Bulanov, A. Macchi, M. H. Key, T. V. Liseykina, A. J.
MacKinnon, P. K. Patel, L. Romagnani, A. Schiavi, O. Willi, "Plasma jets driven by
ultra-intense laser interaction with thin foils", Physical Review Letters 100, 225004
(2008).
[4] T. V. Liseykina, D. Prellino, F. Cornolti, A. Macchi, "Ponderomotive
acceleration of ions: circular vs linear polarization", IEEE Trans. on Plasma Science
36, 1866-1871 (2008).
6. Warsaw group
Fast ignition research at IPPLM in 2008
Laser-driven proton fast ignition (PFI) of fusion targets requires collimated or focused
proton beams of relatively low proton energy (mean energy: 3 – 5 MeV but of
enormous power (~1PW) and intensity (1020 W/cm2) [1].The laser-protons energy
conversion efficiency should be  15% (at ignition laser energy ~ 100kJ). Highly
efficient generation of proton beams of such extreme parameters seems to be possible
with the use of the method referred to as SLPA (skin-layer ponderomotive
acceleration) [2] or RPA (radiation pressure acceleration) [3]. In this method, the
ponderomotive pressure induced by a short laser pulse near the critical plasma surface
drives forward a dense plasma (ion) bunch of ion density (ni) higher than the plasma
critical density. As ni > 1021 – 1022 cm-3, even at moderate ion velocities (i) and
energies the ion beam intensities Ii = niiEi can be very high. The beam intensities can
be increased further by the beam focusing using the curved target front surface [4].
In 2008 the analysis of results of studies of laser-driven generation of highintensity proton beams performed on the LULI 100TW Nd:glass laser facility was
continued in 2008. In the experiment, a 350-fs, 1 or 2 laser pulse of high contrast
279
ratio (~ 107 for 1 and > 108 for 2) and intensity, IL, up to 21019W/cm2 irradiated a
thin (0.6 – 3m) PS (polystyrene) or Au/PS (PS covered by 0.05 – 0.2m Au front
layer) target along the target normal. As the preplasma density gradient scale length
near the critical surface, Ln, was relatively small (Ln < 2 – 3m for 1 [5] and Ln <
1m for 2) and the laser beam diameter on the target, dL, was  10 – 50m, the
condition dL >> Ln, L, LT required for SLPA [2] was rather well fulfilled, especially
for larger dL and/or 2 laser beam (LT is the target thickness). The proton beam
characteristics were measured using the time-of-flight method (ion charge collectors),
solid state track detectors (SSTDs) and radiochromic films (RCFs).
The dependences of laser-protons energy conversion efficiency and intensity
at the source of the proton beam generated from 1.8-m PS target and Au/PS target
with 0.2-m Au layer on the laser intensity, for protons of energies 1MeV < Ep < 3
MeV, are presented in Fig.1. The proton beam intensity at the source was calculated
from the IC measurements using the formula [2]: Iis  E p Q/e s S s , where Q is the total
charge of protons of mean energy E p (in the considered energy range), s is the
proton pulse duration at the source, Ss is the proton beam area at the source and e is
the elementary charge. As for SLPA ions s is approximately equal to the laser pulse
duration L and Ss is close to the laser focal spot area SL=  d L2 [2, 3, 6], so to calculate
Iis we assumed s  L, Ss  SL.
Figure 1. The laser-protons energy conversion efficiency and the proton beam
intensity at
the source as a function of laser intensity for PS and Au/PS targets. Points – the
results of
IC measurements, lines – the results of approximation by a power function.
280
The dependences of laser-protons energy conversion efficiency and intensity at
the source of the proton beam generated from 1.8-m PS target and Au/PS target
with 0.2-m Au layer on the laser intensity, for protons of energies 1MeV < Ep < 3
MeV, are presented in Fig.1. The proton beam intensity at the source was calculated
from the IC measurements using the formula [2]: Iis  E p Q/e s S s , where Q is the total
charge of protons of mean energy E p (in the considered energy range), s is the
proton pulse duration at the source, Ss is the proton beam area at the source and e is
the elementary charge. As for SLPA ions s is approximately equal to the laser pulse
duration L and Ss is close to the laser focal spot area SL=  d L2 [2, 3, 6], so to calculate
Iis we assumed s  L, Ss  SL.
