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A kilo-tesla level, quasi-static magnetic field (B-field), which is generated with an intense laser-driven capacitor-coil target, was measured by proton deflectometry with a proper plasma shielding. Proton deflectometry is a direct and reliable method to diagnose strong, mm³-scale laser-produced B-field; however, this was not successful in the previous experiment. A target-normal-sheath-accelerated proton beam is deflected by Lorentz force in the laser-produced magnetic field with the resulting deflection pattern recorded on a radiochromic film stack. A 610630 T of B-field amplitude was inferred by comparing the experimental proton pattern with Monte-Carlo calculations. The amplitude and temporal evolutions of the laser-generated B-field were also measured by a differential magnetic probe, independently confirming the proton deflectometry measurement results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenomena consistent with self-collimation (or weak self-focusing) of laser target-normal-sheath-accelerated protons was experimentally observed for the first time, in a specially engineered structure ('lens') consisting of a stack of 300 thin aluminum foils separated by 50 μm vacuum gaps. The experiments were carried out in a 'passive environment,' i.e., no external fields applied, neutralization plasma or injection of secondary charged particles was imposed. Experiments were performed at the petawatt 'PHELIX' laser user facility (E = 100 J, Δt = 400 fs, λ = 1062 nm) at the 'Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung-GSI' in Darmstadt, Germany. The observed rms beam spot reduction depends inversely on energy, with a focusing degree decreasing monotonically from 2 at 5.4 MeV to 1.5 at 18.7 MeV. The physics inside the lens is complex, resulting in a number of different mechanisms that can potentially affect the particle dynamics within the structure. We present a plausible simple interpretation of the experiment in which the combination of magnetic self-pinch forces generated by the beam current together with the simultaneous reduction of the repulsive electrostatic forces due to the foils are the dominant mechanisms responsible for the observed focusing/collimation. This focusing technique could be applied to a wide variety of space-charge dominated proton and heavy ion beams and impact fields and applications, such as HEDP science, inertial confinement fusion in both fast ignition and heavy ion fusion approaches, compact laser-driven injectors for a Linear Accelerator (LINAC) or synchrotron, medical therapy, materials processing, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focusing properties of a laser generated proton beam have been investigated using hemispherical targets in both freestanding and enclosed cone-shaped geometries. The proton trajectories and focusing were strongly affected by the electric fields in the beam, bending the trajectories near the axis. In the cone targets, a sheath field effectively channels the proton beam through the open cone tip, substantially improving the beam focusing from ≈90 μm to ≈55 μm diameter for protons with energies >3 MeV. The proton generation and focusing were modeled using 2D hybrid particle-in-cell simulations, which compared well with the experimental results. Simulations predict further improvement in focusing with more uniform target illumination. These results are of significant interest to proton fast ignition and other high energy density physics applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copper activation was used to characterize high-energy proton beam acceleration from near-critical density plasma targets. An enhancement was observed when decreasing the target density, which is indicative for an increased laser-accelerated hot electron density at the rear target-vacuum boundary. This is due to channel formation and collimation of the hot electrons inside the target. Particle-in-cell simulations support the experimental observations and show the correlation between channel depth and longitudinal electric field strength is directly correlated with the proton acceleration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report experimental evidence for a Rayleigh-Taylor-like instability driven by radiation pressure of an ultraintense (1021 W/cm2) laser pulse. The instability is witnessed by the highly modulated profile of the accelerated proton beam produced when the laser irradiates a 5 nm diamondlike carbon (90% C, 10% H) target. Clear anticorrelation between bubblelike modulations of the proton beam and transmitted laser profile further demonstrate the role of the radiation pressure in modulating the foil. Measurements of the modulation wavelength, and of the acceleration from Doppler-broadening of back-reflected light, agree quantitatively with particle-in-cell simulations performed for our experimental parameters and which confirm the existence of this instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]