John T. CostelloNational Centre for Plasma Science & Technology (NCPST) and School of Physical Sciences, Dublin City University

www.physics.dcu.ie/~jtc & john.costello@dcu.ie

Laser Generated Plasmas - (Stars with a Bright Future)

Astronomy/Phys Society, NUI-Maynooth, Feb 17th, 2004

Outline of Talk

Part I - Laser Plasma Fundamentals Laser Plasmas: Generation, Properties & Scales

Part II - Laser Plasma UV - X-ray Light Sources

Part III - Absorption Imaging of Laser Plasmas

Part IV - Into the future Laser Plasmas & Extreme PhysicsUltraintense (Petawatt) Laser Generated Plasmas - RAL

A New Laser, 'VUV/X-Ray Free Electron Laser' - DESY-FEL

Collaborators & Contributors to the TalkLaser Plasma SourcesRAL - Edmund Turcu & Waseem ShaikhQUB - Ciaran Lewis and A MacPheeDCU - Oonagh Meighan & Adrian Murphy

Absorption ImagingPadua - Piergiorgio Nicolosi and Luca Poletto DCU - John Hirsch, Kevin Kavanagh & Eugene Kennedy

DESY Extreme-UV & X-ray Free Electron Laser Hasylab-Josef Feldhaus, Elke Ploenjes, Kai Tiedke et al.Orsay- Michael Meyer & Patrick O'Keefe, Lund- Jorgen Larsson et al.MBI- Ingo Will et al.DCU- Eugene Kennedy & John HirschPadua- Piergiorgio Nicolosi

Petawatt VULCAN Laser VUV/EUV Science & TechnologyRAL - Colin Danson U. Berkeley - David Attwood

Staff: John T. Costello, Eugene T. Kennedy, Jean-Paul Mosnier andPaul van Kampen

Post Doctoral Fellows: John Hirsch (ETK/JC) Deirdre Kilbane (PVK/JC) -2004Jean-Rene Duclere (JPM) - 2004Incoming - Hugo de Luna (JC) - Easter 2004Vacancy (ETK)

PGs: Kevin Kavanangh, Adrian Murphy (JC) Jonathan Mullen (PVK) + Vacancy (PVK/JC) Alan McKiernan, Mark Stapleton, Rick O'Hare (JPM), Eoin O’Leary & Pat Yeates (ETK)

MCFs:Jaoine Burghexta (Navarra) and Nely Paravanova (Sofia)Michael Novotny (CZ - incoming)

The CLPR node comprises 6 laboratories focussed on PLD (2) & photoabsorption spectroscopy/ imaging (4)

NCPST - CLPR

NCPST/ CLPR - What do we do ?DCUPico/Nanosecond Laser Plasma Light SourcesVUV, XUV & X-ray Photoabsorption SpectroscopyVUV Photoabsorpion ImagingVUV LIPS for Analytical PurposesICCD Imaging and Spectroscopy of PLD Plumes

Orsay/Berkeley SynchrotronsPhotoion and Photoelectron Spectroscopy

Hamburg - FELFemtosecond IR+XUV Facility Development

Part I - Table Top Laser-Plasmas

Plasma & The 4 Phases of Matter

Greek Philosophers Physicists

Earth SolidWater LiquidWind Gas Fire Plasma

Plasma: Fluid (gas) of electrons and ions

Why study plasmas ?NGC 4676

Plasma Process ?

START

'Table-Top' Pulsed Lasers

Q-switched Nd-YAG: DCU1J in 10 ns = 100 MW, (1012 W.cm-2 in 100 m spot)

SBS Compressed Nd-YAG: DCU0.5J in 150 ps ~ 3 GW, (1014 W.cm-2 in 30 m spot)

Modelocked Ti-Sapphire: Coherent (QUB-PLIP) 0.03 mJ in 30 fs = 1 GW, 1 x 1015 W.cm-2 in a 10 m spot

How do you make a laser plasma ?

