- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine

Physical Review Research

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Letter
  • Open Access

Orbital-angular-momentum-enhanced laser absorption and neutron generation

N. Peskosky*, N. P. Ernst*, M. Burger, J. Murphy, J. Nees†, I. Jovanovic, A. G. R. Thomas, and K. Krushelnick‡

  • *These authors contributed equally to this work.
  • †Contact author: nees@umich.edu
  • ‡Contact author: kmkr@umich.edu
PDF

Phys. Rev. Research 7, L032064 – Published 22 September, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/cmm4-hxl8

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate enhanced absorption of near-relativistic optical vortex beams in D2O plasmas to generate a record fast-neutron yield of 1.45×106 n/s/sr. Beams with a topological charge of 5 were shown to deliver up to a 3.3 times enhancement of fast-neutron yield over a Gaussian focus of the same energy and an order of magnitude higher intensity. This result was achieved via mJ-class, high-repetition-rate (480 Hz) laser of 16 mJ and a pulse duration of 67 fs striking a free-flowing, 15-µm diameter heavy-water stream. Three-dimensional Particle-in-Cell simulations show unique vortex pulse filamentation and subsequent laser absorption. The orbital angular momentum beam evolution within the nonuniform plasma column leads to the excitation of sheared plasma waves, resulting in net transfer of angular momentum, enhanced volumetric heating, and subsequently increased D-D reactions.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (52)