It can be seen that for moderate-energy protons the conversion efficiency  for
the Au/PS target is twice as high as for the PS target and reaches 8% at IL =
21019W/cm2. A similar increase in  for the Au/PS target was also observed for
high-energy protons (>3MeV). Assuming that the scaling laws shown in Fig.1 are
correct for laser intensities > 21019W/cm2, the value   15% required for PFI could
be achieved at IL  1020W/cm2. At such IL the proton beam intensity at the source Iis 
1.51019W/cm2, so, to attain the ignition threshold the proton beam must be focused
to increase the intensity by 5 – 10 times. Potentially, the values of  and Iis required
for PFI can be achieved even at lower laser intensities by further optimization of the
target and using longer laser pulses (in the 5 – 10ps range) [7]. To reach relatively
high laser pulse contrast ratio needed for effective SLPA proton generation in PFI
experiments and for better matching of a proton energy spectrum to PFI requirements,
a 2 (second harmonic) laser beam for proton generation can be used as an alternative
to the usually considered option with 1 beam driver. A comparison of preliminary
measurements of proton beam parameters performed for 1 and 2 beam of the LULI
100TW laser is presented in Fig.2. In the case when I L λ 2L for the 1 beam is equal to
that for the 2 beam, the beam intensity of protons of energy 1-3MeV (Fig. 2a) is
nearly 10 times higher and the conversion efficiency is about 50% higher for the 2
beam than that for the 1 beam, in spite of the fact that the 2 laser beam energy was
more than twice as low. Also, the number (per cm2) of high-energy (>3MeV) protons
2ω
is higher for 2 (Fig. 2b). However, for I1ω
L  I L , the beam intensities of 1-3MeV
281
protons are comparable for 1 and 2 and the laser-protons conversion efficiency is
lower for the 2 beam.
Figure. 2. A comparison of parameters of moderate-energy (1 – 3MeV) (a) and highenergy
18
2
(>3MeV) (b) proton beams generated by a 1  or 2 laser beam. I1ω
L  210 W/cm .
For part
(b): points – the results of SSTD measurements, lines – the results of approximation
by
the Maxwellian energy distribution with the temperature Tp.
We compared the experimental results presented above with 1D particle-incell (PIC) simulations performed for the fully ionized hydrogen target with the
preplasma ramps of different density gradient scale length (Ln). It was found that for a
laser pulse of IL = 21019W/cm2 , L = 350fs, L = 1.05m and Ln in the range from L
to 2L, the proton beam peak intensities were within the range (1.3 – 2.1)1018W/cm2.
It is in fairly good agreement with the values estimated from our measurements using

the SLPA model (Fig. 1). We also observed that for the case I L λ 2L

1

 I L λ 2L

2
the
beam intensity of protons generated by a 2 beam was higher than that for a 1 beam
though the differences was slightly smaller than in the experiment.
In conclusion, it has been shown that 1-3MeV protons of intensity
~ 1018W/cm2 at the source can be produced at relativistic laser intensities (>1019Wcm2
m2) when the laser-target interaction condition approach the SLPA requirements.
The laser-protons energy conversion efficiency and proton beam parameters
remarkably depend on the target structure and can be significantly increased with the
use of a double-layer Au/PS target. The intensity of a proton beam generated by the
2 laser beam is at least several times higher than that produced by the 1 beam with
the same value of I L λ 2L , while these intensities are comparable when I 2L  I1ω
L .
282
References
[1]. M. Temporal et al., Phys. Plasmas 9, 3098 (2002).
[2]. J. Badziak et al., Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 46, B541 (2004) ; J. Badziak et al., Appl.
Phys. Lett. 89, 061504 (2006); J. Badziak, Opto-Electron.Rev. 15, 1 (2007)
and references therein.
[3]. T.V. Liseikina and A. Macchi, Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 171502 (2007).
[4]. J. Badziak and S. Jabłoński, Appl. Phys. Lett. 90, 151503 (2007).
[5]. J. Fuchs et al., Phys. Plasmas 14, 053105 (2007).
[6]. H. Habara et al., Phys. Plasmas 10, 3712 (2003).
[7]. L. Robson et al., Nature Phys. 3, 58 (2007).
Papers published in 2008 related to works performed within COST Action P14:
1. J. Badziak, A. Kasperczuk, P. Parys, T. Pisarczyk, M. Rosiński, L. Ryć, J.
Wołowski, R. Suchańska, J. Krasa, E. Krousky, L. Laska, K. Masek, M.
Pfeifer, K. Rohlena, J. Skala, J. Ullschmied, L.J. Dhareshwar, I.B. Foldes, T.
