Peer-Review Publications

We report on the frequency doubling of femtosecond laser pulses at 1030 nm center wavelength generated from the fully diode-pumped laser system POLARIS. The newly generated pulses at a center wavelength of 515 nm have a pulse energy of 3 J with a pulse duration of 120 fs. On the basis of initially ultra-high contrast seed pulses we expect a temporal intensity contrast better 10^17 200 ps before the peak of the main pulse. We analyzed the temporal intensity contrast from milliseconds to femtoseconds with a dynamic range covering more than 20 orders of magnitude. The pulses were focussed with a f/2-focussing parabola resulting in a peak intensity exceeding 10^20 W/cm2. The peak power and intensity are to the best of our knowledge the highest values for 515 nm-laser-pulses achieved so far.

Linear polarization of bremsstrahlung x rays produced in collisions of longitudinally polarized 2.1-MeV electrons with gold atoms was studied using the Compton scattering technique. We observed that the angle of x-ray polarization is strongly correlated with the incoming electron polarization. This correlation reveals the dominance of the spin-orbit interaction in bremsstrahlung and indicates a striking effect of the electron spin on the electron motion in a strong Coulomb field. The results confirm the validity of the theoretical predictions in a computationally challenging energy regime.

It has been shown in the past that pulsed laser systems operating in the so-called “burst mode” are a beneficial approach to generate high peak power laser pulses at high repetition rates suitable for various applications. So far, most high-energy burst-mode laser systems put great effort into generating a homogeneous energy distribution across the burst duration, e.g., by shaping the pump pulse. In this work, we present a new shaping technique, which is able to produce arbitrary energy distributions within the burst by pre-shaping the seed pulse burst with a Pockels cell. Furthermore, this technique allows for the precompensation of any static modulations across the burst, which may be introduced during the subsequent amplification process. Therefore, a pulse burst with a uniform energy distribution can also be generated. The method is tested with an ultra-short pulse burst mode laser amplifier system producing bursts of a 1 ms duration with a pulse repetition rate of 1 MHz and a maximum output power of 800 W during the burst. Furthermore, a method to predict the influence of the amplifier on a non-uniformly shaped burst is presented and successfully tested to produce a pre-defined pulse shape after amplification.

A new continuous and broadband data acquisition system for measurements of Schottky-signals of ions revolving in a storage ring has been implemented. This set-up is capable of recording the radio frequency (RF) signal of the ions that circulate in the storage ring with a sustained acquisition rate of more than 3.5×10⁷ IQ-samples per second. This allows several harmonics of the full momentum acceptance of a storage ring to be measured at the same time. The RF signal analyzer modules are complemented by further electronic modules such as counters, precision clocks and synchronization modules that facilitate a seamless integration with main experimental data acquisitions for atomic and nuclear physics. In this contribution, the setup and first results from a test run at the experimental storage ring at GSI, Darmstadt, Germany, are presented.

A SQUID-based beam current monitor was developed for the upcoming FAIR-Project, providing a non-destructive online monitoring of the beam currents in the nA-range. The cryogenic current comparator (CCC) was optimized for lowest possible noise-limited current resolution together with a high system bandwidth. This CCC is foreseen to be installed in the CRYRING facility, working as a test bench for FAIR. In this contribution we present results of the completed CCC for FAIR/CRYRING and also arrangements that have been done for the installation of the CCC at CRYRING, regarding the cryostat design.

In this contribution, a brief overview of the Stored Particle Atomic physics Research Collaboration scientific program at the upcoming Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) is given. The program comprises a very broad range of research topics addressing atomic structure and dynamics in hitherto unexplored regimes, light–matter interactions, lepton pair production phenomena, precision tests of quantum electrodynamics and standard model in the regime of extreme fields and many more. We also present the current strategy for the realization of the envisioned physics program within the modularized start version (MSV) of FAIR.

Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR), will offer unprecedented experimental opportunities. The Stored Particles Atomic Research Collaboration (SPARC) at FAIR aims at creating a worldwide unique research program with highly charged ions by utilizing storage ring and trapping facilities. The foreseen experiments will address physics at strong, ultra-short electromagnetic fields including the fundamental interactions between electrons and heavy nuclei as well as the experiments at the border between nuclear and atomic physics. In view of the staged construction of the FAIR facility, SPARC worked out an early realization scheme for experiments with highly-charged heavy-ions at relativistic energies to be conducted in the High-Energy Storage Ring.

The x-rays emitted in the process of radiative recombination (RR) of quasi-free electrons into 2p₃/₂ excited state of hydrogenlike uranium ion were studied experimentally. Both the RR x-ray and the subsequently emitted Lyα₁ x-ray were detected in time-coincidences. The angular distribution of the Lyα₁ x-rays varied as a function of the RR x-ray emission direction. This observation revealed the coherent population of magnetic sublevels of the 2p₃/₂ state in the hydrogenlike uranium ion.

Position sensitive beam monitors are indispensable for the beam diagnostics in storage rings. Apart from their applications in the measurements of beam parameters, they can be used in non-destructive in-ring decay studies of radioactive ion beams as well as enhancing precision in the isochronous mass measurement technique. In this work, we introduce a novel approach based on cavities with elliptical cross-section, in order to compensate the limitations of known designs for the application in ion storage rings. The design is aimed primarily for future heavy ion storage rings of the FAIR project. The conceptual design is discussed together with simulation results.

We present a theoretical study on the recombination of a free electron into the ground state of a hydrogenlike ion in the presence of an external laser field. Emphasis is placed on the effects caused by the laser dressing of the residual ionic bound state. To investigate how this dressing affects the total and angle-differential cross section of laser-assisted radiative recombination (LARR) we apply first-order perturbation theory and the separable Coulomb-Volkov continuum ansatz. Using this approach, detailed calculations are performed for low-Z hydrogenlike ions and laser intensities in the range from I_L=10^12 to 10^13W/cm2. It is seen that the total cross section as a function of the laser intensity is remarkably affected by the bound-state dressing. Moreover, the laser dressing becomes manifest as asymmetries in the angular distribution and the (energy) spectrum of the emitted recombination photons.

In this paper we discuss the unique possibilities of studying atomic electron–positron pair production processes in high-resolution experiments at the high-energy storage ring (HESR) at the future FAIR accelerator complex. The two pair-production processes bound-free pair production and negative-continuum dielectronic recombination are contrasted. An overview of previous studies is given and requirements for experimental parameters of a magnetic forward-angle positron spectrometer at the HESR are depicted.

We have measured the x-rays following 116.15 MeV/u U⁸⁹⁺ collisions with H 2 at 35°, 90°, 120° and 150° observation angles with regard to the ion beam direction. From our experimental spectra combined with radiative electron capture calculations, we obtain angular distribution of characteristic x-rays L to K following the resonance transfer and excitation. Our result shows a good qualitative agreement with theoretical predictions.

In this contribution we present a comparison of the performance of spectrally broadened ultrashort pulses using a hollow-core fiber either filled with argon or sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) for demanding pulse-shaping experiments. The benefits of both gases for pulse-shaping are studied in the highly nonlinear process of high-harmonic generation. In this setup, temporally shaping the driving laser pulse leads to spectrally shaping of the output extreme ultraviolet (XUV) spectrum, where total yield and spectral selectivity in the XUV are the targets of the optimization approach. The effect of using sulfur hexafluoride for pulse-shaping the XUV yield can be doubled compared to pulse compression and pulse-shaping using argon and the spectral range for selective optimization of a single harmonic can be extended. The obtained results are of interest for extending the range of ultrafast science applications drawing on tailored XUV fields.