Target

Lens

Emitted -Atoms,Ions,

Electrons,Clusters,

IR - X-ray Radiation

PlasmaAssisted

Chemistry

Vacuum orBackground Gas

Laser Pulse 1064 nm/0.01 - 1 J/ 5ps - 10 ns

Spot Size = 50 m (typ.): 1011 - 1014 W.cm-2

Te : 10 - 1000 eVNe: 1021 cm-3

Vexpansion 106 cm.s-1

How is a laser plasma formed ? Seed electrons are liberated by single (or multi) photon ionization from

the surface forming a tenuous plasma These electrons absorb laser photons by Inverse Bremssstrahlung

(IB) and are raised to high energies -

e (T1) + n + (Zn+) e (T2) + (Zn+), T2 = T1+nЋ These energetic electrons collide with the target surface causing

futher ablation and ionization. The electron density close to the target surface rises rapidly until a

'critical density layer' is formed where the 'plasma frequency' becomes comparable to the laser frequency, P = Laser -

P =(4e2ne/me)1/2, Laser =(4e2nc/me)1/2 -

nc (cm-3) = 1.1 x 1021 (1 m/Laser)2

At this point the plasma becomes reflecting and the laser light cannot penetrate through ot the target.

The Plasma plume expands, ne drops below nc, the laser light

penetrates through to the surface and the process cycle continues.

Intense Laser Plasma Interaction

S Elizer, “The Interaction of High Power Lasers with Plasmas”, IOP Series in Plasma Physics (2002)

What does a Laser Plasma look like ?

PLASMAGENERATION

PLASMAEXPANSION

FILMGROWTH

Target

IncidentLaserbeam

Expanding PlasmaPlume

Substrate

Video - Air Breakdown with 150 picosecond laser pulses

QuickTime™ and aYUV420 codec decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Video - Air Breakdown with 150 picosecond laser pulses - EKSPLA 312P

Plasma temperatures, expansion velocities, etc.all easily estimated from simple scaling laws -

See Shalom Elizer,''The interaction of high power lasers with plasmas'IOP Publishing, 2002

Reviewed by J Costello in 'Contemporary Physics', Vol 44, pp373-374 (2003)

Laser Plasmas - Some Fundamentals

The state of a plasma is characterised by e.g., electrontemperature, average ion stage, etc.

Laser Plasmas Electron Temperatures

€

TE

( eV ) ≈ 5 × 10

− 6

At . No .( )

1 / 5

IL

( W . cm

− 2

) λL

2

( μ m )

2

( )

3 / 5

Plasma ElectronTemperature Te-dependence onlaser wavelength& intensity

D Colombant & G F Tonon, J.Appl.Phys Vol 44, pp3524-3537 (1973)

Laser-Plasmas Extreme Plasma Fields

€

EMAX

( V / cm ) ≈ 1 . 0 × 10

7I

LASER

10

16

W . cm

− 2

⎛

⎝

⎞

⎠

10

21

cm

− 3

nc

⎛

⎝

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

100 μ m

rLASER

⎛

⎝

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

€

BMAX

( Gauss ) ≅ 6 . 5 × 10

5n

e

nc

⎛

⎝

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

1 / 2

ILASER

10

14

W . cm

− 2

⎛

⎝

⎞

⎠

1 / 2

Laser-PlasmasExtreme Plasma Pressure

€

Pelectron

( Bar ) = ne

kB

Te

≅ 1 . 6 Mbar

ne

10

21

cm

− 3

⎛

⎝

⎞

⎠

1 / 2

(

Te

keV

)

How highly chargedcan the ions get ?

€

ZAv .

≈ At . No . × Te

( )

1 / 3

Laser Plasmas Plume Velocity

€

UBlowoff

( cm / sec) ≅ 3 × 10

7Z

A

⎛

⎝

⎞

⎠

1 / 2

Te

keV

⎛

⎝

⎞

⎠

1 / 2

Essentially a fast framing camera - Nanosecond shutter time &

synchonised to laser with low (<ns) jitter !

Plasma plume expands rapidly need fast (nanosecond) time resolved

probes and detectors

Solution: Intensified CCD - (ICCD)

Time Resolved (gated) ICCD imaging

I

ICCD

t

Delay-Gate Gen.Nd-YAG0.5 J/ 15 ns

Videos of plume emission of laser plasmaexpanding into vacuum. Each frame is

10 ns wide/ 50 ns delay between frames

Video 1

Video 2

ICCD Framing Photography (P Yeates, DCU)

Video 1 - Laser Plasma formed on flat Al metal surface

QuickTime™ and aYUV420 codec decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Video 2 - Laser Plasma formed in slot (confined)

QuickTime™ and aYUV420 codec decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

So, in summary we know that:Laser Produced Fireballs are-

Hot: Te = 105 - 108 KelvinDense: ne= 1021 e/cm3

Transient: ps - sRapid: 106 - 107 cm/sec

Dublin to Cork in 3 seconds !!!

