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The acceleration of intense proton and ion beams by ultra-intense lasers has matured to a point where applications in basic research and technology are being developed. Crucial for harvesting the unmatched beam parameters driven by the relativistic electron sheath is the precise control of the beam. We report on recent experiments using the PHELIX laser at GSI, the VULCAN laser at RAL and the TRIDENT laser at LANL to control and use laser accelerated proton beams for applications in high energy density research. We demonstrate efficient collimation of the proton beam using high field pulsed solenoid magnets, a prerequisite to capture and transport the beam for applications. Furthermore we report on two campaigns to use intense, short proton bunches to isochorically heat solid targets up to the warm dense matter state. The temporal profile of the proton beam allows for rapid heating of the target, much faster than the hydrodynamic response time thereby creating a strongly coupled plasma at solid density. The target parameters are then probed by X-ray Thomson scattering (XRTS) to reveal the density and temperature of the heated volume. This combination of two powerful techniques developed during the past few years allows for the generation and investigation of macroscopic samples of matter in states present in giant planets or the interior of the earth.

The capture of laser-accelerated proton beams accompanied by co-moving electrons via a solenoid field has been studied with particle-in-cell simulations. The main advantages of the Warp simulation suite that we have used, relative to envelope or tracking codes, are the possibility of including all source parameters energy resolved, adding electrons as second species and considering the non-negligible space-charge forces and electrostatic self-fields. It was observed that the influence of the electrons is of vital importance. The magnetic effect on the electrons outbalances the space-charge force. Hence, the electrons are forced onto the beam axis and attract protons. Beside the energy dependent proton density increase on axis, the change in the particle spectrum is also important for future applications. Protons are accelerated/decelerated slightly, electrons highly. 2/3 of all electrons get lost directly at the source and 27% of all protons hit the inner wall of the solenoid.

Experiments using high-energy/high-power lasers have being pursued for almost a decade at GSI. In the regime of ultra-intense lasers, the PHELIX (Petawatt High-Energy Laser for heavy-Ion experiments) system has reached the 20 TW level and first successful experiments have been done. In addition to the experiments on heavy-ion energy loss in laser produced plasmas, our research will focus on laser-assisted particle acceleration and the use of high-energy petawatt lasers (HEPW) for the diagnostics of dense plasmas which has raised great interest in the international community. The plasma physics group at GSI, based on experiments in France, the UK and the U.S., has contributed significantly to this field of research in recent years. Now, with the upcoming commissioning of different power levels of PHELIX our experimental activities can be performed at GSI. Due to the funding of a virtual institute by the Helmholtz Association, the opportunities for new experiments at GSI have grown significantly. The paper will give an overview of recent experimental results, show the link to the future GSI experimental program (including FAIR) and present the experiments that will be done at GSI for the years to come.

Experiments using high-energy/high-power lasers have being pursued for almost a decade at GSI. In the regime of ultra-intense lasers, the PHELIX (Petawatt High-Energy Laser for heavy-Ion experiments) system has reached the 20 TW level and first successful experiments have been done. In addition to the experiments on heavy-ion energy loss in laser produced plasmas, our research will focus on laser-assisted particle acceleration and the use of high-energy petawatt lasers (HEPW) for the diagnostics of dense plasmas which has raised great interest in the international community. The plasma physics group at GSI, based on experiments in France, the UK and the U.S., has contributed significantly to this field of research in recent years. Now, with the upcoming commissioning of different power levels of PHELIX our experimental activities can be performed at GSI. Due to the funding of a virtual institute by the Helmholtz Association, the opportunities for new experiments at GSI have grown significantly. The paper will give an overview of recent experimental results, show the link to the future GSI experimental program (including FAIR) and present the experiments that will be done at GSI for the years to come.

The acceleration of intense proton and ion beams by ultra-intense lasers has matured to a point where applications in basic research and technology are being developed. Crucial for harvesting the unmatched beam parameters driven by the relativistic electron sheath is the precise control of the beam. We report on recent experiments using the PHELIX laser at GSI, the VULCAN laser at RAL and the TRIDENT laser at LANL to control and use laser accelerated proton beams for applications in high energy density research. We demonstrate efficient collimation of the proton beam using high field pulsed solenoid magnets, a prerequisite to capture and transport the beam for applications. Furthermore we report on two campaigns to use intense, short proton bunches to isochorically heat solid targets up to the warm dense matter state. The temporal profile of the proton beam allows for rapid heating of the target, much faster than the hydrodynamic response time thereby creating a strongly coupled plasma at solid density. The target parameters are then probed by X-ray Thomson scattering (XRTS) to reveal the density and temperature of the heated volume. This combination of two powerful techniques developed during the past few years allows for the generation and investigation of macroscopic samples of matter in states present in giant planets or the interior of the earth.