Suta, A. Borrielli, A. Mezzasalma, L. Torrisi, P. Pisarczyk, „The effect of
high-Z dopant on laser-driven acceleration of a thin plastic target”, Applied
Physics Letters 92, 211502 (2008).
2. J. Badziak, S. Jabłoński, M. Kubkowska, P. Parys, M. Rosiński, J.
Wołowski, A. Szydłowski, P. Antici, J. Fuchs, A. Mancic, „Studies on
proton beam generation for fast ignition-related applications”, 35th EPS
Conference on Plasma Phys. Hersonissos 9-13 June 2008 ECA vol.
32, O-4.043 (2008).
3. J.J. Honrubia, M. Temporal, J. Badziak, S. Jabłoński, „Fast ignition of
fusion targets induced by ion beams”, 35th EPS Conf. on Plasma Phys.
Hersonissos 9-13 June 2008 ECA vol. 32, P-5.125 (2008).
4. J. Badziak, S. Jabłoński, P. Parys, M. Rosiński, J. Wołowski, A.
Szydłowski, P. Antici, J. Fuchs, A. Mancic, „Ultraintense proton beams
from laser-induced skin-layer ponderomotive acceleration”, J. of
Applied Phys., 104, 063310-1 6, (2008).
5. J. Badziak, P. Antici, J. Fuchs, J. Jabłoński, A. Mancic, P. Parys, M.
Rosiński, R. Suchańska, A. Szydłowski, J. Wołowski, „Laser-induced
generation of ultraintense proton beams for high energy-density
science”, 1st International Symposium, Kyoto, Japan 17-20 September
2007; AIP Conference Proceedings vol. 1024, pp. 63-77 (2008).
283
Details of the Stresa Conference (June 2008)
Conference Programm
E.
Monday, June 9, 2008
08:15 - 08:30Auditorium Welcome and Opening Remarks
MON1 08:30 - 10:15Auditorium Photon and Electron Sources of the Future
10:15 - 10:45
Coffee Break
MON2A10:45 - 12:30Auditorium Attosecond Spectroscopy
MON2P 10:45 - 12:30PanoramicaDynamics of Low-Dimensional Systems
12:30 - 14:00
Lunch Break
MON3 14:00 - 15:45Auditorium Two-Dimensional Spectroscopy
15:45 - 16:15
Coffee Break
MON4A16:15 - 18:00Auditorium Novel Fiber and High Power Sources
MON4P 16:15 - 18:00PanoramicaLiquid Dynamics
MONIa 18:00 - 20:00Poster Area Poster I a - Applications
MONIc 18:00 - 20:00Poster Area Poster I c - Generation and Measurement
MONId 18:00 - 20:00Poster Area Poster I d - Physics
MONIe 18:00 - 20:00Poster Area Poster I e - Chemical Physics
MONIf 18:00 - 20:00Poster Area Poster I f - Chemistry
MONIg 18:00 - 20:00Poster Area Poster I g - Biology
F.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
TUE1
08:30 - 10:15Auditorium High Harmonics as Structural Probes
10:15 - 10:45
Coffee Break
TUE2A 10:45 - 12:30Auditorium Control of Molecular Processes
TUE2P 10:45 - 12:30PanoramicaApplications of Ultrafast Pulses
12:30 - 14:00
Lunch Break
TUE3 14:00 - 15:45Auditorium Coherent Molecular Dynamics
15:45 - 16:15
Coffee Break
TUE4A 16:15 - 18:00Auditorium Photoinduced Reactions
TUE4P 16:15 - 18:00PanoramicaUltrafast Electronics and Optoelectronics
TUEIIa 18:00 - 20:00Poster Area Poster II a - Applications
TUEIIb 18:00 - 20:00Poster Area Poster II b - Electronics and Optoelectronics
TUEIIc 18:00 - 20:00Poster Area Poster II c - Generation and Measurement
TUEIId 18:00 - 20:00Poster Area Poster II d - Physics
TUEIIe 18:00 - 20:00Poster Area Poster II e - Chemical Physics
TUEIIf 18:00 - 20:00Poster Area Poster II f - Chemistry
G. Wednesday, June 11, 2008
WED1 08:30 - 10:15Auditorium Light Harvesting
10:15 - 10:45
Coffee Break
WED2A 10:45 - 12:30Auditorium Frequency Combs and Waveform Synthesis
WED2P 10:45 - 12:30PanoramicaStructural Dynamics in Biological Systems
12:30 - 14:00
Lunch Break
WED3 14:00 - 15:45Auditorium Electron Dynamics and Plasmonics
15:45 - 16:15
Coffee Break
WED4A 16:15 - 18:00Auditorium Octave-Spanning Pulse Generation
284
