Laser-driven neutron sources are routinely produced by the interaction of laser-accelerated protons with a converter. They present complementary characteristics to those of conventional accelerator-based neutron sources (e.g. short pulse durations, enabling novel applications like radiography). We present here results from an experiment aimed at performing a global characterization of the neutrons produced using the Titan laser at the Jupiter Laser Facility (Livermore, USA), where protons were accelerated from 23 $\mathrm {\mu }$m thick plastic targets and directed onto a LiF converter to produce neutrons. For this purpose, several diagnostics were used to measure these neutron emissions, such as CR-39, activation foils, time-of-flight detectors and direct measurement of $^7{\rm Be}$ residual activity in the LiF converters. The use of these different, independently operating diagnostics enables comparison of the various measurements performed to provide a robust characterization. These measurements led to a neutron yield of $2.0\times 10^{9}$ neutrons per shot with a modest angular dependence, close to that simulated.

Engineered targets are expected to play a key role in future high-power laser experiments calling for joined, extensive knowledge in materials properties, engineering techniques and plasma physics. In this work, we propose a novel patterning procedure of self-supported 10 μm thick Au and Cu foils for obtaining micrometre-sized periodic gratings as targets for high-power laser applications. Accessible techniques were considered, by using cold rolling, electron-beam lithography and the Ar-ion milling process. The developed patterning procedure allows efficient control of the grating and foil surface on large area. Targets consisting of patterned regions of 450 μm × 450 μm, with 2 μm periodic gratings, were prepared on 25 mm × 25 mm Au and Cu free-standing foils, and preliminary investigations of the micro-targets interacting with an ultrashort, relativistic laser pulse were performed. These test experiments demonstrated that, in certain conditions, the micro-gratings show enhanced laser energy absorption and higher efficiency in accelerating charge particle beams compared with planar thin foils of similar thickness.

A new series of 19 radiocarbon dates provides new insights on the human settlement activity in central Ukraine. The paper presents data from the Early Holocene until the establishment of Trypillian mega-sites in the late Vth mill. BC. Our new dates from a long sequence of the site of Melnychna Krucha refine the chronology of the Middle and Late Mesolithic and local ceramic-bearing “Buh-Dniester” culture. Additional dates were obtained on bones from Linear Pottery culture sites and Trypillian sites of stages A3 and B1.

The process of high energy electron acceleration along the surface of grating targets (GTs) that were irradiated by a relativistic, high-contrast laser pulse at an intensity $I=2.5\times 10^{20}~\text{W}/\text{cm}^{2}$ was studied. Our experimental results demonstrate that for a GT with a periodicity twice the laser wavelength, the surface electron flux is more intense for a laser incidence angle that is larger compared to the resonance angle predicted by the linear model. An electron beam with a peak charge of ${\sim}2.7~\text{nC}/\text{sr}$, for electrons with energies ${>}1.5~\text{MeV}$, was measured. Numerical simulations carried out with parameters similar to the experimental conditions also show an enhanced electron flux at higher incidence angles depending on the preplasma scale length. A theoretical model that includes ponderomotive effects with more realistic initial preplasma conditions suggests that the laser-driven intensity and preformed plasma scale length are important for the acceleration process. The predictions closely match the experimental and computational results.

With the latest configuration, the Ti:Sa laser system ARCTURUS (Düsseldorf University, Germany) operates with a double-chirped pulse amplification (CPA) architecture delivering pulses with an energy of 7 J before compression in each of the two high-power beams. By the implementation of a plasma mirror system, the intrinsic laser contrast is enhanced up to $10^{-12}$ on a time scale of hundreds of picoseconds, before the main peak. The laser system has been used in various configurations for advanced experiments and different studies have been carried out employing the high-power laser beams as a single, high-intensity interaction beam ($I\approx 10^{20}~\text{W}/\text{cm}^{2}$), in dual- and multi-beam configurations or in a pump–probe arrangement.

