Proton emission from thin hydrogenated targets irradiated by laser pulses at 10(16) W∕cm2.

The iodine laser at PALS Laboratory in Prague, operating at 1315 nm fundamental harmonics and at 300 ps FWHM pulse length, is employed to irradiate thin hydrogenated targets placed in vacuum at intensities on the order of 10(16) W∕cm(2). The laser-generated plasma is investigated in terms of proton and ion emission in the forward and backward directions. The time-of-flight technique, using ion collectors and semiconductor detectors, is used to measure the ion currents and the corresponding velocities and energies.

New methods for high current fast ion beam production by laser-driven acceleration.

An overview of the last experimental campaigns on laser-driven ion acceleration performed at the PALS facility in Prague is given. Both the 2 TW, sub-nanosecond iodine laser system and the 20 TW, femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser, recently installed at PALS, are used along our experiments performed in the intensity range 10(16)-10(19) W∕cm(2). The main goal of our studies was to generate high energy, high current ion streams at relatively low laser intensities.

Measurements of the highest acceleration gradient for ions produced with a long laser pulse.

Ultrafast plasma light ion streams have been produced using the 300 ps, kJ-class iodine laser, operating at PALS Centre in Prague. Ion detection was performed through standard ion collectors (IC) in time-of-flight configuration (TOF), shielded by thin metallic absorbers. This new diagnostics technique has been theoretically studied and experimentally tested in order to cut the long photopeak contribution and to analyze the ultrafast particle signal.

Generation of high currents of carbon ions with the use of subnanosecond near-infrared laser pulses.

Emission of carbon currents reaching values up to 2 A/cm(2) at a distance of 1 m from the laser ion source driven by the subnanosecond Prague Asterix Laser System operated at a fundamental wavelength of 1315 nm is reported. Graphite targets were exposed to intensities up to 5x10(16) W/cm(2) varying both the laser energy and the position of the laser beam focus with respect to the target surface. The maximum energy gain of carbon ions was approximately = 1 MeV/u.

Laser generation of Au ions with charge states above 50+.

Results of recent studies on highly charged Au ion generation, using the intense long pulses of the PALS high power iodine laser (lambda=1.315 microm, E(L)=800 J400 ps), operating under variable experimental conditions (1omega, 3omega, varying target thickness and changing focus positions), are presented. Both the ion collectors and the ion electrostatic analyzers were applied for the identification of ions in a large distance from the target.