An improved test of time dilation in special relativity has been performed using laser spectroscopy on fast ions at the heavy-ion storage-ring TSR in Heidelberg. The Doppler-shifted frequencies of a two-level transition in 7Li+ ions at v=0.064c have been measured in the forward and backward direction to an accuracy of Deltanu/nu=1 x 10(-9) using collinear saturation spectroscopy. The result confirms the relativistic Doppler formula and sets a new limit of 2.2 x 10(-7) for deviations from the time dilation factor gamma(SR)=(1-v2/c2)(-1/2).
At the Helmholtz center GSI, PHELIX (Petawatt High Energy Laser for heavy Ion eXperiments) has been commissioned for operation in stand-alone mode and, in combination with ions accelerated up to an energy of 13 MeV/u by the heavy ion accelerator UNILAC. The combination of PHELIX with the heavy-ion beams available at GSI enables a large variety of unique experiments. Novel research opportunities are spanning from the study of ionmatter interaction, through challenging new experiments in
Transverse laser cooling of a fast stored Be-9(+) ion beam based on a single-particle force independent of the ion density is demonstrated at the Heidelberg Test Storage Ring. The cooling scheme exploits longitudinal-horizontal coupling through ring dispersion and the transverse intensity profile of the longitudinally merged laser beam. By linear betatron coupling the horizontal force is extended to the vertical degree of freedom resulting in true 3D laser cooling. The observed transverse-cooling mechanism represents an important step towards crystalline ion beams
We present a study of laser-driven ion acceleration with micrometre and sub-micrometre thick targets, which focuses on the enhancement of the maximum proton energy and the total number of accelerated particles at the PHELIX facility. Using laser pulses with a nanosecond temporal contrast of up to
$10^{-12}$
and an intensity of the order of
$10^{20}~\text{W}/\text{cm}^{2}$
, proton energies up to 93 MeV are achieved. Additionally, the conversion efficiency at
$45^{\circ }$
incidence angle was increased when changing the laser polarization to p, enabling similar proton energies and particle numbers as in the case of normal incidence and s-polarization, but reducing the debris on the last focusing optic.
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