The generation of high-order harmonics in ultraviolet spectral range by targets of periodic modulation interacting with relativistic, high contrast laser pulse (Iλ2 = 1020 W/cm2 · μm2) was investigated experimentally and numerically. The spectral intensity of the 2nd- and 3rd-order harmonic emission from grating of different periodicities (250, 410, and 480 nm) is presented. The enhancement of the 3rd harmonic order compared with 2nd was observed for a grating of 480 nm periodicity. The experimental results indicate the role of the grating periodicity on the emission efficiency of different higher order harmonics in the UV spectral range. The higher order harmonics are emitted at the grating surface separated from the specular reflection of the laser pulse, due of the interference effects. In addition, 2D numerical PIC simulations demonstrate a complex angular distribution of the higher harmonics (HH) spectral intensity and confirm the strong dependence of the HH efficiency of a specific order on the grating periodicity, as observed experimentally. These special features of the high harmonic emission by periodically modulated targets open the route toward the control of HH spectral composition and of the emission efficiency of the lower order harmonics.

Many transitional wall-bounded shear flows are characterised by the coexistence in state space of laminar and turbulent regimes. Probing the edge boundary between the two attractors has led in the last decade to the numerical discovery of new (unstable) solutions to the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. However, the iterative bisection method used to compute edge states can become prohibitively costly for large systems. Here we suggest a simple feedback control strategy to stabilise edge states, hence accelerating their numerical identification by several orders of magnitude. The method is illustrated for several configurations of cylindrical pipe flow. Travelling waves solutions are identified as edge states, and can be isolated rapidly in only one short numerical run. A new branch of solutions is also identified. When the edge state is a periodic orbit or chaotic state, the feedback control does not converge precisely to solutions of the uncontrolled system, but nevertheless brings the dynamics very close to the original edge manifold in a single run. We discuss the opportunities offered by the speed and simplicity of this new method to probe the structure of both state space and parameter space.

A study employing macro- and micro-sedimentological techniques was conducted at three sites with recently deglaciated sediments in the proglacial area of Brúarjökull, a surge-type outlet glacier of the Vatnajökull ice cap, Iceland. Tills at these sites were likely deposited and deformed during the 1963/64 surge. At the height of the last surge, these sediments were beneath 90-120 m of ice, and associated basal shear stresses would have been 24-32 kPa. Tills associated with the surge at these sites formed by a combination of subglacial sediment deformation and lodgement and are thus regarded as ‘hybrid tills’. The tills show evidence of both ductile and brittle deformation. Discontinuous clay lenses within the tills, indicating local ice-bed decoupling and sliding, imply that subglacial water pressures were spatially and temporally variable during the surge. The thickness of the subglacial deforming-till layer was 50-90 cm.

The ultrafast charge dynamics following the interaction of an ultra-intense laser pulse with a foil target leads to the launch of an ultra-short, intense electromagnetic (EM) pulse along a wire connected to the target. Due to the strong electric field (of the order of $\text{GV m}^{-1}$) associated to such laser-driven EM pulses, these can be exploited in a travelling-wave helical geometry for controlling and optimizing the parameters of laser accelerated proton beams. The propagation of the EM pulse along a helical path was studied by employing a proton probing technique. The pulse-carrying coil was probed along two orthogonal directions, transverse and parallel to the coil axis. The temporal profile of the pulse obtained from the transverse probing of the coil is in agreement with the previous measurements obtained in a planar geometry. The data obtained from the longitudinal probing of the coil shows a clear evidence of an energy dependent reduction of the proton beam divergence, which underpins the mechanism behind selective guiding of laser-driven ions by the helical coil targets.

Based on the analysis of data from the numerous dedicated experiments on plasma disruptions in the TEXTOR tokamak the mechanisms of the formation of runaway electron (RE) beams and their losses are proposed. The plasma disruption is caused by a strong stochastic magnetic field formed due to nonlinearly excited low-mode-number magneto-hydro-dynamics (MHD) modes. It is hypothesized that the RE beam is formed in the central plasma region confined by an intact magnetic surface due to the acceleration of electrons by the inductive toroidal electric field. In the case of plasmas with the safety factor $q(0)<1$ the most stable RE beams are formed by the outermost intact magnetic surface located between the magnetic surface $q=1$ and the closest low-order rational surface $q=m/n>1~(q=5/4,q=4/3,\dots )$. The thermal quench (TQ) time caused by the fast electron transport in a stochastic magnetic field is calculated using the collisional transport model. The current quench (CQ) stage is due to the particle transport in a stochastic magnetic field. The RE beam current is modelled as a sum of a toroidally symmetric part and a small-amplitude helical current with a predominant $m/n=1/1$ component. The REs are lost due to two effects: (i) by outward drift of electrons in a toroidal electric field until they touch the wall and (ii) by the formation of a stochastic layer of REs at the beam edge. Such a stochastic layer for high-energy REs is formed in the presence of the $m/n=1/1$ MHD mode. It has a mixed topological structure with a stochastic region open to the wall. The effect of external resonant magnetic perturbations on RE loss is discussed. A possible cause of the sudden MHD signals accompanied by RE bursts is explained by the redistribution of runaway current during the resonant interaction of high-energetic electron orbits with the $m/n=1/1$ MHD mode.

Proton radiography using laser-driven sources has been developed as a diagnostic since the beginning of the decade, and applied successfully to a range of experimental situations. Multi-MeV protons driven from thin foils via the Target Normal Sheath Acceleration mechanism, offer, under optimal conditions, the possibility of probing laser-plasma interactions, and detecting electric and magnetic fields as well as plasma density gradients with ~ps temporal resolution and ~ 5–10 µm spatial resolution. In view of these advantages, the use of proton radiography as a diagnostic in experiments of relevance to Inertial Confinement Fusion is currently considered in the main fusion laboratories. This paper will discuss recent advances in the application of laser-driven radiography to experiments of relevance to Inertial Confinement Fusion. In particular we will discuss radiography of hohlraum and gasbag targets following the interaction of intense ns pulses. These experiments were carried out at the HELEN laser facility at AWE (UK), and proved the suitability of this diagnostic for studying, with unprecedented detail, laser-plasma interaction mechanisms of high relevance to Inertial Confinement Fusion. Non-linear solitary structures of relevance to space physics, namely phase space electron holes, have also been highlighted by the measurements. These measurements are discussed and compared to existing models.

In-field critical current Ic variations, detected using a short sample, angular Ic(77K, H=5.2kOe, Angle) measurement on the ends of a 20 m coated conductor tape fabricated by the MOD / RABiTS process, are shown to be variations in the Ic(H) anisotropy that exist on subcentimeter length scales. A Ic(75 K, H, Angle) study was performed on segments cut from the tape where the power law exponent of the field dependence, α, Ic ∼H−α was calculated for Ic(H, Angle) data. Two extrema behaviors, anisotropic and isotropic, were identified. The isotropic material is shown to outperform the anisotropic material for a wide range of fields and angles at T=26 K.

The interaction of short (1−2 ps) laser pulses with solid targets at irradiances of over 1016 Wcm−2, in the presence of a substantial prepulse has been investigated. High absorption of laser energy is found even at high angles of incidence, with evidence for a resonance absorption peak being found for S, P, and circular polarizations. It is considered that this may be a result of refraction and beam filamentation, which causes loss of distinct polarization. Measurements of hard X-ray emission (∼ 100 keV) confirm a resonance absorption type peak at 45−50°, again for all three cases. Typically, 5−15% of the incident light is back-reflected by stimulated Brillouin scatter, with spatially resolved spectra showing evidence of beam hot-spots at high intensity. The possibility that filamentation and refraction of the beam can explain the lack of polarization dependence in the absorption and hard X-ray emission data is discussed.

In this paper we present measurements of energy transport in hot, high-density plasmas produced by picosecond laser interaction with solid targets. The propagation of the ablative heat wave was studied by using X-ray-ultraviolet (XUV) spectroscopy with picosecond temporal resolution. Measurements show that for laser intensities on target above 1016 W/cm2, strong inhibition of heat flux toward the cold target occurs. A detailed modelling of the experimental data is presented in which heat transport and absorption processes are taken into account self-consistently. Finally the role played by lateral transport and self-induced magnetic fields in our experiment is also discussed.