Abstract
Abstract The time-of-flight technique coupled with semiconductor detectors is a powerful instrument to provide real-time characterization of ions accelerated because of laser–matter interactions. Nevertheless, the presence of strong electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) generated during the interactions can severely hinder its employment. For this reason, the diagnostic system must be designed to have high EMP shielding. Here we present a new advanced prototype of detector, developed at ENEA-Centro Ricerche Frascati (Italy), with a large-area (15 mm × 15 mm) polycrystalline diamond sensor having 150 μm thickness. The tailored detector design and testing ensure high sensitivity and, thanks to the fast temporal response, high-energy resolution of the reconstructed ion spectrum. The detector was offline calibrated and then successfully tested during an experimental campaign carried out at the PHELIX laser facility ( ${E}_L\sim$ 100 J, ${\tau}_L = 750$ fs, ${I}_L\sim \left(1{-}2.5\right)\times {10}^{19}$ W/cm2) at GSI (Germany). The high rejection to EMP fields was demonstrated and suitable calibrated spectra of the accelerated protons were obtained.
Highlights
Semiconductor detectors characterized by a wide band-gap, i.e. Silicon Carbide and Diamonds, are commonly used as time-resolved sensors for Time-Of-Flight (TOF) measurements [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
It is crucial to face some challenges, for instance to work at high repetition rate while maintaining a high sensitivity of the measurements, often hindered by the remarkable electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) fields typical of these scenarios
We have described a novel detector design based on a 150 μm thick polycrystalline diamond sensor having a surface of 15 mm × 15 mm, characterized by a fast temporal response (FWHM = 4.1 ns) and a charge collection efficiency of ∼42%
Summary
Semiconductor detectors characterized by a wide band-gap, i.e. Silicon Carbide and Diamonds, are commonly used as time-resolved sensors for Time-Of-Flight (TOF) measurements [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8] This technique is a valuable instrument for the real-time characterization of charged particles accelerated during laser-plasma interaction [9]. When coupled to semiconductor detectors, it allows to retrieve the particle energy distribution with a good resolution (according to the temporal response of the detector, tolerances of the order of about 2% are achieved), and to reconstruct the associated spectra with high accuracy [8,10,11]. The results obtained during an experimental campaign where remarkable levels of EMPs were produced are presented and discussed
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