Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Accelerated”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,693 records · Page 94

Simple scalings for various regimes of electron acceleration in surface plasma waves

Different electron acceleration regimes in the evanescent field of a surface plasma wave are studied by considering the interaction of a test electron with the high-frequency electromagnetic field of a surface wave. The non-relativistic and relativistic limits are investigated. Simple scalings are found demonstrating the possibility to achieve an efficient conversion of the surface wave field energy into electron kinetic energy. This mechanism of electron acceleration can provide a high-frequency pulsed source of relativistic electrons with a well defined energy. In the relativistic limit, the most energetic electrons are obtained in the so-called electromagnetic regime for surface waves. In this regime, the particles are accelerated to velocities larger than the wave phase velocity, mainly in the direction parallel to the plasma-vacuum interface.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Guiding and collimation of laser-accelerated proton beams using thin foils followed with a hollow plasma channel

It is proposed that guided and collimated proton acceleration by intense lasers can be achieved using an advanced target—a thin foil followed by a hollow plasma channel. For the advanced target, the laser-accelerated hot electrons can be confined in the hollow channel at the foil rear side, which leads to the formation of transversely localized, Gaussian-distributed sheath electric field and resultantly guiding of proton acceleration. Further, due to the hot electron flow along the channel wall, a strong focusing transverse electric field is induced, taking the place of the original defocusing one driven by hot electron pressure in the case of a purely thin foil target, which results in collimation of proton beams. Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that collimated proton beams with energy about 20 MeV and nearly half-reduced divergence of 26° are produced at laser intensities 10{sup 20 }W/cm{sup 2} by using the advanced target.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Compact RF ion source for industrial electrostatic ion accelerator

Korea Multi-purpose Accelerator Complex is developing a single-ended electrostatic ion accelerator to irradiate gaseous ions, such as hydrogen and nitrogen, on materials for industrial applications. ELV type high voltage power supply has been selected. Because of the limited space, electrical power, and robust operation, a 200 MHz RF ion source has been developed. In this paper, the accelerator system, test stand of the ion source, and its test results are described.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Simulation of diatomic gas-wall interaction and accommodation coefficients for negative ion sources and accelerators

Particle-wall interactions determine in different ways the operating conditions of plasma sources, ion accelerators, and beams operating in vacuum. For instance, a contribution to gas heating is given by ion neutralization at walls; beam losses and stray particle production—detrimental for high current negative ion systems such as beam sources for fusion—are caused by collisional processes with residual gas, with the gas density profile that is determined by the scattering of neutral particles at the walls. This paper shows that Molecular Dynamics (MD) studies at the nano-scale can provide accommodation parameters for gas-wall interactions, such as the momentum accommodation coefficient and energy accommodation coefficient: in non-isothermal flows (such as the neutral gas in the accelerator, coming from the plasma source), these affect the gas density gradients and influence efficiency and losses in particular of negative ion accelerators. For ideal surfaces, the computation also provides the angular distribution of scattered particles. Classical MD method has been applied to the case of diatomic hydrogen molecules. Single collision events, against a frozen wall or a fully thermal lattice, have been simulated by using probe molecules. Different modelling approximations are compared.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Investigation on target normal sheath acceleration through measurements of ions energy distribution

An experimental campaign aiming at investigating the ion acceleration mechanisms through laser-matter interaction in femtosecond domain has been carried out at the Intense Laser Irradiation Laboratory facility with a laser intensity of up to 2 × 10{sup 19} W/cm{sup 2}. A Thomson parabola spectrometer was used to obtain the spectra of the ions of the different species accelerated. Here, we show the energy spectra of light-ions and we discuss their dependence on structural characteristics of the target and the role of surface and target bulk in the acceleration process.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Review of R&D at DESY on ingot niobium for accelerators

An R&D program at DESY exploring the potential of the production of 1.3 GHz TESLA shape cavities from large grain or ingot niobium material has been carried out as a feasibility study for using ingot niobium material for the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser project. The most important issues like feasibility of the fabrication of niobium discs from ingots, material properties, cavity fabrication, treatment, and finally the cryogenic radiofrequency (RF) performance of the cavity in the accelerator modules are presented and discussed. At least 25% higher intrinsic quality factor comparing to conventional fine-grain niobium and high accelerating gradient of up to 45 MV/m have been demonstrated during the cryogenic RF tests both in the vertical cryostats and in a completely assembled accelerating cryo-module.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Development of an ion beam analyzing system for the KBSI heavy-ion accelerator

The Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI) has been developing a heavy ion accelerator system to accelerate high current, multi-charge state ions produced by a 28 GHz superconducting electron cyclotron ion source. A beam analyzing system as a part of the low energy beam transport apparatus was developed to select charged particles with desirable charge states from the ion beams. The desired species of ion, which is generated and extracted from the ECR ion source including various ion particles, can be selected by 90° dipole electromagnet. Due to the non-symmetrical structure in the coil as well as the non-linear permeability of the yoke material coil, a three dimensional analysis was carried out to confirm the design parameters. In this paper, we present the experimental results obtained as result of an analysis of KBSI accelerator. The effectiveness of beam selection was confirmed during the test of the analyzing system by injecting an ion beam from an ECR ion source.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Ferroelectric ceramics in a pyroelectric accelerator

