Conditions for thermonuclear ignition are determined by three parameters: fuel density, temperature and hot-spot size. A simple three temperature model is developed to calculate the critical burn-up parameter or the minimum ρR product. Extensive results obtained are compared with earlier one temperature model for DT and DD fuels. While the two approaches are found to provide similar results for DT fuel except at low temperature regime (~10 keV), three temperature modeling is found to be necessary for DD fuel. This is argued to be due to the lower fusion reactivity and energy production in DD reactions.

In this paper, we designed an experiment to research the properties for the stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) medium of perfluorocarbon-compounds (PFCs) and perfluoropolyether (PFPE), then we proposed that the selection principle of the high load capacity SBS medium can be used in the high peak power SBS system. The results showed that, for PFCs, perfluorinated hydrocarbons (FC-72) has the highest optical breakdown threshold (OBT); for PFPE, the medium with average molecular weight (AMW) less than 1000 has small medium absorption coefficient (AC) and high OBT, for AMW, greater than 1000, the medium AC becomes high and the OBT becomes low. Further research shows that, for PFPE series SBS medium, the AC increases and the OBT decreases gradually with increasing of AMW. We find some SBS mediums can work stably under high peak power pump, which lays a good foundation for the application of SBS technology in a high-power laser system.

As the development of the pulsed power technology, high voltage pulse transformer (HVPT) is usually used instead of Marx generator as a charging device for the pulse forming line (PFL) of intense electron-beam accelerator (IEBA), and which make the IEBA compact. However, during the operation of the IEBA, the HVPT may be destroyed for the failure of electrical insulation and the over-voltage. So in this paper, the output voltage characteristics of IEBA, characteristics of the voltage at the output terminal of HVPT at four kinds of load conditions are analyzed, including load matching, load short, load open, and surface flashover in the vacuum chamber. It is found that load short, load open, and surface flashover in vacuum chamber will affect the voltage at the output terminal of HVPT, and an oscillation wave could be formed, which affect the electrical insulation of HVPT and decrease the lifetime of HVPT. Meanwhile, the waveform of the load voltage is also modified, especially at the conditions of load open and surface flashover in vacuum chamber. When the load is open, the amplitude of the output main pulse of IEBA is twice the charging voltage of BPFL. However, the amplitude of the output pulse of IEBA is modified by the voltage at the output terminal of HVPT, and the resistance of main switch channel has a great effect on the amplitude of the load voltage. When surface flashover occurs in the vacuum chamber, the pulse duration of the output voltage will be decreased. So, during the operation of IEBA, load short, load open and surface flashover in vacuum chamber should be avoided.

This paper presents the development mechanism of surface plasmas of carbon-fiber-cathode electron beam source and its effects on the operation of a high-power microwave source, reflex triode vircator powered by about 400 kV, 9 kA, about 350 ns pulsed power accelerator. Based on the current and voltage characteristics of diodes using carbon fiber cathode, the axial expansion velocity is 1.2 cm/μs and the delay time of explosive emission is 2 ns. Further, the comparison of carbon fiber and stainless steel cathodes is made. It was found that the threshold electric field for carbon fiber cathode is about 25 kV/cm, and the delay time of explosive emission and threshold electric field for stainless steel cathode is, respectively, 4.5 ns and 40 kV/cm. The radial expansion velocity of individual emitting centers is estimated to be 1.2 cm/μs, equal to the axial expansion velocity, and this shows the cathode plasma spots spherically expand. In the optimal diode gap for microwave irradiation or at the average current density of 230 A/cm2 using carbon fiber cathode, the screening radius was 0.67 cm, the lifetime of cathode emitting centers was about 60 ns, the cathode plasma density was 5 × 1015 cm−3, and the Debye radius of cathode plasma was <3 × 10−5 cm−3. The self-quenching behavior of explosive emission centers occurs, due to the process of cathode surface material release and cooling. The generation and self-quenching of emitting centers, and screening effect of cathode plasmas determine the increase and decrease of cathode emitting area, which is independent of the current density and background pressure. The relation between the lifetime of virtual cathode and background pressure was discussed. It was found, both theoretically and experimentally, that a lower background pressure indicates a longer microwave pulse or a better microwave waveform. It was observed by comparison that the temporary behavior of cathode emitting area is similar to the development process of microwave pulse. The changes of emitting area affects the stability of beam current injected into the virtual cathode region, further leading to the fluctuation of microwave pulse of vircator.

