Kansai Institute for Photon Science

The advent of ultraintense laser pulses generated by the technique of chirped pulse amplification (CPA) along with the development of high-fluence laser materials has opened up an entirely new field of optics. The electromagnetic field intensities produced by these techniques, in excess of ${10}^{18}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{W}∕{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$, lead to relativistic electron motion in the laser field. The CPA method is reviewed and the future growth of laser technique is discussed, including the prospect of generating the ultimate power of a zettawatt. A number of consequences of relativistic-strength optical fields are surveyed. In contrast to the nonrelativistic regime, these laser fields are capable of moving matter more effectively, including motion in the direction of laser propagation. One of the consequences of this is wakefield generation, a relativistic version of optical rectification, in which longitudinal field effects could be as large as the transverse ones. In addition to this, other effects may occur, including relativistic focusing, relativistic transparency, nonlinear modulation and multiple harmonic generation, and strong coupling to matter and other fields (such as high-frequency radiation). A proper utilization of these phenomena and effects leads to the new technology of relativistic engineering, in which light-matter interactions in the relativistic regime drives the development of laser-driven accelerator science. A number of significant applications are reviewed, including the fast ignition of an inertially confined fusion target by short-pulsed laser energy and potential sources of energetic particles (electrons, protons, other ions, positrons, pions, etc.). The coupling of an intense laser field to matter also has implications for the study of the highest energies in astrophysics, such as ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays, with energies in excess of ${10}^{20}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{eV}$. The laser fields can be so intense as to make the accelerating field large enough for general relativistic effects (via the equivalence principle) to be examined in the laboratory. It will also enable one to access the nonlinear regime of quantum electrodynamics, where the effects of radiative damping are no longer negligible. Furthermore, when the fields are close to the Schwinger value, the vacuum can behave like a nonlinear medium in much the same way as ordinary dielectric matter expanded to laser radiation in the early days of laser research.

For many years, laser-driven ion acceleration, mainly proton acceleration, has been proposed and a number of proof-of-principle experiments have been carried out with lasers whose pulse duration was in the nanosecond range. In the 1990s, ion acceleration in a relativistic plasma was demonstrated with ultra-short pulse lasers based on the chirped pulse amplification technique which can provide not only picosecond or femtosecond laser pulse duration, but simultaneously ultra-high peak power of terawatt to petawatt levels. Starting from the year 2000, several groups demonstrated low transverse emittance, tens of MeV proton beams with a conversion efficiency of up to several percent. The laser-accelerated particle beams have a duration of the order of a few picoseconds at the source, an ultra-high peak current and a broad energy spectrum, which make them suitable for many, including several unique, applications. This paper reviews, firstly, the historical background including the early laser-matter interaction studies on energetic ion acceleration relevant to inertial confinement fusion. Secondly, we describe several implemented and proposed mechanisms of proton and/or ion acceleration driven by ultra-short high-intensity lasers. We pay special attention to relatively simple models of several acceleration regimes. The models connect the laser, plasma and proton/ion beam parameters, predicting important features, such as energy spectral shape, optimum conditions and scalings under these conditions for maximum ion energy, conversion efficiency, etc. The models also suggest possible ways to manipulate the proton/ion beams by tailoring the target and irradiation conditions. Thirdly, we review experimental results on proton/ion acceleration, starting with the description of driving lasers. We list experimental results and show general trends of parameter dependences and compare them with the theoretical predictions and simulations. The fourth topic includes a review of scientific, industrial and medical applications of laser-driven proton or ion sources, some of which have already been established, while the others are yet to be demonstrated. In most applications, the laser-driven ion sources are complementary to the conventional accelerators, exhibiting significantly different properties. Finally, we summarize the paper.

As good as new: Perovskite-based catalysts containing Rh and Pt for use in exhaust-emissions control systems are developed. These catalysts are found to be self-regenerating and could thus lead to the use of lower amounts of precious metals. The picture shows the TEM image of Pt grains of catalyst CaTi0.95Pt0.05O3 aged in an engine exhaust at 900 °C for 100 h.

When high-intensity laser interaction with matter enters the regime of dominated radiation reaction, the radiation losses open the way for producing short pulse high-power γ-ray flashes. The γ-ray pulse duration and divergence are determined by the laser pulse amplitude and by the plasma target density scale length. On the basis of theoretical analysis and particle-in-cell simulations with the radiation friction force incorporated, optimal conditions for generating a γ-ray flash with a tailored overcritical density target are found.

The ion acceleration driven by a laser pulse at intensity I= 10(20)-10(22) W/cm(2) x (microm/lambda)(2) from a double layer target is investigated with multiparametric particle-in-cell simulations. For targets with a wide range of thickness l and density n(e), at a given intensity, the highest ion energy gain occurs at certain electron areal density of the target sigma = n(e)l, which is proportional to the square root of intensity. In the case of thin targets and optimal laser pulse duration, the ion maximum energy scales as the square root of the laser pulse power. When the radiation pressure of the laser field becomes dominant, the ion maximum energy becomes proportional to the laser pulse energy.

