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Register a new userOpacity of Shock-Heated Boron Plasmas
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Standard measures of opacity, the imaginary part of the atomic scattering factor $f_2$ and the x-ray mass attenuation coefficient $mu/rho$, are evaluated in shock-heated boron, boron carbide and boron nitride plasmas. The Hugoniot equation, relating the temperature $T$ behind a shock wave to the compression ratio $rho/rho_0$ across the shock front, is used in connection with the plasma equation of state to determine the pressure $p$, effective plasma charge $Z^ast$ and the K-shell occupation in terms of $rho/rho_0$. Solutions of the Hugoniot equation (determined within the framework of the generalized Thomas-Fermi theory) reveal that the K-shell occupation in low-Z ions decreases rapidly from 2 to 0.1 as the temperature increases from 20eV to 500eV; a temperature range in which the shock compression ratio is near 4. The average-atom model (a quantum mechanical version of the generalized Thomas-Fermi theory) is used to determine K-shell and continuum wave functions and the photoionization cross section for x-rays in the energy range $omega=1$eV to 10keV, where the opacity is dominated by the atomic photoionization process. For an uncompressed boron plasma at $T=10$eV, where the K-shell is filled, the average-atom cross section, the atomic scattering factor and the mass attenuation coefficient are all shown to agree closely with previous (cold matter) tabulations. For shock-compressed plasmas, the dependence of the $mu/rho$ on temperature can be approximated by scaling previously tabulated cold-matter values by the relative K-shell occupation, however, there is a relatively small residual dependence arising from the photoionization cross section. Attenuation coefficients $mu$ for a 9 keV x-ray are given as functions of $T$ along the Hugoniot for B, C, B$_4$C and BN plasmas.
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We report a theoretical equation of state (EOS) table for boron across a wide range of temperatures (5.1$times$10$^4$-5.2$times$10$^8$ K) and densities (0.25-49 g/cm$^3$), and experimental shock Hugoniot data at unprecedented high pressures (5608$pm$118 GPa). The calculations are performed with full, first-principles methods combining path integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) at high temperatures and density functional theory molecular dynamics (DFT-MD) methods at lower temperatures. PIMC and DFT-MD cross-validate each other by providing coherent EOS (difference $<$1.5 Hartree/boron in energy and $<$5% in pressure) at 5.1$times$10$^5$ K. The Hugoniot measurement is conducted at the National Ignition Facility using a planar shock platform. The pressure-density relation found in our shock experiment is on top of the shock Hugoniot profile predicted with our first-principles EOS and a semi-empirical EOS table (LEOS 50). We investigate the self diffusivity and the effect of thermal and pressure-driven ionization on the EOS and shock compression behavior in high pressure and temperature conditions We study the performance sensitivity of a polar direct-drive exploding pusher platform to pressure variations based on comparison of the first-principles calculations with LEOS 50 via 1D hydrodynamic simulations. The results are valuable for future theoretical and experimental studies and engineering design in high energy density research. (LLNL-JRNL-748227)
Recent laboratory experiments with laser-produced plasmas have observed and studied a number of fundamental physical processes relevant to magnetized astrophysical plasmas, including magnetic reconnection, collisionless shocks, and magnetic field generation by Weibel instability, opening up new experimental platforms for laboratory astrophysics. We develop a fully kinetic simulation model for first-principles simulation of these systems including the dynamics of magnetic fields---magnetic field generation by the Biermann battery effect or Weibel instability; advection by the ion flow, Hall effect, and Nernst effect; and destruction of the field by dissipative mechanisms. Key dimensionless parameters describing the system are derived for scaling between kinetic simulation, recent experiments, and astrophysical plasmas. First, simulations are presented which model Biermann battery magnetic field generation in plasmas expanding from a thin target. Ablation of two neighboring plumes leads to the formation of a current sheet as the opposing Biermann-generated fields collide, modeling recent laser-driven magnetic reconnection experiments. Second, we simulate recent experiments on collisionless magnetized shock generation, by expanding a piston plasma into a pre-magnetized ambient plasma. For parameters considered, the Biermann effect generates additional magnetic fields in the curved shock front and thereby increases shock particle reflection. Both cases show the importance of kinetic processes in the interaction of plasmas with magnetic fields, and open opportunities to benchmark these important processes through comparison of theory and experiments.
Laser-driven collisonless electrostatic shock formation and the subsequent ion acceleration have been studied in near critical density plasmas. Particle-in-cell simulations show that both the speed of laser-driven collisionless electrostatic shock and the energies of shock-accelerated ions can be greatly enhanced due to fast laser propagation in near critical density plasmas. However, a response time longer than tens of laser wave cycles is required before the shock formation in a near critical density plasma, in contrast to the quick shock formation in a highly overdense target. More important, we find that some ions can be reflected by the collisionless shock even if the electrostatic potential jump across the shock is smaller than the ion kinetic energy in the shock frame, which seems against the conventional ion-reflection condition. These anomalous ion reflections are attributed to the strongly time-oscillating electric field accompanying laser-driven collisionless shock in a near critical density plasma.
Collisionless shock acceleration of protons and C$^{6+}$ ions has been achieved by the interaction of a 10$^{20}$ W/cm$^2$, 1 $mu$m laser with a near-critical density plasma. Ablation of the initially solid density target by a secondary laser allowed for systematic control of the plasma profile. This enabled the production of beams with peaked spectra with energies of 10-18 MeV/a.m.u. and energy spreads of 10-20$%$ with up to 3x10$^9$ particles within these narrow spectral features. The narrow energy spread and similar velocity of ion species with different charge-to-mass ratio are consistent with acceleration by the moving potential of a shock wave. Particle-in-cell simulations show shock accelerated beams of protons and C$^{6+}$ ions with energy distributions consistent with the experiments. Simulations further indicate the plasma profile determines the trade-off between the beam charge and energy and that with additional target optimization narrow energy spread beams exceeding 100 MeV/a.m.u. can be produced using the same laser conditions.
Time-resolved absorption of zinc sulfide (ZnS) and aluminum in the XUV-range has been measured. Thin foils in conditions close to local thermodynamic equilibrium were heated by radiation from laser-irradiated gold spherical cavities. Analysis of the aluminum foil radiative hydrodynamic expansion, based on the detailed atomic calculations of its absorption spectra, showed that the cavity emitted flux that heated the absorption foils corresponds to a radiation temperature in the range 55 60 eV. Comparison of the ZnS absorption spectra with calculations based on a superconfiguration approach identified the presence of species Zn6+ - Zn8+ and S5+ - S6+. Based on the validation of the radiative source simulations, experimental spectra were then compared to calculations performed by post-processing the radiative hydrodynamic simulations of ZnS. Satisfying agreement is found when temperature gradients are accounted for.
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