Ultrafast probing of magnetic field growth inside a laser-driven solenoid

• Published in: Physical review. E Vol. 95; no. 3-1; p. 033208
• Main Authors: Goyon, C, Pollock, B B, Turnbull, D P, Hazi, A, Divol, L, Farmer, W A, Haberberger, D, Javedani, J, Johnson, A J, Kemp, A, Levy, M C, Grant Logan, B, Mariscal, D A, Landen, O L, Patankar, S, Ross, J S, Rubenchik, A M, Swadling, G F, Williams, G J, Fujioka, S, Law, K F F, Moody, J D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 31.03.2017
• ISSN: 2470-0053
• DOI: 10.1103/physreve.95.033208

We report on the detection of the time-dependent B-field amplitude and topology in a laser-driven solenoid. The B-field inferred from both proton deflectometry and Faraday rotation ramps up linearly in time reaching 210 ± 35 T at the end of a 0.75-ns laser drive with 1 TW at 351 nm. A lumped-element circuit model agrees well with the linear rise and suggests that the blow-off plasma screens the field between the plates leading to an increased plate capacitance that converts the laser-generated hot-electron current into a voltage source that drives current through the solenoid. ALE3D modeling shows that target disassembly and current diffusion may limit the B-field increase for longer laser drive. Scaling of these experimental results to a National Ignition Facility (NIF) hohlraum target size (∼0.2cm^{3}) indicates that it is possible to achieve several tens of Tesla.