Laser generation of ultra-short neutron bursts from high atomic number converters

I. Pomerantz; E. McCary; A. R. Meadows; A. Arefiev; A. C. Bernstein; C. Chester; J. Cortez; M. E. Donovan; G. Dyer; E. W. Gaul; D. Hamilton; D. Kuk; A. C. Lestrade; C. Wang; T. Ditmire; B. M. Hegelich

doi:10.1117/12.2181494

14 May 2015 Laser generation of ultra-short neutron bursts from high atomic number converters

I. Pomerantz, E. McCary, A. R. Meadows, A. Arefiev, A. C. Bernstein, C. Chester, J. Cortez, M. E. Donovan, G. Dyer, E. W. Gaul, D. Hamilton, D. Kuk, A. C. Lestrade, C. Wang, T. Ditmire, B. M. Hegelich

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9514, Laser Acceleration of Electrons, Protons, and Ions III; and Medical Applications of Laser-Generated Beams of Particles III; 95140Q (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2181494
Event: SPIE Optics + Optoelectronics, 2015, Prague, Czech Republic

Abstract

At the Texas Petawatt laser facility we developed a novel ultra-short pulsed laser-driven neutron source generating an unprecedented output peak flux. Our results show a dramatic onset of high-energy electron generation from petawatt laser-irradiated plastic targets for targets thinner than a few microns. In this regime, the copious amounts of multi-MeV electrons emitted from the target are utilized to generate photo-neutrons from a metal converter. The neutrons are generated with a <50 ps pulse duration and a flux of 10¹⁸ n/cm²/s, exceeding any other pulsed or CW neutron source. In this paper, we will report on our measurement of the neutron yields produced from high atomic number converters.

Citation Download Citation

I. Pomerantz, E. McCary, A. R. Meadows, A. Arefiev, A. C. Bernstein, C. Chester, J. Cortez, M. E. Donovan, G. Dyer, E. W. Gaul, D. Hamilton, D. Kuk, A. C. Lestrade, C. Wang, T. Ditmire, and B. M. Hegelich "Laser generation of ultra-short neutron bursts from high atomic number converters", Proc. SPIE 9514, Laser Acceleration of Electrons, Protons, and Ions III; and Medical Applications of Laser-Generated Beams of Particles III, 95140Q (14 May 2015); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2181494

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