We can tune temperature, density etc. so that theyproduce spectra to be compared with spectra from other laboratory and astrophysical sources !!

So now we know that laser plasmas are

hot & dense !

Laser - Astrophysical Plasmas - Solar Interior

Figure - David Attwood, U C Berkeley

Part II-UV to X-ray Light Sources

Generally Extreme-UV Science & Technology is Growing Rapidly

1. Industry: Lithography2. Bio-Medical: Microscopy3. Basic Research: Astronomy

Since a laser plasma is HOT - (Te= 10 - 1000 eV) and (say) you consider it to be a black (or grey) body, then most emission should be at photon energies also in the 10 - 1000 eV range, i.e., at Vacuum Ultraviolet (VUV), Extreme-Ultraviolet (EUV) and Soft X-ray (SXR) wavelengths !!

Figure from lectures notes of David Attwood, U Calif.-Berkeley

Laser Plasmas as VUV to X-ray Light Sources - I

Lots of activity right now driven by prospects for reducing feature sizes in semiconductor lithography - diffraction limit

Lithography Slides from David Attwood - Berkeley

Laser Plasmas as VUV to X-ray Light Sources - II

EUV Solar Image using a Multilayer

Mirror based Cassegrain Mount

From Lectures Notes of Prof. David Attwood,

U Calif.-Berkeley

TRACE Image

Arthur B C Walker:Born: Aug.24, 1936 Died: Apr.29, 2001

sunland.gsfc.nasa.gov/smex/trace/

EUV- SXR astronomy

But back to laser-plasma EUV Sources

Our Major Objective:

We want to probe matter with wavelength tuneable UV-SXR radiation so that we can study photoabsorption/ photo-ionization. Ergo we need a laser plasma source that emits a 'continuum' from the UV to the soft X-ray:

We need a table-top 'synchrotron'

P K Carroll et al., Opt.Lett 2, 72 (1978)

Laser Produced ‘Rare Earth’ Continua Physical Origin, History & Update

What is the Origin of the Continuum ?

Continua emitted from laser produced

rare-earth (and neighbouring element)

plasmas are predominantly

free-bound in origin

Where have all the lines gone ?

Bound - Free Transitions - Recombination/Photoionization*

A(n+1)+ + e An+ + h

Ultrafast Laser Plasma Continua - IPicosecond LPLS (DCU, QUB & RAL, UK)

Meighan, Costello et al., Appl.Phys.Lett 70, 1497 (1997) & J.Phys.B 33, 1159 (2000)

Streak Camera Trace from a W plasma

Picosecond EUV Emission Spectra

Ultrafast Laser Plasma Continua - II

Summary - LP Continuum Light Sources

1. Table-top continuum light source now well established

2. Covers Deep-UV to soft X-ray spectral range

3. Pulse duration can be < 100 ps !

4. Continuum flux ~ 1014 photons/pulse/sr/nm

5. Low cost laboratory source

6. Next step -

Working on (100 ps) + (6ns) Pre-plasma source - we already see a flux gain of up to X4 with Cu-A Murphy et al., Proc SPIE, 4876, 1202 (2003)

Now we can probe matter with photoionizing radiation from this Fast-Pulsed, Laser Plasma Continuum Light Source

BUT !!!Laser plasmas are also are a source of atoms, ions, clusters, etc.

Ergo not only should we be able to develop laser plasmas into light sources but also into samples of atoms and ions to be probed.

Result - DUAL LASER PLASMA (DLP) PHOTO-ABSORPTION EXPERIMENTS

DUAL LASER PLASMA (DLP) EXPERIMENTS

UV - Xray Source

AbsorbingSample

Why Photoabsorption ?

Access to ground/ metastable state (Dark) species

Electric dipole excitation yields tractable spectra

Photoabsorption/ ionization data are relevant to- Astrophysical spectra and models Laboratory plasma modelling Fundamental many-body theory X-ray laser schemes ICF

DLP Studies on C Ions (Padua)- IVUV Photoabsorption - Absolute Cross-sections !

