Exploring relaxation dynamics in warm dense plasmas by tailoring non-thermal electron distributions with a free electron laser

Knowing the characteristic relaxation time of free electrons in a dense plasma is crucial to our understanding of plasma equilibration and transport. However, experimental investigations of electron relaxation dynamics have been hindered by the ultra-fast, sub-femtosecond timescales on which these i...

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Main Authors: Shi, Y, Ren, S, Chung, H-K, Wark, J, Vinko, S
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: AIP Publishing 2024
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author Shi, Y
Ren, S
Chung, H-K
Wark, J
Vinko, S
author_facet Shi, Y
Ren, S
Chung, H-K
Wark, J
Vinko, S
author_sort Shi, Y
collection OXFORD
description Knowing the characteristic relaxation time of free electrons in a dense plasma is crucial to our understanding of plasma equilibration and transport. However, experimental investigations of electron relaxation dynamics have been hindered by the ultra-fast, sub-femtosecond timescales on which these interactions typically take place. Here we propose a novel approach that uses x-rays from a free electron laser to generate well-defined non-thermal electron distributions, which can then be tracked via emission spectroscopy from radiative recombination as they thermalize. Collisional radiative simulations reveal how this method can enable the measurement of electron relaxation timescales in situ, shedding light on the applicability and accuracy of the Coulomb Logarithm framework for modelling collisions in dense plasmas.
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spelling oxford-uuid:b8d091ce-5f15-4149-ae60-63678b6a057d2024-08-06T10:08:03ZExploring relaxation dynamics in warm dense plasmas by tailoring non-thermal electron distributions with a free electron laserJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:b8d091ce-5f15-4149-ae60-63678b6a057dEnglishSymplectic ElementsAIP Publishing2024Shi, YRen, SChung, H-KWark, JVinko, SKnowing the characteristic relaxation time of free electrons in a dense plasma is crucial to our understanding of plasma equilibration and transport. However, experimental investigations of electron relaxation dynamics have been hindered by the ultra-fast, sub-femtosecond timescales on which these interactions typically take place. Here we propose a novel approach that uses x-rays from a free electron laser to generate well-defined non-thermal electron distributions, which can then be tracked via emission spectroscopy from radiative recombination as they thermalize. Collisional radiative simulations reveal how this method can enable the measurement of electron relaxation timescales in situ, shedding light on the applicability and accuracy of the Coulomb Logarithm framework for modelling collisions in dense plasmas.
spellingShingle Shi, Y
Ren, S
Chung, H-K
Wark, J
Vinko, S
Exploring relaxation dynamics in warm dense plasmas by tailoring non-thermal electron distributions with a free electron laser
title Exploring relaxation dynamics in warm dense plasmas by tailoring non-thermal electron distributions with a free electron laser
title_full Exploring relaxation dynamics in warm dense plasmas by tailoring non-thermal electron distributions with a free electron laser
title_fullStr Exploring relaxation dynamics in warm dense plasmas by tailoring non-thermal electron distributions with a free electron laser
title_full_unstemmed Exploring relaxation dynamics in warm dense plasmas by tailoring non-thermal electron distributions with a free electron laser
title_short Exploring relaxation dynamics in warm dense plasmas by tailoring non-thermal electron distributions with a free electron laser
title_sort exploring relaxation dynamics in warm dense plasmas by tailoring non thermal electron distributions with a free electron laser
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