WED4P 16:15 - 18:00PanoramicaNanooptics and Microscopy
20:00
Gala Dinner at Hotel Regina Palace
H. Thursday, June 12, 2008
THU1
08:30 - 10:15Auditorium Ultrafast X-Ray and Electron Diffraction
10:15 - 10:45
Coffee Break
THU2A 10:45 - 12:30Auditorium Ultrafast Charge Transfer
THU2P 10:45 - 12:30PanoramicaUltrafast Diagnostics
12:30 - 14:00
Lunch Break
THU3 14:00 - 15:45Auditorium Ultrafast Condensed Phase Dynamics
15:45 - 16:15
Coffee Break
THUIIIa 16:15 - 18:15Poster Area Poster III a - Applications
THUIIIc 16:15 - 18:15Poster Area Poster III c - Generation and Measurement
THUIIId16:15 - 18:15Poster Area Poster III d - Physics
THUIIIe 16:15 - 18:15Poster Area Poster III e - Chemical Physics
THUIIIf 16:15 - 18:15Poster Area Poster III f - Chemistry
THUIIIg16:15 - 18:15Poster Area Poster III g - Biology
THU4 18:30 - 20:00Auditorium Postdeadline session
I.
Friday, June 13, 2008
FRI1A 08:30 - 10:15Auditorium Dynamics at Interfaces
FRI1P 08:30 - 10:15PanoramicaTunable Ultrafast Pulse Generation
10:15 - 10:45
Coffee Break
FRI2
10:45 - 12:30Auditorium High Harmonic and Attosecond Pulse Generation
INVITED PAPERS:
MON1.1 - 8:30 “Ultrafast coherent X-ray diffractive imaging with the FLASH Free-Electron Laser”
H. N. Chapman1, S. Bajt2, A. Barty3, W.H. Benner3, M.J. Bogan3, S. Boutet4, A. Cavalleri5, S. Düsterer2, M.
Frank3, J. Hajdu4,6, S.P. Hau-Riege3, B. Iwan6, S. Marchesini7, K. Sokolowski-Tinten8, M.M. Siebert6, R.
Treusch2, and B.W. Woods3
1Centre for Free-Electron Laser Science, University of Hamburg and DESY, Hamburg, Germany; 2HASYLAB,
DESY, Hamburg, Germany; 3Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore CA, USA, 4SLAC, Menlo
Park CA, USA; 5Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; 6Uppsala
University, Uppsala, Sweden; 7Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley CA, USA; 8Institut für
Experimentelle Physik, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Germany.
MON3.1 - 14:00 “Automated 2D IR and Vis spectroscopies using pulse shaping”
Martin Zanni
University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.
MON4A.1 - 16:15 “Ultrabroadband Er:fiber systems and applications”
Alfred Leitenstorfer1, Alexander Sell1, Daniel Träutlein1, Florian Adler1, Konstantinos Moutzouris1, Florian
285
Sotier1, Matthias Kahl1, Rudolf Bratschitsch1, Rupert Huber1, and Elisa Ferrando-May2
1Department of Physics and Center for Applied Photonics, University of Konstanz, D-78457 Konstanz,
Germany; 2Department of Biology and Center for Applied Photonics, University of Konstanz, D-78457
Konstanz, Germany.
TUE1.1 - 8:30 “Ultrafast Molecular and Materials Dynamics probed by Coherent X-Rays,”
Margaret Murnane and Henry Kapteyn
JILA, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA.
TUE3.1 - 14:00 “Ultrafast X-ray probing of electron dynamics”
Stephen R. Leone
University of California and LBNL, Berkeley, CA, USA.
TUE4A.1 - 16:15 “Real-time evolution of the valence orbitals in a dissociating molecule as revealed by
femtosecond photoelectron spectroscopy”
Philippe Wernet1, Michael Odelius2, Kai Godehusen1, Jérôme Gaudin1, Olaf Schwarzkopf1, and
Wolfgang Eberhardt1
1BESSY, Berlin, Germany; 2Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
WED1.1 - 8:30 “Ultrafast energy transfer and primary processes in photosynthesis”
Richard J. Cogdell
Division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, IBLS. Glasgow Biomedical Research Centre, University of
Glasgow, 126 University Place, Glasgow G12 8TA, Scotland, UK.