An approach for accelerating ions, with the use of a cluster-gas target and an ultrashort pulse laser of 150-mJ energy and 40-fs duration, is presented. Ions with energy 10-20 MeV per nucleon having a small divergence (full angle) of 3.4 degrees are generated in the forward direction, corresponding to approximately tenfold increase in the ion energies compared to previous experiments using solid targets. It is inferred from a particle-in-cell simulation that the high energy ions are generated at the rear side of the target due to the formation of a strong dipole vortex structure in subcritical density plasmas.

High intensity colliding laser pulses can create abundant electron-positron pair plasma [A. R. Bell and J. G. Kirk, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 200403 (2008)], which can scatter the incoming electromagnetic waves. This process can prevent one from reaching the critical field of quantum electrodynamics at which vacuum breakdown and polarization occur. Considering the pairs are seeded by the Schwinger mechanism, it is shown that the effects of radiation friction and the electron-positron avalanche development in vacuum depend on the electromagnetic wave polarization. For circularly polarized colliding pulses, these effects dominate not only the particle motion but also the evolution of the pulses. For linearly polarized pulses, these effects are not as strong. There is an apparent analogy of these cases with circular and linear electron accelerators to the corresponding constraining and reduced roles of synchrotron radiation losses.

Differential cross sections and photon-beam asymmetries for the $\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{\ensuremath{\gamma}}p\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{K}^{+}\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ and $\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{\ensuremath{\gamma}}p\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{K}^{+}{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}^{0}$ reactions have been measured in the photon energy range from 1.5 to 2.4 GeV and in the angular range from ${\ensuremath{\Theta}}_{c.m.}={0}^{\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}}$ to 60${}^{\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}}$ of the ${K}^{+}$ scattering angle in the center-of-mass system at the SPring-8/LEPS facility. The photon-beam asymmetries for both the reactions have been found to be positive and to increase with the photon energy. The measured differential cross sections agree with the data measured by the CLAS Collaboration at $\mathrm{cos}{\ensuremath{\Theta}}_{c.m.}<0.9$ within the experimental uncertainties, but the discrepancy with the SAPHIR data for the ${K}^{+}\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ reaction is large at $\mathrm{cos}{\ensuremath{\Theta}}_{c.m.}>0.9$. In the ${K}^{+}\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ reaction, the resonance-like structure found in the CLAS and SAPHIR data at $W=1.96$ GeV is confirmed. The differential cross sections at forward angles suggest a strong K-exchange contribution in the t-channel for the ${K}^{+}\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ reaction, but not for the ${K}^{+}{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}^{0}$ reaction.

The energy of ions accelerated by an intense electromagnetic wave in the radiation pressure dominated regime can be greatly enhanced due to a transverse expansion of a thin target. The expansion decreases the number of accelerated ions in the irradiated region resulting in an increase in the ion energy and in the ion longitudinal velocity. In the relativistic limit, the ions become phase locked with respect to the electromagnetic wave resulting in unlimited ion energy gain.

Relativistic flying mirrors in plasmas are thin, dense electron or electron-ion layers accelerated by high-intensity electromagnetic waves to velocities close to the speed of light in the vacuum; in nonlinear media, refractive index modulations are induced by a strong electromagnetic wave. The reflection of the electromagnetic wave from the relativistic mirror results in its energy and frequency changing. In the counter-propagation configuration, the frequency of the reflected wave is multiplied by the factor proportional to the gamma-factor squared. This scientific area promises the development of sources of ultrashort X-ray pulses in the attosecond range. The expected intensity will reach the level at which the effects predicted by nonlinear quantum electrodynamics start to play a key role. In the co-propagating configuration, the energy of the electromagnetic wave is transferred to the ion energy, providing a highly efficient acceleration mechanism.

The ways toward modeling of astrophysical processes and extreme field regimes with super-power lasers are discussed. The main attention is paid to the problem of limited similarity in using the dimensionless parameters characterizing the processes in the laser and astrophysical plasmas. As the most typical examples, we address the magnetic reconnection and collisionless shock waves relevant to the problem of ultrarelativistic particle acceleration. In the extreme field limits we consider the regimes of dominant radiation reaction, changing the electromagnetic wave-matter interaction. In these regimes it, in particular, results in a new powerful source of ultra high-brightness gamma-rays and will make possible electron-positron pair creation in vacuum in a multiphoton processes. This will allow modeling under terrestrial laboratory conditions the processes in astrophysical objects and paves the way to experimental verifications using ultra intense lasers as they are currently developed within the ELI project.

The cluster structures of the excited states in 11B are studied by analyzing the isoscalar monopole and quadrupole strengths in the B11(d,d′) reaction at Ed=200MeV. The excitation strengths are compared with the predictions by the shell-model and antisymmetrized molecular-dynamics (AMD) calculations. The large monopole strength for the 3/23− state at Ex=8.56MeV is well described by the AMD calculation and is suggested to be an evidence for a well developed 2α+t cluster structure.

