Original experimental results on generation of energetic α-particles driven by lasers were demonstrated experimentally. The experiment was performed at the Institute of Laser Engineering in Osaka using the short-pulse, high-intensity, high-energy, PW-class laser. The laser pulse was focused onto a thin plastic foil (pitcher) to generate a proton beam by the well-known TNSA mechanism which, in turn, was impinging onto a boron-nitride (BN) target (catcher) to generated alpha-particles as a result of proton-boron nuclear fusion events. Our results demonstrate generation of α-particles with energies in the range 8–10 MeV and with a flux around 5 × 109 sr−1.
Contact person: Daniele Margarone, Ph.D.
Collaborating institutions:
Institute of Laser Engineering (ILE), Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
Centre of Intense Lasers and Applications (CELIA), University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
Centre for Plasma Physics, Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom
Kansai Photon Science Institute, Kyoto, Japan
Southern National Laboratory (LNS), Istituto Nazionale Fisica Nucleare, Catania, Italy
Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), Trento, Italy