A scheme for enhanced quantum electrodynamics (QED) production of electron-positron-pair plasmas is proposed that uses two ultraintense lasers irradiating a thin solid foil from opposite sides. In the scheme, under a proper matching condition, in addition to the skin-depth emission of γ-ray photons and Breit-Wheeler creation of pairs on each side of the foil, a large number of high-energy electrons and photons from one side can propagate through it and interact with the laser on the other side, leading to much enhanced γ-ray emission and pair production. More importantly, the created pairs can be collected later and confined to the center by opposite laser radiation pressures when the foil becomes transparent, resulting in the formation of unprecedentedly overdense and high-energy pair plasmas. Two-dimensional QED particle-in-cell simulations show that electron-positron-pair plasmas with overcritical density 10²² cm⁻³ and a high energy of 100s of MeV are obtained with 10 PW lasers at intensities 10²³ W/cm², which are of key significance for laboratory astrophysics studies.

Sources of long wavelengths few-cycle high repetition rate pulses are becoming increasingly important for a plethora of applications, e.g., in high-field physics. Here, we report on the realization of a tunable optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier at 100 kHz repetition rate. At a central wavelength of 2 µm, the system delivered 33 fs pulses and a 6 W average power corresponding to 60 µJ pulse energy with gigawatt-level peak powers. Idler absorption and its crystal heating is experimentally investigated for a BBO. Strategies for further power scaling to several tens of watts of average power are discussed.

We are currently devising the open-endcap Penning trap experiment (high-intensity laser ion-trap experiment) as a tool for ion confinement, manipulation and detection to be used at high-energy and/or high-intensity laser facilities. This instrument will allow studies of laser–ion interactions with well-defined ion targets, and to detect the reaction products non-destructively. The ion target may be controlled concerning the constituent species, the density, shape and position with respect to the laser focus. For commissioning experiments, we optimize the focusing parameters to achieve a high number of ionized particles per shot. The detection electronics is designed to measure all charge states of all nuclei up to xenon. We plan first experiments with argon and xenon irradiated by a titanium:sapphire chirped-pulse-amplification laser system with 10 mJ pulse energy and a pulse duration of 30 fs.

The hyperfine transitions in lithium-like and hydrogen-like bismuth were remeasured by direct laser spectroscopy at the experimental storage ring. For this we have now employed a voltage divider which enabled us to monitor the electron cooler voltage in situ . This will improve the experimental accuracy by about one order of magnitude with respect to our previous measurement using the same technique.

In this work, we report on an experiment that investigated the elastic scattering of linearly polarized 175 keV photons on a gold target. A combined measurement of the angular distribution and the linear polarization of the scattered photons was performed using standard germanium detectors and a double-sided Si(Li) strip polarimeter. Since the data analysis is still in progress, we will show results in forthcoming papers and present here how the polarimeter was used to identify a lack of shielding during the experiment.

High energy storage ring (HESR) as a part of the future accelerator facility FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research) will serve for a variety of internal target experiments with high-energy stored heavy ions (SPARC collaboration). Bare uranium is planned to be used as a primary beam. Since a storage time in some cases may be significant—up to half an hour—it is important to examine the high-order effects in the long-term beam dynamics. A new ion optics specifically for the heavy ion mode of the HESR is developed and is discussed in this paper. The subjects of an optics design, tune working point and a dynamic aperture are addressed. For that purpose nonlinear beam dynamics simulations are carried out. Also a flexibility of the HESR ion optical lattice is verified with regard to various experimental setups. Specifically, due to charge exchange reactions in the internal target, secondary beams, such as hydrogen-like and helium-like uranium ions, will be produced. Thus the possibility of separation of these secondary ions and the primary U⁹²⁺ beam is presented with different internal target locations.

Laser cooling is a powerful technique to reduce the longitudinal momentum spread of stored relativistic ion beams. Based on successful experiments at the experimental storage ring at GSI in Darmstadt, of which we show some important results in this paper, we present our plans for laser cooling of relativistic ion beams in the future heavy-ion synchrotron SIS100 at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research in Darmstadt.

