Target Diagnostic Systems for Proton, Electron, and X-ray Generation Experiments Based on Ultraintense Laser-Target Interactions

Abstract

We have designed and constructed various experimental systems to perform interaction experiments with a 100-TW Ti:sapphire laser and a solid or a gas target, and we have used them for proton, electron, and X-ray generations. They consist of a laser beam delivery system, a target chamber, a laser focusing and monitoring system, a target manipulation system, and target diagnostic systems, such as a visible emission imager and an X-ray pinhole camera. The laser beam can be focused with a peak intensity as large as similar to 10(21) W/cm(2) and a focal spot size as small as similar to 4 mu m. The solid target is precisely positioned at the laser focus with an accuracy of similar to 20 mu m, which is much smaller than the Rayleigh range of the focused laser beam. The target diagnostic systems allow us to investigate the status of laser-target interactions with real-time and online operation when the laser and the target conditions are optimized to obtain the desired characteristics for the proton, electron, and X-ray sources. Strong correlations between the images in the diagnostic systems and monoenergetic electron and higher-energy proton generations are presented.