An advanced cone-nanolayer target with nanolayers on both inside and outside of the hollow-cone tip is proposed. Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that laser interaction with such cone-nanolayer targets can efficiently produce fast electron beams with manageable spotsize, and the beams can propagate for a relatively long distance in the vacuum beyond the cone tip.

Mirror like Molybdenum thin films on SS substrate in vacuum (10−3 Pa) and in Helium environment has been achieved by Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) Technique. The PLD thin films of Molybdenum have been characterized by using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) pattern, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX). The specular reflectivity was recorded with Fourier Transform Infra-Red spectrometer and UV-Visible spectrometer. The optical quality of the thin films was tested via interferometric technique. At the optimum deposition parameters, the crystal orientation was in Mo(110) phase. The FIR-UV-Visible reflectivity of the mirror was found to be closed to that of the polished bulk Molybdenum and Stainless Substrate (SS) substrate.

A large-signal theory of bunching of an intense relativistic electron beam with both velocity and density modulation in the triaxial klystron has been derived in this paper. The theory presents both the harmonic current and the transient velocity in the bunching process, and expresses the velocity modulation directly by the modulation voltage that is easier to be attained and controlled in practice. A few checks are performed on the large-signal theory by particle-in-cell simulation that suggested the large-signal theory of bunching can successfully predict the first-order harmonic current and the velocity on a beam, with both velocity and density modulation, after interacting with a modulation voltage on the order of magnitude with the beam voltage. The theory described in this paper can accommodate general situations such as the bunching of a modulated beam after interacting with a buncher cavity of the Triaxial klystron amplifier.

A model of bubble regime electron acceleration by an intense laser pulse in non uniform plasma channel is developed. The plasma electrons at the front of the pulse and slightly off the laser axis in the plasma channel, experience axial and radial ponderomotive and space charge forces, creating an electron evacuated non uniform ion bubble. The expelled electrons travel along the surface of the bubble and reach the stagnation point, forming an electron sphere of radius re. The electrons of this sphere are pulled into the ion bubble and are accelerated to high energies. The Lorentz boosted frame enabled us to calculate energy gain of a test electron inside the bubble.

In the present analysis we study the weakly nonlinear coupled dynamics involving focused radiation beams and space-charge fields in laser-plasmas systems. We direct the analysis to regimes evolving with the co-moving coordinate of the beam frame, but do not make any assumptions on paraxial or underdense conditions. The model thus constructed allows us to investigate equilibrium and nonequilibrium regimes alike. Dependence of equilibrium profiles on control parameters is examined, and beam stability and evolution is investigated as one adds small mismatches to the ideally matched equilibrium. Details of beam evolution depend on initial conditions. However, independently of the precise form of initial conditions, mismatched beams evolve to incoherent space-time patterns.

The interaction between laser and relativistic electron beams is a promising source of very energetic X rays. We present an accurate model for the collisions between very intense linearly polarized laser beams, corresponding to relativistic parameters of the order of unity or greater, and electrons having energies up to 100 MeV. Our approach uses only one approximation, namely it neglects the radiative corrections. We consider the two cases in which the laser field polarization is either perpendicular or parallel to the plane defined by the directions of propagation of the laser beam and electron beam, and calculate accurately the properties of the σ and π polarized scattered beams. The angle between the directions of the laser and electron beams, denoted by θL, is allowed to have arbitrary values, so that the widely analyzed 180° and 90° geometries, in which the two beams collide, respectively, head on and perpendicularly, are particular cases. We prove that the polarization properties of the scattered beam depend on the angle θL. By varying this angle, the polarization of the scattered beam can be varied between the two limit configurations in which the electromagnetic field of the scattered beam is σ or π polarized with respect to the scattering plane. Our theoretical results are in good agreement with experimental results published in literature. Our model shows that current technologies can be used to produce hard harmonics of the scattered radiations. These harmonics can have relatively high intensities comparable to the intensities of the first harmonics, and energies higher than 1 MeV. Our results lead to the possibility to realize an adjustable photon source with both the energy and polarization of the scattered radiations accurately controlled by the value of the θL angle.