High order harmonics generated at relativistic intensities have long been recognized as a route to the most powerful extreme ultraviolet pulses. Reliably generating isolated attosecond pulses requires gating to only a single dominant optical cycle, but techniques developed for lower power lasers have not been readily transferable. We present a novel method to temporally gate attosecond pulse trains by combining noncollinear and polarization gating. This scheme uses a split beam configuration which allows pulse gating to be implemented at the high beam fluence typical of multi-TW to PW class laser systems. Scalings for the gate width demonstrate that isolated attosecond pulses are possible even for modest pulse durations achievable for existing and planned future ultrashort high-power laser systems. Experimental results demonstrating the spectral effects of temporal gating on harmonic spectra generated by a relativistic laser plasma interaction are shown.

We present a theoretical analysis of the fine-structure transitions for helium-like heavy ions with non-zero nuclear spin. The angular distribution of these transitions is studied for its sensitivity with regard to the nuclear magnetic dipole moment. Detailed calculations, performed for the helium-like Sn48+, Xe52+ and Tl79+ ions with nuclear spin I=1/2, indicate that the emission pattern of the fine-structure resolved photons is significantly affected by the nuclear magnetic dipole moment and that this effect can be addressed experimentally at present storage ring facilities.

Astrophysical x-ray bursts are thought to be a result of thermonuclear explosions on the atmosphere of an accreting neutron star. Between these bursts, energy is thought to be generated by the hot CNO cycles. The ¹⁵O(α,γ)¹⁹Ne reaction is one reaction that allows breakout from these CNO cycles and into the rp-process to fuel outbursts. The reaction is expected to be dominated by a single 3/2⁺ resonance at 4.033 MeV in ¹⁹Ne, however, limited information is available on this key state. This work reports on a pioneering study of the ²⁰Ne(p,d)¹⁹Ne reaction, performed in inverse kinematics at the experimental storage ring (ESR) as a means of accessing the astrophysically important 4.033 MeV state in ¹⁹Ne. The unique, background free, high luminosity conditions of the storage ring were utilized for this, the first transfer reaction performed at the ESR. The results of this pioneering test experiment are presented along with suggestions for future measurements at storage ring facilities.

The energy loss of light ions in dense plasmas is investigated with special focus on low to medium projectile energies, i.e., at velocities where the maximum of the stopping power occurs. In this region, exceptionally large theoretical uncertainties remain and no conclusive experimental data are available. We perform simulations of beam-plasma configurations well suited for an experimental test of ion energy loss in highly ionized, laser-generated carbon plasmas. The plasma parameters are extracted from two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations, and a Monte Carlo calculation of the charge-state distribution of the projectile ion beam determines the dynamics of the ion charge state over the whole plasma profile. We show that the discrepancies in the energy loss predicted by different theoretical models are as high as 20-30%, making these theories well distinguishable in suitable experiments.

We present novel high photon flux XUV and soft x-ray sources based on high harmonic generation (HHG). The sources employ femtosecond fiber lasers, which can be operated at very high (MHz) repetition rate and average power (>100 W). HHG with such lasers results in ∼1013 photons s−1 within a single harmonic line at ∼40 nm (∼30 eV) wavelength, a photon flux comparable to what is typically available at synchrotron beam lines. In addition, resonant enhancement of HHG can result in narrow-band harmonics with high spectral purity—well suited for precision spectroscopy. These novel light sources will enable seminal studies on electronic transitions in highly-charged ions. For example, at the experimental storage ring 2s1/2– 2p1/2 transitions in Li-like ions can be excited up to Z=47 (∼100 eV transition energy), which provides unique sensitivity to quantum electro-dynamical effects and nuclear corrections. We estimate fluorescence count rates of the order of tens per second, which would enable studies on short-lived isotopes as well. In combination with the Doppler up-shift available in head-on excitation at future heavy-ion storage rings, such as the high energy storage ring, even multi-keV transitions can potentially be excited. Pump–probe experiments with femtosecond resolution could also be feasible and access the lifetime of short-lived excited states, thus providing novel benchmarks for atomic structure theory.