Combined laser-based X-ray fluorescence and particle-induced X-ray emission for versatile multi-element analysis.

Particle and radiation sources are widely employed in manifold applications. In the last decades, the upcoming of versatile, energetic, high-brilliance laser-based sources, as produced by intense laser-matter interactions, has introduced utilization of these sources in diverse areas, given their potential to complement or even outperform existing techniques. In this paper, we show that the interaction of an intense laser with a solid target produces a versatile, non-destructive, fast analysis technique that allows to switch from laser-driven PIXE (Particle-Induced X-ray Emission) to laser-driven XRF (X-ray Fluorescence) within single laser shots, by simply changing the atomic number of the interaction target. The combination of both processes improves the retrieval of constituents in materials and allows for volumetric analysis up to tens of microns and on cm2 large areas up to a detection threshold of ppms. This opens the route for a versatile, non-destructive, and fast combined analysis technique.

Accurate spectra for high energy ions by advanced time-of-flight diamond-detector schemes in experiments with high energy and intensity lasers.

Time-Of-Flight (TOF) methods are very effective to detect particles accelerated in laser-plasma interactions, but they show significant limitations when used in experiments with high energy and intensity lasers, where both high-energy ions and remarkable levels of ElectroMagnetic Pulses (EMPs) in the radiofrequency-microwave range are generated. Here we describe a novel advanced diagnostic method for the characterization of protons accelerated by intense matter interactions with high-energy and high-intensity ultra-short laser pulses up to the femtosecond and even future attosecond range. The method employs a stacked diamond detector structure and the TOF technique, featuring high sensitivity, high resolution, high radiation hardness and high signal-to-noise ratio in environments heavily affected by remarkable EMP fields. A detailed study on the use, the optimization and the properties of a single module of the stack is here described for an experiment where a fast diamond detector is employed in an highly EMP-polluted environment. Accurate calibrated spectra of accelerated protons are presented from an experiment with the femtosecond Flame laser (beyond 100 TW power and ~ 1019 W/cm2 intensity) interacting with thin foil targets. The results can be readily applied to the case of complex stack configurations and to more general experimental conditions.