Stimulated Raman forward scattering (SRFS) of an intense short pulse laser in a plasma channel formed by two pre-laser pulses is investigated. The density nonuniformity of a plasma channel increases the focusing of main laser pulse. Main laser pulse excites a plasma wave and two electromagnetic sideband waves. Laser and the sidebands exert an axial ponderomotive force on electrons driving the plasma wave. The nonlinear currents arise at sideband frequencies. The density perturbation due to plasma wave beats with the oscillatory velocity due to pump to drive the sidebands. The normalized growth rate of SRFS increases with the density nonuniformity of a plasma channel. However, in the presence of a deep plasma channel the focusing is ineffective to laser intensity, but the growth rate increases with the intensity of main laser pulse.

The low-impedance transit-time oscillator without foils is a new high-power microwave generator. In a previous report, a radiation power of 2.7 GW at 1.64 GHz has been achieved and the corresponding power conversion efficiency is 18.75%. Recently, the further experiments are continued in our laboratory. By increasing the cathode-anode gap properly, the operating voltage of device is enhanced to about 628 kV, and the corresponding radiation power reaches 3.6 GW. The device efficiency approaches 23%. In the newest experiments, because of the higher power level, the radiation power has been obviously influenced by RF breakdown in the vicinity of the dielectric window. By using a plastic bag filled with sulfur-hexafluoride (SF6), such an influence can be minimized.

This paper presents a simplified theoretical model for the study of emission from laser produced plasma to better understand the processes and the factors involved in the onset of saturation in plasma emission as well as in increasing emission due to plasma confinement. This model considers that plasma emission is directly proportional to the square of plasma density, its volume, and the fraction of laser pulse absorbed through inverse Bremsstrahlung in the pre-formed plasma plume produced by the initial part of the laser. This shows that plasma density and temperature (that means the electron-ion collision frequency νei) decide the threshold for saturation in emission, which occurs for νei ≥ 1013 s−1, beyond which plasma shielding effects become dominant. Any decrease in plasma sound (expansion) velocity shows drastic enhancement in emission supporting the results obtained by magnetic as well as spatial confinement of laser produced plasma. The temporal evolution of plasma emission in the absence and presence of plasma confinement along with the effect of laser pulse duration are also discussed in the light of this model.

The Multiphase Buoyancy-Drag model recently formulated in Balakrishnan & Menon, Laser and Particle Beams, 2011 is applied to investigate the (1) rise of dusty gas Rayleigh-Taylor bubbles into a pure gas and (2) fall of pure gas Rayleigh-Taylor spikes into a region of particles. It is demonstrated that for these two scenarios, the bubble or spike amplitude oscillates about the dusty gas/pure gas interface. The ratio of the bubble or spike amplitudes on the pure gas side to the dusty gas side, asymptotes to a constant that depends only on the initial Atwood number, A, the multiphase Atwood number, Am, and the initial wavelength of the perturbation, λo. For the same Am, the ratio decreases with A for oscillating bubbles, and vice versa for oscillating spikes.

In this paper, the characteristic impedance matching of the inner line and outer line of the multi-filar tape-helix Blumlein pulse forming line (BPFL) is analyzed in detail by dispersion theory of tape helix. Analysis of the spatial harmonics of multi-filar tape-helix BPFL shows that the integer harmonic numbers of the excited spatial harmonics are not continuous. In addition, the basic harmonic component still dominates the dispersion characteristics of the multi-filar tape-helix BPFL at low frequency band. The impedance mismatching phenomenon caused by the discontinuity of filling dielectrics in the inner line of BPFL is studied as an important issue. Effects of dielectric discontinuity on the coupled electromagnetic fields and the parameters of the outer line are also analyzed. The impedance matching conditions are both obtained under the situations of continuous filling dielectric and discontinuous dielectrics, respectively. Impedance characteristics of these two situations are analyzed by comparison, and effects of the thickness of support dielectric on the impedance are also presented. When the 6 mm-thickness nylon support of the multi-filar tape helix is used in the filling dielectric of de-ionized water, the characteristic impedances of the inner line and outer line of BPFL are 53 Ω and 14.7 Ω, respectively. After the improvement about substituting de-ionized water by castor oil, the relative permittivities of the support dielectric and filling dielectric are almost the same, and the impedances of the inner and outer line of BPFL become 80 Ω and 79 Ω, respectively. That is to say, the impedance mismatching problem caused by dielectric discontinuity is solved. Circuit simulation and experimental results basically correspond to the theoretical results, and the fact demonstrates that impedance analysis of the multi-filar tape-helix BPFL based on dispersion theory is correct.

