High energy implementation of coil‐target scheme for guided re‐acceleration of laser‐driven protons

Year: 2021

Authors: Ahmed H., Hadjisolomou P., Naughton K., Alejo A., Brauckmann S., Cantono G., Ferguson S., Cerchez M., Doria D., Green J., Gwynne D., Hodge T., Kumar D., Macchi A., Prasad R., Willi O., Borghesi M., Kar S.

Autors Affiliation: Queens Univ Belfast, Sch Math & Phys, Belfast BT7 1NN, Antrim, North Ireland; STFC Rutherford Appleton Lab, Cent Laser Facil, Didcot OX11 0QX, Oxon, England; ELI Beamlines Project, Inst Phys ASCR, Na Slovance 2, Prague 18221, Czech Republic; Univ Dusseldorf, Inst Laser & Plasma Phys, Dusseldorf, Germany; Univ Pisa, Dipartimento Fis Enrico Fermi, Pisa, Italy; Extreme Light Infrastruct ELI NP, Reactorului 30, Bucharest 077125, Romania; Horia Hulubei Natl Inst R&D Phys & Nucl Engn IFIN, Reactorului 30, Bucharest 077125, Romania; CNR, Natl Inst Opt CNR INO, Res Unit Adriano Gozzini, Pisa, Italy.

Abstract: Developing compact ion accelerators using intense lasers is a very active area of research, motivated
by a strong applicative potential in science, industry and healthcare. However, proposed applications
in medical therapy, as well as in nuclear and particle physics demand a strict control of ion energy,
as well as of the angular and spectral distribution of ion beam, beyond the intrinsic limitations of
the several acceleration mechanisms explored so far. Here we report on the production of highly
collimated ( ∼ 0.2 ◦ half angle divergence), high-charge (10s of pC) and quasi-monoenergetic proton
beams up to ∼ 50 MeV, using a recently developed method based on helical coil targetry. In this
concept, ions accelerated from a laser-irradiated foil are post-accelerated and conditioned in a helical
structure positioned at the rear of the foil. The pencil beam of protons was produced by guided
post-acceleration at a rate of ∼ 2 GeV/m, without sacrificing the excellent beam emittance of the
laser-driven proton beams. 3D particle tracing simulations indicate the possibility of sustaining
high acceleration gradients over extended helical coil lengths, thus maximising the gain from such
miniature accelerating modules.

Journal/Review: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS

Volume: 11 (1)      Pages from: 699-1  to: 699-7

More Information: Authors acknowledge funding from EPSRC [EP/J002550/1-Career Acceleration Fellowship held by S.K., EP/L002221/1, EP/K022415/1, EP/J500094/1, and EP/I029206/1], SFB/TR18, GRK1203, EC-GA284464, and Invest Northern Ireland (POC-329). D.K., acknowledges the financial support of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, via project LQ1606, as part of targeted support from the National Programme of Sustainability II (Czechia). Authors also acknowledge A. Schiavi for the use of the particle tracing code, PTRACE and Dr. Jason Wiggins for insightful suggestions. Data associated with research published in this paper is accessible at https://doi.org/10.17034/4f68d8a8-21b4-48bd-9a32-e31101a60197.
KeyWords: laser-plasma acceleration
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-77997-w

Citations: 10
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