Experimental investigations of fast-proton production in a picosecond laser plasma

Experimental investigations of fast-proton production in a picosecond laser plasma

Results of experimental investigations of fast-proton production in a laser plasma are presented for the case where the intensity of laser radiation at the targets is 2 × 10 18 W/cm 2 . Three processes of fast-proton acceleration in laser plasma are investigated: (1) the acceleration of protons from...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physics of atomic nuclei Vol. 73; no. 11; pp. 1820 - 1827
Main Authors: Belyaev, V. S., Matafonov, A. P., Ribakov, S. M., Danilov, V. P., Krainov, V. P., Lisitsa, V. S., Andrianov, V. P., Ignatyev, G. N., Rusitski, A. S.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Dordrecht SP MAIK Nauka/Interperiodica 01-11-2010
Springer
Subjects:
ALUMINIUM
Aluminum foil
ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
BARYONS
COPPER
Detectors
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ELEMENTS
ENERGY RANGE
FERMIONS
FILTERS
FOILS
HADRONS
LASER RADIATION
LASER TARGETS
METALS
MEV RANGE
Nuclear radiation
Nuclei
NUCLEONS
OPTIMIZATION
Particle and Nuclear Physics
PARTICLE PRODUCTION
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
PLASMA
PROTONS
PULSES
RADIATIONS
SURFACES
TARGETS
TITANIUM
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
Atomic Nucleus
Laser Plasma
Front Surface
Rear Surface
Foil Thickness
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Results of experimental investigations of fast-proton production in a laser plasma are presented for the case where the intensity of laser radiation at the targets is 2 × 10 18 W/cm 2 . Three processes of fast-proton acceleration in laser plasma are investigated: (1) the acceleration of protons from the front surface toward the laser pulse, (ii) the acceleration of protons from the front surface of the target toward its interior, and (iii) the acceleration of protons from the rear foil surface in the outward direction. The activation procedure and CR-39 tracker detectors featuring a set of various-thickness aluminum filters were used to record fast protons. It turned out that the proton-acceleration process is the most efficient in the case of proton acceleration from the rear foil surface in the outward direction. Experimental results revealed that about N p = 10 7 protons of energy in the region E p > 1.9 MeV that are accelerated from the target surface toward a laser ray, N p = 4× 10 7 protons of energy in the region E p > 1.9 MeV that are accelerated fromthe front surface of the target toward its interior, and N p = 4×10 8 protons of energy in the region E p > 1.9 MeV that are accelerated from the rear foil surface in the outward direction are generated at a laser-radiation intensity of 2 × 10 18 W/cm 2 at the surface of aluminum, copper, and titanium targets. Experimental investigations aimed at optimizing the process of proton acceleration from the rear surface of aluminum foils were performed by varying the foil thickness over the range between 1 and 100 µm. The results of these experiments showed that there is an optimum foil thickness of 10 µm, in which case protons of maximum energy 5 MeV are generated.
ISSN:1063-7788
1562-692X
DOI:10.1134/S1063778810110037