Scintillator-based ion beam profiler for diagnosing laser-accelerated ion beams

Michael Merchant, JS Green, M Borghesi, CM Brenner, DC Carroll, NP Dover, PS Foster, P Gallegos, S Green, D Kirby, KJ Kirkby

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    Next generation intense, short-pulse laser facilities require new high repetition rate diagnostics for the detection of ionizing radiation. We have designed a new scintillator-based ion beam profiler capable of measuring the ion beam transverse profile for a number of discrete energy ranges. The optical response and emission characteristics of four common plastic scintillators has been investigated for a range of proton energies and fluxes. The scintillator light output (for 1 MeV > Ep <28 MeV) was found to have a non-linear scaling with proton energy but a linear response to incident flux. Initial measurements with a prototype diagnostic have been successful, although further calibration work is required to characterize the total system response and limitations under the high flux, short pulse duration conditions of a typical high intensity laser-plasma interaction.
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
    Volume8079
    Issue number807919
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2011

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