Sergey Pikuz

HB11 Energy

Interactions between magnetic fields advected by matter play a fundamental role in the Universe at a diverse range of scales. A crucial role these interactions play is in making turbulent fields highly anisotropic, leading to observed ordered fields. These in turn, are important evolutionary factors for all the systems within and around. Despite sc...

An experimental investigation of collisionless shock ion acceleration is presented using a multicomponent plasma and a high-intensity picosecond duration laser pulse. Protons are the only accelerated ions when a near-critical-density plasma is driven by a laser with a modest normalized vector potential. The results of particle-in-cell simulations i...

Blast waves have been produced in solid target by irradiation with short-pulse high-intensity lasers. The mechanism of production relies on energy deposition from the hot electrons produced by laser–matter interaction, producing a steep temperature gradient inside the target. Hot electrons also produce preheating of the material ahead of the blast...

Gamma rays consist of high-energy photons that selectively interact with nuclei, induce and mediate nuclear reactions and elementary particle interactions, and exceed x-rays in penetrating power and thus are indispensable for analysis and modification of dense or compressed object interior. Yet, the available gamma sources lack power and brightness...

The generation of a plasma with an ultrahigh energy density of 1.2 GJ/cm3 (which corresponds to about 12 Gbar pressure) is investigated by irradiating thin stainless-steel foils with high-contrast femtosecond laser pulses with relativistic intensities of up to 1022 W/cm2. The plasma parameters are determined by X-ray spectroscopy. The results show...

We present particle-in-cell simulations with Monte Carlo collisions of fusion burn waves in compressed deuterium–tritium and proton–boron plasmas. We study the energy balance in the one-dimensional expansion of a hot-spot by simulating Coulomb collisions, fusion reactions, and bremsstrahlung emission with a Monte Carlo model and inverse bremsstrahl...

Sub-picosecond optical laser processing of metals is actively utilized for modification of a heated surface layer. But for deeper modification of different materials a laser in the hard x-ray range is required. Here, we demonstrate that a single 9-keV x-ray pulse from a free-electron laser can form a um-diameter cylindrical cavity with length of ~1...

An experimental investigation of collisionless shock ion acceleration is presented using a multicomponent plasma and a high-intensity picosecond duration laser pulse. Protons are the only accelerated ions when a near-critical-density plasma is driven by a laser with a modest normalized vector potential. The results of particle-in-cell simulations i...

Progress in laser-driven proton acceleration requires increasing the proton maximum energy and laser-to-proton conversion efficiency while reducing the divergence of the proton beam. However, achieving all these qualities simultaneously has proven challenging experimentally, with the increase in beam energy often coming at the cost of beam quality....

Progress in laser-driven proton acceleration requires increasing the proton maximum energy and laser-to-proton conversion efficiency, while reducing the divergence of the proton beam. However, achieving all these qualities simultaneously has proven challenging experimentally, the increase in beam energy often coming at the cost of beam quality. Num...

Tight focusing with very small f -numbers is necessary to achieve the highest at-focus irradiances. However, tight focusing imposes strong demands on precise target positioning in-focus to achieve the highest on-target irradiance. We describe several near-infrared, visible, ultraviolet and soft and hard X-ray diagnostics employed in a ∼10 ²² W/cm ²...

Nominally-pure lithium fluoride (LiF) crystals were irradiated with monochromatic hard X rays of energy 5, 7, 9 and 12 keV at the METROLOGIE beamline of the SOLEIL synchrotron facility, in order to understand the role of the selected X-ray energy on their visible photoluminescence response, which is used for high spatial resolution 2D X-ray imaging...

Shock Ignition is a two-step scheme to reach Inertial Confinement Fusion, where the precompressed fuel capsule is ignited by a strong shock driven by a laser pulse at an intensity in the order of 1016\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mat...

Context. Numerical studies as well as scaled laboratory experiments suggest that bipolar outflows arising from young stellar objects (YSOs) could be collimated into narrow and stable jets as a result of their interaction with a poloidal magnetic field. However, this magnetic collimation mechanism was demonstrated only for the simplified topology of...

The generation of highly charged ions in laser plasmas is usually associated with collisional ionization processes that occur in electron–ion collisions. An alternative ionization channel caused by tunnel ionization in an optical field is also capable of effectively producing highly charged ions with ionization potentials of several kiloelectronvol...

Understanding the behavior of matter at extreme pressures of the order of a megabar (Mbar) is essential to gain insight into various physical phenomena at macroscales—the formation of planets, young stars, and the cores of super-Earths, and at microscales—damage to ceramic materials and high-pressure plastic transformation and phase transitions in...

In an experiment carried out at the Prague Asterix Laser System at laser intensities relevant to shock ignition conditions (I > 1016 W/cm2), the heating and transport of hot electrons were studied by using several complementary diagnostics, i.e., Kα time-resolved imaging, hard x-ray filtering (a bremsstrahlung cannon), and electron spectroscopy. Ab...

The interaction of high-contrast high-intensity laser radiation with solids allows us to create hot or warm plasma of solid or even over-solid density, such as in the case of inertial fusion particularly. The multicharged ions contained in it can no longer be considered isolated. As a result, this leads to a decrease in the ionization potentials an...