Duration-controlled amplified spontaneous emission with an intensity of ${10}^{13}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{W}∕{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$ is used to convert a $7.5\text{\ensuremath{-}}\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{m}$-thick polyimide foil into a near-critical plasma, in which the $p$-polarized, $45\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{fs}$, ${10}^{19}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{W}∕{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$ laser pulse generates $3.8\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{MeV}$ protons, emitted at some angle between the target normal and the laser propagation direction of 45\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}. Particle-in-cell simulations reveal that the efficient proton acceleration is due to the generation of a quasistatic magnetic field on the target rear side with magnetic pressure inducing and sustaining a charge separation electrostatic field.

It has been known for about sixty years that proton and heavy ion therapy is a very powerful radiation procedure for treating tumors. It has an innate ability to irradiate tumors with greater doses and spatial selectivity compared with electron and photon therapy and, hence, is a tissue sparing procedure. For more than twenty years, powerful lasers have generated high energy beams of protons and heavy ions and it has, therefore, frequently been speculated that lasers could be used as an alternative to radiofrequency (RF) accelerators to produce the particle beams necessary for cancer therapy. The present paper reviews the progress made towards laser driven hadron cancer therapy and what has still to be accomplished to realize its inherent enormous potential.

We have analyzed the coupling of ultraintense lasers (at ∼2×10{19} W/cm{2}) with solid foils of limited transverse extent (∼10 s of μm) by monitoring the electrons and ions emitted from the target. We observe that reducing the target surface area allows electrons at the target surface to be reflected from the target edges during or shortly after the laser pulse. This transverse refluxing can maintain a hotter, denser and more homogeneous electron sheath around the target for a longer time. Consequently, when transverse refluxing takes places within the acceleration time of associated ions, we observe increased maximum proton energies (up to threefold), increased laser-to-ion conversion efficiency (up to a factor 30), and reduced divergence which bodes well for a number of applications.

The $\ensuremath{\gamma}d\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{K}^{+}{K}^{\ensuremath{-}}\mathit{pn}$ reaction has been studied to search for the evidence of the ${\ensuremath{\Theta}}^{+}$ by detecting ${K}^{+}{K}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ pairs at forward angles. The Fermi-motion-corrected ${\mathit{nK}}^{+}$ invariant mass distribution shows a narrow peak at $1.524\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.002+0.003$ GeV/${c}^{2}$. The statistical significance of the peak calculated from a shape analysis is 5.1 \ensuremath{\sigma}, and the differential cross section for the $\ensuremath{\gamma}n\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{K}^{\ensuremath{-}}{\ensuremath{\Theta}}^{+}$ reaction is estimated to be $12\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2$ nb/sr in the photon energy range from 2.0 to 2.4 GeV in the LEPS angular range by assuming the isotropic production of the ${\ensuremath{\Theta}}^{+}$ in the $\ensuremath{\gamma}n$ center-of-mass system. The obtained results support the existence of the ${\ensuremath{\Theta}}^{+}$.

When the parameters of electron-extreme power laser interaction enter the regime of dominated radiation reaction, the electron dynamics changes qualitatively. The adequate theoretical description of this regime becomes crucially important with the use of the radiation friction force either in the Lorentz-Abraham-Dirac form, which possesses unphysical runaway solutions, or in the Landau-Lifshitz form, which is a perturbation valid for relatively low electromagnetic wave amplitude. The goal of the present paper is to find the limits of the Landau-Lifshitz radiation force applicability in terms of the electromagnetic wave amplitude and frequency. For this, a class of the exact solutions to the nonlinear problems of charged particle motion in the time-varying electromagnetic field is used.

Using a high-contrast (10(10):1) and high-intensity (10(21) W/cm(2)) laser pulse with the duration of 40 fs from an optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification/Ti:sapphire laser, a 40 MeV proton bunch is obtained, which is a record for laser pulse with energy less than 10 J. The efficiency for generation of protons with kinetic energy above 15 MeV is 0.1%.

We observed the increase of the conversion efficiency from laser energy to Kalpha x-ray energy (eta(K)) produced by a 60 fs frequency doubled high-contrast laser pulse focused on a Cu foil, compared to the case of the fundamental laser pulse. eta(K) shows a strong dependence on the nonlinearly modified rising edge of the laser pulse. It reaches a maximum for a 100 fs negatively modified pulse. The hot electron efficient heating leads to the enhancement of eta(K). This demonstrates that high-contrast lasers are an effective tool for optimizing eta(K), via increasing the hot electrons by vacuum heating.

Optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) operation with low gain by seeding with high-energy, clean pulses is shown to significantly improve the contrast to better than 10(-10) to 10(-11) in a high-intensity Ti:sapphire laser system that is based on chirped-pulse amplification. In addition to the high-contrast broadband, high-energy output from the final amplifier is achieved with a flat-topped spatial profile of filling factor near 77%. This is the result of pump beam spatial profile homogenization with diffractive optical elements. Final pulse energies exceed 30 J, indicating capability for reaching peak powers in excess of 500 TW.