Speaker: Prof. Andrew Ng（University of British Columbia）

Chair Person: Prof. Wei Kang

Date: March 13, 2018, 12:30

Place: Room 210, Faculty of Engineering

Report Introduction:

Studies of non-equilibrium Warm Dense Matter have long been concentrated on states with electrons and ions that are thermalized at different temperatures. However, little is known about the states with non-Fermi-Dirac electron energy distribution and in particular, the behavior of electron kinetics under such non-equilibrium conditions. The missing information is not only of fundamental interest, it is also becoming a vital focus in the rapidly expanding investigations of Warm Dense Matter produced by ultrafast heating of solids using high-intensity lasers, FELs and laser-generated particle beams. Common among these states is the complex interplay between the different processes of electronic transitions, electron-electron collisions, and electron-ion collisions of particular interest is the role of electron kinetics in the thermalization of a non-equilibrium electron subsystem.  This is driven by the need to define an electron temperature. As yet, reported studies have been focused on electron kinetics induced by the excitation of conduction electrons. The new and pressing question is how electron kinetics behaves in the broader regime of the excitation of bound electrons at high energy densities. In this seminar, I will discuss an experimental investigation of electron thermalization resulting from photo-excitation of 5d electrons in non-equilibrium warm dense Au with energy densities up to 4.3MJ/kg (0.8x1011J/m3). 
 

About Speaker:

Prof.Andrew Ng obtained his B.Sc. degree in Physics & Mathematics from The University of Hong Kong, and his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Plasma Physics from The University of Western Ontario in Canada.He was National Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Alberta before joining the faculty of the Department of Physics at The University of British Columbia in 1980. Since then his research interest has been focused on laser-driven shock waves and femtosecond-laser matter interaction for the investigation of high energy density states in a regime that he call Warm Dense Matter. In January 2003, he joined The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as Scientific Director of the Jupiter Laser Facility (JLF). With the successful establishment of JLF, he returned to UBC in September 2008 to continue his research as an Emeritus Professor. In 2000, he founded the International Workshop on Warm Dense Matter that has since been held in Canada (2000), Germany (2002), Canada (2005), France (2007), Japan (2009), U.S.A. (2011), France (2013), Japan (2015), and Canada (2017). Ng is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and an IEEE (Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers) Fellow. He is also the recipient of the 1997 IEEE NPSS (Nuclear & Plasma Science Society) Merit Award, the 2006 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Science & Technology Award, and the 2012 IEEE NPSS PSAC (Plasma Science & Application Committee) Award.