New Diagnostics for exploring extreme conditions - laser propagation through turbulent plasmas and power flow at electrodes

Abstract

Collaborations between Cornell University and Imperial College have seen the development of many advanced experimental and simulation techniques for studying the behaviour of materials in extremes of temperature and density. The last 2 years have seen the utilisation of Thomson scattering to provide quantitative data on the temperature, density, ionisation and current flow in plasmas ablating from pulsed power driven targets; the deployment of an imaging refractometer capable of exploring the stability of the flow of ablated material and how the morphology of this flow affects laser propagation; and the production of portable X-pinch X-ray sources to provide radiography and absorption spectrometry of dense plasmas at a targets surface. These have all been supported by new extended MHD simulation capabilities - including the Hall and Nernst terms in MHD - and the introduction of mesh refinement to significantly boost modelling resolutions.

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Feb 05, 2025
Source ID
FA95502410066

Entities

People

  • E. S. Lavine

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • Cornell University
  • United States Air Force

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
  • Plasma Physics.
  • Pulsed Power and Plasma Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy