Laser-driven charged particle transport in warm dense matter and plasma

Abstract

[EN]This thesis focuses on the physics of intense laser-generated charged particle beam transport. The two important applications related to inertial confinement fusion and particle acceleration: (i) the transport and collimation of fast electrons created in high intensity laser-matter interactions, and (ii) ion stopping power close to the Bragg peak in extreme states of matter. Both topics have been investigated in an integrated approach that combines experimental campaigns with detailed theoretical and numerical studies used to support the experiments both in the design prior to the experiments being carried out, and in the analysis of the experimental results afterwards. The experiments presented here are are the result of a long and extended collaboration with research institutions across the EU and abroad—without whom this work would not been possible. The most important results achieved in this work can be stated as following: • A first detailed parametric investigation of relativistic electron beam collimation as a controllable and reproducible technique by using the double pulse technique for fast Ignition and laser-particle and radiation sources acceleration. • The establishment of a dedicated workstation for laser-driven ion sources implementation for applications including generation, selection and transport of proton beams. • A first experimental measurement of proton stopping power close to the Bragg peak region in Warm Dense Matter for laser Inertial Confinement Fusion and proton particle applications using laser-driven ion sources.