Related papers: Steplike intensity threshold behavior of extreme i…
The field of laser-matter interaction traditionally deals with the response of atoms, molecules and plasmas to an external light wave. However, the recent sustained technological progress is opening up the possibility of employing intense…
In this study we explore the possibility of using the process of electron-positron pair creation in strong laser fields as a tool for measuring the intensity of the corresponding laser radiation. In the initial state we consider either free…
We study the onset of electron heating in intense laser-solid interactions and its impact on the spectral quality of radiation pressure accelerated ions in both hole boring and light sail regimes. Two- and three-dimensional particle-in-cell…
Laser pulses of extreme intensities ($I>10^{22}~ \mathrm{W/cm^2}$) are about to become available in the laboratory. The prepulse of such a laser can induce a plasma expansion that generates a low-density channel in near-critical gas jets.…
The dynamics of molecular electron excitation and ionisation is studied in real-time for ultra-short IR laser pulses of intensity I>10^{13} W/cm^{2}. The multi-electron molecule is modeled by a system of two active electrons moving in a…
The extreme electric fields created in high-intensity laser-plasma interactions could generate energetic ions far more compactly than traditional accelerators. Despite this promise, laser-plasma accelerators have remained stagnant at…
The ion acceleration driven by a laser pulse at intensity $I = 10^{20} - 10^{22} $W/cm$^2\times(\mu$m$/\lambda)^2$ from a double layer target is investigated with multi-parametric Particle-in-Cell (PIC) simulations. For targets with a wide…
We report on the first generation of 5.5-7.5 MeV protons by a moderate intensity short-pulse laser (4.5 \times 1017 W/cm^2, 50 fsec) interacting with H2O nano-wires (snow) deposited on a Sapphire substrate. In this setup, the laser…
We report on the production and study of stable, highly charged droplets of superfluid helium. Using a novel experimental setup we produce neutral beams of liquid helium nanodroplets containing millions of atoms or more that can be ionized…
In the past years, the interest in the laser-driven acceleration of heavy ions in the mass range of A ~ 200 has been increasing due to promising application ideas like the fission-fusion nuclear reaction mechanism, aiming at the production…
Self-trapping and acceleration of ions in laser-driven relativistically transparent plasma are investigated with the help of particle-in-cell simulations. A theoretical model based on ion wave breaking is established in describing ion…
We report a laser wakefield acceleration of electron beams up to 130 MeV from laser-driven 4-mm long nitrogen gas jet. By using a moderate laser intensity (3.5*10^18 W.cm^(-2)) and relatively low plasma densities (0.8*10^18 cm^(-3) to…
We propose a new and simple strategy for controlled ionization-induced trapping of electrons in a beam-driven plasma accelerator. The presented method directly exploits electric wakefields to ionize electrons from a dopant gas and capture…
We investigate the different facets of ion acceleration by a relativistically intense circularly polarized laser pulse interacting with thin near-critical density plasma targets. Our simulations establish that plasma density gradient and…
Multi-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations are used to study the generation of electrostatic shocks in plasma and the reflection of background ions to produce high-quality and high-energy ion beams. Electrostatic shocks are driven by…
The process of nuclear excitation by electron capture in plasma environments generated by the interaction of ultra-strong optical lasers with solid-state samples is investigated theoretically. With the help of a plasma model we perform a…
Pulses of extreme ultraviolet (XUV) light, with wavelengths between 10 and 100$\,$nm, can be used to image and excite ultra-fast phenomena such as the motion of atomic electrons. Here we show that the illumination of plasma with…
The extreme ultraviolet (XUV) emission from dense plasmas generated with sub-10-fs laser pulses with varying peak intensities up to 3*10^16 W/cm^2 is investigated for different target materials. K shell spectra are obtained from low Z…
We report the generation of MeV temperature electrons using sub-terawatt laser systems with a liquid methanol jet as a target. Remarkably, even at laser intensities of 1016W/cm2, liquid cylindrical (2D) 15 micron methanol jets produce…
We present intensity-resolved above threshold ionization (ATI) spectra of xenon using an intensity scanning and deconvolution technique. Experimental data were obtained with laser pulses of 58 fs and central wavelength of 800 nm from a…