Investigations of Field Dynamics in Laser Plasmas with Proton Imaging

Sokollik, Thomas

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-15040-1

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 116 publications

(252 reference statements)

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“…Accelerated particles were detected in single shot measurement by a Thomson spectrometer at 0 • in laser propagation direction. The setup consists of an entering pinhole with a diameter of 110 µm, a permanent magnet, electrical field plates and a 100 mm Multi Channel Plate (MCP Hamamatsu) covering a detection angle of 1 × 10 −7 sr from the target [34]. Measurements at a lower laser contrast (without DPM) 10 −11 , showed much lower E M ax kin and particle numbers for hydrogen, carbon, oxygen ions and no gold ion spectra in the measured energy range.…”

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confidence: 99%

Coulomb-Driven Energy Boost of Heavy Ions for Laser-Plasma Acceleration

et al. 2015

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An unprecedented increase of kinetic energy of laser accelerated heavy ions is demonstrated. Ultra thin gold foils have been irradiated by an ultra short laser pulse at an intensity of 6 × 10 19 W/cm 2 . Highly charged gold ions with kinetic energies up to > 200 MeV and a bandwidth limited energy distribution have been reached by using 1.3 Joule laser energy on target. 1D and 2D Particle in Cell simulations show how a spatial dependence on the ions ionization leads to an enhancement of the accelerating electrical field. Our theoretical model considers a varying charge density along the target normal and is capable of explaining the energy boost of highly charged ions, leading to a higher efficiency in laser acceleration of heavy ions. PACS numbers:Laser driven ion acceleration has gained a wide scientific interest, as it is a promising ion source for investigation in basic plasma physics and for application in accelerator technology [1,2] related to bio-medical [3,4] and hadron research [5]. While the acceleration of protons and light ions are intensively investigated during the last decade, little is reported on acceleration of heavier ions [6]. Such knowledge is mandatory to achieve the objectives of upcoming new laser facilities [7,8], e.g. the exploration of nuclear, astrophysical questions as well as the potential use as beam lines for heavy ion radio therapy [9].Energies of heavy ions exceeding the mass number A 12 with E kin /u ∼ 1−2 MeV/u (energy per nucleon) have been reported so far [6,10], by using short pulse laser systems with laser pulse energies well above 20 J [11].In the following we report and discuss a considerable energy boost for acceleration of the highly charged heavy ions with only using 1.3 J on an ultra thin heavy material target. We accelerated ions up to E M ax /u > 1 MeV/u, with a bandwidth limited energy distribution. We found a remarkable deviation in the maximum energy to charge Z scaling in comparison to established models of Mora [12] and Schreiber [13,14].Presently used laser ion acceleration schemes like Target Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA) [15], or leaky light sail / Radiation Pressure Acceleration (RPA) [16][17][18], Coherent Acceleration of Ions by Laser (CAIL) [4,19], Break Out Afterburner (BOA) [20] make use of an energy transfer from laser to electrons and in a following step electrons accelerate the ions. In the typical physical picture, an ultra intense laser is focused on a thin target, ionizes it and displaces the electrons from the ion background by the laser field. This creates a high electrical field at the rear and front side of the target. The Coulomb attraction field of the ions circumvents the electrons escape and enables the acceleration of the ions. For ultra thin targets and relativistic laser intensities, the acceleration is enhanced by the transparency of the target and the relativistic kinematics of the electrons [18,[21][22][23]. Further optimization for the energies of light ions is proposed by a Coulomb exploding background of heavy ion constituen...

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confidence: 99%

Coulomb-Driven Energy Boost of Heavy Ions for Laser-Plasma Acceleration

et al. 2015

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“…By using a charged coupled device (CCD) camera, we detected the reflected beam and measured the deviation from a regular reference pattern. The surface of the target area was reconstructed using Zernike polynomials [12,26] and is shown in Fig. 3(b).…”

Section: Tape Drive Target System and Its Characterizationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this context, there are only a few target systems available, like droplet systems [8], gas jets [9], and tape targets [10]. Tape driven targets can provide continuous and fresh supply at high repetition rate without extra efforts on vacuum systems required for droplets targets and gas jets [10][11][12]. Moreover, it facilitates to investigate the stability of the laser driven ion beams in the light of developing next generation particle accelerators for the aforementioned applications.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Statistical analysis of laser driven protons using a high-repetition-rate tape drive target system

Noaman-ul-Haq

Ahmed

Sokollik

et al. 2017

Phys. Rev. Accel. Beams

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One of the challenges for laser-driven proton beams for many potential applications is their stability and reproducibility. We investigate the stability of the laser driven proton beams through statistical analysis of the data obtained by employing a high repetition rate tape driven target system. The characterization of the target system shows the positioning of the target within ∼15 μm in the focal plane of an off-axis parabola, with less than a micron variation in surface flatness. By employing this stable target system, we study the stability of the proton beams driven by ultrashort and intense laser pulses. Protons with maximum energies of ∼6 AE 0.3 MeV were accelerated for a large number of laser shots taken at a rate of 0.2 Hz with a stability of less than 5% variations in cutoff energy. The development of high repetition rate target system may provide a platform to understand the dynamics of laser driven proton beams at the rate required for future applications.

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“…The main pulse arrives second and propagates inside the plasma up to the critical density level. It transmits a portion of its energy to the electrons of the media which will transport by themselves the energy deeper in the target [Sokollik, 2011]. For thin targets (few microns), the accelerated electrons can acquire enough energy to escape the rear side of the target and continue the propagation in vacuum.…”

Section: I27 Electron Acceleration In the Over Dense Plasma I27a Target Normal Sheath Acceleration (Tnsa) Principlementioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental studies for generation, transport and applications of ultra-fast laser driven X-ray sources

Zeraouli¹

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vi Finally, I would like to thank my dear parents, Mustapha Zeraouli and Adba Machan, for raising me in a such humble, amazing and loving family, together with the best sister one can ever have Rania Zeraouli. Even if in a certain moment of my life, the future was uncertain, you were there, supporting and trusting, unconditionally in me. You did huge sacrifices so that I could continue my studies far from home, believing in a better future for your son. There are no words, great enough to describe what you mean to me. Thank you for making me the man I am right now, I'll love you forever. Talking about family, I would also like to thank my life partner Edelweiss Hernández Oliva for being by my side for more than four years and for your unlimited cheering. I'm so glad I met you. vii UNIVERSITY OF SALAMANCA

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Investigations of Field Dynamics in Laser Plasmas with Proton Imaging

Cited by 6 publications

References 116 publications

Coulomb-Driven Energy Boost of Heavy Ions for Laser-Plasma Acceleration

Coulomb-Driven Energy Boost of Heavy Ions for Laser-Plasma Acceleration

Statistical analysis of laser driven protons using a high-repetition-rate tape drive target system

Experimental studies for generation, transport and applications of ultra-fast laser driven X-ray sources

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