Characterization of proton and heavier ion acceleration in ultrahigh-intensity laser interactions with heated target foils

P. McKenna, K. W. D. Ledingham, J. M. Yang, L. Robson, T. McCanny, S. Shimizu, R. J. Clarke, D. Neely, K. Spohr, R. Chapman, R. P. Singhal, K. Krushelnick, M. S. Wei, and P. A. Norreys

Phys. Rev. E 70, 036405 – Published 21 September 2004

Abstract

Proton and heavy ion acceleration in ultrahigh intensity $(\sim 2 \times 10^{20} W {cm}^{- 2})$ laser plasma interactions has been investigated using the new petawatt arm of the VULCAN laser. Nuclear activation techniques have been applied to make the first spatially integrated measurements of both proton and heavy ion acceleration from the same laser shots with heated and unheated $Fe$ foil targets. $Fe$ ions with energies greater than $10 MeV$ per nucleon have been observed. Effects of target heating on the accelerated ion energy spectra and the laser-to-ion energy conversion efficiencies are discussed. The laser-driven production of the long-lived isotope ${}^{57}{Co}$ (271 days) via a heavy ion induced reaction is demonstrated.

Received 2 April 2004

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.70.036405

Authors & Affiliations

P. McKenna^1,*, K. W. D. Ledingham^1,†, J. M. Yang^1,‡, L. Robson^1,†, T. McCanny¹, S. Shimizu^1,§, R. J. Clarke², D. Neely², K. Spohr³, R. Chapman³, R. P. Singhal⁴, K. Krushelnick⁵, M. S. Wei⁵, and P. A. Norreys²

¹Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG, United Kingdom
²Central Laser Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon OX11 0QX, United Kingdom
³Department of Electronic Engineering and Physics, University of Paisley, PA1 2BE, United Kingdom
⁴Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
⁵Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, London SW7 2BZ, United Kingdom

^*Electronic mail: p.mckenna@phys.strath.ac.uk
^†Also at AWE plc Aldermaston, Reading RG7 4PR, UK.
^‡Present address: Research Center of Laser Fusion, P.O. Box 919-986, Mianyang, 621900, People's Republic of China.
^§Present address: Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University, Gokasho, Uji, Kyoto 611-0011, Japan.

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Vol. 70, Iss. 3 — September 2004

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