Here we demonstrate the results of investigating the damage threshold of a LiF crystal after irradiating it with a sequence of coherent femtosecond pulses using the European X-ray Free Electron Laser (EuXFEL). The laser fluxes on the crystal surface varied in the range ∼ 0.015–13 kJ/cm² per pulse when irradiated with a sequence of 1-100 pulses (tpu...

Passive solid-state detectors based on the visible radiophotoluminescence (RPL) of stable aggregate F2 and F3+ color centers in lithium fluoride (LiF) are successfully used for X-ray imaging and advanced diagnostics of intense X-rays sources. Among their advantages are a wide dynamic range and simplicity of use, as they can be read in non-destructi...

Tight focusing with very small f-numbers is necessary to achieve highest at-focus irradiances. However, tight focusing also means short Rayleigh length, which imposes strong demands on the precise positioning of the target at the best focus to achieve the highest on-target irradiance. We describe several near-infrared, visible, ultraviolet, soft an...

Tight focusing with very small f-numbers is necessary to achieve highest at-focus irradiances. However, tight focusing also means short Rayleigh length, which imposes strong demands on the precise positioning of the target at the best focus to achieve the highest on-target irradiance. We describe several near-infrared, visible, ultraviolet, soft an...

Shock Ignition is a two-step scheme to reach Inertial Confinement Fusion, where the precompressed fuel capsule is ignited by a strong shock driven by an intense laser pulse at intensity ∼ 10 ¹⁶ W/cm ² . In this report we detail the results of an experiment designed to investigate the origin of hot electrons (HE) in laser-plasma interaction at inten...

HB11 Energy’s mission is to realize large-scale electricity generation from the fusion of hydrogen with boron-11 (the HB11, or “proton-boron”, reaction) without the environmental problems normally associated with nuclear energy. A non-thermal approach is taken in the initiation of the reaction using high-peak-power lasers, which was the pursuit of...

Lithium fluoride (LiF) crystals and thin films have been successfully investigated as X-ray imaging detectors based on optical reading of visible photoluminescence emitted by stable radiation-induced F 2 and F 3 ⁺ colour centres. In this work, the visible photoluminescence response of optically-transparent LiF film detectors of three different thic...

Both K-shell X-ray emission spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy are well-accepted diagnostics for experimental studies of warm and hot dense matter. Until now, however, this diagnosis has been used for the study of dense matter with temperatures lower 100 eV or with temperatures above 1 keV. In this work, we have demonstrated the possibility...

The application of fluorescent crystal media in wide-range X-ray detectors provides an opportunity to directly image the spatial distribution of ultra-intense X-ray beams including investigation of the focal spot of free-electron lasers. Here the capabilities of the micro- and nano-focusing X-ray refractive optics available at the High Energy Densi...

In this paper, a computational-theoretical analysis of the possibilities of using the method of phase-contrast X-ray radiography for the study of low-contrast turbulent flows in laser plasma in experiments with astrophysical similarity is carried out. By modeling the passage of hard coherent X-ray radiation through test objects, we studied the para...

A technique is described for achieving high accuracy (relative error up to ≈0.001%) for measuring the absolute wavelengths of the spectral lines of multiply charged ions with an average (Z = 17–25) by the nuclear charge, the spectra of which can be used for plasma diagnostics in laboratory astrophysics experiments. It is based on irradiation with s...

Magnetic reconnection can occur when two plasmas, having anti-parallel components of the magnetic field, encounter each other. In the reconnection plane, the anti-parallel component of the field is annihilated and its energy released in the plasma. Here, we investigate through laboratory experiments the reconnection between two flux tubes that are...

Laser-produced plasmas are bright, short sources of X-rays commonly used for time-resolved imaging and spectroscopy. Their usage implies accurate knowledge of laser-to-X-ray conversion efficiency, spectrum, photon yield and angular distribution. Here we report on soft X-ray emission in the direction close to the target normal from a thin Si foil ir...

The propagation of a shock wave in solids can stress them to ultra-high pressures of millions of atmospheres. Understanding the behavior of matter at these extreme pressures is essential to describe a wide range of physical phenomena, including the formation of planets, young stars and cores of super-Earths, as well as the behavior of advanced cera...

Context. Colliding collisionless shocks appear across a broad variety of astrophysical phenomena and are thought to be possible sources of particle acceleration in the Universe. Aims. The main goal of our experimental and computational work is to understand the effect of the interpenetration between two subcritical collisionless shocks on particle...

The interaction between a molecular cloud and an external agent (e.g., a supernova remnant, plasma jet, radiation, or another cloud) is a common phenomenon throughout the Universe and can significantly change the star formation rate within a galaxy. This process leads to fragmentation of the cloud and to its subsequent compression and can, eventual...

Colliding collisionless shocks appear in a great variety of astrophysical phenomena and are thought to be possible sources of particle acceleration in the Universe. To investigate the detailed dynamics of this phenomenon, we have performed a dedicated laboratory experiment. We have generated two counter-streaming subcritical collisionless magnetize...