Normal Incidence DLP Setup

P Recanatini, P Nicolosi & P Villoresi, Phys. Rev. A 64, Art. No. 012509 (2001)

Spaced resolved emission from a W plasmain the VUV around (a) 49 nm and (b) 69 nm

Motivation: Ions of astrophys. interest, tests of databases (Opacity, etc.)

DLP Studies on Ions (Padua) - II, C+

Absorption spectra of C+ taken at an inter-plasma delay of 58 ns and at 2.1 and 3.3 mm above the carbon target surface

2.1 mm

3.3 mm

1.2 J on target in line focus: 9 mm X 0.01 mm

Work centres low-Z ions of astrophysical interest

All isonuclear sequences of Be, B and C measured.

Designed and built DLP systems to work from VUV to Soft X-ray (Carbon K)

Have determined absolute photoabsorption cross sections using DLP

Group have designed and built many VUV and EUVspectrometers and optical systems for NASA

Summary - Padua

DublinHave published upwards of 100 papers on DLP photoabsorption experiments on selected atoms and ions from all rows of the periodic table.

Motivation - almost always exploration of some 'quirk' of the photoionization process in a many electron atom !

Recent Examples“Trends in Autoionization of Rydberg States converging to the 4s Threshold in the Kr-Rb+-Sr2+ Series: Experiment and Theory”Amit Neogi, John T Costello et al., Phys.Rev.A 67, Art. No. 042707 (2003)

“EUV Ionising Radiation and Atoms and Ions: Dual Laser Plasma Investigations”,

E T Kennedy, J T Costello, J-P Mosnier and P van Kampen, Radiat. Phys. Chem. (in press 2004)

BUT NO TIME TO TALK ABOUT THAT RIGHT NOW BECAUSE I WANT TO TALK ABOUT.....................

VUV Photoabsorption Imaging

Part III

Collaboration between DCU & Univ. PaduaKey paper:J Hirsch, E Kennedy, J T Costello, L Poletto & P Nicolosi Rev.Sci. Instrum. 74, 2992 (2003)

VUV Photoabsorption Imaging Principle

Pass a collimated VUV beam through the plasma sample and measure the spatial distribution of the absorption.

Io(x,y,,t)

Sample

I(x,y,,t)

VUVCCD

€

I =I0e−σ n(l )dl∫

John Hirsch et al, J.Appl.Phys. 88, 4953 (2000)

Why Photoabsorption ?

Because we can see the 'Dark'or 'Non-Emitting' matter

in the plasma

Direct imaging of light emitted by a plasma using gated array detectors (e.g., ICCD) provides information on excited species only

Why a pulsed, tuneable and collimated beam ?

• Pulsed

Automatic time resolution:

the VUV pulse duration ~ laser pulse duration (~0.1-30 ns)

• Wavelength Tuneable

Can access all resonance lines of all atoms & moderately

charged ions with resonances between 30 nm and 100 nm

(present system)

• Collimated (Parallel VUV Beam)

Can place the sample and CCD anywhere along the beam

VUV Photoabsorption Imaging Facility-

‘V-P-I-F’

Monochromator

Grating

Exit slit

Entrance slit

FocussingToroidal Mirror

Plasma source

Collimating Toroidal Mirror

Sample Plasma CCD

VUV Bandpass Filter

The obligatory picture !!

VUV Monochromator

Mirror Chambers

LPLS Chamber

Sample Plasma Chamber

VUV-CCD

VPIF Specifications

Time resolution: ~10 ns (200 ps with new EKSPLA)

Inter-plasma delay range: 0 - 10 sec

Delay time jitter: ± 1ns

Monochromator: Acton™ VM510 (f/12, f=1.0 m)

VUV photon energy range: 10 - 35 eV (120 - 35 nm)

VUV bandwidth: 0.025 eV @25 eV (50m/50m slits)

~0.05 nm @ 50 nm

Detector: Andor™ BN-CCD,

1024 x 2048/13 m x 13 m pixels

Spatial resolution: ~120 m (H) x 150 m (V)

What do we extract from I and Io images ?

