Novel Single-Shot Diagnostics for Electrons from Laser-Plasma Interaction at SPARC_LAB

Ultrafast electron and proton bunches correlation in laser-solid matter experiments

The interaction of an ultra-intense laser with a solid state target allows the production of multi-MeV proton and ion beams. This process is explained by the target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) model, predicting the creation of an electric field on the target rear side, due to an unbalanced positive charge. This process is related to the emission of relativistic ultrafast electrons, occurring at an earlier time. In this work, we highlight the correlations between the ultrafast electron component and the protons by their simultaneous detection by means of an electro-optical sampling and a time-of-flight diagnostics, respectively, supported by numerical simulations showing an excellent agreement.

Zemax simulations describing collective effects in transition and diffraction radiation

Transition and diffraction radiation from charged particles is commonly used for diagnostics purposes in accelerator facilities as well as THz sources for spectroscopy applications. Therefore, an accurate analysis of the emission process and the transport optics is crucial to properly characterize the source and precisely retrieve beam parameters. In this regard, we have developed a new algorithm, based on Zemax, to simulate both transition and diffraction radiation as generated by relativistic electron bunches, therefore considering collective effects. In particular, unlike other previous works, we take into account electron beam physical size and transverse momentum, reproducing some effects visible on the produced radiation, not observable in a single electron analysis. The simulation results have been compared with two experiments showing an excellent agreement.