We present a novel scheme for rapid quantitative analysis of debris generated during experiments with solid targets following relativistic laser–plasma interaction at high-power laser facilities. Results are supported by standard analysis techniques. Experimental data indicate that predictions by available modelling for non-mass-limited targets are reasonable, with debris of the order of hundreds of μg per shot. We detect for the first time two clearly distinct types of debris emitted from the same interaction. A fraction of the debris is ejected directionally, following the target normal (rear and interaction side). The directional debris ejection towards the interaction side is larger than on the side of the target rear. The second type of debris is characterized by a more spherically uniform ejection, albeit with a small asymmetry that favours ejection towards the target rear side.

A developing application of laser-driven currents is the generation of magnetic fields of picosecond–nanosecond duration with magnitudes exceeding $B=10~\text{T}$. Single-loop and helical coil targets can direct laser-driven discharge currents along wires to generate spatially uniform, quasi-static magnetic fields on the millimetre scale. Here, we present proton deflectometry across two axes of a single-loop coil ranging from 1 to 2 mm in diameter. Comparison with proton tracking simulations shows that measured magnetic fields are the result of kiloampere currents in the coil and electric charges distributed around the coil target. Using this dual-axis platform for proton deflectometry, robust measurements can be made of the evolution of magnetic fields in a capacitor coil target.

The room temperature electrical characteristics of AlAs/InGaAs/InAs resonant-tunneling diode (RTD) devices are sensitive to sub-monolayer thickness changes, and present a challenging case for closed-loop control. We prepared stacked RTD structures by MBE in which the strained AlAs barrier thicknesses were controlled based on an in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) system. The short-term and long-term reproducibility of RTDs grown under SE-based control was compared with similar samples grown by “dead-reckoning” (timing-based shutter openings coupled with pre-growth flux calibrations). SE-based calibration can compensate for long-term flux drift, but closed-loop thickness control did not provide a significant improvement over deadreckoning in terms of short-term RTD reproducibility.