Plasma was generated by focusing 10 ns Nd:YAG (λ = 1064 nm) laser pulse on the thick tungsten target. The laser fluence at the target was varied in the range of 3.57–10.97 J/cm2. The ion emission from the expanding tungsten plasma was analyzed with the help of an ion collector and time-of-flight electrostatic ion energy analyzer. About 44 times rise in the ion charge per laser shot was observed in the investigated laser fluence range. The measured threshold fluence for onset of the tungsten plasma was 3.27 J/cm2. The estimated plume expansion coefficient Zinf/Xinf = 2.5 ± 0.2 was in agreement with the previous experimental studies and the predictions of self-similar plume expansion model. The electrostatic ion energy analyzer study showed that charge state of the W ions increases with the laser fluence and maximum ion charge state was 5+. It was observed that threshold fluence for appearance of a specific charge state can be measured. A clear correlation between the relative abundances of W(n−1)+, Wn+, and W(n+1)+ indicates that higher order charge states are most probably produced by stepwise ionization process.

The self-focusing of an intense right circularly polarized Gaussian laser pulse in magnetized plasma is studied. The ions are taken to be immobile and relativistic mass effect is incorporated in both the plasma frequency (ωp) and the electron cyclotron frequency (ωc) while determining the ponderomotive force on electrons. The ponderomotive force causes electron expulsion when the effective electron cyclotron frequency is below twice the laser frequency. The nonlinear plasma dielectric function due to ponderomotive and relativistic effects is derived, which is then employed in beam-width parameter equation to study the self-focusing of the laser beam. From this, we estimate the importance of relativistic self-focusing in comparison with ponderomotive self-focusing at moderate laser intensities. The beam width parameter decreases with magnetic field indicating better self-focusing. When the laser intensity is very high, the relativistic gamma factor can be modeled as ${\rm \gamma} = 0.8\left({{{{\rm \omega} _c } / {\rm \omega} }} \right)+ \sqrt {1 + a_0^2 }$$\text{γ}=0.8({\text{ω}}_c/\text{ω})+\sqrt{1+a_0^2}$ where ω and a0 are the laser frequency and the normalized laser field strength, respectively. The cyclotron effects on the self-focusing of laser pulse are reduced at high field strengths.

X-ray emission from Kr13+ ions in the energy range 1.2–3.6 MeV in steps of 0.6 MeV impacting on an Au target was investigated on electron cyclotron resonance ion source at the Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou. It was found that a shift of the X-ray lines to the higher energy side occurred. We measured the relationship between the characteristic of X-ray yield of Au M X-rays and Kr L X-rays as a function of incident energy. Furthermore, M-shell X-ray production cross-section of Au induced by Kr13+ was measured. The measured cross-section of target is compared to the classical binary-encounter approximation and plane-wave-born approximation theoretical model, which is a significant different between experimental and theoretical model.

This paper presents numerical simulations to study the heating of a two-dimensional (2D) solid target under an ion cluster interaction. 2D quantum hydrodynamic (QHD) model is employed for the heating of solid target to warm dense matter on a picosecond time scale. A Gaussian cluster is used to uniformly heat the solid target to a temperature of several eV. The density and temperature of the target are calculated by a full self-consistent treatment of the QHD formalisms and the Poisson's equation. The technique described in this paper provides a method for creating uniformly heated strongly coupled plasma states.

In this work, we review current trends in China to investigate beam plasma interaction phenomena. Recent progresses in China on low energy heavy ions and plasma interaction, ion beam-plasma interactions under the influences of magnetic fields, high energy heavy ion radiography through marginal range method, energy deposition of highly charged ions on surfaces and Raman spectroscopy of surfaces after irradiation of highly charged ions are presented.