Post by Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR)

A probing look at hot plasma: Research team demonstrates how copper atoms shed electrons When laser flashes hit matter, electrons are knocked off their orbits around the atomic nuclei. This can generate extremely hot plasmas composed of charged particles – ions and electrons. As they report in the journal Nature Communications, researchers at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) have now observed this ionization process in more detail than ever before. To do so, they combined two state-of-the-art lasers: the X-ray free-electron laser and the high-intensity optical laser ReLaX at the HED-HiBEF experiment station at the European XFEL in Schenefeld, near Hamburg. Their findings not only deliver fundamental insights into the interaction of high-energy lasers and matter under extreme conditions; this new method also opens up new possibilities for diagnostics in laser fusion research. Read more: https://lnkd.in/dDU_Tesj Image: B. Schröder/HZDR