ELIMED: MEDICAL APPLICATION AT ELI-BEAMLINES. STATUS OF THE COLLABORATION AND FIRST RESULTS

Francesco Schillaci,Mariapompea Cutroneo,Barbara Tomasello,Andriy Velyhan,Antonella Tramontana,Josef Krasa,Marcella Renis,Santo Gammino,Giuseppe A P Cirrone,Jan Prokupek,Francesco Romano,Mario Maggiore,Lorenzo Torrisi,Salvatore Cavallaro,Luciano Calabretta,George Korn,Daniele Margarone,Giacomo Cuttone

doi:10.14311/ap.2014.54.0285

Abstract

ELI-Beamlines is one of the four pillars of the ELI (Extreme Light Infrastructure) pan-European project. It will be an ultrahigh-intensity, high repetition-rate, femtosecond laser facility whose main goal is to generate and apply high-brightness X-ray sources and accelerated charged particles. In particular, medical applications are treated by the ELIMED task force, which has been launched by collaboration between ELI and INFN researchers. ELIMED aims to demonstrate the clinical applicability of laser accelerated ions. In this article, the state of the ELIMED project and the first scientific results are reported. The design and realisation of a preliminary beam handling system and of an advanced spectrometer for diagnostics of high energy (multi-MeV) laser-accelerated ion beams will also be briefly presented.

Highlights

Collimated multi-MeV proton beams can be generated by irradiating thin solid foils with ultraintense (1018 W/cm2) short-pulse (30 fsec–10 psec) lasers
The RPA regime could be achieved within the ELI-Beamlines project, the main goal of which is to develop 1–10 PW class lasers with very short pulses with excellent shot-to-shot reproducibility in order to produce short X-ray sources and accelerate particles in the ultra-relativistic energy range [10]
The Thomson Parabola (TP) has been tested under laser-driven beams at the PALS (Prague Asterix Laser System) laboratory using the Asterix IV laser

Summary

Introduction

Collimated multi-MeV proton beams can be generated by irradiating thin solid foils with ultraintense (1018 W/cm2) short-pulse (30 fsec–10 psec) lasers. The highest proton energies with best characteristics have been reached using the so called Target Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA) mechanism [1]. In this regime, high-energy (MeV range) electrons are generated at the target front side by hot electron formation. The RPA regime could be achieved within the ELI-Beamlines project, the main goal of which is to develop 1–10 PW class lasers with very short pulses (few tens of femtoseconds) with excellent shot-to-shot reproducibility in order to produce short X-ray sources and accelerate particles in the ultra-relativistic energy range [10]

Methods

Results

Conclusion