(L. V. Knight, J. B. Peatross, D. D. Allred, R. S. Turley)
The objective is to study "hollow atoms" and other plasma interactions of highly charged ions with a solid surface (wall) using soft x-ray spectroscopy as a diagnostic tool. The ions are produced in a spatially thin plasma produced by a short pulse laser—1 ns to less than 50 fs. Recombination processes of multiply charged ions in the near wall layer with different plasma source-wall distances will be studied—primarily three-body recombination, and charge-exchange processes using the Nd:glass laser system (20 J, 2 ns, 530 nm) at the Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow. The interaction of a femtosecond laser plasma with the wall is expected to make the observation of fundamental processes possible. Thus the observation the direct interaction of highly charged ions with the surface will be possible. This means that femtosecond laser plasma-wall interaction is a promising way to create "hollow atoms". The femtosecond plasma experiments will be done with the femtosecond laser facility at the Brigham Young University in Provo, UT
(1 mJ/40 fs at 800 nm/1kHz). These studies will be important for the understanding of the fundamentals of plasma and highly charged ion interactions with solid walls. It is likely this work will lead to numerous applications in science and technology— magnetic confinement fusion, laser fusion, x-ray laser research, “Hollow Atoms” and the fabrication of quantum wells or quantum dots for example.
The work is a cooperative effort between The Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow and Brigham Young University in Provo, UT.
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Last modified 12 Nov 1998 by S. D. Bergeson