A review of the AVLIS (atomic vapor laser isotope separation) development performed by GPI and LAD Ltd. (Moscow, Russia) during the last 4–5 years is presented. The processes of laser isotope separation of ytterbium (Yb) have been studied analytically, with numerical simulations, and experimentally. The basic attention is given to the following topics: the selectivity of ionization; the laser beams arrangement in a cavity; the forming of a vapor flux; and the extraction of ions from plasma. Installations to produce highly enriched 168Yb in industrial scales were created. The content of 168Yb in the laser-produced plasma reached 90–95%, in the material deposited on the ion collector up to 62%, and in the washing liquid up to 45%. The rate of the enriched Yb production was up to 5–10 mg/h. For the first time a profitable commodity was produced by the AVLIS method.

The paper presents experimental results on the application of microsecond plasma opening switch (MPOS) technology for materials surface modification. The ion beam parameters generated by the MPOS are up to 250 keV energy and current density and energy densities of up to 150 A/cm2 and 2.2 J/cm2, respectively. Characterization of the treated samples showed structural changes to a depth of several microns. The small ion range (few microns) and fast cooling of the upper melted layer (up to 1010 K/s) result in formation of fine-grain structures characterized by improved corrosion and erosion properties. Measurements indicate an increase in microhardness of a factor of about 3 for carbon steel samples. Corrosion resistance increase for the treated samples of at least 3, as measured by mass loss and potentiodynamic methods, has been measured for Al alloys. Microstructural changes in the surface morphology indicate a reduction in grain size for the treated samples and the appearance of shallow craters. Results of numeric simulations are given for the temperature distribution in materials due to ion beam heating.

Proton-boron-11 is the clean fusion reaction par excellence, but it is very difficult to exploit it because of the very high ignition temperature of this reaction and its moderate fusion yield. In this paper, a proposal is made to induce these reactions by a heat-detonation wave that expands across a compressed target. The front of the wave has a double-layer structure, with a first front driven by electron heat conduction and a second front heated by α-particle energy deposition. Both fronts create a hot plasma where the stopping power is dominated by ions. The wave is originated by an ignitor triggered by an ultraintense lightning beam. This beam can be made of photons (laser), plasma (ramjets), or ions (proton beams, borane clusters). Proton beam shots of 1022. W/cm2 and several GA for some picoseconds would be needed for this purpose. The supersonic propagation of the fusion wave and the ignitor requirements are analyzed in this paper. The main conclusion is that the burning wave can only propagate if a substantial fraction of the radiation losses from the already burning fuel is reabsorbed in the colder fuel. It is calculated that for densities larger than few thousands g/cm3 most of the bremsstrahlung radiation created in the hot plasma can be reabsorbed by the Compton effect in a region of 1 g/cm2 optical thickness of the surrounding compressed and cold fuel.

Coherent control of molecular processes provides a means of controlling the dynamics of molecules, and of molecular processes, via laser-induced quantum interference. We briefly review this approach, provide relevant references, and highlight recent advances in the control of molecular processes.

This paper describes a solid state laser concept that scales to MW levels of burst power and MJ of burst energy and burst durations measured in seconds. During lasing action, waste heat is purposely stored in the heat capacity of the active medium. The paper outlines the principal scaling laws of key operational features and arrives at a conceptual design example of the laser head as well as a mobile laser system.

Highly stable atomic frequency standards are of increasing importance for a variety of space applications, ranging from communication to navigation and time transfer to tests of fundamental science. We present a discussion of the improvements possible with laser pumping of vapor cell clocks, including applying coherent population trapping (CPT) techniques. We also present our progress toward a cold atom clock based on magneto-optically trapped atoms for space applications.

We show through experiments of stimulated Raman scattering how solid hydrogen (parahydrogen) can open new perspectives on nonlinear optics. Two phenomena are described: One is the self-induced phase matching in parametric anti-Stokes stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) in which the phase matching is self-organized automatically without the stringent restriction of refractive-index dispersion of the medium, and the other is the extremely slow coherence decay behavior for the Raman transition that may result in the Raman width of 80 kHz full width at half maximum (FWHM).