MeV Ion Jets from Short-Pulse-Laser Interaction with Thin Foils

Hegelich, B. M.; Karsch, Stefan; Pretzler, G.; Habs, D.; Witte, Klaus; Guenther, William B.; Allen, M.; Blažević, A.; Fuchs, Julien; Gauthier, J. C.; Geißel, Matthias; Audebert, P.; Cowan, T. E.; Roth, Markus

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.89.085002

Cited by 405 publications

(188 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Because of the presence of hydrocarbon and water vapour on the surfaces of the foils (for experiments performed at typical vacuums of approximately 10 K5 mbar), protons are usually observed in large numbers, and due to their high charge-to-mass ratio they are more efficiently accelerated than heavier ion species and effectively screen the electric acceleration fields experienced by heavier ions. Recent studies have shown that in order to efficiently accelerate heavier ions the proton source layers should be removed from the target foil by heating or ablation (Hegelich et al 2002;McKenna et al 2004). In addition to ion acceleration in the forward direction (direction of laser propagation), we note that plasma expansion at the front surface of the target foil can also lead to ion acceleration in the backward direction.…”

Section: Ion Acceleration Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-intensity laser-driven proton acceleration: influence of pulse contrast

McKenna

Lindau²,

Lundh³

et al. 2006

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

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Proton acceleration from the interaction of ultra-short laser pulses with thin foil targets at intensities greater than 10 18 W cm −2 is discussed. An overview of the physical processes giving rise to the generation of protons with multi-MeV energies, in well defined beams with excellent spatial quality, is presented. Specifically, the discussion centres on the influence of laser pulse contrast on the spatial and energy distributions of accelerated proton beams. Results from an ongoing experimental investigation of proton acceleration using the 10 Hz multi-terawatt Ti : sapphire laser (35 fs, 35 TW) at the Lund Laser Centre are discussed. It is demonstrated that a window of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) conditions exist, for which the direction of proton emission is sensitive to the ASE-pedestal preceding the peak of the laser pulse, and that by significantly improving the temporal contrast, using plasma mirrors, efficient proton acceleration is observed from target foils with thickness less than 50 nm.

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Section: Ion Acceleration Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-intensity laser-driven proton acceleration: influence of pulse contrast

McKenna

Lindau²,

Lundh³

et al. 2006

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

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“…Through the TNSA mechanism a beam of protons (but also photons and electrons) with the typical broad spectrum shown in figure 1 was produced. The acceleration of heavy ions via TNSA from TARANIS or any other laser with similar characteristics is very inefficient [6]. The accelerated particles were made to pass through a collimator and a magnet.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dosimetry and spectral analysis of a radiobiological experiment using laser-driven proton beams

et al. 2011

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Abstract. Laser-driven proton and ion acceleration is an area of increasing research interest given the recent development of short pulse-high intensity lasers. Several groups have reported experiments to understand whether a laser-driven beam can be applied for radiobiological purposes and in each of these the method to obtain dose and spectral analysis was slightly different. The difficulty with these studies is that the very large instantaneous dose rate is a challenge for commonly used dosimetry techniques, so that other more sophisticated procedures need to be explored. This article aims to explain a method for obtaining the energetic spectrum and the dose of a laser-driven proton beam irradiating a cell dish used for radiobiology studies. The procedure includes the use of a magnet to have charge and energy separation of the laser driven beam, Gafchromic films to have information on dose and partially on energy, and a Monte Carlo code to expand the measured data in order to obtain specific details of the proton spectrum on the cells. Two specific correction factors have to be calculated: one to take in account the variation of dose response of the films as a function of the proton energy and the other to obtain the dose to the cell layer starting from the dose measured on the films. This method, particularly suited to irradiation delivered in a single laser shot, can be applied in any other radiobiological experiment performed with laser driven proton beams, with the only condition that the initial proton spectrum has to be at least roughly known.The method was tested in an experiment conducted at Queen's University of Belfast using the TARANIS laser, where the mean energy of the protons crossing the cells was between 0.9 and 5 MeV, the instantaneous dose rate was estimated to be close to 10 9 Gy/s and doses between 0.8-5 Gy were delivered to the cells in a single laser shot. The combination of the applied corrections modified the initial estimate of dose by up to 40% Dosimetry and spectral analysis of a radiobiological experiment using laser-driven proton beams2

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“…On the other hand experiments where the target is pre-heated and thus the contamination layers are removed show a reduced proton signal whereas the ion signal is enhanced [14,76]. A pre-heated target, coated with CaF 2 at the rear side only was used to identify the "rear-side" acceleration to be responsible for the ion acceleration [76]. Once more it seems that neither the "front-side" nor the "rear-side" can explain all observed phenomena at once.…”

Section: Alternative Acceleration Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…But also this feature is discussed controversy since a saturation of the used CR39-detector can explain this structure [75]. On the other hand experiments where the target is pre-heated and thus the contamination layers are removed show a reduced proton signal whereas the ion signal is enhanced [14,76]. A pre-heated target, coated with CaF 2 at the rear side only was used to identify the "rear-side" acceleration to be responsible for the ion acceleration [76].…”

Section: Alternative Acceleration Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Investigations of Field Dynamics in Laser Plasmas with Proton Imaging

Sokollik

2011

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MeV Ion Jets from Short-Pulse-Laser Interaction with Thin Foils

Cited by 405 publications

References 24 publications

High-intensity laser-driven proton acceleration: influence of pulse contrast

High-intensity laser-driven proton acceleration: influence of pulse contrast

Dosimetry and spectral analysis of a radiobiological experiment using laser-driven proton beams

Investigations of Field Dynamics in Laser Plasmas with Proton Imaging

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