WED2A.1 - 10:45 “The evolving femtosecond laser frequency comb”
Scott Diddams, Danielle Braje, Tara Fortier, Leo Hollberg, Matt Kirchner, Vela Mbele, Stephanie Meyer,
Qudsia Quraishi, and Shijun Xiao
NIST, 325 Broadway, Boulder, Colorado, USA.
WED3.1 - 14:00 “Ultrafast photoemission electron microscopy: imaging light with electrons on femto-nano
scale”
Hrvoje Petek1,2 and Atsushi Kubo1,3
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 USA; 2Donostia
International Physics Center, Donostia-San Sebastian 20018 Spain; 3PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology
Agency, 4-1-8 Honcho Kawaguchi, Saitama, Japan.
WED4A.1 - 16:15 “Generation of octave-spanning Raman comb with absolute-phase control”
Masayuki Katsuragawa1, Feng-Lei Hong2, Masaki Arakawa1, and Takayuki Suzuki1
1Department of Applied Physics and Chemistry, University of Electro-Communications, 1-5-1 Chofugaoka,
Chofu, Tokyo 182-8585, Japan; 2National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 1-1-1,
Umezono, Tsukuba 305-8563,Ibaraki, Japan.
THU1.1 - 8:30 “Ultrafast structural dynamics of polar solids studied by femtosecond X-Ray diffraction”
Thomas Elsaesser1, Clemens von Korff Schmising1, Nickolai Zhavoronkov1, Matias Bargheer1,2, Michael
Woerner1, Markus Braun3, Peter Gilch3, Wolfgang Zinth3, I. Vrejoiu4, D. Hesse4, and M. Alexe4
1Max-Born-Institut für Nichtlineare Optik und Kurzzeitspektroskopie, D-12489 Berlin, Germany; 2Institut für
Physik, Universität Potsdam, D-14469 Potsdam, Germany; 3Biomolekulare OPtik, Department für Physik,
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Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, D-80538 München, Germany; 4Max-Planck-Institut für Mikrostrukturphysik,
D-06120 Halle, Germany.
THU2A.1 - 10:45 “Femtosecond X-Ray absorption spectroscopy of a photoinduced spin-crossover process”
Christopher Milne1, Van-Thai Pham1, Wojciech Gawelda1,3, Amal El Nahhas1, Renske M. van der Veen1,2,
Steven L. Johnson2, Paul Beaud2, Gerhard Ingold2, Camelia Borca2, Daniel Grolimund2, Rafael Abela2, Majed
Chergui1, and Christian Bressler1
1Laboratoire de Spectroscopie Ultrarapide, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne,
Switzerland ; 2Swiss Light Source, Paul-Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen-PSI, Switzerland; 3Present
Address: Laser Processing Group, Instituto de Óptica, CSIC, Serrano 121, E-28006 Madrid, Spain.
THU3.4 - 14:45 “Dynamic metamaterials at terahertz frequencies”
Hou-Tong Chen1, Abul Azad1, John O’Hara1, Antoinette Taylor1, Willie Padilla2, and Richard Averitt3
1MPA-CINT, MS K771, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, Mexico;
2Department of Physics, Boston College, Chestnut Hill,Massachusetts 02467, USA; 3Department of Physics and
Photonics Center, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
FRI1A.1 - 8:30 “Ultrafast 2D-IR spectroscopy of a molecular monolayer”
Jens Bredenbeck1,2, Avishek Ghosh1, Marc Smits1, and Mischa Bonn1
1FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics,Kruislaan 407, 1098 SJ, Amsterdam, the Netherlands;
2Institut für Biophysik, Universität Frankfurt, Max von Laue-Str. 1, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany.
FRI2.1 - 10:45 “Sub-100-as soft-X-ray pulses”
Eleftherios Goulielmakis1, Martin Schultze1, Michael Hofstetter2, Matthias Uiberacker2, Justin Gagnon1,
Vladislav Yakovlev2, Ulf Kleineberg2, and Ferenc Krausz1,2
1Max-Planck-Pnstitut f¨ur Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Strasse 1, D-85748 Garching, Germany;
2Department für Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, am Coulombwall 1, Germany
The list of participants can be found at the url
http://www.ultraphenomena.org/programme/linkauthors.pdf
More infomartion about the conference can be found on the web site of this meeting,
http://www.ultraphenomena.org
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Details of the Hersonissos Workshop (June 2008)
GENERAL INFORMATION
The fast ignitor workshop series has played an important role in the rapid progress in
the physics of fast ignition inertial fusion world-wide. It provides a forum for
discussion on important topics in high intensity laser-plasma physics that are relevant
to fast ignition and allows new experimental and theoretical results to be presented in
an informal and collegiate atmosphere.
