Research Index / High-Field Science / Ion Accelerator
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A collimated beam of fast protons, with energies as high as 1.5 MeV and total number of > 109, confined in a cone angle of 40o + 10o is observed when a high-intensity, high-contrast subpicosecond laser pulse is focused onto a thin foil target. The protons, which originate from impurities on the front side of the target, are accelerated over a region extending into the target and exit out the back side in a direction normal to the target surface. Acceleration field gradients ~ 10 GeV/cm are inferred. The maximum proton energy can be explained by the charge-separation electrostatic-field acceleration due to "vacuum heating".
Related article: Closing in on Cancer: A Cheap Proton Source Could Transform Radiotherapy, New Scientist Magazine, Dec. 4, 1999.
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