High repetition rate liquid targets and optics for the study of high intensity laser-plasma interactions

Use of high intensity lasers as energetic electron, ion, and photon sources have long served as the primary motivation for the continued study of relativistic laser-plasma interactions. However, bringing these applications to bear requires substantial increases in both laser and target repetition rates to achieve necessary fluxes. Here we present liquid targets ideally suited for high repetition rate use based on high velocity liquid microjets. These targets consist of columns or droplets with a diameter of order tens of micron and sub-micron thick sheets which exhibit the high dimensional and positional stability required for use with commonly employed fast focusing optics. The self-refreshing nature of the liquid targets enables use at repetition rates exceeding 10 kHz. Efforts to operate in a ‘low vacuum’ environment are detailed with demonstrated operation below 1 mTorr. Additionally, we propose liquid based plasma optics for use with this technique.