Polarization pyrometry: an improvement to multi-wavelength optical pyrometry.

We describe a new method that improves upon temperature measurement by optical pyrometry. The main uncertainty in the traditional pyrometry technique is the surface emissivity, which is generally unknown and hard to measure. A common approach to deal with this problem is to measure the thermal emission at multiple wavelengths - an approach called multi-wavelength pyrometry. However, this technique can still result in a level of uncertainty in the surface temperature that is unsatisfactory for scientific applications, such as a measurement of equation of state of warm dense matter. In contrast to the conventional multi-wavelength technique, in the polarization pyrometry approach described herein, p- and s-polarization components of thermal radiation at multiple-angles are used to deduce the temperature. This paper describes the concept and the results of an initial proof-of-principle static experiment with an electrically heated tungsten ribbon. It was found that in the same experiment, the accuracy of the polarization pyrometry measurement was substantially greater than that achieved using conventional multi-wavelength pyrometry.

Electronic structure of warm dense copper studied by ultrafast x-ray absorption spectroscopy.

We use time-resolved x-ray absorption spectroscopy to investigate the unoccupied electronic density of states of warm dense copper that is produced isochorically through the absorption of an ultrafast optical pulse. The temperature of the superheated electron-hole plasma, which ranges from 4000 to 10 000 K, was determined by comparing the measured x-ray absorption spectrum with a simulation. The electronic structure of warm dense copper is adequately described with the high temperature electronic density of state calculated by the density functional theory. The dynamics of the electron temperature is consistent with a two-temperature model, while a temperature-dependent electron-phonon coupling parameter is necessary.

Li+ ion emission from a hot-plate alumina-silicate source stimulated by flash heating with an infrared laser.

The Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment-II accelerator under construction at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has been designed to employ a lithium-doped alumino-silicate (Al-Si) hot-plate surface-ionization ion source. In order to achieve the design 1 mA∕cm(2) current density, the emitter must be constantly kept at a high temperature, leading to the accelerated loss of Li material as ions or neutrals. As a result, the estimated lifetime of the source is 50 h. This lifetime can be extended if the source is kept at low temperature during standby, and pulse heated to the high temperature during the ion extraction phase only. A pulsed heating technique based on an infrared laser (CO(2) gas discharge, λ = 10.6 µm) is described in this paper. The feasibility of ion current emission stimulated by flash heating with an infrared (IR) laser was demonstrated. High repeatability of the laser-stimulated ion current was observed, creating an opportunity for modulation and gating of the ion current with a laser pulse. It was found that with the available low power (≈115 W∕cm(2)) IR laser, current densities as high as 0.8 mA∕cm(2) could be achieved with a 2.8 mm diameter source. Various approaches for scaling to a larger (10 cm diameter) source and the application of short pulse, high power lasers are discussed. The results and conclusions of this paper may apply to various species of hot-plate ion sources.

Diagnostics for ion beam driven high energy density physics experiments.

Intense beams of heavy ions are capable of heating volumetric samples of matter to high energy density. Experiments are performed on the resulting warm dense matter (WDM) at the NDCX-I ion beam accelerator. The 0.3 MeV, 30 mA K(+) beam from NDCX-I heats foil targets by combined longitudinal and transverse neutralized drift compression of the ion beam. Both the compressed and uncompressed parts of the NDCX-I beam heat targets. The exotic state of matter (WDM) in these experiments requires specialized diagnostic techniques. We have developed a target chamber and fielded target diagnostics including a fast multichannel optical pyrometer, optical streak camera, laser Doppler-shift interferometer (Velocity Interferometer System for Any Reflector), beam transmission diagnostics, and high-speed gated cameras. We also present plans and opportunities for diagnostic development and a new target chamber for NDCX-II.