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A setup for studies of laser-driven proton acceleration at the Lund Laser Centre

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 December 2014

B. Aurand*
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Lund University, 22100 Lund, Sweden
M. Hansson
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Lund University, 22100 Lund, Sweden
L. Senje
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Lund University, 22100 Lund, Sweden
K. Svensson
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Lund University, 22100 Lund, Sweden
A. Persson
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Lund University, 22100 Lund, Sweden
D. Neely
Affiliation:
Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, United Kingdom
O. Lundh
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Lund University, 22100 Lund, Sweden
C.-G. Wahlström
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Lund University, 22100 Lund, Sweden
*
Address correspondence and reprint request to Bastian Aurand, Department of Physics, Lund University, 22100 Lund, Sweden. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

We report on a setup for the investigation of proton acceleration in the regime of target normal sheath acceleration. The main interest here is to focus on stable laser beam parameters as well as a reliable target setup and diagnostics in order to do extensive and systematic studies on the acceleration mechanism. A motorized target alignment system in combination with large target mounts allows for up to 340 shots with high repetition rate without breaking the vacuum. This performance is used to conduct experiments with a split mirror setup exploring the effect of spatial and temporal separation between the pulses on the acceleration mechanism and on the resulting proton beam.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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References

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