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Schollmeier MS, Bekx JJ, Hartmann J, Schork E, Speicher M, Brodersen AF, Fazzini A, Fischer P, Gaul E, Gonzalez-Izquierdo B, Günther MM, Härle AK, Hollinger R, Kenney K, Park J, Rivas DE, Scutelnic V, Shpilman Z, Wang S, Rocca JJ, Korn G. Differentiating multi-MeV, multi-ion spectra with CR-39 solid-state nuclear track detectors. Sci Rep 2023; 13:18155. [PMID: 37875514 PMCID: PMC10598230 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-45208-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 10/26/2023] Open
Abstract
The development of high intensity petawatt lasers has created new possibilities for ion acceleration and nuclear fusion using solid targets. In such laser-matter interaction, multiple ion species are accelerated with broad spectra up to hundreds of MeV. To measure ion yields and for species identification, CR-39 solid-state nuclear track detectors are frequently used. However, these detectors are limited in their applicability for multi-ion spectra differentiation as standard image recognition algorithms can lead to a misinterpretation of data, there is no unique relation between track diameter and particle energy, and there are overlapping pit diameter relationships for multiple particle species. In this report, we address these issues by first developing an algorithm to overcome user bias during image processing. Second, we use calibration of the detector response for protons, carbon and helium ions (alpha particles) from 0.1 to above 10 MeV and measurements of statistical energy loss fluctuations in a forward-fitting procedure utilizing multiple, differently filtered CR-39, altogether enabling high-sensitivity, multi-species particle spectroscopy. To validate this capability, we show that inferred CR-39 spectra match Thomson parabola ion spectrometer data from the same experiment. Filtered CR-39 spectrometers were used to detect, within a background of ~ 2 × 1011 sr-1 J-1 protons and carbons, (1.3 ± 0.7) × 108 sr-1 J-1 alpha particles from laser-driven proton-boron fusion reactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- M S Schollmeier
- Marvel Fusion GmbH, Theresienhöhe 12, 80339, Munich, Germany.
| | - J J Bekx
- Marvel Fusion GmbH, Theresienhöhe 12, 80339, Munich, Germany
| | - J Hartmann
- Marvel Fusion GmbH, Theresienhöhe 12, 80339, Munich, Germany
| | - E Schork
- Marvel Fusion GmbH, Theresienhöhe 12, 80339, Munich, Germany
| | - M Speicher
- Marvel Fusion GmbH, Theresienhöhe 12, 80339, Munich, Germany
| | - A F Brodersen
- Marvel Fusion GmbH, Theresienhöhe 12, 80339, Munich, Germany
| | - A Fazzini
- Marvel Fusion GmbH, Theresienhöhe 12, 80339, Munich, Germany
| | - P Fischer
- Marvel Fusion GmbH, Theresienhöhe 12, 80339, Munich, Germany
| | - E Gaul
- Marvel Fusion GmbH, Theresienhöhe 12, 80339, Munich, Germany
| | | | - M M Günther
- Marvel Fusion GmbH, Theresienhöhe 12, 80339, Munich, Germany
| | - A K Härle
- Marvel Fusion GmbH, Theresienhöhe 12, 80339, Munich, Germany
| | - R Hollinger
- Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA
| | - K Kenney
- Marvel Fusion GmbH, Theresienhöhe 12, 80339, Munich, Germany
| | - J Park
- Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA
| | - D E Rivas
- Marvel Fusion GmbH, Theresienhöhe 12, 80339, Munich, Germany
| | - V Scutelnic
- Marvel Fusion GmbH, Theresienhöhe 12, 80339, Munich, Germany
| | - Z Shpilman
- Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA
| | - S Wang
- Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA
| | - J J Rocca
- Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA
- Physics Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA
| | - G Korn
- Marvel Fusion GmbH, Theresienhöhe 12, 80339, Munich, Germany
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Afshari M, Morris S, Geulig LD, Chitgar ZM, Gibbon P, Thirolf PG, Schreiber J. The role of collisional ionization in heavy ion acceleration by high intensity laser pulses. Sci Rep 2022; 12:18260. [PMID: 36309599 PMCID: PMC9617862 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-23148-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2022] [Accepted: 10/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
We present here simulation results of the laser-driven acceleration of gold ions using the EPOCH code. Recently, an experiment reported the acceleration of gold ions up to 7 MeV/nucleon with a strong dependency of the charge-state distribution on target thickness and the detection of the highest charge states [Formula: see text]. Our simulations using a developmental branch of EPOCH (4.18-Ionization) show that collisional ionization is the most important cause of charge states beyond Z = 51 up to He-like Au.
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Affiliation(s)
- M. Afshari
- grid.5252.00000 0004 1936 973XFakultät für Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 85748 Garching bei München, Germany
| | - S. Morris
- grid.7372.10000 0000 8809 1613Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL UK
| | - L. D. Geulig
- grid.5252.00000 0004 1936 973XFakultät für Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 85748 Garching bei München, Germany
| | - Z. M. Chitgar
- grid.8385.60000 0001 2297 375XInstitute for Advanced Simulation, Jülich Supercomputing Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany
| | - P. Gibbon
- grid.8385.60000 0001 2297 375XInstitute for Advanced Simulation, Jülich Supercomputing Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany ,grid.5596.f0000 0001 0668 7884Centre for Mathematical Plasma Astrophysics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - P. G. Thirolf
- grid.5252.00000 0004 1936 973XFakultät für Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 85748 Garching bei München, Germany
| | - J. Schreiber
- grid.5252.00000 0004 1936 973XFakultät für Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 85748 Garching bei München, Germany
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