A new target area is set up at the Helmholtz Institute Jena. One central aspect are combined experiments with the laser systems JETi200 and POLARIS. Additionally, a new dedicated probe laser system, JETi ONE, was installed giving the opportunity to investigate laser-plasma interactions with few-cycle laser pulse ranging from the visible to the mid infrared spectrum. In a first step, we...
In this contribution, we present results from a long-term experimental study of electron, electromagnetic, and ion emission at the iodine laser system PALS (wavelength 1315 nm, pulse duration 0.3 ns, up to 700 J on target). Charged-particle emission was investigated using a comprehensive set of diagnostics, including magnetic spectrometers and differential absorption spectrometers deployed at...
The Breit-Wheeler pair production experiment, under the project FOR2783[1], requires laser operation near the damage threshold of the turning mirror. Due to the experiment's inherently low cross section, a high number of laser shots is essential. Consequently, the selection of the mirrors and the geometry must be optimized to maximize shot count without exceeding damage limits. To support...
Shock–cloud interactions are a fundamental process in astrophysics, governing whether interstellar clouds collapse to form stars or are disrupted and dispersed into the surrounding medium. Laboratory astrophysics experiments provide a controlled platform to investigate the complex hydrodynamics involved in these interactions. In a experiment at the LULI2000 laser facility, we generated a...
The Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) is currently under construction and will start operations with first nuclear physics experiments in 2027. FAIR will offer unique high-intensity heavy ion beams and proton beams that will also be used by the HED@FAIR collaboration for warm dense matter (WDM) experiments. Three main experimental setups will be used by HED@FAIR for experiments:...
Dynamic compression of carbon-rich materials provides a pathway to nanodiamond formation [1-3] under extreme pressure–temperature conditions comparable to those of ice-giant interiors, where diamond precipitation has been proposed to influence planetary structure and evolution. Laser-driven shock experiments at x-ray free-electron lasers enable in situ, time-resolved characterisation of...
High-intensity laser interactions with solid targets generate powerful radiofrequency and microwave electromagnetic pulses (EMP) that scale with laser energy and intensity. The fundamental origins and underlying physical mechanisms of laser-induced EMP emission remain an unresolved challenge in high-energy-density physics, necessitating more sophisticated diagnostic and modeling approaches....
The structure of liquid carbon[1] and the formation of nanodiamonds under dynamic compression[2, 3] sparked scientific interest. The extreme conditions required were generated for a few nanoseconds using the HED-HIBEF instrument at EuXFEL[4] by the DiPOLE-100X laser. Laser-induced shock compression was utilised to compress glassy carbon, reaching Mbar pressures. For probing, X-ray Thomson...
Dynamically shock compressing plastics like polystyrene [PS, (C$_{8}$H$_{8}$)$_{\text{n}}$] or polyethylene terephthalate [PET, (C$_{10}$H$_{8}$O$_{4}$)$_{\text{n}}$] to Mbar pressures accesses a regime with peculiar phenomena, like carbon de-mixing and subsequent formation of diamond crystallites $^{[1,2]}$ or the predicted appearance of metallic hydrogen $^{[3]}$, that are expected to impact...
Hydrogen is becoming an increasingly important energy carrier in the context of sustainable energy systems. Consequently, there is strong interest in developing methods for hydrogen production that are both environmentally benign and energy efficient. Established production routes either rely on fossil fuels with significant CO₂ emissions or suffer from comparatively low overall...
Laser-accelerated ions typically exhibit an exponential energy spectrum up to a characteristic cut-off energy, which is a signature of target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) [1]. This broad energy distribution inherent to TNSA poses a significant limitation for applications requiring well-defined ion energies, such as proton therapy [2] and the fast ignition concept in inertial confinement...
The EU-funded THRILL project (Technology for High-Repetition-Rate Intense Laser Laboratories) has the goal to identify the most appropriate architecture of the next generation high-energy (kJ-class) lasers to be used in combination with the large-scale European research facilities Eu-XFEL and FAIR. Here the increase of the repetition rate from few shots per day the one shot per few minutes...
