Energy loss of argon in a laser-generated carbon plasma.

The experimental data presented in this paper address the energy loss determination for argon at 4 MeV/u projectile energy in laser-generated carbon plasma covering a huge parameter range in density and temperature. Furthermore, a consistent theoretical description of the projectile charge state evolution via a Monte Carlo code is combined with an improved version of the CasP code that allows us to calculate the contributions to the stopping power of bound and free electrons for each projectile charge state. This approach gets rid of any effective charge description of the stopping power. Comparison of experimental data and theoretical results allows us to judge the influence of different plasma parameters.

Controlled transport and focusing of laser-accelerated protons with miniature magnetic devices.

This Letter demonstrates the transporting and focusing of laser-accelerated 14 MeV protons by permanent magnet miniature quadrupole lenses providing field gradients of up to 500 T/m. The approach is highly reproducible and predictable, leading to a focal spot of (286 x 173) microm full width at half maximum 50 cm behind the source. It decouples the relativistic laser-proton acceleration from the beam transport, paving the way to optimize both separately. The collimation and the subsequent energy selection obtained are perfectly applicable for upcoming high-energy, high-repetition rate laser systems.