Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Terawatt Ultrafast High Field Facility: TUHFF

The Chemistry Division’s Terawatt Ultrafast High Field Facility (TUHFF) was built in order to provide a source of femtosecond electron pulses, femtosecond tunable x-rays (soft and hard), and femtosecond proton pulses. TUHFF will primarily be used for applications in the fields of chemistry and physics. A Titanium:Sapphire based laser system that produces 0.6 Joules of energy in a 50 femtosecond pulse was constructed. This system produces peak powers in excess of 10 terawatt! Because of these extremely high power levels, part of the laser system and the experimental areas (target chamber) are contained in vacuum chambers to prevent the dielectric breakdown of air. Currently, we are exploring the generation of femtosecond pulses of ionizing radiation (both protons and electrons) and of x-rays by focusing this intense beam (power density >10^19 W/cm2!) into either a metal target (hard x-rays and protons) or a supersonic gas jet (energetic electrons).
Source: Chemistry division, Argonne National Laboratory

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Anonymous said...

Postdoctoral Appointee

Title: Postdoctoral Appointee Date Posted: 10/13/2006
Division: Chemistry Division Date Re-posted:
Requisition: 311038 CHM Salary:
Employment Category: Temporary Pay Cycle: Monthly
Shift: Grade:
Hours: 40 Location: Chicago Facility

Job Description
The Chemistry Division at Argonne National Laboratory has an immediate opening for a Postdoctoral Appointee. There is a strong initiative at Argonne to pursue the acceleration of electron beams utilizing a laser plasma wake field accelerator. The program integrates both computational and experimental efforts and synergizes the strength of accelerator and laser physicists that exist at ANL. The goal is to generate a high energy, high quality electron beam and stabilize the operation of the system and the beam characteristics. This position requires considerable knowledge in the area of physics of laser plasma interaction experiments, and in particular on the acceleration of electrons in plasma wakes, as well as nonlinear laser behavior. It also requires considerable knowledge/understanding of operating a multi-TW laser system, assembling and applying diagnostics for laser beams, plasma parameters. Knowledge of electron beam diagnostics is a plus. The ability to publish in technical journals must also be demonstrated successfully. The challenge for this position is: Optimizing the performance of existing laser plasma accelerator by closely working with laser physicist and computational physicist; assembling of laser, plasma, and electron beam diagnostics; and to demonstrate high energy high quality electron beam generation in laser plasma accelerator. Interested candidates should send a detailed CV, along with a list of publications, and the names and addresses of three references through the Argonne web site at http://www.anl.gov/jobs under job search for postdoctoral/job openings, for requisition number 311038. Argonne is a U.S. Department of Energy laboratory managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC. Argonne is an equal opportunity employer, and we value diversity in our workforce.