€

A=log10(I0(x,y,t,λ)dλ∫I (x,y,t,λ)dλ∫ )Absorbance:

€

WE = [1−e−σ (λ)NL]∫

€

WE =Δλ[I0 −I ]dλ∫I 0dλ∫

⎛

⎝ ⎜

⎞

⎠ ⎟

EquivalentWidth:

d

Tune system to 3 unique resonances

Ca: 3p64s2 (1S) + (31.4 eV) 3p54s23d (1P)

Ca+: 3p64s (2S) + (33.2 eV) 3p54s23d (2P)

Ca2+: 3p6 (1S) + (34.7 eV) 3p53d (1P)

Time resolved W maps of Ca plume species

Maps of equivalent width of atomic calcium using the 3p-3d resonance at 31.4 eV (39.48 nm) - 200 mJ on line focus 3mm x 0.015 mm

Maps of equivalent width of Ca+ using the 3p-3d resonance at 33.2 eV - (200 mJ/15ns on line focus 5 mm x 0.015 mm)

Maps of equivalent width of Ca2+ using the 3p-3d resonance at 34.7 eV - 200 mJ/15ns on line focus 5mm x 0.015 mm

Expansion of singly ionized calcium plume component using the 3p-3d resonance at 37.34 nm (33.2 eV)

QuickTime™ and aGIF decompressorare needed to see this picture.

7 frames: 5 ns, 20 ns, 35 ns, 50 ns, 75 ns, 100 ns &125 ns

4 mm

4 mm

PLD Fluence level - 40 mJ/mm2 or 4J/cm2

Plume Expansion Profile of Singly Charged Ions

Ca+ plasma plume velocityexperiment: 1.1 x 106 cms-1

simulation: 9 x 105 cms-1

Ba+ plasma plume velocityexperiment: 5.7 x 105 cms-1

simulation: 5.4 x 105 cms-1

Delay (ns)

Plu

me

CO

G P

ositi

on (

cm)

You can also extracts maps of column density,e.g.,Singly Ionized Barium

Since we measure resonant photoionization, e.g.,

Ba+(5p66s 2S)+h Ba+*(5p56s6d 2P) Ba2+ (5p6 1S)+e-

h = 26.54 eV (46.7 nm) and

the ABSOLUTE VUV photoionization cross-section

for Ba+ has been measured:

Lyon et al., J.Phys.B 19, 4137 (1986)

We should be able to extract maps of column density -

'NL' = ∫n(l)dl

Maps of equivalent width of Ba+ using the 5p-6d resonance at 26.55 eV (46.7 nm)

dl

Convert from WE to NLCompute WE for a range of NL and fit a function f(NL) to a plot of NL .vs. W

Apply pixel by pixel

€

WE = [1−e−σ (λ)NL]∫ d

Result - Column Density [NL] Maps

(A) 100 ns (B) 150 ns(C) 200 ns(D) 300 ns(E) 400 ns(F) 500 ns

VPIF - Provides pulsed, collimated and tuneable VUV beam for probing dynamic and static samples

Spectral (1000) & spatial (<100 m) resolution anddivergence (< 0.2 mrad) all in excellent agreement with ray tracing results

Extracted time and space resolved maps of column density for various time delays

Measured plume velocity profiles compare quite well with simple simulations based on adibatic expansion

VPIF - Summary

Space Resolved Thin Film VUV Transmission and Reflectance Spectroscopy - PVK

‘Colliding-Plasma Plume' Imaging

Combining ICCD Imaging/Spectroscopy & P/Imag Non-Resonant Photoionization Imaging

VUV Projection Imaging ?

Photoion Spectroscopy of Ion Beams ?

Current & Future Applications

‘Colliding Stars Model System' - 'Colliding Plasmas'

The graceful shape of this nebula is the result of a violent interaction betweentwo stars. This image was captured by the Wide Field and Planetary Cameraon the Hubble Space Telescope.

Image Credit: NASA, Massimo Stiavelli, STScI ODButterfly Nebula

NGC 2346

First and very preliminary testson colliding plasma imaging with

the VPIF

QuickTime™ and aGIF decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Colliding Plasmas on Flat Target

Colliding 'Opposing' Plasmas

QuickTime™ and aGIF decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Part IV - Into the future

Laser Plasmas & Extreme Physics

Ultraintense (Petawatt) Laser Generated Plasmas - RAL

A New Laser, 'VUV/X-Ray Free Electron Laser' - DESY-FEL

Petawatt 'VULCAN laser' - CLF @ RAL-UK800 J in 800 fs = 1 PW, 1021 W.cm-2 in a 10 m spot

Extreme Fields - Accelerated Plasma ElectronsWhen do the electrons (plasmas) go relativistic ?

