Large-volume presses (LVPs) providing large volumes, liquid media, deformation capability, jump compression, and in situ measurements are in great demand for high-pressure research, particularly in the fields of geoscience, condensed matter physics, material science, chemistry, and biology. A high-pressure and high-temperature (HPHT) platform with different LVP subsystems, both solid-state and liquid environments, and nonequilibrium subsystems, has been constructed at the Synergetic Extreme Condition User Facility, Jilin University. This article describes the construction of the different subsystems and provides an overview of the capabilities and characteristics of the different HPHT subsystems. A large sample volume (1000 mm3) at 20 GPa is achieved through the use of a belt-type apparatus in the solid-state subsystem. HPHT conditions (1.8 GPa and 1000 K) are realized in the liquid subsystem through the use of a piston–cylinder-type LVP with optical diamond windows for in situ spectroscopic measurements. A maximum pressure jump to 10.2 GPa can be reached within 20 ms in the nonequilibrium subsystem with the use of an improved bladder-pressurization jump press. Some typical results obtained with different LVPs are briefly reviewed to illustrate the applications and advantages of these presses. In summary, the platform described here has the potential to contribute greatly to high-pressure research and to innovations in high-pressure technology.

Neutron production driven by intense lasers utilizing inverse kinematic reactions is explored self-consistently by a combination of particle-in-cell simulations for laser-driven ion acceleration and Monte Carlo nuclear reaction simulations for neutron production. It is proposed that laser-driven light-sail acceleration from ultrathin lithium foils can provide an energetic lithium-ion beam as the projectile bombarding a light hydrocarbon target with sufficiently high flux for the inverse p(Li7,n) reaction to be efficiently achieved. Three-dimensional self-consistent simulations show that a forward-directed pulsed neutron source with ultrashort pulse duration 3 ns, small divergence angle 26°, and extremely high peak flux 3 × 1014n/(cm2⋅s) can be produced by petawatt lasers at intensities of 1021 W/cm2. These results indicate that a laser-driven neutron source based on inverse kinematics has promise as a novel compact pulsed neutron generator for practical applications, since the it can operate in a safe and repetitive way with almost no undesirable radiation.

An analytical model of current propagation in a helical coil with varying geometry is developed. It can be used for post-acceleration and post-focusing of ions produced via laser-driven target normal sheath acceleration and generation of electromagnetic pulses. We calculate the current that propagates in a helical coil and suggest a method for improving its dispersion properties using a screening tube and with pitch and radius variation. The electromagnetic fields calculated with the analytical model are in agreement with particle-in-cell simulations. The model provides insights into the physics of current propagation in helical coils with varying geometries and enables a numerical implementation for rapid proton spectrum computations, which facilitate the design of such coils for future experiments.

Hollow ion X-ray emission is of great interest in high-energy-density research, since negligible opacity allows studies from the interior of very dense objects. In this paper, ionization potential depressions of the isoelectronic sequences for single and double K-shell vacancies are obtained from a pure ab initio multiconfiguration Hartree–Fock simulation including exact exchange terms and finite temperature dense plasma effects. It is demonstrated that the simultaneous representation of these ab initio data in the form of a map of hollow ion X-ray transition energies enables identification of important steps in the matter evolution and ionization dynamics. Mapping along the isoelectronic sequence as a function of the pumping energy of a X-ray free electron laser also enables visualization of the impact of ionization potential depression on the pathways of hollow ion formation.

Laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) promises compact accelerators toward the high-energy frontier. However, the approach to the 100 GeV milestone faces the obstacle of the long focal length required for optimal acceleration with high-power lasers, which reaches hundreds of meters for 10–100 PW lasers. The long focal length originates from optimal laser intensity required to avoid nonlinear effects and hence large spot size and Rayleigh length. We propose a “telescope” geometry in which a micro-plasma parabola (MPP) is coupled with a short-focal-length off-axis parabola, minimizing the focal length to the meter range for LWFA under optimized conditions driven by lasers beyond 1 PW. Full-dimensional kinetic simulations demonstrate the generation of a 9 GeV electron bunch within only 1 m optical length—only one-tenth of that required with the conventional approach with the same performance. The proposed MPP provides a basis for the construction of compact LWFAs toward single-stage 100 GeV acceleration with 100 PW class lasers.

The axion, a theoretically well-motivated particle, has been searched for extensively via its hypothetical interactions with ordinary matter and fields. Recently, a new axion detection approach has been considered utilizing the ultra-intense electromagnetic fields produced by laser–plasma interactions. However, a detailed simulation tool has not hitherto been available to help understand the axion-coupled laser–plasma interactions in such a complex environment. In this paper, we report a custom-developed particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation method that incorporates the axion field, the electromagnetic fields, and their interactions. The axion field equation and modified Maxwell’s equations are numerically solved, with the axion-induced modulation of the electromagnetic field being treated as a first-order perturbation to handle the huge orders of magnitude difference between the two types of field. The simulation is benchmarked with well-studied effects such as axion–photon conversion and the propagation of an extremely weak laser pulse in a magnetized plasma. Such an extended PIC simulation provides a powerful tool to study axions under ultra-intense electromagnetic fields in the laboratory or in astrophysical processes.

