Chapter Thirty-One - Laser-driven ion accelerator

Abstract

Laser ion acceleration is a new acceleration method in which ions are accelerated by a quasistatic field generated by the interaction of an ultrathin target and an intense laser pulse. Laser ion acceleration is capable of accelerating ions up to the MeV energy region with acceleration fields in the TV/m class and acceleration lengths in the tens of micrometers. The transverse emittance of laser-accelerated ions reaches 10−3mmmrad, which is more than two orders of magnitude better than that of conventionally accelerated ions. Because of this feature, laser ion acceleration is attracting attention as candidates for next-generation ion accelerators. In addition, laser-accelerated ion beams are emitted in pulses of a few picoseconds, enabling ultra-high dose rate irradiation and access to unexplored areas of radiation biology. In this chapter, the advantages of laser-ion accelerators over conventional accelerators, the basic physical mechanism of laser-ion acceleration, and recent research projects are presented.