Thermal lensing: outside of the lasing medium

The thermal lens formed in a thermo-optical material as a result of its inhomogeneous heating, is a well-known phenomenon that has found widespread interest in the last decades, especially in the field of laser engineering and photo-thermal spectroscopy. In recent years, growing interest in the application of thermal lensing in different fields of optics and material studies has been observed. This review summarizes the latest efforts made by the scientific community to develop ways of using the phenomenon of thermal lensing. Its applications in spectroscopy, in laser beam formation and in imaging are described. The advantages and disadvantages of the thermal lensing in regard to these areas along with the potential future applications of the phenomenon are discussed.

IMPROVEMENT OF HELIUM IONS BEAM FORMATION AND TRANSPORT SYSTEM

Works on improvement of a beam formation and transport system from an accelerating section output to the target complex on NSC KIPT helium ions linear accelerator with output energy of 4 MeV, used for carrying out of radiating researches are continued. Results of researches spent with electromagnetic quadrupole lenses, forming a triplet are presented. Experiments with injected (120 keV) and accelerated (4 MeV) helium ions beams by means of advanced beam formation and transport system to a target are continued. The proposal on decrease in thermal loading of a triplet is formulated.

Experiments on intense ion beam formation with inhomogeneous electric field

The high efficiency of a new ion beam extraction system with a strongly inhomogeneous electric field has been experimentally demonstrated. Previously, this approach was proposed and analysed numerically by the authors. The experiment was carried out using a pulsed high-current electron-cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source SMIS 37 with high frequency (37.5 GHz) and high power (100 kW) microwave plasma heating. The accelerating field strength is increased (when compared to a flat or a quasi-pierced geometry) in the plasma meniscus region due to its inhomogeneity. It allows for the increase of the ion acceleration rate and for expansion of the available range of current densities with effective ion beam formation. The experiment demonstrated the main advantages of this approach, such as: a significant decrease in the optimal accelerating voltage for certain values of current density; a possibility of ion beam formation with previously inaccessible current densities; a significant decrease in the ion flux to the puller in non-optimal modes of ion beam formation. Proton beams with a current density of up to 1.1 A cm-2 were obtained for the first time with an ECR ion source.

Beam Formation and Vernier Steering Off of a Rough Surface

Wavefront shaping can refocus light after it reflects from an optically rough surface. One proposed use case of this effect is in indirect imaging; if any rough surface could be turned into an illumination source, objects out of the direct line of sight could be illuminated. In this paper, we demonstrate the superior performance of a genetic algorithm compared to other iterative feedback-based wavefront shaping algorithms in achieving reflective inverse diffusion for a focal plane system. Next, the ability to control the pointing direction of the refocused beam with high precision over a narrow angular range is demonstrated, though the challenge of increasing the overall scanning range of the refocused beam remains. The method of beam steering demonstrated in this paper could act as a vernier adjustment to a coarse adjustment offered by another method.

Compton-driven beam formation and magnetization via plasma microinstabilities

Compton scattering of gamma rays propagating in a pair plasma can drive the formation of a relativistic electron positron beam. This process is scrutinized theoretically and numerically via particle-in-cell simulations. In addition, we determine in which conditions the beam can prompt a beam-plasma instability and convert its kinetic energy into magnetic energy. We argue that such conditions can be met at the photosphere radius of bright gamma-ray bursts.

Detection of Scots Pine Single Seed in Optoelectronic System of Mobile Grader: Mathematical Modeling

The development of mobile optoelectronic graders for separating viable seeds by spectrometric properties with high detection accuracy represents a very relevant direction of development for seed handling operations. Here, the main parameters of the radiation source and receiver for detecting a single seed in the diagnostic system of a mobile grader were modeled based on the principles of technical optics using Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) seeds as a case study. Among the pine seeds in the seed batch, there are fossilized and empty seeds that are exactly the same in geometric and gravitational parameters as live seeds. For their separation from the seed batch, data from spectrometric studies in the near-infrared (980 nm) region can be used. To substantiate the parameters of the light source, a geometric optical model of optical beam formation was considered, while the energy model of optical beam formation was considered to substantiate the parameters of the light detector. The results of this study show that the signal value depended on the orientation of a single seed relative to the recording window. The beam angle from the radiation source should be within 45 degrees. The difference between the optical streams should be 50 microns, which made it possible to clearly detect the signal at a standard noise level of 15 microns and signal-to-noise detection accuracy ratio of 56.3 dB. This study expands theoretical knowledge in the field of the spectrometric properties of a single seed, considering the cases of its orientation relative to the optical beam, which affected the effective area of detection of the seed. The obtained data on the location of the main elements of the diagnostic system will speed up the design of mobile optoelectronic graders, and the development of a contemporary protocol for improving Scots pine seed quality.