Single-shot electrons and protons time-resolved detection from high-intensity laser–solid matter interactions at SPARC_LAB

F Bisesto,M Ferrario,F Consoli,A Zigler,M Galletti,M P Anania,R Pompili,P Andreoli,M Salvadori,C Verona,M Botton

doi:10.1017/hpl.2019.39

Abstract

Laser–plasma interactions have been studied in detail over the past twenty years, as they show great potential for the next generation of particle accelerators. The interaction between an ultra-intense laser and a solid-state target produces a huge amount of particles: electrons and photons (X-rays and $\unicode[STIX]{x03B3}$ -rays) at early stages of the process, with protons and ions following them. At SPARC_LAB Test Facility we have set up two diagnostic lines to perform simultaneous temporally resolved measurements on both electrons and protons.

Highlights

The interaction between solid-state matter and very intense lasers in the relativistic regime (IL > 1018 W/cm2) has been widely investigated in the past two decades, mainly aiming to probe the feasibility of completely new, extremely compact proton accelerators thanks to the high electric fields generated (>TV/m) in very short distances on the ∼μm scale
At SPARC LAB[11], the high-power laser FLAME[12] is currently employed in pump-and-probe experiments, in which it is made to interact with solid-state targets
The electro-optic sampling (EOS) diagnostic has been employed to study the fast electrons emitted during the interaction

Summary

Introduction

The interaction between solid-state matter and very intense lasers in the relativistic regime (IL > 1018 W/cm2) has been widely investigated in the past two decades, mainly aiming to probe the feasibility of completely new, extremely compact proton accelerators thanks to the high electric fields generated (>TV/m) in very short distances on the ∼μm scale. The physical mechanism is still not completely clear, due to the fast temporal evolution of this phenomenon, on the sub-picosecond time scale. During this process, beams in the multi-MeV range[2,3,4], tightly confined in time (ps scale) and space (few μm radius), are produced. The main purpose of this is to carry out temporal characterization of the charged particles emitted during the interaction.

Methods

Results

Conclusion