Berlin 2014 – scientific programme
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P: Fachverband Plasmaphysik
P 24: Laser Plasmas I
P 24.1: Talk
Thursday, March 20, 2014, 14:00–14:15, SPA HS202
Scaling of TNSA-Accelerated Proton Beams with Laser Energy and Focal Spot Size — •Lieselotte Obst1,2, Karl Zeil1, Josefine Metzkes1,2, Stephan Kraft1, and Ulrich Schramm1,2 — 1Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden - Rossendorf, Dresden, Deutschland — 2Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Deutschland
We investigate the acceleration of high energy proton pulses generated by relativistic laser-plasma interaction. The scope of this work was the systematic investigation of the scaling of the laser proton acceleration process in the ultra-short pulse regime in order to identify feasible routes towards the potential medical application of this accelerator technology for the development of compact proton sources for radiation therapy.
We present an experimental study of the proton beam properties under variation of the laser intensity irradiating thin foil targets. This was achieved by employing different parabolic mirrors with various focal lengths. Hence, in contrast to moving the target in and out of focus, the target was always irradiated with an optimized focal spot. By observing the back reflected light of the laser beam from the target front side, pre-plasma effects on the laser absorption could be investigated. The study was performed at the 150 TW Draco Laser facility of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf with ultrashort (30 fs) laser pulses of intensities of about 8 · 1020 W/cm2.