We report on the commissioning of the ELIMAIA beamline laser-plasma Ion Accelerator carried out at relativistic intensities (~1021 W/cm2) with the high repetition-rate, high peak-power L3-HAPLS (>10J in 30 fs) laser available at the ELI Beamlines user facility.
Targets of different composition and thickness were used to optimize the performance of the Ion Accelerator. In the best conditions, we were able to reach proton cutoff energies around 30 MeV and fluxes above 1011/sr.
Moreover, we have demonstrated an excellent reliability and shot-to-shot stability (1-2% in energy) of the Ion Accelerator up to a repetition rate of 0.5 Hz for several hundreds of consecutive shots, along with on-shot target positioning and data acquisition and analysis systems. These results demonstrate the robustness of the developed technology available for users at the ELIMAIA beamline, thus paving the way towards its future use for fundamental and applied research, including biomedical ones.
We have developed a compact liquid target setup that produces a continuous ø50 µm cylindrical water jet, capable of operating at high vacuum. It has been tested with a commercial ultrashort-pulse laser in a series of proof-of-principle laser-driven ion acceleration and x-ray generation experiments at repetition rates up to 1 kHz. In optimized conditions, measurements by the time-of-flight (TOF) method have demonstrated a proton signal cut-off energy of 179±9 keV. The laser-generated x-ray emission was characterized in the range 2-36 keV and used as excitation for x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) measurements.
Radiochromic film (RCF) based multichannel diagnostics utilizes the concept of a stack detector comprised of alternating layers of RCFs and shielding aluminium layers. An algorithm based on SRIM simulations is used to correct the accumulated dose. Among the standard information that can be obtained is the maximum ion energy and to some extend the beam energy spectrum. The main area where this detector shines though is the geometrical characterization of the beam. Whereas other detectors such as Thomson parabola spectrometer or Faraday cups detect only a fraction of the outburst cone, the RCF stack placed right behind the target absorbs the whole beam. A complete 2D and to some extend 3D imprint of the ion beam allows us to determine parameters such as divergence or beam center shift with respect to the target normal. The obvious drawback of such diagnostics is its invasive character. But considering that only a few successful shots (2-3) are needed per one kind of target to perform the analysis, the drawbacks are acceptable. In this work, we present results obtained with the RCF diagnostics using both conventional accelerators and laser-driven ion beams during 2 experimental campaigns.
Conference Committee Involvement (1)
Applying Laser-driven Particle Acceleration II, Medical and Nonmedical Uses of Distinctive Energetic Particle and Photon Sources: SPIE Optics + Optoelectronics Industry Event
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