High energy ion generation via the interaction of intense laser pulses with cluster-gas targets

Fukuda, Yuji

We present substantial enhancement of the accelerated ion energies up to 10-20 MeV per nucleon by utilizing the unique properties of the cluster-gas target, corresponding to approximately tenfold increase in the ion energies compared to previous experiments using thin foil targets. The demonstrated method can be important in the development of efficient laser ion accelerators for hadron therapy and other applications. We also present the latest experimental results of ion acceleration up to 50 MeV per nucleon using the cluster-gas target with J-KAREN laser system (1 J energy 40 fs laser pulse). By developing integrated ion monitor systems, we try to understand the acceleration mechanism and enhance accelerated ion energies.