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Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Stable laser-ion acceleration in the light sail regime
    (College Park : American Institute of Physics Inc., 2013) Steinke, S.; Hilz, P.; Schnürer, M.; Priebe, G.; Bränzel, J.; Abicht, F.; Kiefer, D.; Kreuzer, C.; Ostermayr, T.; Schreiber, J.; Andreev, A.A.; Yu, T.P.; Pukhov, A.; Sandner, W.
    We present experimental results on ion acceleration with circularly polarized, ultrahigh contrast laser pulses focused to peak intensities of 5×1019 W cm-2 onto polymer targets of a few 10 nanometer thickness. We observed spatially and energetically separated protons and carbon ions that accumulate to pronounced peaks around 2 MeV containing as much as 6.5% of the laser energy. Based on particle-in-cell simulation, we illustrate that an early separation of heavier carbon ions and lighter protons creates a stable interface that is maintained beyond the end of the radiation pressure dominated acceleration process.
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    Detailed characterization of electron sources yielding first demonstration of European x-ray free-electron laser beam quality
    (College Park, Md. : APS, 2010) Stephan, F.; Boulware, C.H.; Krasilnikov, M.; Bähr, J.; Asova, G.; Donat, A.; Gensch, U.; Grabosch, H.J.; Hänel, M.; Hakobyan, L.; Henschel, H.; Ivanisenko, Y.; Jachmann, L.; Khodyachykh, S.; Khojoyan, M.; Kohler, W.; Korepanov, S.; Koss, G.; Kretzschmann, A.; Leich, H.; Ludecke, H.; Meissner, A.; Oppelt, A.; Petrosyan, B.; Pohl, M.; Riemann, S.; Rimjaem, S.; Sachwitz, M.; Schoneich, B.; Scholz, T.; Schulze, H.; Schultze, J.; Schwendicke, U.; Shapovalov, A.; Spesyvtsev, R.; Staykov, L.; Tonisch, F.; Walter, T.; Weisse, S.; Wenndorff, R.; Winde, M.; Vu, L.V.; Durr, H.; Kamps, T.; Richter, D.; Sperling, M.; Ovsyannikov, R.; Vollmer, A.; Knobloch, J.; Jaeschke, E.; Boster, J.; Brinkmann, R.; Choroba, S.; Flechsenhar, K.; Flottmann, K.; Gerdau, W.; Katalev, V.; Koprek, W.; Lederer, S.; Martens, C.; Pucyk, P.; Schreiber, S.; Simrock, S.; Vogel, E.; Vogel, V.; Rosbach, K.; Bonev, I.; Tsakov, I.; Michelato, P.; Monaco, L.; Pagani, C.; Sertore, D.; Garvey, T.; Will, I.; Templin, I.; Sandner, W.; Ackermann, W.; Arévalo, E.; Gjonaj, E.; Muller, W.F.O.; Schnepp, S.; Weiland, T.; Wolfheimer, F.; Ronsch, J.; Rossbach, J.
    The photoinjector test facility at DESY, Zeuthen site (PITZ), was built to develop and optimize photoelectron sources for superconducting linacs for high-brilliance, short-wavelength free-electron laser (FEL) applications like the free-electron laser in Hamburg (FLASH) and the European x-ray free-electron laser (XFEL). In this paper, the detailed characterization of two laser-driven rf guns with different operating conditions is described. One experimental optimization of the beam parameters was performed at an accelerating gradient of about 43 MV/m at the photocathode and the other at about 60 MV/m. In both cases, electron beams with very high phase-space density have been demonstrated at a bunch charge of 1 nC and are compared with corresponding simulations. The rf gun optimized for the lower gradient has surpassed all the FLASH requirements on beam quality and rf parameters (gradient, rf pulse length, repetition rate) and serves as a spare gun for this facility. The rf gun studied with increased accelerating gradient at the cathode produced beams with even higher brightness, yielding the first demonstration of the beam quality required for driving the European XFEL: The geometric mean of the normalized projected rms emittance in the two transverse directions was measured to be 1.260±13 mmmrad for a 1-nC electron bunch. When a 10% charge cut is applied excluding electrons from those phase-space regions where the measured phase-space density is below a certain level and which are not expected to contribute to the lasing process, the normalized projected rms emittance is about 0.9 mmmrad. © 2010 The American Physical Society.
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    Laser-driven ion acceleration using isolated mass-limited spheres
    (College Park, MD : Institute of Physics Publishing, 2010) Sokollik, T.; Paasch-Colberg, T.; Gorling, K.; Eichmann, U.; Schnürer, M.; Steinke, S.; Nickles, P.V.; Andreev, A.; Sandner, W.
    We report on our experiments on laser-driven ion acceleration using fully isolated mass-limited spheres with a diameter down to 8μm for the first time. Two-dimensional (2D) particle-in-cell (PIC) and hydro-code simulations were used to show that the pre-plasma at both the front and rear sides of the target strongly affect the efficiency of the ion acceleration. The mechanism of the plasma flow around mass-limited targets has not yet been identified for laser-driven ion acceleration. Our models indicate that this effect is the cause of the observed limitation to the ion-beam energy in both previous experiments and in our own. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.
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    Interference in strong-field ionization of a two-centre atomic system
    (College Park, MD : Institute of Physics Publishing, 2008) Ansari, Z.; Böttcher, M.; Manschwetus, B.; Rottke, H.; Sandner, W.; Verhoef, A.; Lezius, M.; Paulus, G.G.; Saenz, A.; Milošević, D.B.
    Strong-field photoionization of argon dimers by a few-cycle laser pulse is investigated using electron-ion coincidence momentum spectroscopy. The momentum distribution of the photoelectrons exhibits interference due to the emission from the two atomic argon centres, in analogy with a Young's doubleslit experiment. However, a simulation of the dimer photoelectron momentum spectrum based on the atomic spectrum supplemented with a theoretically derived interference term leads to distinct deviations from the experimental result. The deviations may have their origin in a complex electron dynamics during strong-field ionization of the Ar2 dimer. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.