Detection of alpha particles from 7Li(p,α)4He and 19F(p,α)16O reactions induced by laser-accelerated protons using CR-39 with potassium hydroxide-ethanol-water etching solution.

Abstract

Alpha particles generated by 7Li(p,α)4He and 19F(p,α)16O reactions are selectively detected in the presence of abundant primary protons by reducing the proton sensitivity of CR-39 using a potassium hydroxide-ethanol-water (PEW) etching solution. These nuclear reactions are induced in a LiF crystal using the laser-accelerated protons (4 × 1011 protons/pulse with a maximum energy of 3.3 MeV) generated and accelerated by the interaction of a 40-fs laser pulse with a polyethylene thin film target at a peak intensity of 5 × 1019 W/cm2. Subsequent etching of the CR-39 in the PEW solution (KOH: 17 wt. %; C2H5OH: 25 wt. %; H2O: 58 wt. %) permits the selective detection of 4.0 MeV alpha particles, which is independently confirmed by an experiment using alpha particles from an 241Am source. The described method is expected to be useful for research into nuclear reactions in laser plasma.