(Nov/Dec 2021) LaserNetUS Experiment on the OSU Scarlet laser
GSRA Brendan Stassel led a LaserNetUS experiment to study relativistically induced transparency on the Ohio State University laser facility Scarlet.
(Nov 2021) 63rd Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics
Prof. Willingale, Paul, Brandon, Tang, and Brendan attended and presented at the conference in-person! It was great to see everyone. Our presentations were on:
- High Energy, Relativistic Intensity Laser Channeling and Direct Laser Acceleration of Electrons from an Underdense Plasma
- Multiple species laser-driven ion-shock acceleration
- Investigating Self-Induced Relativistic Transparency in Plasmas with Ultrafast High Intensity Laser Pulses
- Measuring magnetic flux suppression in high-power laser-plasma interactions
- Generation and measurement of extreme magnetic fields
- Charged particle deflectometry of strong magnetic field generation driven by intense laser-solid interactions
(Sept 2021) New Journal of Physics Publication
Strong interplay between superluminosity and radiation friction during direct laser acceleration is published in New Journal of Physics. We collaborate with Prof. Alex Arefiev’s group to study direct laser acceleration on OMEGA EP.
(Sept 2021) ExHILP 2021 Conference
The 4th Extremely High Intensity Laser Physics Conference (ExHILP 2021) was held virtually. Prof. Willingale gave an invited presentation on “The 3PW NSF ZEUS user facility”.
(Sept 2021) Physics of Plasmas Publication
Confinement of relativistic electrons in a magnetic mirror en route to a magnetized relativistic pair plasma is published in Physics of Plasmas. Dr. Hui Chen’s group at LLNL is a collaborator of Prof. Willingale.
(Aug 2021) NSF ZEUS receives operations funding
The NSF ZEUS facility received 5 years of funding and will ramp up operations, with first light expected in 2022. Read the article at Michigan Engineering Research News.
(Aug 2021) Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion Publication
Multiple species laser-driven ion-shock acceleration is published in Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. First author publication for PhD candidate Brandon Russell – congratulations Brandon!
(Jul 2021) Physics of Plasmas Publication
Magnetically collimated relativistic charge-neutral electron-positron beams from high-power lasers is published in Physics of Plasmas.
(Jun 2021) SULI Introduction to Fusion Energy and Plasma Physics Course
Prof. Willingale presented a lecture on “Short-pulse driven relativistic plasmas” for the Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) program introductory course.
(Jun 2021) GPAP Summer School on Plasma Physics for Astrophysicists
Prof. Willingale presented a lecture on “Introduction to high-energy-density plasmas and laboratory astrophysics” for the NSF/APS-DPP GPAP Summer School on Plasma Physics for Astrophysicists.
(Jun 2021) European Conference on Plasma Diagnostics
Prof. Willingale gave an invited presentation on “Proton deflectometry to study magnetic field generation, dynamics, and reconnection” at the virtual European Conference on Plasma Diagnostics conference.
(Apr 2021) NSF news story “Even COVID Can’t Stop ZEUS”
Read the article at nsf.gov.
(Mar 2021) Review of Scientific Instruments Publication
Dispersion calibration for the National Ignition Facility electron–positron–proton spectrometers for intense laser matter interactions is published in Review of Scientific Instruments.
(Feb 2021) New Journal of Physics Publication
Towards the optimization of direct laser acceleration is published in New Journal of Physics. Amina Hussein (Applied Physics, 2018) studies how to optimize the acceleration of electrons by varying the target density. 2D particle-in-cell simulations show the importance of the self-generated magnetic fields on the direct laser acceleration mechanism. This work formed part of Amina’s PhD thesis.
(Feb 2021) The 2021 Stewardship Science Academic Programs (SSAP) Symposium
Prof. Willingale, Dr. Paul Campbell, and graduate students Brandon Russell and Hongmei Tang presented our work at the virtual SSAP meeting.
(Feb 2021) Shot days at OMEGA EP
The next two shot days on OMEGA EP at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) at the University of Rochester, NY for our NLUF campaigns. One campaign is studying self-generated magnetic fields in laser-plasma interactions and the other is to investigate direct laser acceleration of electrons. We again interacted with the LLE team virtually!
(Jan 25-28 2021) Charged Particle Radiography in High-Energy-Density Laboratory Plasmas
Virtual workshop exploring charged particle radiography, with universally excellent talks. Many of my fantastic collaborators made presentations, including Dr. Paul Campbell, Dr. Charlotte Palmer, Dr. Eleanor Tubman, Dr. Mario Manuel, and Dr. Gennady Fiksel!
(Jan 2021) Nature Communications Publication
Observations of pressure anisotropy effects within semi-collisional magnetized plasma bubbles is published in Nature Communications. Ellie Tubman (PhD, York University) used the proton radiography technique to study laser-driven magnetic reconnection.