The applicability of polarized ferroelectric ceramics as a pyroelectric in a pyroelectric accelerator is shown by experiments. The spectra of X-ray radiation of energy up to tens of keV, generated by accelerated electrons, have been measured on heating and cooling of the ceramics in vacuum. It is suggested that curved layers of polarized ferroelectric ceramics be used as elements of ceramic pyroelectric accelerators. Besides, nanotubes and nanowires manufactured from ferroelectric ceramics are proposed for the use in nanometer-scale ceramic pyroelectric nanoaccelerators for future applications in nanotechnologies.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Laser-driven electron acceleration in an inhomogeneous plasma channel

We study the laser-driven electron acceleration in a transversely inhomogeneous plasma channel. We find that, in inhomogeneous plasma channel, the developing of instability for electron acceleration and the electron energy gain can be controlled by adjusting the laser polarization angle and inhomogeneity of plasma channel. That is, we can short the accelerating length and enhance the energy gain in inhomogeneous plasma channel by adjusting the laser polarization angle and inhomogeneity of the plasma channel.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Enhanced target normal sheath acceleration of protons from intense laser interaction with a cone-tube target

Laser driven proton acceleration is proposed to be greatly enhanced by using a cone-tube target, which can be easily manufactured by current 3D-print technology. It is observed that energetic electron bunches are generated along the tube and accelerated to a much higher temperature by the combination of ponderomotive force and longitudinal electric field which is induced by the optical confinement of the laser field. As a result, a localized and enhanced sheath field is produced at the rear of the target and the maximum proton energy is about three-fold increased based on the two-dimentional particle-in-cell simulation results. It is demonstrated that by employing this advanced target scheme, the scaling of the proton energy versus the laser intensity is much beyond the normal target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) case.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Laser wakefield accelerated electron beam monitoring and control

We will discuss our participation in the ImPACT project, which has as one of its goals the development of an ultra-compact electron accelerator using lasers (< 1 GeV, < 10 m) and the generation of an x-ray beam from the accelerated electrons. Within this context we will discuss our investigation into electron beam monitoring and control. Since laser accelerated electrons will be used for x-ray beam generation combined with an undulator, we will present investigation into the possibilities of the improvement of electron beam emittance through cooling.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Vlasov modelling of laser-driven collisionless shock acceleration of protons

Ion acceleration due to the interaction between a short high-intensity laser pulse and a moderately overdense plasma target is studied using Eulerian Vlasov–Maxwell simulations. The effects of variations in the plasma density profile and laser pulse parameters are investigated, and the interplay of collisionless shock and target normal sheath acceleration is analyzed. It is shown that the use of a layered-target with a combination of light and heavy ions, on the front and rear side, respectively, yields a strong quasi-static sheath-field on the rear side of the heavy-ion part of the target. This sheath-field increases the energy of the shock-accelerated ions while preserving their mono-energeticity.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Intra-pulse transition between ion acceleration mechanisms in intense laser-foil interactions

Multiple ion acceleration mechanisms can occur when an ultrathin foil is irradiated with an intense laser pulse, with the dominant mechanism changing over the course of the interaction. Measurement of the spatial-intensity distribution of the beam of energetic protons is used to investigate the transition from radiation pressure acceleration to transparency-driven processes. It is shown numerically that radiation pressure drives an increased expansion of the target ions within the spatial extent of the laser focal spot, which induces a radial deflection of relatively low energy sheath-accelerated protons to form an annular distribution. Through variation of the target foil thickness, the opening angle of the ring is shown to be correlated to the point in time transparency occurs during the interaction and is maximized when it occurs at the peak of the laser intensity profile. Corresponding experimental measurements of the ring size variation with target thickness exhibit the same trends and provide insight into the intra-pulse laser-plasma evolution.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Quasi-monoenergetic ion beam acceleration by laser-driven shock and solitary waves in near-critical plasmas

Ion acceleration in near-critical plasmas driven by intense laser pulses is investigated theoretically and numerically. A theoretical model has been given for clarification of the ion acceleration dynamics in relation to different laser and target parameters. Two distinct regimes have been identified, where ions are accelerated by, respectively, the laser-induced shock wave in the weakly driven regime (comparatively low laser intensity) and the nonlinear solitary wave in the strongly driven regime (comparatively high laser intensity). Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that quasi-monoenergetic proton beams with a peak energy of 94.6 MeV and an energy spread 15.8% are obtained by intense laser pulses at intensity I{sub 0} = 3 × 10{sup 20 }W/cm{sup 2} and pulse duration τ = 0.5 ps in the strongly driven regime, which is more advantageous than that got in the weakly driven regime. In addition, 233 MeV proton beams with narrow spread can be produced by extending τ to 1.0 ps in the strongly driven regime.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