Collisionless shocks are ubiquitous in the Universe and are held responsible for the production of nonthermal particles and high-energy radiation. In the absence of particle collisions in the system, theory shows that the interaction of an expanding plasma with a pre-existing electromagnetic structure (as in our case) is able to induce energy dissi...

The issue of optimizing laser-plasma X-ray sources is still relevant. In this context, numerical simulation methods are very effective. A series of 2d PIC calculations using the EPOCH code were carried out. The laser pulse duration was 0.7 ps, the peak intensity was 3· 10 ²⁰ W/cm ² , and silicon foil between 2 and 5 μm thick was used as a target. T...

Laser-produced plasmas are bright, short sources of X-rays often used for time-resolved imaging and spectroscopy. Absolute measurement requires accurate knowledge of laser-to-x-ray conversion efficiencies, spectrum, photon yield and angular distribution. Here we report on soft X-ray emission from a thin Si foil irradiated by a sub-PW picosecond las...

In this work, we present experimental results on the behavior of liquid water at megabar pressure. The experiment was performed using the HIPER (High-Intensity Plasma Experimental Research) laser facility, a uniaxial irradiation chamber of GEKKO XII (GXII) at the Institute of Laser Engineering (ILE), and the PHELIX at GSI (GSI Helmholtz Centre for...

We present the results of the first commissioning phase of the short-focal-length area of the Apollon laser facility (located in Saclay, France), which was performed with the first available laser beam (F2), scaled to a nominal power of 1 PW. Under the conditions that were tested, this beam delivered on-target pulses of 10 J average energy and 24 f...

The advent of multi-PW laser facilities world-wide opens new opportunities for nuclear physics. With this perspective, we developed a neutron counter taking into account the specifics of a high-intensity laser environment. Using GEANT4 simulations and prototype testings, we report on the design of a modular neutron counter based on boron-10 enriche...

Charged particles can be accelerated to high energies by collisionless shock waves in astrophysical environments, such as supernova remnants. By interacting with the magnetized ambient medium, these shocks can transfer energy to particles. Despite increasing efforts in the characterization of these shocks from satellite measurements at Earth’s bow...

We report on planar target experiments conducted on the OMEGA-EP laser facility performed in the context of the shock ignition (SI) approach to inertial confinement fusion. The experiment aimed at characterizing the propagation of strong shock in matter and the generation of hot electrons (HEs), with laser parameters relevant to SI (1-ns UV laser b...

We present the results of the first commissioning phase of the ``short focal length'' area (SFA) of the Apollon laser facility (located in Saclay, France), which was performed with the first available laser beam (F2), scaled to a nominal power of one petawatt. Under the conditions that were tested, this beam delivered on target pulses of 10 J avera...

By driving hot electrons between two metal plates connected by a wire loop, high power lasers can generate multi-tesla, quasi-static magnetic fields in miniature coil targets. Many experiments involving laser-coil targets rely on proton deflectometry directed perpendicular to the coil axis to extract a measurement of the magnetic field. In this pap...

By driving hot electrons between two metal plates connected by a wire loop, high power lasers can generate multi-tesla, quasi-static magnetic fields in miniature coil targets. Many experiments involving laser-coil targets rely on proton deflectometry directed perpendicular to the coil axis to extract a measurement of the magnetic field. In this pap...

We performed an experiment at the Vulcan TAW laser (Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, England) to study the propagation of shock-waves using XPCI. As diagnostic, we used phase-contrast-enhanced time-resolved X-ray radiography. X-ray phase-contrast imaging (XPCI) is a technique which allows enhancing the visibility of discontinuities in the sample, li...

In this work we present experimental results on the behavior of liquid water at megabar pressure. The experiment was performed using the HiPER (High Intensity Plasma Experimental Research) laser facility, a uni axial irradiation chamber of the GEKKO XII (GXII) at the Institute of Laser Engineering (ILE), to lunch a planar shock into solid multi-lay...

Turbulence is ubiquitous in the universe and in fluid dynamics. It influences a wide range of high energy density systems, from inertial confinement fusion to astrophysical-object evolution. Understanding this phenomenon is crucial, however, due to limitations in experimental and numerical methods in plasma systems, a complete description of the tu...

Collisionless shocks are ubiquitous in the Universe and are held responsible for the production of non-thermal particles and high-energy radiation. In the absence of particle collisions in the system, theoretical works show that the interaction of an expanding plasma with a pre-existing electromagnetic structure (as in our case) is able to induce e...

We analyze, using experiments and 3D MHD numerical simulations, the dynamic and radiative properties of a plasma ablated by a laser (1 ns, 10 $$^{12}$$ 12 –10 $$^{13}$$ 13 W/cm $$^2$$ 2 ) from a solid target as it expands into a homogeneous, strong magnetic field (up to 30 T) that is transverse to its main expansion axis. We find that as early as 2...

In a recent experimental campaign, we used laser-accelerated relativistic hot electrons to ensure heating of thin titanium wire targets up to a warm dense matter (WDM) state [EPL 114, 45002 (2016)10.1209/0295-5075/114/45002]. The WDM temperature profiles along several hundred microns of the wire were inferred by using spatially resolved X-ray emiss...