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INDIA - CAT-DAE
CENTRE FOR ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY
Indore - 452 013, Madhya Pradesh
Telephone: +91 731 321341
Telefax: +91 731 321343
E-mail: ddb@cat.ernet.in
URL: http://www.cat.gov.in
| Director: | Bhawalkar, Dilip Devidas (Dr.) |
Scientists and Engineers
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Ansari, Mohammad S.
Arora, Vipul Bandopadhyay, Sujit Chakera, Juzer A. Chowdhury, Avijit Gupta, Parshottam D. (Dr.) Joshi, Anandwardhan S. Kamath, Mangalore P. Khardekar, Ravindra K. Khare, Prashant |
|
Kumar, Atul (Dr.)
Kumbhare, Sudhakar R. Moorti, Anand Naik, Prasad A. (Dr.) Navathe, Chandrashekhar P. Nigam, Sameer Pant, Hem Chandra Prasad, Y.B.S.R. Raghuramaiah, Manchi Rai, Virendranath (Dr.) |
This laboratory is conducting some basic studies on laser-plasma interactions relevant to Inertial Confinement Fusion.
The laboratory has constructed a four beam Nd:Glass laser system (125 Joule in 0.3-1.5 ns, 1.054 micron wavelength, per beam). Currently two beams of this laser are being used for experiments. Another Nd:YAG picosecond laser chain (2 J, 350 ps, 1.06 micron) is also operational.
A number of plasma diagnostics viz. visible, IR and X-ray streak cameras, x-ray and plasma calorimeters, image intensifier based x-ray pin-hole camera, MCP based x-ray pin-hole camera, interferometry and shadowgraphy, high speed (sub-nanosecond rise time) x-ray vacuum photodiode, K-edge filter spectrometer, transmission grating spectrometer, KAP crystal spectrometer, curved crystal spectrometer, neutron detectors etc. have been indigenously built.
Using above mentioned two laser systems and diagnostics, experimental studies have been carried out on laser-plasma coupling, energy transport, x-ray conversion, laser induced ablation for hydrodynamical stability of ablatively accelerated targets, x-ray enhancement in laser produced plasma expanding across a steady transverse magnetic field, shock wave propagation in thin foils, EOS measurements of variety of materials at high pressures, and generation of quasi Planckian thermal x-ray radiation from laser heated micro-cavities for radiation driven shock wave experiments.
Some numerical simulations studies are also being carried out using one and two dimensional radiation hydro codes. These include investigation on thermal smoothing of ablation pressure non-uniformity, enhanced x-ray radiation from velocity stagnated high-Z laser produced plasma, x-ray spectra from planar slab targets and effect of target and laser parameters on x-ray emission properties, radiation transport in laser produced plasmas and laser induced shock wave propagation in single and multi-layer targets.
B: Laboratory for Radiation in Plasmas
This laboratory is engaged in studies of laser plasma interaction with particular emphasis on research related to generation, characterization and applications of XUV-soft x-ray radiation.
Two high power laser systems have been set up and are being used for studies of laser plasma interaction in long and short pulse regimes. The first one is a Nd:phosphate glass laser chain. The output of this laser has now been frequency upconverted to give 2 GW, 3 ns laser pulses at 0.53 micron. The second is a 100 GW, 25ps Nd:phosphate glass laser system. A 1 TW Table Top Terawatt laser (Nd:glass) is under construction.
A variety of x-ray spectroscopic diagnostics and x-ray detection systems with high spatial (few microns) and temporal (few ps) resolutions have been developed. These include a number of x-ray crystal spectrometers, free-standing transmission grating XUV spectrograph, flat field grating XUV spectrograph, MCP-CCD based x-ray pinhole cameras, x-ray streak camera, S-1 optical stream camera, laser focal spot monitor, etc.
Basic as well as applied aspects of x-ray emission from laser produced plasmas are being investigated. Thermal x-ray generation and its dependence on laser and target parameters such as opacity enhancement in mix-Z plasmas, x-ray intensity enhancement and anomalous intensity ratios of x-ray spectral lines in expanding plasmas of non-equilibrium ionization, higher harmonic generation from solid surfaces, analysis of isotopic enhancement in laser plasma plumes, characterization of x-ray source for contact imaging, x-ray microscopic imaging of yeast cells and physical microstructures with a spatial resolution better than 200nm, developing stereoscopic x-ray imaging technique using twin laser produced plasmas, spectral distribution of keV x-ray yield from gold plasma, laser driven monochromatic x-ray point source of short-pulse duration in a diode configuration, generation of high current density electron pulses from laser driven ferroelectrics, are some examples of the work carried out in the last few years.
IAEA 2001