Progress towards rep-rated proton imaging for use at next-generation high-energy-density (HED) science facilities
ORAL
Abstract
Many high-power, petawatt-class laser systems have the capabilities to run at high (~0.1-10Hz) rep-rates. In order to leverage the rep-rate capabilties of these laser systems at next-generation, much work is needed to develop diagnostics and targetry systems that can also operate at these rates. This talk will cover recent progress towards a rep-rated proton radiography diagnostic utilizing plastic scintillators as a detecting medium for the protons. Proton radiography is one of the most popular methods for detecting and diagnosing electromagnetic fields in HED plasmas. This diagnostic technique is a nonperturbative way to visualize 2D distributions of path-integrated electromagnetic field structures, but quantitative analysis is complex and requires accurate knowledge of the proton source and detecting medium. The fundamentals of scintillator use in proton radiography will be covered and results using novel pixelated scintillators to enhance the spatial resolution will be presented.
*This work was supported by internal research and development funds at General Atomics and was supported by the DOE Office of Science, Fusion Energy Sciences, under Contract No. DESC0019076: the LaserNetUS initiative at the University of Michigan. Support was also provided under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, under Contract No. DE-AC52-07NA27344, and the work was partially funded by the LDRD Program under project tracking code 17-ERD-039.
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Publication:Manuel et al. RSI 91, 103301 (2020), "Enhanced spatial resolution of Eljen-204 plastic scintillators for use in rep-rated proton diagnostics", doi: 10.1063/5.0014949 Tang et al., RSI 91, 123304 (2020), "Scintillator detector characterization for laser-driven proton beam imaging", doi: 10.1063/5.0022166
