Since 2004, table-top laser-plasma accelerators (LPAs) driven by ˜30fs terwatt laser pulses have produced colimated, nearly mono-energetic eletron bunches with energy up to 1 GeV in laboratories around the world. Large-scale computer simulations show that LPAs can scale to higher energy while retaining high beam quality, but will require laser pulses of higher energy and longer duration than current LPAs. The group of Prof. Mike Downer, in collaboration with the Texas Petawatt (TPW) laser team headed by Prof. Todd Ditmire, is setting up an experiment that uses the TPW laser (1.1 PW, 150 fs) to drive the world’s first multi-GeV LPA. This thesis provides a general overview of the TPW-LPA project, including several diagnostic systems for the beam, plasma and laser pulse. Special attention is given to three of the diagnostic systems: (1)A transverse interferometry diagnostic of the plasma density profile created by the TPW laser pulse; (2)A Thomson scattering diagnostic of the self-guided path of the TPW laser pulse through the plasma; (3)An optical transition radiation diagnostic of the accelerated electron bunch exiting the plasma. In each case, basic principles, theoretical background, calculation and simulation results, and preliminary experimental results will be presented. / text

A megawatt class electron linear accelerator (e-linac) will be constructed at TRIUMF as part of the new ARIEL facility which will produce rare ion beams for the study of nuclear structure and astrophysics, and material science. The 50MeV, 10mA, continuous wave e-linac will drive gamma ray induced fissioning of a Uranium target for the production of neutron rich beam species. View Screens located at a number of places along the e-linac beam-line will acquire two dimensional images of the transverse electron beam profiles, providing measurements of the size, position, and shape of the incident e-linac beam. The design of the View Screens will be presented, based on design studies and simulations performed to evaluate the performance of the View Screens under various operating conditions. These studies include GEANT simulations of the energy loss and scattering of the electron beam as it passes through the scintillation and Optical Transition Radiation beam targets, the subsequent thermal response of the targets, and a ray tracing optics simulation to optimize the configuration of the imaging optics. Bench test have been performed on the resulting optics design to evaluate the imaging characteristics, verifying fulfillment of the design requirements. Construction of a prototype View Screen device is currently underway, with beam tests scheduled for Fall 2011. A total of 14 View Screens will be constructed and installed along the e-linac beam-line. / Graduate

Le développement de la technologie des cellules photovoltaïques organiques nécessite des compétences diverses liées à l’ingénierie moléculaire, à l’ingénierie des interfaces, au contrôle et à la caractérisation de la morphologie des films, à l’optimisation de la structure du dispositif et à la compréhension de la photo-physique des matériaux utilisés. Dans ce contexte, le travail présenté dans cette thèse contribue à la compréhension des propriétés photo-physiques des matériaux organiques π-conjugués et propose des outils de caractérisations optiques pour le suivi de la morphologie de ces matériaux. Dans un premier temps, une méthodologie rigoureuse de détermination des indices optiques des films organiques par ellipsométrie a été proposée. Les modèles utilisés en ellipsométrie ont ainsi été choisis en tenant compte des propriétés physiques des matériaux organiques π-conjugués ce qui a permis de remonter à la structure électronique de dérivés de fullèrenes (PC60BM et PC70BM). Dans un second temps, nous avons associé des données ellipsométriques à des mesures complémentaires d’absorbance et de photoluminescence dans le cas de deux copolymères (PTB7 et PTB7-Th) en films et en solutions afin d’isoler les interactions inter et intra-chaînes. Nous avons démontré que la photo-physique de ces copolymères diffère de celle du P3HT. Nous avons montré que même en solution dans le chlorobenzène, le PTB7 et le PTB7-Th s'agrègent fortement. Ces agrégats, de type H, se cassent plus facilement dans les solutions de chlorobenzène à base de PTB7-Th que dans celles à base de PTB7. / The development of organic photovoltaic cell technology requires various skills related to the molecular engineering, interface engineering, controlling and characterizing the morphology of the films, device structure optimization and understanding of photophysics of the materials. In this context, the work presented in this thesis contributes to the understanding of the photophysical properties of π-conjugated organic materials and propose optical characterizations tools for probing the morphology of these materials. First, a rigorous methodology for determining refractive indices of organic films by ellipsometry has been proposed. The models used in ellipsometry have been chosen by taking into account the physical properties of π-conjugated organic materials which allow the determination of the electronic structure of fullerene derivatives (PC60BM and PC70BM). Secondly, we associated ellipsometric data to complementary measurements of absorbance and photoluminescence in the case of two copolymers (PTB7 and PTB7-Th) in films and solutions in order to isolate inter and intra-chain interactions. We have demonstrated that the photophysics of these copolymers differs from the P3HT. We have shown that even in solution in chlorobenzene, the PTB7 PTB7-Th aggregate strongly. These aggregates, H-type, break more easily in the chlorobenzene solutions based of PTB7-Th as in those based on PTB7.