Presentation Title: High Contrast, High Intensity Short Pulse Ion Acceleration at the HERCULES Laser Facility Discipline: Physics School: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Student Level: Ph.D. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Abstract: High Contrast, High Intensity Short Pulse Ion Acceleration at the HERCULES Laser Facility F. Dollar, C. Zulick, V. Chvykov, G. Kalinchenko, T. Matsuoka, C. Mcguffey, L. Willingale, V. Yanovsky, A. Maksimchuk, A. Thomas, K. Krushelnick; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor G. Petrov, J. Davis; Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC
Particle accelerators have many applications that can impact society ranging from nuclear medicine, inertial confinement fusion, to physics studies. However, the size and cost of conventional facilities prevents these tools from being commonplace. Laser based ion accelerators, however, have the potential to be extremely compact and can be built utilizing inexpensive components. The field is still very young, and the physics is still not very well understood. Recently, at the HERCULES laser facility, using a 300 Terawatt 30 femtosecond Ti:Sapphire laser system, several novel acceleration mechanisms of proton and ion acceleration were studied. Pulse shaping was utilized to generate narrow energy spread (25-60 %) protons and light ions. Proton acceleration from circular polarization was also studied where we observed enhanced maximum proton energy for a particular set of target parameters. In addition to changing laser parameters, the effect of target composition was studied. Trends of proton acceleration as a function of target composition will be presented. Numerical modeling of the primary interaction were performed at experimental conditions with a variety of methods. While the parameters of laser based ion beams are not quite at the levels necessary for applications, much has been learned about the interactions producing these beams to move the field forward.
Presenter: Franklin Dollar Tribe: Dry Creek Band of Pomo Indians Primary Email: fjdollar@umich.edu Biography Franklin is from the Dry Creek Rancheria in Geyserville, Ca, where he is a member of the Dry Creek Band of Pomo Indians. Since leaving Geyserville, he has obtained his BS in Engineering Physics from UC Berkeley, his MSE in Electrical Engineering from Michigan, and is in his fifth year of a doctorate in Applied Physics also at University of Michigan. As an undergrad, he was the regional representative of region 2 in AISES, and remains active in recruiting and retaining underrepresented students in higher education.
6