Proton emission from thin hydrogenated targets irradiated by laser pulses at 10{sup 16} W/cm{sup 2}

Journal Article · Tue Feb 14 23:00:00 EST 2012 · Review of Scientific Instruments

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3673506· OSTI ID:22068784

Torrisi, L ^[1]; Giuffrida, L; Cirrone, P ^[1]; Cutroneo, M ^[2]; Picciotto, A ^[3]; Krasa, J; Margarone, D; Velyhan, A; Laska, L; Ullschmied, J ^[4]; Wolowski, J; Badziak, J; Rosinski, M ^[5]

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1. INFN-LNS Via S. Sofia 44, 95123 Catania (Italy)
2. Dip.to di Fisica, Universita di Messina, V.le F.S. D'Alcontres 31, 98166 S. Agata, Messina (Italy)
3. Fondazione Bruno Kessler-IRST, Via Sommarive 18, 38050 Povo, Trento (Italy)
4. Institute of Physics, ASCR, v.v.i., 182 21 Prague 8 (Czech Republic)
5. Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion, IPPLM, 23 Hery Str. 01-497 Warsaw (Poland)

The iodine laser at PALS Laboratory in Prague, operating at 1315 nm fundamental harmonics and at 300 ps FWHM pulse length, is employed to irradiate thin hydrogenated targets placed in vacuum at intensities on the order of 10{sup 16} W/cm{sup 2}. The laser-generated plasma is investigated in terms of proton and ion emission in the forward and backward directions. The time-of-flight technique, using ion collectors and semiconductor detectors, is used to measure the ion currents and the corresponding velocities and energies. Thomson parabola spectrometer is employed to separate the contribution of the ion emission from single laser shots. A particular attention is given to the proton production in terms of the maximum energy, emission yield, and angular distribution as a function of the laser energy, focal position, target thickness, and composition. Metallic and polymeric targets allow to generate protons with large energy range and different yield, depending on the laser, target composition, and target geometry properties.

• OSTI ID: 22068784
• Journal Information: Review of Scientific Instruments, Journal Name: Review of Scientific Instruments Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 83; ISSN 0034-6748; ISSN RSINAK
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ANGULAR DISTRIBUTION
BEAM CURRENTS
HARMONICS
HYDROGENATION
IODINE LASERS
ION EMISSION
IRRADIATION
LASER TARGETS
LASER-PRODUCED PLASMA
PROTONS
PULSES
SEMICONDUCTOR DETECTORS
SPECTROMETERS
THICKNESS
THOMSON SCATTERING
TIME-OF-FLIGHT METHOD