The generation of a plasma with an ultrahigh energy density of 1.2 GJ/cm3 (which corresponds to about 12 Gbar pressure) is investigated by irradiating thin stainless-steel foils with high-contrast femtosecond laser pulses with relativistic intensities of up to 1022 W/cm2. The plasma parameters are determined by X-ray spectroscopy. The results show that most of the laser energy is absorbed by the plasma at solid density, indicating that no pre-plasma is generated in the current experimental setup.

The widely used quasi-isentropic ramp loading technique relies heavily on back-calculation methods that convert the measured free-surface velocity profiles to the stress–density states inside the compressed sample. Existing back-calculation methods are based on one-dimensional isentropic hydrodynamic equations, which assume a well-defined functional relationship P(ρ) between the longitudinal stress and density throughout the entire flow field. However, this kind of idealized stress–density relation does not hold in general, because of the complexities introduced by structural phase transitions and/or elastic–plastic response. How and to what extent these standard back-calculation methods may be affected by such inherent complexities is still an unsettled question. Here, we present a close examination using large-scale molecular dynamics (MD) simulations that include the detailed physics of the irreversibly compressed solid samples. We back-calculate the stress–density relation from the MD-simulated rear surface velocity profiles and compare it directly against the stress–density trajectories measured from the MD simulation itself. Deviations exist in the cases studied here, and these turn out to be related to the irreversibility between compression and release. Rarefaction and compression waves are observed to propagate with different sound velocities in some parts of the flow field, violating the basic assumption of isentropic hydrodynamic models and thus leading to systematic back-calculation errors. In particular, the step-like feature of the P(ρ) curve corresponding to phase transition may be completely missed owing to these errors. This kind of mismatch between inherent properties of matter and the basic assumptions of isentropic hydrodynamics has a fundamental influence on how the ramp loading method can be applied.

We study radiative transfer in participating binary stochastic mixtures in two dimensions (2D) by developing an accurate and efficient simulation tool. For two different sets of physical parameters, 2D benchmark results are presented, and it is found that the influence of the stochastic mixture on radiative transfer is clearly parameter-dependent. Our results confirm that previous multidimensional results obtained in different studies are basically consistent, which is interpreted in terms of the relationship between the photon mean free path lp and the system size L. Nonlinear effects, including those due to scattering and radiation–material coupling, are also discussed. To further understand the particle size effect, we employ a dimensionless parameter lp/L, from which a critical particle size can be derived. On the basis of further 2D simulations, we find that an inhomogeneous mix is obtained for lp/L > 0.1. Furthermore, 2D material temperature distributions reveal that self-shielding and particle–particle shielding of radiation occur, and are enhanced when lp/L is increased. Our work is expected to provide benchmark results to verify proposed homogenized models and/or other codes for stochastic radiative transfer in realistic physical scenarios.

It is well known that atoms of the same element in different valence states show very different chemical behaviors. Calcium is a typical divalent metal, sharing or losing both of its valence electrons when forming compounds. Attempts have been made to synthesize compounds of monovalent calcium ions for decades, but with very little success (e.g., in clusters). Pressure can result in substantial changes in the properties of atoms and chemical bonding, creating an extensive variety of unique materials with special valence states. In this study, using the ab initio evolutionary algorithm USPEX, we search for stable calcium–chlorine (Ca–Cl) system compounds at pressures up to 100 GPa. Besides the expected compound CaCl2, we predict three new compounds with monovalent Ca to be stable at high pressures, namely, CaCl, Ca5Cl6, and Ca3Cl4. According to our calculations, CaCl is stable at pressures above 18 GPa and is predicted to undergo a transition from nonmagnetic Fm-3m-CaCl to ferromagnetic Pm-3m-CaCl at 40 GPa. Ca5Cl6 and Ca3Cl4 are stable at pressures above 37 and 73 GPa, with space groups P-1 and R-3, respectively. Following these predictions, we successfully synthesized Pm-3m-CaCl in laser-heated diamond anvil cell experiments. The emergence of the unusual valence state at high pressures reveals exciting opportunities for creating entirely new materials in sufficiently large quantities for a variety of potential applications.

The ionicity of ionic solids is typically characterized by the electronegativity of the constituent ions. Electronegativity measures the ability of electron transfer between atoms and is commonly considered under ambient conditions. However, external stresses profoundly change the ionicity, and compressed ionic compounds may behave differently. Here, we focus on silver halides, with constituent ions from one of the most electropositive metals and some of the most electronegative nonmetals. Using first-principles calculations, we find that the strengths of the ionic bonds in these compounds change greatly under pressure owing to downshifting of the Ag 4d-orbital. The center of this orbital is lowered to fill the antibonding state below the Fermi level, leading to chemical decomposition. Our results suggest that under pressure, the orbital energies and correspondingly the electronegativities still tune the ionicity and control the electron transfer, ionicity, and reactivity of both the metal and the nonmetal elements. However, the effects of orbital energies start to become dominant under pressure, causing substantial changes to the chemistry of ionic compounds and leading to an unusual phenomenon in which elements with substantial electronegativity differences, such as Ag and Br, do not necessarily form ionic compounds, but remain in their elemental forms.