Two qualitatively different scenarios for the penetration of relativistically intense laser radiation into an overdense plasma, accessible by self-induced transparency, are presented. In the first one, penetration of laser energy occurs by solitonlike structures moving into the plasma. This scenario occurs at plasma densities less than approximately 1.5 times the critical one (depending on ion ...

We investigated the role of prepulse laser wavelength on extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) emission and ionic debris generation. A 6 ns Nd:YAG laser operating at 266 nm was used to generate a pre-plasma that was then reheated by a 35 ns CO2 laser pumping pulse at 10.6 μm. At an ideal delay time, improvement in EUV conversion efficiency (CE) of up to 30 % was seen compared to the CE from the pumping pul...

The reported results and discussions in the Working Group on High Energy Density Physics and Exotic Acceleration Concepts are summarized. The working group focused largely on lasergenerated proton and ion beams from solid targets, but also considered laser vacuum acceleration results, active media accelerator proposals, ferroelectric-based accelerator technology advances and beam conditioning c...

The performance of a new pulsed arc cluster ion source (PACIS) is demonstrated for pure metal cluster ions and anions as well as mixed metal-rare-gas clusters. Pure metal clusters like W$ exhibit intensity distributions similar to those from laser vaporization sources. The ion current of the PACIS is comparable to that of a laser vaporization source. For metal-doped argon cluster ions, a single...

A comparative study is made of the laser damage resistance of hafnia coatings deposited on fused silica substrates with different technologies: electron beam deposition (from Hf or HfO(2) starting material), reactive low voltage ion plating, and dual ion beam sputtering. The laser damage thresholds of these coatings are determined at 1064 and 355 nm using a nanosecond pulsed YAG laser and a one...

We show how to design different couplings between a single ion trapped in a harmonic potential and an environment. This will provide the basis for the experimental study of the process of decoherence in a quantum system. The coupling is due to the absorption of a laser photon and subsequent spontaneous emission. The variation of the laser frequencies and intensities allows one to " engineer " t...

We have measured the energy absorption efficiency of high intensity, picosecond laser pulses in low density gases composed of large atomic clusters. We find that, though the average density of the resulting plasmas is low, the energy absorption can be very high s.95%d, indicating that substantial laser energy is deposited per particle in the plasma. Ion energy measurements confirm that this eff...

In this paper we investigate the quantum and classical dynamics of a single trapped ion subject to non-linear kicks derived from a periodic sequence of Gaussian laser pulses. We show that the classical system exhibits diffusive growth in the energy, or 'heating', while quantum mechanics suppresses this heating. This system may be realised in current single trapped-ion experiments with the addit...

In this paper we investigate the quantum and classical dynamics of a single trapped ion subject to non-linear kicks derived from a periodic sequence of Gaussian laser pulses. We show that the classical system exhibits diffusive growth in the energy, or 'heating', while quantum mechanics suppresses this heating. This system may be realised in current single trapped-ion experiments with the addit...

CERN, together with ITEP and TRINITI (Russia), is developing a CO2 laser ion source. The key design parameters are: 1.4×10 ions of Pb in a pulse of 5.5 μs, with a 4-rms emittance of 0.2×10 rad m, working at a repetition rate of 1 Hz. This device is considered as one candidate source for LHC heavy ion operation. The status of the laser development, the experimental set-up of the source consistin...