  1. A. M. Yao and M. J. Padgett, Orbital angular momentum: Origins, behavior and applications, Adv. Opt. Photonics 3, 161 (2011).
  2. A. Longman and R. Fedosejevs, Modeling of high intensity orbital angular momentum beams for laser–plasma interactions, Phys. Plasmas 29, 063109 (2022).
  3. J. F. Nye, M. V. Berry, and F. C. Frank, Dislocations in wave trains, Proc. R. Soc. London A 336, 165 (1974).
  4. L. Allen, M. W. Beijersbergen, R. J. C. Spreeuw, and J. P. Woerdman, Orbital angular momentum of light and the transformation of Laguerre-Gaussian laser modes, Phys. Rev. A 45, 8185 (1992).
  5. M. T. Gruneisen, W. A. Miller, R. C. Dymale, and A. M. Sweiti, Holographic generation of complex fields with spatial light modulators: Application to quantum key distribution, Appl. Opt. 47, A32 (2008).
  6. J. Leach, S. Keen, M. J. Padgett, C. Saunter, and G. D. Love, Direct measurement of the skew angle of the Poynting vector in a helically phased beam, Opt. Express 14, 11919 (2006).
  7. L. Allen, M. Padgett, and M. Babiker, IV The orbital angular momentum of light, in Progress in Optics (Elsevier, 1999), Vol. 39, pp. 291–372.
  8. A. E. Siegman, Lasers (University Science Books, Mill Valley, California, 1986).
  9. J. Durnin, J. J. Miceli, and J. H. Eberly, Diffraction-free beams, Phys. Rev. Lett. 58, 1499 (1987).
  10. K. Sueda, G. Miyaji, N. Miyanaga, and M. Nakatsuka, Laguerre-Gaussian beam generated with a multilevel spiral phase plate for high intensity laser pulses, Opt. Express 12, 3548 (2004).
  11. M. Padgett, J. Arlt, N. Simpson, and L. Allen, An experiment to observe the intensity and phase structure of Laguerre–Gaussian laser modes, Am. J. Phys. 64, 77 (1996).
  12. A. Longman and R. Fedosejevs, Kilo-Tesla axial magnetic field generation with high intensity spin and orbital angular momentum beams, Phys. Rev. Res. 3, 043180 (2021).
  13. W. Wang, Proton acceleration driven by relativistic femtosecond Laguerre–Gaussian lasers, Rev. Mod. Plasma Phys. 8, 34 (2024).
  14. J. Vieira and J. Mendonça, Nonlinear laser driven donut wakefields for positron and electron acceleration, Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 215001 (2014).
  15. J. Vieira, R. M. G. M. Trines, E. P. Alves, R. A. Fonseca, J. T. Mendonça, R. Bingham, P. Norreys, and L. O. Silva, Amplification and generation of ultra-intense twisted laser pulses via stimulated Raman scattering, Nat. Commun. 7, 10371 (2016).
  16. J. T. Mendonça and J. Vieira, Donut wakefields generated by intense laser pulses with orbital angular momentum, Phys. Plasmas 21, 033107 (2014).
  17. W. Wang, B. Shen, X. Zhang, L. Zhang, Y. Shi, and Z. Xu, Hollow screw-like drill in plasma using an intense Laguerre–Gaussian laser, Sci. Rep. 5, 8274 (2015).
  18. C. Willim, J. Vieira, V. Malka, and L. O. Silva, Proton acceleration with intense twisted laser light, Phys. Rev. Res. 5, 023083 (2023).
  19. J. Alvarez, J. Fernández-Tobias, K. Mima, S. Nakai, S. Kar, Y. Kato, and J. Perlado, Laser driven neutron sources: Characteristics, applications and prospects, Phys. Procedia, 60, 29 (2014).
  20. F. Treffert, C. B. Curry, H.-G. J. Chou, C. J. Crissman, D. P. DePonte, F. Fiuza, G. D. Glenn, R. C. Hollinger, R. Nedbailo, J. Park, C. Schoenwaelder, H. Song, S. Wang, J. J. Rocca, M. Roth, S. H. Glenzer, and M. Gauthier, High-repetition-rate, multi-MeV deuteron acceleration from converging heavy water microjets at laser intensities of 1021 W/cm2, Appl. Phys. Lett. 121, 074104 (2022).
  21. A. Kleinschmidt, V. Bagnoud, O. Deppert, A. Favalli, S. Frydrych, J. Hornung, D. Jahn, G. Schaumann, A. Tebartz, F. Wagner, G. Wurden, B. Zielbauer, and M. Roth, Intense, directed neutron beams from a laser-driven neutron source at PHELIX, Phys. Plasmas 25, 053101 (2018).
  22. A. Yogo, S. R. Mirfayzi, Y. Arikawa, Y. Abe, T. Wei, T. Mori, Z. Lan, Y. Hoonoki, D. O. Golovin, K. Koga, Y. Suzuki, M. Kanasaki, S. Fujioka, M. Nakai, T. Hayakawa, K. Mima, H. Nishimura, S. Kar, and R. Kodama, Single shot radiography by a bright source of laser-driven thermal neutrons and x-rays, Appl. Phys. Express 14, 106001 (2021).
  23. S. R. Mirfayzi, A. Yogo, Z. Lan, T. Ishimoto, A. Iwamoto, M. Nagata, M. Nakai, Y. Arikawa, Y. Abe, D. Golovin, Y. Honoki, T. Mori, K. Okamoto, S. Shokita, D. Neely, S. Fujioka, K. Mima, H. Nishimura, S. Kar, and R. Kodama, Proof-of-principle experiment for laser-driven cold neutron source, Sci. Rep. 10, 20157 (2020).
