Introduction of Research Work on Laser Proton Acceleration and Its Application Carried out on Compact Laser–Plasma Accelerator at Peking University

Abstract

Laser plasma acceleration has made remarkable progress in the last few decades, but it also faces many challenges. Although the high gradient is a great potential advantage, the beam quality of the laser accelerator has a certain gap, or it is different from that of traditional accelerators. Therefore, it is important to explore and utilize its own features. In this article, some recent research progress on laser proton acceleration and its irradiation application, which was carried out on the compact laser plasma accelerator (CLAPA) platform at Peking University, have been introduced. By combining a TW laser accelerator and a monoenergetic beamline, proton beams with energies of less than 10 MeV, an energy spread of less than 1%, and with several to tens of pC charge, have been stably produced and transported in CLAPA. The beamline is an object–image point analyzing system, which ensures the transmission efficiency and the energy selection accuracy for proton beams with large initial divergence angle and energy spread. A spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP) is produced with high precision beam control, which preliminarily proved the feasibility of the laser accelerator for radiotherapy. Some application experiments based on laser-accelerated proton beams have also been carried out, such as proton radiograph, preparation of graphene on SiC, ultra-high dose FLASH radiation of cancer cells, and ion-beam trace probes for plasma diagnosis. The above applications take advantage of the unique characteristics of laser-driven protons, such as a micron scale point source, an ultra-short pulse duration, a wide energy spectrum, etc. A new laser-driven proton therapy facility (CLAPA II) is being designed and is under construction at Peking University. The 100 MeV proton beams will be produced via laser–plasma interaction by using a 2-PW laser, which may promote the real-world applications of laser accelerators in malignant tumor treatment soon.

FLASH Radiation Therapy — Key physical irradiation parameters and beam characteristics

“…However, according to recent research by specialists in this sector, it appears that by removing source-related constraints, this technology can make a significant jump in the field of medical sciences. For instance, we can look into high-temperature plasma and UV laser sources for possible applications in FLASH-x-rays [87,88]. Also, because there has not been much research on radioisotopes like 60 Co and 192 Ir, they could be a suitable alternative for large-dose manufacturing.…”

FLASH Radiation Therapy- Key Physical Irradiation Parameters and Beam Characteristics

“…However, according to recent research of specialists in this sector, it appears that by removing the source-related constraints, this technology can make a significant jump in the field of medical sciences. We can look into high temperature plasma and UV laser sources for possible application in FLASH-x-rays for this purpose [86,87]. Also, because there haven't been many research on radioisotopes like 60 Co and 192 Ir, they could be a suitable alternative for large dose manufacturing.…”

Optimization of a therapeutic laser accelerated proton beam at 94.8 MeV for Stereotactic Radiosurgery

“…Nevertheless, laser-accelerated protons have the ability to generate intense and energetic proton doses of sub-picosecond duration, possessing distinct characteristics as compact sources. Consequently, they hold potential for a wide range of applications in radiotherapy [5]. Generally, these applications necessitate specific beam qualities, including controlled spectral and spatial shapes, particle number, as well as satisfactory reproducibility and stability.…”