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Application experiments with laser plasma-based accelerators (LPA) for protons have to cope with the inherent fluctuations of the proton source. This creates a demand for non-destructive and online spectral characterization of the proton pulses, which are for application experiments mostly spectrally filtered and transported by a beamline. Here, we present a scintillator-based time-of-flight (ToF) beam monitoring system (BMS) for the recording of single-pulse proton energy spectra. The setup’s capabilities are showcased by characterizing the spectral stability for the transport of LPA protons for two beamline application cases. For the two beamline settings monitored data of 122 and 144 proton pulses collected over multiple days were evaluated, respectively. A relative energy uncertainty of 5.5 % (1σ) is reached for the ToF BMS, allowing for a Monte-Carlo based prediction of depth dose distributions, also used for the calibration of the device. Finally, online spectral monitoring combined with the prediction of the corresponding depth dose distribution in the irradiated samples is demonstrated to enhance applicability of plasma sources in dose-critical scenarios.

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The main goals of a new test facility at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf are precision measurements of the electron drift velocity and the Townsend coefficient of gases at atmospheric pressure in the strongest ever used homogenous electrical fields and the search for new RPC gas mixtures to substitute the climate harmful Freon. Picosecond UV laser pulses were focused into a sub-millimeter gas gap to initialize a defined tiny charge. These gaps are formed by electrodes of low-resistive ceramics or high-resistive float glass. The charge multiplication occurs in a strong homogeneous electric field of up to 100 kV/cm. Electron-ion pairs were generated in a cylindrical micro-volume by multi-photon ionization. The laser-pulse repetition rate ranges from 1 Hz to a few kHz. The RPC time resolution has been measured for different gases. First results of the Townsend coefficient at 100 kV/cm show a strong disagreement between the present measurement and Magboltz simulations for the typical timing RPC gas mixture C2F4H2/SF6/i-C4H10, while the measured electron drift velocities are in a good agreement with the model predictions.