With the new laser facilities in the United States and Japan nearing completion – and
the start of the HIPER project in the European Union – this workshop provides an
opportunity of sharing ideas, forming new collaborations and maintaining the rapid
progress in the field.
The International Committee for Fast Ignition, at its meeting in September 2007
(Kobe, Japan), agreed to hold the Workshop every two years, alternating between
IFSA conferences and rotating geographically between the EU, Asia and the United
States.
This Workshop is being held as a satellite meeting to the 35th EPS Conference on
Plasma Physics and will be held in the Creta Maris Conference Center on the
beautiful island of Crete.
The first two days, 12th –13th June, will be devoted to the presentation of latest
results. The weekend will be free for relaxation. The remaining days, 16th –18th
June, will be a held as a smaller stand-alone meeting and devoted to more informal
discussion and debates, more conducive to the Workshop style.
PROGRAMME:
Thursday 12th June and Friday 13th June:
These follow the conventional EPS Conference style, i.e. invited plenary and session
lectures in the morning, contributed oral lectures in the first and last parts of the
afternoon; 2-hour poster session in the middle part of the afternoon.
The journal “Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion” have invited a selection of 20
papers to be published as a special issue of the journal in January 2009. The invited
and contributed papers should form the basis of that selection.
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Weekend is free for relaxation.
Monday 16th June – Wednesday 18th June.
On these days, delegates convene together first thing in the morning.
The idea of each session is to encourage debate in a structured manner, and to allow
younger attendees to participate in the discussion. The convenors of each subject
area will provide an introductory review. During their review, they will raise issues
for debate. Delegates are encouraged also to prepare material for presentation.
The discussion is broken into four time-blocks, and the purpose of each time-block is
as follows:
1. Goals and Current Status: What is the objective of the field? How far is the
community to reaching these goals? What are the major challenges?
2. Recent and Short-Term Experiments: How have recent experiments
improved the knowledge-base of this area? Are there experiments planned for
the next six months that may be important?
3. Theoretical Developments: What recent theoretical insights or developments
in simulation tools have had the biggest impact? What improvements need to
be made to codes? Are there any code predictions that really need to be
experimentally tested?
4. Look Ahead: Given what has been discussed in the previous sessions, what
should the community plan to do in the next 2 years in terms of both
experiments and theoretical studies? This time-block should also be used to
prepare the group’s report.
After the introductions by the convenors, each delegate is encouraged to provide 1
slide as a visual aid to their topic. The group reports, together with the collection of
individual slides, will be put on the workshop website after the meeting.
Topics to be discussed:
Channelling: Channel formation with intense 100 ps pulses, hole-boring, superpenetration mode Ultra-high intensity heating concepts; New ideas/blue skies
session: ion heating with exawatt laser intensities; next generation thermal neutron
sources; etc.
Initial target designs: compression studies: this includes the fuel assembly, adiabat
pulse shaping with direct drive, indirect drive radiation pressure simulations etc.
Experimental validation. Designs for OMEGA EP; FIREX; NIF ARC; HIPER.
Initial target designs: ignition, gain and burn: simulations and modelling of
particle deposition; ion-beam driven FI energy transfer issues.
Fast electron temperature dependencies: Ponderomotive scaling of the fast
electron temperature with pre-pulse; pulse duration; colour. Energy transport in
cone materials: simulations and experiments of energy transport inside cone-guides;
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prepulse effects; magnetic field guiding. Absorption of laser energy and transference
to fast electron beam.
Alternative FI concepts: shock heating/Impact FI etc. Proton and ion driven FI:
current status of fast ion generation; energy coupling; ion beam focusing etc.
Fast electron energy deposition: evidence for (and mechanisms of) transport
inhibition; e.g. bottled up effect; shock inhibition etc., role of Joule heating: two
stream: chaotic motion of B-fields. Divergence control: current status of modelling
for vacuum gap, material mismatch and double pulse ideas; experimental validation;
new concepts. Beam-plasma instabilities: filamentation, collisional Weibel, two
stream instabilities; role in transport and ion heating.
The details of the contributions of this workshop can be found at the url
http://www.clf.rl.ac.uk/news/Meetings/10th_fastignition2008/mon16th-a.htm
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