€

=

1

1 −

v

2

c

2

⎛

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟

1 / 2

= 30 - ve=0.999 c

1. So already we have electrons accerated up toGeV energies over a laser plasma dimension of < 0.1 mm2. So the possibility for compact GeV and maybe even TeVaccerators cannot be ruled out3. Also high fluxes of > 10 MeV ions, neutrons/protons have been produced and even proton radiographs !! M Borghesi (QUB)

Free Electron Laser at Hasylab, DESY, Hamburg

'Laser-like' radiation in the VUV and EUV

And Finally !!!!!!

Free electron radiation sources

Bending magnet, broad band

NW x bending magnet

NU2 x bending magnet

NU2 x Ne x bending magnet

NU , NW = # magnetic periods

Ne = # electrons in a bunch

1=u/22(1+K2/2)

Josef Feldhaus, DESY, Hamburg

Schematic layout of a SASE FEL

First Experiments DESY Phase 1 FELNature 420 (2002) 482

The DESY (EUV) FEL will generate low temperature and high density plasmas -

WARM DENSE MATTER

Dual Laser Experiments at the Hamburg (Hasylab), DESY - FEL

EUV FEL + Femtosecond OPAs- The Ultimate Photoionization Expt ?

Tuneable: TTF1: 80 - 110 nm Ultrafast: 100 fs pulse durationHigh PRF: 1 - 10 bunch trains/sec with up to 11315pulses/bunchEnergy: Up to 1 mJ/bunchIntense: 100 J (single pulse) /100 fs /1 m => 1017 W.cm-2

Project Title:‘Pump-Probe’ with DESY-VUV-FEL (EU-RTD)Aim:FEL + OPA synchronisation with sub ps jitter Key Ref: http://tesla.desy.de/new_pages/TDR_CD/start.htmlPersonnel:DESY, MBI, CLPR-DCU, LURE, LLC, BESSY

synchronization

790-830 nm100 fs

SHG

Nd:YLF pulse train laser(identical to cathode laser)

pump beam524 nm10 ps

Ti-Sa oscillator

LBO crystal

Non-linear crystalOPA

Amplified beamFilterSynchronization

with RF/FELPulse

stretcher

Pulsecompressor

10 ps790-830 nm

150 fs

weaktunablefemtosecond

high-power1048 nm10 ps

Laser system developed by MBITransport to DESY early 2004

Two- color pump-probe facility combining a FEL and a high-power optical laser

EU FP5 Project 2001-2005

Participating OrganisationsHASYLAB at DESY, Germany (coord.)BESSY GmbH, GermanyMax-Born-Institut Berlin, GermanyDublin City University, IrelandMAX-Lab, Lund Laser Centre, SwedenCNRS/LURE Orsay, France

Goal: 200 fs

http://tesla.desy.de/new_pages/TDR_CD/start.html

Two- color pump-probe facility combining a FEL and a high-power optical laser

We will be able to study intense laser-matter interaction at ultrashort laser wavelengths (1nm) for the first time

We will be able to do new photoionization experiments on laser generated plasmas (WDM), clusters etc. with femto-second time resolution

The unprecedented intensity will permit detection and measurements of weakly absorbing species

We will be able to do non-linear optics (e.g., harmonic generation, IR + EUV frequency mixing) in the EUV and X-ray for the first time

Time table EUV FEL

February 2004: - complete linac vacuum- install photon diagnostics in FEL tunnel

Mar.-July 2004: - injector commissioning- completion of LINAC

Aug.-Dec. 2004: - LINAC and FEL commissioning with short bunch trains- installation of first two FEL beamlines (~20 µm focus direct beam and high resolution PGM)

Jan.-March 2005: - commissioning of first FEL beamlines and gas ionisation monitor- photon beam diagnostics

Spring 2005: - first user experiments

European XFEL – Site Proposal

Thank you for listening !!!

Conclusions Large body of knowledge built up since the first laser

plasma experiments of the mid. 1960s

Laser Plasmas are poised (much like discharge plasmas

20 years ago) to have a major industrial/Biomedical

impact: Pulsed Laser Deposition (didn't mention) but

also as VUV - X-ray light sources

VUV, EUV& X-ray optics developing rapidly and will

match UV/visible optics in the next decade

Ultrafast, Petawatt and EUV lasers will bring us into new

parameter spaces (some dovetailing with astrophysical

plasmas) where we can explore extreme physics