Characterization and focusing of light ion beams generated by ultra-intensely irradiated thin foils at the kilojoule scale

Journal Article · Sun May 15 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3589476· OSTI ID:21537911

Offermann, D T; Flippo, K A; Cobble, J; Schmitt, M J ^[1]; Gaillard, S A ^[2]; Bartal, T ^[3]; Rose, D V; Welch, D R ^[4]; Geissel, M; Schollmeier, M ^[5]

---

1. Los Alamos National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1663, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)
2. Helmoholtz-Zentrum Dresden Rossendorf, Institut fuer Strahlenphysik, PF 51 01 19, 01314 Dresden (Germany)
3. Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093 (United States)
4. Voss Scientific, 418 Washington St. SE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87108 (United States)
5. Sandia National Laboratories, P.O. Box 5800, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185 (United States)

We present the first observations of focused multi-MeV carbon ion beams generated using ultra-intense shortpulse laser interactions with thin hemispherical (400{mu}m radius) targets. The experiments were performed at the Trident laser facility (80 J, 0.6 ps, 2x10{sup 20}W/cm{sup 2}) at Los Alamos National Laboratory and at the Omega EP (extended performance) facility (1 kJ, 10 ps, 5x10{sup 18}W/cm{sup 2}) at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics. The targets were chemical vapor deposition diamond, hemi-shells and were heated to remove contaminants. The ion beam focusing was characterized by tracing the projection of a witness mesh in the ion beam on a lithium fluoride nuclear activation detector. From the data, we infer that the divergence of the beam changes as a function of time. We present a 2-D isothermal model to explain the dynamics. We also present discrepancies in the peak proton and carbon ion energies from the two facilities. The implication of which is a fundamental difference in the temporal evolution of the beams from the two facilities. Simulations using the hybrid particle in cell code, Lsp were performed and compared with the experiments.

• OSTI ID: 21537911
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 18, Issue 5; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3589476; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ACTIVATION DETECTORS
CARBON IONS
CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION
FOCUSING
FOILS
ION BEAMS
LASERS
LIGHT IONS
LITHIUM FLUORIDES
PARTICLE BEAMS
ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS
BEAMS
CHARGED PARTICLES
CHEMICAL COATING
DEPOSITION
FLUORIDES
FLUORINE COMPOUNDS
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
IONS
LITHIUM COMPOUNDS
LITHIUM HALIDES
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
NEUTRON DETECTORS
RADIATION DETECTORS
SURFACE COATING