Speaker
Luca Fedeli
Description
See the full Abstract at http://ocs.ciemat.es/EPS2018ABS/pdf/P5.2027.pdf
Laser-plasma based hadron sources for materials science applications
L.Fedeli1 , F.Mirani1 , A.Maffini1 , A.Formenti1 , A.Pazzaglia1 , A.Tentori1 ,
D.Dellasega1 , V.Russo1 , M.Passoni1
1 Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
In this contribution we discuss the potential of mod-
erate energy laser-plasma based hadron sources for
a number of applications in the fields of materi-
als and nuclear sciences. Few MeVs protons can
be used to probe the composition of a sample with
a variety of non-destructive Ion Beam Analysis
techniques[1]. Among these, Proton Induced X-ray
Emission (PIXE) is of particular interest to retrieve Figure 1: Sketch showing a possible scheme
to perform PIXE with a laser-driven source
the concentration profiles of complex samples (e.g.
cultural heritage artifacts[2]). Few MeVs protons
can be used also to generate neutrons with a suitable converter for applications such as ra-
diography and spectroscopy[3]. High intensity(I > 1018 W/cm2 ) lasers can drive ion sources[4]
with properties in principle already suitable for some of these applications[5]. However, there
are still considerable challenges from the experimental point of view, especially if the use of a
compact laser system is desired.
Here we present a thorough feasibility study of laser-driven PIXE[6] with a table-top 10s TW-
class laser and we propose a complete, compact experimental setup. We also discuss enhanced
laser-driven ion acceleration with advanced targets[7, 8], which could be beneficial both for
PIXE and neutron sources. These results could pave the way for compact laser-driven hadron
sources for materials science applications.
References
[1] H.R.Verma, Springer-Verlag ISBN 978-3-540-30279-7 (2007)
[2] N.Grassi et al., X-Ray Spectrometry, 34, 306-309 (2005)
[3] C.M. Brenner et al., Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, 58, 1 (2016)
[4] A.Macchi et al., Reviews of Modern Physics 85, 751 (2013)
[5] M.Barberio et al., Scientific Reports 7, 40415 (2017)
[6] M.Passoni et al., In preparation (2018)
[7] M.Passoni et al., Physical Review Accelerators and Beams 19, 061301 (2016)
[8] I.Prencipe et al. et al., Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, 58, 034019 (2016)