The capture of laser-accelerated proton beams accompanied by co-moving electrons via a solenoid field has been studied with particle-in-cell simulations. The main advantages of the Warp simulation suite that we have used, relative to envelope or tracking codes, are the possibility of including all source parameters energy resolved, adding electrons as second species and considering the non-negligible space-charge forces and electrostatic self-fields. It was observed that the influence of the electrons is of vital importance. The magnetic effect on the electrons outbalances the space-charge force. Hence, the electrons are forced onto the beam axis and attract protons. Beside the energy dependent proton density increase on axis, the change in the particle spectrum is also important for future applications. Protons are accelerated/decelerated slightly, electrons highly. 2/3 of all electrons get lost directly at the source and 27% of all protons hit the inner wall of the solenoid.

Experiments using high-energy/high-power lasers have being pursued for almost a decade at GSI. In the regime of ultra-intense lasers, the PHELIX (Petawatt High-Energy Laser for heavy-Ion experiments) system has reached the 20 TW level and first successful experiments have been done. In addition to the experiments on heavy-ion energy loss in laser produced plasmas, our research will focus on laser-assisted particle acceleration and the use of high-energy petawatt lasers (HEPW) for the diagnostics of dense plasmas which has raised great interest in the international community. The plasma physics group at GSI, based on experiments in France, the UK and the U.S., has contributed significantly to this field of research in recent years. Now, with the upcoming commissioning of different power levels of PHELIX our experimental activities can be performed at GSI. Due to the funding of a virtual institute by the Helmholtz Association, the opportunities for new experiments at GSI have grown significantly. The paper will give an overview of recent experimental results, show the link to the future GSI experimental program (including FAIR) and present the experiments that will be done at GSI for the years to come.

The acceleration of intense proton and ion beams by ultra-intense lasers has matured to a point where applications in basic research and technology are being developed. Crucial for harvesting the unmatched beam parameters driven by the relativistic electron sheath is the precise control of the beam. We report on recent experiments using the PHELIX laser at GSI, the VULCAN laser at RAL and the TRIDENT laser at LANL to control and use laser accelerated proton beams for applications in high energy density research. We demonstrate efficient collimation of the proton beam using high field pulsed solenoid magnets, a prerequisite to capture and transport the beam for applications. Furthermore we report on two campaigns to use intense, short proton bunches to isochorically heat solid targets up to the warm dense matter state. The temporal profile of the proton beam allows for rapid heating of the target, much faster than the hydrodynamic response time thereby creating a strongly coupled plasma at solid density. The target parameters are then probed by X-ray Thomson scattering (XRTS) to reveal the density and temperature of the heated volume. This combination of two powerful techniques developed during the past few years allows for the generation and investigation of macroscopic samples of matter in states present in giant planets or the interior of the earth.

The capture of laser-accelerated proton beams accompanied by co-moving electrons via a solenoid field has been studied with particle-in-cell simulations. The main advantages of the Warp simulation suite that we have used, relative to envelope or tracking codes, are the possibility of including all source parameters energy resolved, adding electrons as second species and considering the non-negligible space-charge forces and electrostatic self-fields. It was observed that the influence of the electrons is of vital importance. The magnetic effect on the electrons outbalances the space-charge force. Hence, the electrons are forced onto the beam axis and attract protons. Beside the energy dependent proton density increase on axis, the change in the particle spectrum is also important for future applications. Protons are accelerated/decelerated slightly, electrons highly. 2/3 of all electrons get lost directly at the source and 27% of all protons hit the inner wall of the solenoid.

Experiments using high-energy/high-power lasers have being pursued for almost a decade at GSI. In the regime of ultra-intense lasers, the PHELIX (Petawatt High-Energy Laser for heavy-Ion experiments) system has reached the 20 TW level and first successful experiments have been done. In addition to the experiments on heavy-ion energy loss in laser produced plasmas, our research will focus on laser-assisted particle acceleration and the use of high-energy petawatt lasers (HEPW) for the diagnostics of dense plasmas which has raised great interest in the international community. The plasma physics group at GSI, based on experiments in France, the UK and the U.S., has contributed significantly to this field of research in recent years. Now, with the upcoming commissioning of different power levels of PHELIX our experimental activities can be performed at GSI. Due to the funding of a virtual institute by the Helmholtz Association, the opportunities for new experiments at GSI have grown significantly. The paper will give an overview of recent experimental results, show the link to the future GSI experimental program (including FAIR) and present the experiments that will be done at GSI for the years to come.

