Method of producing 100 keVs ion beams from a gas jet using two intense laser pulses

Merve Yigitoglu Keskin; Willow Pring; José Antonio Pérez-Hernández; Roberto Lera Matellanes; Jason Mill; Diego de Luis; Nardjesse Boudjema; Oscar Varela; Enrique García-García; Cruz Méndez Valverde; Enrico Brunetti; Bernhard Ersfeld; Sanjeev Kumar; S. Mark Wiggins; Giancarlo Gatti; Luca Volpe; Luis Roso; M. Bilge Demirköz; Dino A. Jaroszynski

doi:10.1117/12.2672099

8 June 2023 Method of producing 100 keVs ion beams from a gas jet using two intense laser pulses

Merve Yigitoglu Keskin, Willow Pring, José Antonio Pérez-Hernández, Roberto Lera Matellanes, Jason Mill, Diego de Luis, Nardjesse Boudjema, Oscar Varela, Enrique García-García, Cruz Méndez Valverde, Enrico Brunetti, Bernhard Ersfeld, Sanjeev Kumar, S. Mark Wiggins, Giancarlo Gatti, Luca Volpe, Luis Roso, M. Bilge Demirköz, Dino A. Jaroszynski

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 12579, Laser Acceleration of Electrons, Protons, and Ions VII; 1257904 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2672099
Event: SPIE Optics + Optoelectronics, 2023, Prague, Czech Republic

Abstract

Experiments have been undertaken using the VEGA-3 petawatt laser system at the Centro de Láseres Pulsados (CLPU) facility in Salamanca to investigate electron and ion acceleration in under-dense plasma. The respective longitudinal and transverse fields of the ‘bubble’ structure of a laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA) simultaneously accelerates electrons to GeV energies, and ions to 100s keV/u to MeV/u energies. The laser is configured to produce two ultra-intense laser pulses, each with a minimum pulse duration of 30 fs and a variable inter-pulse delay up to 300 fs. The double pulses can superpose or resonantly excite the LWFA bubble to increase the accelerating fields. By focusing the laser beam into a 2.74 mm diameter supersonic jet of He gas, using an F/10.4 parabola, an initial intensity of up to ≈10¹⁹ Wcm⁻² can be realized at focus. This ionises the gas to produce plasma and the imposes a ponderomotive force that creates the LWFA accelerating structures. For backing pressures of 30 – 60 bar, corresponding to plasma densities of 1–4×10¹⁹ cm⁻³, the fields of the LWFA can exceed 200 MV/m, which is sufficient to accelerate electrons to GeV energies, and ions to 100s keV/u. This study focuses on ion acceleration in the transverse direction. He⁺¹ and He⁺² ion spectra have been measured using a Thompson parabola spectrometer and a multi-channel plate detector. He ions with energies up to a few hundred keV/u are observed for both single pulses (5.0 J) and double pulses (5.0 J and 3.6 J, respectively), where the inter-pulse delay is varied between 0 fs and ± 300 fs. The measured spectra are consistent with numerical simulations. Ions are observed to undergo electron exchange in the neutral surrounding gas, which produces different charge states ions and neutral atoms.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Merve Yigitoglu Keskin, Willow Pring, José Antonio Pérez-Hernández, Roberto Lera Matellanes, Jason Mill, Diego de Luis, Nardjesse Boudjema, Oscar Varela, Enrique García-García, Cruz Méndez Valverde, Enrico Brunetti, Bernhard Ersfeld, Sanjeev Kumar, S. Mark Wiggins, Giancarlo Gatti, Luca Volpe, Luis Roso, M. Bilge Demirköz, and Dino A. Jaroszynski "Method of producing 100 keVs ion beams from a gas jet using two intense laser pulses", Proc. SPIE 12579, Laser Acceleration of Electrons, Protons, and Ions VII, 1257904 (8 June 2023); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2672099

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available