ABSTRACT
Hard X-ray spectroscopy is an essential diagnostics used to understand physical processes that take place in high energy density plasmas produced by intense laser-plasma interactions. A bundle of hard X-ray detectors, of which the responses have different energy thresholds, is used as a conventional single-shot spectrometer for high-flux (>10(13) photons/shot) hard X-rays. However, high energy resolution (Δhv/hv < 0.1) is not achievable with a differential energy threshold (DET) X-ray spectrometer because its energy resolution is limited by energy differences between the response thresholds. Experimental demonstration of a Compton X-ray spectrometer has already been performed for obtaining higher energy resolution than that of DET spectrometers. In this paper, we describe design details of the Compton X-ray spectrometer, especially dependence of energy resolution and absolute response on photon-electron converter design and its background reduction scheme, and also its application to the laser-plasma interaction experiment. The developed spectrometer was used for spectroscopy of bremsstrahlung X-rays generated by intense laser-plasma interactions using a 200 µm thickness SiO2 converter. The X-ray spectrum obtained with the Compton X-ray spectrometer is consistent with that obtained with a DET X-ray spectrometer, furthermore higher certainly of a spectral intensity is obtained with the Compton X-ray spectrometer than that with the DET X-ray spectrometer in the photon energy range above 5 MeV.
ABSTRACT
A series of experiments were carried out to evaluate the energy-coupling efficiency from heating laser to a fuel core in the fast-ignition scheme of laser-driven inertial confinement fusion. Although the efficiency is determined by a wide variety of complex physics, from intense laser plasma interactions to the properties of high-energy density plasmas and the transport of relativistic electron beams (REB), here we simplify the physics by breaking down the efficiency into three measurable parameters: (i) energy conversion ratio from laser to REB, (ii) probability of collision between the REB and the fusion fuel core, and (iii) fraction of energy deposited in the fuel core from the REB. These three parameters were measured with the newly developed experimental platform designed for mimicking the plasma conditions of a realistic integrated fast-ignition experiment. The experimental results indicate that the high-energy tail of REB must be suppressed to heat the fuel core efficiently.
ABSTRACT
A Compton-scattering-based X-ray spectrometer is developed to obtain the energy distribution of fast electrons produced by intense laser and matter interactions. Bremsstrahlung X-rays generated by fast electrons in a material are used to measure fast electrons' energy distribution in matter. In the Compton X-ray spectrometer, X-rays are converted into recoil electrons by Compton scattering in a converter made from fused silica glass, and a magnet-based electron energy analyzer is used to measure the energy distribution of the electrons that recoil in the direction of the incident X-rays. The spectrum of the incident X-rays is reconstructed from the energy distribution of the recoil electrons. The accuracy of this spectrometer is evaluated using a quasi-monoenergetic 6 MeV electron bunch that emanates from a linear accelerator. An electron bunch is injected into a 1.5 mm thick tungsten plate to produce bremsstrahlung X-rays. The spectrum of these bremsstrahlung X-rays is obtained in the range from 1 to 9 MeV. The energy of the electrons in the bunch is estimated using a Monte Carlo simulation of particle-matter interactions. The result shows that the spectrometer's energy accuracy is ±0.5 MeV for 6.0 MeV electrons.