The acceleration of intense proton and ion beams by ultra-intense lasers has matured to a point where applications in basic research and technology are being developed. Crucial for harvesting the unmatched beam parameters driven by the relativistic electron sheath is the precise control of the beam. We report on recent experiments using the PHELIX laser at GSI, the VULCAN laser at RAL and the TRIDENT laser at LANL to control and use laser accelerated proton beams for applications in high energy density research. We demonstrate efficient collimation of the proton beam using high field pulsed solenoid magnets, a prerequisite to capture and transport the beam for applications. Furthermore we report on two campaigns to use intense, short proton bunches to isochorically heat solid targets up to the warm dense matter state. The temporal profile of the proton beam allows for rapid heating of the target, much faster than the hydrodynamic response time thereby creating a strongly coupled plasma at solid density. The target parameters are then probed by X-ray Thomson scattering (XRTS) to reveal the density and temperature of the heated volume. This combination of two powerful techniques developed during the past few years allows for the generation and investigation of macroscopic samples of matter in states present in giant planets or the interior of the earth.

The capture of laser-accelerated proton beams accompanied by co-moving electrons via a solenoid field has been studied with particle-in-cell simulations. The main advantages of the Warp simulation suite that we have used, relative to envelope or tracking codes, are the possibility of including all source parameters energy resolved, adding electrons as second species and considering the non-negligible space-charge forces and electrostatic self-fields. It was observed that the influence of the electrons is of vital importance. The magnetic effect on the electrons outbalances the space-charge force. Hence, the electrons are forced onto the beam axis and attract protons. Beside the energy dependent proton density increase on axis, the change in the particle spectrum is also important for future applications. Protons are accelerated/decelerated slightly, electrons highly. 2/3 of all electrons get lost directly at the source and 27% of all protons hit the inner wall of the solenoid.

The generation of intense ion beams from high-intensity laser-generated plasmas has been the focus of research for the last decade. In the LIGHT collaboration the expertise of heavy ion accelerator scientists and laser and plasma physicists has been combined to investigate the prospect of merging these ion beams with conventional accelerator technology and exploring the possibilities of future applications. We report about the goals and first results of the LIGHT collaboration to generate, handle and transport laser driven ion beams. This effort constitutes an important step in research for next generation accelerator technologies.

Using a pulse power solenoid, we demonstrate efficient capture of laser accelerated proton beams and the ability to control their large divergence angles and broad energy range. Simulations using measured data for the input parameters give inference into the phase-space and transport efficiencies of the captured proton beams. We conclude with results from a feasibility study of a pulse power compact achromatic gantry concept. Using a scaled target normal sheath acceleration spectrum, we present simulation results of the available spectrum after transport through the gantry.

At the Helmholtz center GSI, PHELIX (Petawatt High Energy Laser for heavy Ion eXperiments) has been commissioned for operation in stand-alone mode and, in combination with ions accelerated up to an energy of 13 MeV/u by the heavy ion accelerator UNILAC. The combination of PHELIX with the heavy-ion beams available at GSI enables a large variety of unique experiments. Novel research opportunities are spanning from the study of ion–matter interaction, through challenging new experiments in atomic physics, nuclear physics, and astrophysics, into the field of relativistic plasma physics.

At the Helmholtz center GSI, PHELIX (Petawatt High Energy Laser for heavy Ion eXperiments) has been commissioned for operation in stand-alone mode and, in combination with ions accelerated up to an energy of 13 MeV/u by the heavy ion accelerator UNILAC. The combination of PHELIX with the heavy-ion beams available at GSI enables a large variety of unique experiments. Novel research opportunities are spanning from the study of ion–matter interaction, through challenging new experiments in atomic physics, nuclear physics, and astrophysics, into the field of relativistic plasma physics.

Recent advances in laser-ion acceleration have motivated research towards laser-driven compact accelerators for medical therapy. Realizing laser-ion acceleration for medical therapy will require adapting the medical requirements to the foreseeable laser constraints, as well as advances in laser-acceleration physics, beam manipulation and delivery, real-time dosimetry, treatment planning and translational research into a clinical setting.

Proposal for PHELIX Experiment Time, GSI-PPAC

Recent advances in laser-ion acceleration have motivated research towards laser-driven compact accelerators for medical therapy. Realizing laser-ion acceleration for medical therapy will require adapting the medical requirements to the foreseeable laser constraints, as well as advances in laser-acceleration physics, beam manipulation and delivery, real-time dosimetry, treatment planning and translational research into a clinical setting.

Recent advances in laser-ion acceleration have motivated research towards laser-driven compact accelerators for medical therapy. Realizing laser-ion acceleration for medical therapy will require adapting the medical requirements to the foreseeable laser constraints, as well as advances in laser-acceleration physics, beam manipulation and delivery, real-time dosimetry, treatment planning and translational research into a clinical setting.

Proposal for PHELIX Experiment Time, GSI-PPAC

Focusing and transport of laser-accelerated protons with quadrupoles