Production of proton beam with ZrH2 pellet target

Abstract

We are studying proton beam generation using a laser ion source (LIS). A LIS is capable to switch providing species only by changing solid target materials which are irradiated by a high intensity pulsed laser. However, a proton beam generation with suitable properties for particle accelerators has yet to achieve despite long term efforts. In this paper, we investigate performance of a pellet target made of compressed ZrH2 powder in a shell for proton beam generation. By adjusting operation parameter of the LIS, we could clearly separate proton beam form Zr beam in the time structure. The peak current of the extracted proton beam was 120 µA. Also, the durability of the pellet target was confirmed by applying thousands of laser shots.