Speaker
Prof.
Marco Borghesi
(Queen's University Belfast)
Description
Over the last 10 years the acceleration of ions with high-power lasers has been extensively investigated by many groups worldwide. The main acceleration mechanisms studied in experiments are via electrostatic sheaths set-up at the surface of laser-irradiated foils by relativistic electrons. Beams produced via this mechanism have very different properties from conventional accelerator beams. Some of these unique characteristics (very low emittance, picosecond emission time, ultralarge current) have already been exploited in a number of innovative applications.
Other properties, less desirable for some applications, are the broad spectrum (cutting off in the 70-100 MeV range) and the beam divergence, and various techniques are being developed with the aim of controlling/optimizing these parameters.
Different mechanisms currently emerging are based on the enormous radiation pressure carried by intense laser pulses, and promise natively narrow band spectra at GeV energies/nucleon with the next generation of high power lasers.
This talk will briefly review the current status and the prospects for near term progress of laser-driven ion acceleration through these mechanisms, with particular reference to recent experimental activities on UK high-power laser facilities.
