Research
Measurements of ion stopping-power in plasma for nuclear fusion reactor design
Precision investigation of an efficient multi-MeV electron generator with "exploding foil"
It has been shown that the exploding foil technique generates ultra-collimated, multi-MeV beams of electrons favorable for generating a large number of photo-nuclear reactions.
Using our laboratory's high laser's contrast and fast target delivery system we investigate this scheme . We conduct the study in an engineered manner, performing a fine scan of the experimental parameters that govern this highly non-linear phenomenon.
Lead researcher: Itamar Cohen and Talia Meir
HHG from relativistic plasma mirrors
Relativistic plasma mirrors (PMs) are a promising source of high-order harmonics generation (HHG), unbounded in brightness, band-width and pulse duration. Due to their simple geometry, PMs are also ideal model system to study optics at the relativistic limit. Our research aims to explore and manipulate, the interplay between laser intensity and temporal charachters of the HHG beam. This will help to unravel the details of the laser-plasma interaction, and provide new means of control on this extreme-light source.
Lead researcher: Elkana Porat
Coherent diffraction imaging
Coherent diffractive imaging (CDI) is a lensless imaging technique where an iterative phase retrieval algorithm replaces the imaging optics. In CDI a coherent beam illuminates an isolated object. The diffraction pattern in the far field, which is proportional to the magnitude of the Fourier transform of the object, is recorded by a CCD. Since the CCD detects only the intensity of the scattered wave, the phase information is lost. Therefore, applying an inverse-Fourier transform will not reconstruct the object structure; and phase retrieval algorithm is needed.
Lead researcher: Raz Levi-Halifa
Vacuum heating
Vacuum heating , also known as "Not-so-resonant, resonant absorption" is a very important electron acceleration mechanism in plasma laser interaction. However, it is very difficult to isolate and measure directly since it occurs when the target has features smaller than the laser wavelength. In our lab we can investigate this phenomenon by irradiating gold wires smaller than 800nm, the wave length of our leaser. We have control on the incident angle as well as the size of the wire. In this way we can do a comprehensive direct research into this mechanism.
Lead researcher: Michal Elkind
Pulse shaping of CWE harmonics
We investigate how the shape of intense XUV pulses generated by Coherent Wake Emission (CWE) can be manipulated by changing the temporal profile of the driver IR beam.
Lead researcher: Hadar Yehuda
Some laser-based fusion reactor designs, are based on injecting laser-accelerated protons beams into a background plasma of 11B ions, with a density of the order of 1 mg/cm3. The created alphas heat the target which flows into a cooler that recirculate the plasma.
Using our ability to generate ion beams at a high repetition rate,
we investigate experimentally the p+11B reaction in heated plasma.
Lead researcher: Noam Popper