EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THE TRANSPORT OF ELECTRON BEAMS GENERATED BY THE VULCAN PETAWATT LASER

摘要

Experiments have recently been conducted by AWE at the new VULCAN Petawatt facility of the laser with the following aims: Understanding the transport of the electron and proton beams generated by the 10~(20) Wcm~(-2) laser pulse. Extending the range of plasma conditions that may be generated for opacity and equation of state measurements. Improving the performance of X-ray backlighter sources. The targets consist of layered planar targets diagnosed by time resolved X-ray spectroscopy of helium and hydrogen like ion species, by absolutely calibrated broad band X-ray detectors and by spatially resolved X-ray imaging. Results from the experiment and their theoretical interpretation will be discussed with a view to improving our understanding of fast ignition physics and extending the diagnostic capabilities of conventional IFE experiments.