Related papers: Time-Resolved Interferometric Measurements of Plas…
Self-generated magnetic fields are commonly produced in high-power laser-plasma interactions. These fields can inhibit plasma heat-flow which makes them important in inertial fusion and controlled laboratory astrophysics experiments. In…
We use finite-difference time-domain modelling to investigate plasma generation induced by multi-photon absorption of intense laser light in dielectrics with tiny inhomogenities. Plasma generation is found to be strongly amplified around…
The dynamics of electron injection in the direct laser acceleration (DLA) regime was investigated by means of three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations and theoretical analysis. It is shown that when an ultra-intense laser pulse…
Ion acceleration in laser-produced dense plasmas is a key topic of many recent investigations thanks to its potential applications. Indeed, at forthcoming laser intensities ($I \gtrsim 10^{23} \text{W}\,\text{cm}^{-2}$) interaction of laser…
Plasma-based optics have emerged as a powerful platform for manipulating and amplifying ultra-intense laser pulses. However, the inherently nonlinear and dynamic nature of plasma leads to significant spatial, spectral, and temporal…
This dissertation explores the interaction between high-intensity lasers and plasmas to accelerate electrons and produce radiation via experimental and computational efforts. The laser pulses used in this dissertation have ultrashort…
We analyze, using experiments and 3D MHD numerical simulations, the dynamics and radiative properties of a plasma ablated by a laser (1 ns, 10$^{12}$-10$^{13}$ W/cm$^2$) from a solid target, as it expands into a homogeneous, strong magnetic…
This study investigates the localized electron heating in a bulk overdense plasma. The method relies on using a time dependent magnetic field. An initially high external magnetic field imposed on the overdense plasma target enables the…
We have explored the thermodynamics of compressed magnetized plasmas in laboratory experiments and we call these studies "magnetothermodynamics". The experiments are carried out in the Swarthmore Spheromak eXperiment device. In this device,…
Laser-plasma proton acceleration was investigated in the Target Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA) regime using a novel gas-foil target. The target is designed for reaching higher laser intensity at the foil plane owing to relativistic…
Direct Laser Acceleration (DLA) of electrons during a high-energy, picosecond laser interaction with an underdense plasma has been demonstrated to be substantially enhanced by controlling the laser focusing geometry. Experiments using the…
We describe the direct measurement of the expulsion of a magnetic field from a plasma driven by heat flow. Using a laser to heat a column of gas within an applied magnetic field, we isolate Nernst advection and show how it changes the field…
Plasma densification through magnetic compression has been suggested for time-resolved control of the wave properties in plasma-based accelerators. Using particle in cell simulations with real mass ratio, the practicality of large magnetic…
The interaction of high intensity laser radiation with mass-limited target exhibits significant enhancement of the ion acceleration when the target is surrounded by an underdense plasma corona, as seen in numerical simulations. The…
This paper uses extended-magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulations to explore an extreme magnetized plasma regime realisable by cylindrical implosions on the OMEGA laser facility. This regime is characterized by highly compressed magnetic…
Warm dense matter (WDM) is a regime where Fermi degenerate electrons play an important role in the macroscopic properties of a material. Recent experiments have brought us closer to understanding unmagnetized processes in WDM, but…
The simultaneous laser-driven acceleration and angular manipulation of the fast electron beam is experimentally demonstrated. The bunch of multi-MeV energy charged particles is generated during the propagation of the femtosecond laser pulse…
The interaction of ultra-intense laser pulses with an underdense plasma is used in laser-plasma acceleration to create compact sources of ultrashort pulses of relativistic electrons and X-rays. The accelerating structure is a plasma wave,…
We demonstrate ultrashort (6 ps), multi-Megagauss (27 MG) magnetic pulses generated upon interaction of an intense laser pulse (10^{16} Wcm^-2, 100 fs) with a solid target. The temporal evolution of these giant fields generated near the…
A system of automated computerized Langmuir probe measurements is used in order to determine the plasma parameters in a plasma reactor constructed for cleaning of metallic artifacts by RF discharge. A compensated probe insures the…