  24. T. Mori, A. Yogo, T. Hayakawa, S. R. Mirfayzi, Z. Lan, Y. Abe, Y. Arikawa, D. Golovin, T. Wei, Y. Honoki, M. Nakai, K. Mima, H. Nishimura, S. Fujioka, and R. Kodama, Direct evaluation of high neutron density environment using (n,2n) reaction induced by laser-driven neutron source, Phys. Rev. C 104, 015808 (2021).
  25. X. Jiao, C. B. Curry, M. Gauthier, H.-G. J. Chou, F. Fiuza, J. B. Kim, D. D. Phan, E. McCary, E. C. Galtier, G. M. Dyer, B. K. Ofori-Okai, L. Labun, O. Z. Labun, C. Schoenwaelder, R. Roycroft, G. Tiwari, G. D. Glenn, F. Treffert, S. H. Glenzer, and B. M. Hegelich, High deuteron and neutron yields from the interaction of a petawatt laser with a cryogenic deuterium jet, Front. Phys. 10, 964696 (2023).
  26. P. A. Norreys, A. P. Fews, F. N. Beg, A. R. Bell, A. E. Dangor, P. Lee, M. B. Nelson, H. Schmidt, M. Tatarakis, and M. D. Cable, Neutron production from picosecond laser irradiation of deuterated targets at intensities of 145°, Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 40, 175 (1998).
  27. I. Pomerantz, E. McCary, A. Meadows, A. Arefiev, A. Bernstein, C. Chester, J. Cortez, M. Donovan, G. Dyer, E. Gaul, D. Hamilton, D. Kuk, A. Lestrade, C. Wang, T. Ditmire, and B. Hegelich, Ultrashort pulsed neutron source, Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 184801 (2014).
  28. M. Storm, S. Jiang, D. Wertepny, C. Orban, J. Morrison, C. Willis, E. McCary, P. Belancourt, J. Snyder, E. Chowdhury, W. Bang, E. Gaul, G. Dyer, T. Ditmire, R. R. Freeman, and K. Akli, Fast neutron production from lithium converters and laser driven protons, Phys. Plasmas 20, 053106 (2013).
  29. L. Willingale, G. M. Petrov, A. Maksimchuk, J. Davis, R. R. Freeman, A. S. Joglekar, T. Matsuoka, C. D. Murphy, V. M. Ovchinnikov, A. G. R. Thomas, L. Van Woerkom, and K. Krushelnick, Comparison of bulk and pitcher-catcher targets for laser-driven neutron production, Phys. Plasmas 18, 083106 (2011).
  30. S. Karsch, S. Düsterer, H. Schwoerer, F. Ewald, D. Habs, M. Hegelich, G. Pretzler, A. Pukhov, K. Witte, and R. Sauerbrey, High-intensity laser induced ion acceleration from heavy-water droplets, Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 015001 (2003).
  31. J. Zweiback, R. A. Smith, T. E. Cowan, G. Hays, K. B. Wharton, V. P. Yanovsky, and T. Ditmire, Nuclear fusion driven by coulomb explosions of large deuterium clusters, Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 2634 (2000).
  32. K. Osvay, P. K. Singh, P. Varmazyar, M. Füle, T. Gilinger, B. Kis, L. Lehotai, B. Nagy, L. Stuhl, Z. Elekes, Z. Halász, Z. Korkulu, I. Kuti, B. Biró, A. Fenyvesi, Z. Fülöp, L. Csedreki, Z. Dombrádi, A. Bembibre, and J. Benlliure et al., Fast neutron generation with few-cycle, relativistic laser pulses at 1 Hz repetition rate, Sci. Rep. 14, 25302 (2024).
  33. K. Osvay, L. Stuhl, P. Varmazyar, T. Gilinger, Z. Elekes, A. Fenyvesi, K. Hideghethy, R. E. Szabo, M. Füle, B. Biró, Z. Halász, Z. Korkulu, I. Kuti, R. Molnár, A. Ébert, R. Polanek, E. Buzás, B. Nagy, P. K. Singh, and S. Hussain et al., Towards a 1010 n/s neutron source with kHz repetition rate, few-cycle laser pulses, Eur. Phys. J. Plus 139, 574 (2024).
  34. S. Kar, A. Green, H. Ahmed, A. Alejo, A. P. L. Robinson, M. Cerchez, R. Clarke, D. Doria, S. Dorkings, J. Fernandez, S. R. Mirfayzi, P. McKenna, K. Naughton, D. Neely, P. Norreys, C. Peth, H. Powell, J. A. Ruiz, J. Swain, and O. Willi et al., Beamed neutron emission driven by laser accelerated light ions, New J. Phys. 18, 053002 (2016).
  35. C. Zulick, F. Dollar, V. Chvykov, J. Davis, G. Kalinchenko, A. Maksimchuk, G. M. Petrov, A. Raymond, A. G. R. Thomas, L. Willingale, V. Yanovsky, and K. Krushelnick, Energetic neutron beams generated from femtosecond laser plasma interactions, Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, 124101 (2013).
  36. N. Guler, P. Volegov, A. Favalli, F. E. Merrill, K. Falk, D. Jung, J. L. Tybo, C. H. Wilde, S. Croft, C. Danly, O. Deppert, M. Devlin, J. Fernandez, D. C. Gautier, M. Geissel, R. Haight, C. E. Hamilton, B. M. Hegelich, D. Henzlova, and R. P. Johnson et al., Neutron imaging with the short-pulse laser driven neutron source at the Trident laser facility, J. Appl. Phys. 120, 154901 (2016).
