Andreas Kemp

Dr. Kemp received his diploma (M.A.) in theoretical physics and his PhD in plasma physics at the Max-Planck Institute for Quantum Optics / Technische Universitat Munchen/Germany in 2001 under the supervision of Jurgen Meyer-ter-Vehn, for work on a plasma equation-of-state and magnetically confined heavy ion fusion targets. After completing two years of post-doc work with Hartmut Ruhl, he started as a research scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. His current research focuses on computer simulations of laser-plasma interaction, both at non-relativistic intensities like in nanosecond pulses on the NIF and at relativistic intensities; in the latter regime he has worked on intense short-pulse absorption and electron transport in solid matter, for which he was awarded the US Department of Energy’s Early Career Award in 2012. He has contributed to understanding of the absorption of intense short laser pulses for fast ignition, improved numerical models of electron transport in solid matter and TNSA ion acceleration. He is a lifetime member of the American Physical Society and the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft; he has authored or co-authored over 200 papers, which have been cited over 4,000 times. 

Featured Publications:

1. A.J. Kemp, “Absorption of relativistic multi-picosecond laser pulses in wire arrays”, Physics of Plasmas 28 103102 (2021)
2. A. J. Kemp and S. C. Wilks, “Direct electron acceleration in multi-kilojoule, multi-picosecond laser pulses”, Physics of Plasmas, 27, 103106 (2020)
3. A.J. Kemp, S.C. Wilks, E.P. Hartouni and G. Grim, “Generating keV ion distributions for nuclear reactions at near solid-density using intense short-pulse lasers”, Nat.Comm. 10, 4156 (2019).
4. A.J. Kemp, F. Fiuza, A. Debayle, T. Johzaki, W.B. Mori, P.K. Patel, Y. Sentoku and L.O. Silva, "Laser Plasma Interaction for Fast Ignition", Nuclear Fusion 54 054002 (2014).
5. B.I. Cohen, A. J. Kemp, and L. Divol, “Simulation of laser–plasma interactions and fast-electron transport in inhomogeneous plasma, J.Comput.Phys. 229, 4591 (2010). 
6. A.Kemp, M.Basko and J.Meyer-ter-Vehn, “Implosion and Ignition of Magnetized Cylindrical Targets Driven by Heavy Ion Beams”, Nucl. Fusion 43(1), 16-24 (2003).
7. A.Kemp, J. Meyer-ter-Vehn, and S. Atzeni, “Stagnation pressure of imploding shells and ignition energy scaling of ICF targets”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 86 (15), 3336-40 (2001).