Generation of 50-MeV/u He ions in laser-driven ion acceleration with cluster-gas targets

We demonstrate a new ion diagnosis method for high energy ions by utilizing a combination of a single CR-39 detector and plastic plates, which enables to detect high energy ions beyond the detection threshold limit of the CR-39. This detection method coupled with a magnetic spectrometer is applied to identify high energy ions of 50 MeV per nucleon in laser-driven ion acceleration experiments using cluster-gas targets.