Abstract
The Technological Laboratory of LMU Munich supplies various types of solid-state target for laser plasma experiments at the Centre for Advanced Laser Applications in Garching. Our main focus here is on the production of free-standing, thin foil targets, such as diamond-like-carbon foils, carbon nanotube foams (CNFs), plastic, and gold foils. The presented methods comprise cathodic arc deposition for DLC targets, chemical vapor deposition for CNFs, a droplet and spin-coating process for plastic foil production, as well as physical vapor deposition that has been optimized to provide ultrathin gold foils and tailored sacrifice layers. This paper reviews our current capabilities, which are a result of a close collaboration between target production processes and experiment, using high-power chirped pulse amplification laser systems over the past eight years.
Highlights
Laser physics research at the LMU Munich, especially involving the laser proton/ion acceleration activities based on high-power laser systems at the Centre for Advanced Laser Applications (CALA),1 needs specific targets in order to investigate and optimize laserdriven, plasma-based particle sources
Our main focus here is on the production of free-standing, thin foil targets, such as diamond-likecarbon foils, carbon nanotube foams (CNFs), plastic, and gold foils
This paper reviews our current capabilities, which are a result of a close collaboration between target production processes and experiment, using high-power chirped pulse amplification laser systems over the past eight years
Summary
Laser physics research at the LMU Munich, especially involving the laser proton/ion acceleration activities based on high-power laser systems at the Centre for Advanced Laser Applications (CALA), needs specific targets in order to investigate and optimize laserdriven, plasma-based particle sources. One of the key capabilities that has enabled groundbreaking experiments, for example, in radiation pressure acceleration, is the production of ultra-thin, freestanding diamond-like-carbon (DLC) foils. These foils are optically transparent and possess far superior stability, endurance, and smaller minimum thicknesses (3–5 nm) than standard graphite foils. In addition to low-Z materials, we have expanded our work to include the use of heavier elements, in particular, gold foils These foils are produced via physical vapor deposition (PVD) in a dedicated vacuum chamber and can reach thicknesses as low as 5 nm, representing a test case for laser acceleration of high-Z ions
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