X-ray analysis methods for sources from self-modulated laser wakefield acceleration driven by picosecond lasers

A versatile set of methods for analyzing x-ray energy spectra and photon flux has been developed for laser plasma accelerator experiments driven by picosecond lasers. Forward fit provides extrapolated broad energy spectrum measurements, while Ross pair and differential average transmission analysis provide directly measured data points using a particular diagnostic. Combining these methods allows the measurement of x-ray energy spectra with improved confidence. We apply here the methods to three diagnostics (filter wheel, stacked image plate spectrometer, and step wedge), each sensitive to a different region of x-ray energies (<40 keV, 35–100 keV, and 60–1000 keV, respectively), to characterize the analysis methods using laser-driven bremsstrahlung x-rays. We then apply the methods to measure three x-ray mechanisms, betatron, inverse Compton scattering, and bremsstrahlung, driven by a laser plasma accelerator. The analysis results in the measurement of x-ray energy spectra ranging from 10 keV to 1 MeV with peak flux greater than 10 10 photons/keV/Sr. The combined analysis methods provide a robust tool to accurately measure broadband x-ray sources (keV to MeV) driven by laser plasma acceleration with picosecond, kilojoule-class lasers.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Laser-heated capillary discharge plasma waveguides for electron acceleration to 8 GeV

A plasma channel created by the combination of a capillary discharge and inverse Bremsstrahlung laser heating enabled the generation of electron bunches with energy up to 7.8 GeV in a laser-driven plasma accelerator. The capillary discharge created an initial plasma channel and was used to tune the plasma temperature, which optimized laser heating. Although optimized colder initial plasma temperatures reduced the ionization degree, subsequent ionization from the heater pulse created a fully ionized plasma on-axis. The heater pulse duration was chosen to be longer than the hydrodynamic timescale of ≈ 1 ns, such that later temporal slices were more efficiently guided by the channel created by the front of the pulse. Here, simulations are presented which show that this thermal self-guiding of the heater pulse enabled channel formation over 20 cm. The post-heated channel had lower on-axis density and increased focusing strength compared to relying on the discharge alone, which allowed for guiding of relativistically intense laser pulses with a peak power of 0.85 PW and wakefield acceleration over 15 diffraction lengths. Electrons were injected into the wake in multiple buckets and times, leading to several electron bunches with different peak energies. To create single electron bunches with low energy spread, experiments using localized ionization injection inside a capillary discharge waveguide were performed. A single injected bunch with energy 1.6 GeV, charge 38 pC, divergence 1 mrad, and relative energy spread below 2% full-width half-maximum was produced in a 3.3 cm-long capillary discharge waveguide. This development shows promise for mitigation of energy spread and future high efficiency staged acceleration experiments.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Laser-heated capillary discharge waveguides as tunable structures for laser-plasma acceleration

Laser-heated capillary discharge waveguides are novel, low plasma density guiding structures able to guide intense laser pulses over many diffraction lengths and have recently enabled the acceleration of electrons to 7.8 GeV by using a laser-plasma accelerator (LPA). These devices represent an improvement over conventional capillary discharge waveguides, as the channel matched spot size and plasma density can be tuned independently of the capillary radius. This has allowed the guiding of petawatt-scale pulses focused to small spot sizes within large diameter capillaries, preventing laser damage of the capillary structure. High performance channel-guided LPAs require control of matched spot size and density, which experiments and simulations reported here show can be tuned over a wide range via initial discharge and laser parameters. In this paper, measurements of the matched spot size and plasma density in laser-heated capillary discharges are presented, which are found to be in excellent agreement with simulations performed using the MHD code MARPLE. Strategies for optimizing accelerator performance are identified based on these results.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Adiabatic matching of particle bunches in a plasma-based accelerator in the presence of ion motion

Witness beam stability and preservation of its ultra-low emittance have been identified as critical challenges toward realizing a TeV-class, plasma-based linear collider. In fact, the witness bunch parameters required by a future TeV-class collider have been expected to trigger hosing instability and background ion motion, leading to emittance degradation and, potentially, to bunch loss. Recently, it has been shown that ion motion suppresses the hosing instability, and proper longitudinal bunch shaping can eliminate the ion-motion-induced emittance growth. Here, we propose and analyze a plasma-based method to generate the shaped bunches that enable emittance preservation in the presence of ion motion. The method is based on an adiabatic matching procedure, where a bunch with an initially untapered profile is injected in the plasma accelerator stage with an energy low enough that ion motion effects are initially small. As the bunch accelerates, it is adiabatically compressed, ion motion is gradually triggered, and the bunch slowly but continuously readjusts itself in the ion motion-perturbed wakefield acquiring the desired taper. The production of tapered witness bunch profiles that minimize energy spread and preserve emittance for collider-relevant parameters could enable the use of plasma-based accelerators for high-energy physics applications.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