  37. J. Hah, G. M. Petrov, J. A. Nees, Z.-H. He, M. D. Hammig, K. Krushelnick, and A. G. R. Thomas, High repetition-rate neutron generation by several-mJ, 35 fs pulses interacting with free-flowing D2O, Appl. Phys. Lett. 109, 144102 (2016).
  38. J. Hah, J. A. Nees, M. D. Hammig, K. Krushelnick, and A. G. R. Thomas, Characterization of a high repetition-rate laser-driven short-pulsed neutron source, Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 60, 054011 (2018).
  39. M. Burger, J. M. Murphy, L. A. Finney, N. Peskosky, J. A. Nees, K. Krushelnick, and I. Jovanovic, Iterative wavefront optimization of ultrafast laser beams carrying orbital angular momentum, Opt. Express 30, 26315 (2022).
  40. Z.-H. He, B. Hou, V. Lebailly, J. A. Nees, K. Krushelnick, and A. G. R. Thomas, Coherent control of plasma dynamics, Nat. Commun. 6, 7156 (2015).
  41. B. Hou, J. Easter, A. M. K. Krushelnick, and J. A. Nees, Vacuum-free x-ray source based on ultrashort laser irradiation of solids, Opt. Express 16, 17695 (2008).
  42. P. P. Rajeev, S. Banerjee, A. S. Sandhu, R. C. Issac, L. C. Tribedi, and G. R. Kumar, Role of surface roughness in hard-x-ray emission from femtosecond-laser-produced copper plasmas, Phys. Rev. A 65, 052903 (2002).
  43. N. G. Denisov, On a singularity of the field of an electromagnetic wave propagated in an inhomogeneous plasma, Sov. Phys. JETP 4, 544 (1957).
  44. S. Qiu, Y. Ren, T. Liu, Z. Liu, C. Wang, Y. Ding, Q. Sha, and H. Wu, Directly observing the skew angle of a poynting vector in an oam carrying beam via angular diffraction, Opt. Lett. 46, 3484 (2021).
  45. R. A. Fonseca, L. O. Silva, F. S. Tsung, V. K. Decyk, W. Lu, C. Ren, W. B. Mori, S. Deng, S. Lee, T. Katsouleas, and J. C. Adam, Osiris: A three-dimensional, fully relativistic particle in cell code for modeling plasma based accelerators, in Computational Science —ICCS 2002, edited by P. M. A. Sloot, A. G. Hoekstra, C. J. K. Tan, and J. J. Dongarra (Berlin, Heidelberg, 2002), pp. 342–351.
  46. Y. Arikawa, A. Morace, Y. Abe, N. Iwata, Y. Sentoku, A. Yogo, K. Matsuo, M. Nakai, H. Nagatomo, K. Mima, H. Nishimura, S. Fujioka, R. Kodama, S. Inoue, M. Hashida, S. Sakabe, D. De Luis, G. Gatti, M. Huault, and J. A. Pérez-Hernández et al. Demonstration of efficient relativistic electron acceleration by surface plasmonics with sequential target processing using high repetition lasers, Phys. Rev. Res. 5, 013062 (2023).
  47. H. Fattahi, H. G. Barros, M. Gorjan, T. Nubbemeyer, B. Alsaif, C. Y. Teisset, M. Schultze, S. Prinz, M. Haefner, M. Ueffing, A. Alismail, L. Vámos, A. Schwarz, O. Pronin, J. Brons, X. T. Geng, G. Arisholm, M. Ciappina, V. S. Yakovlev, and D.-E. Kim et al., Third-generation femtosecond technology, Optica 1, 45 (2014).
  48. H. Pei, J. Ruppe, S. Chen, M. Sheikhsofla, J. Nees, Y. Yang, R. Wilcox, W. Leemans, and A. Galvanauskas, 10mj energy extraction from Yb-doped 85µm core ccc fiber using coherent pulse stacking amplification of fs pulses, in Laser Congress 2017 (ASSL, LAC) (Optica Publishing Group, 2017), p. AW4A.4.
  49. M. Müller, C. Aleshire, A. Klenke, E. Haddad, F. Légaré, A. Tünnermann, and J. Limpert, 10.4 kw coherently combined ultrafast fiber laser, Opt. Lett. 45, 3083 (2020).
  50. G. Fan, P. A. Carpeggiani, Z. Tao, G. Coccia, R. Safaei, E. Kaksis, A. Pugzlys, F. Légaré, B. E. Schmidt, and A. Baltuška, 70 mJ nonlinear compression and scaling route for an Yb amplifier using large-core hollow fibers, Opt. Lett. 46, 896 (2021).
  51. IAEA, Compact Accelerator Based Neutron Sources, 1st ed. (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 2021).
  52. M. M. Günther, O. N. Rosmej, P. Tavana, M. Gyrdymov, A. Skobliakov, A. Kantsyrev, S. Zähter, N. G. Borisenko, A. Pukhov, and N. E. Andreev, Forward-looking insights in laser-generated ultra-intense γ-ray and neutron sources for nuclear application and science, Nat. Commun. 13, 170 (2022).

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. Research 7, L032064– Published 22 September, 2025
  • Received 31 May 2024
  • Revised 3 March 2025
  • Accepted 30 May 2025
Crossmark - Check for updates button
Creative Commons Logo

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation