Radiological characterisation of photon radiation from ultra-high-intensity laser-plasma and nuclear interactions

Characterization of OSL dosimeters used at the ELI-beamlines laser-driven accelerator facility

The Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) Beamlines laser-driven accelerator facility is set to operate the most intense non-military laser system in the world, with ultra-high power up to 10 PW, concentrated plasma intensities of up to 10²⁴W cm^-2, and ultra-short laser pulses of the order of few femtoseconds. A robust and redundant radiation monitoring system is in place to minimise risks to personnel and general public. Beryllium oxide optically stimulated luminescence (BeO-OSL) detectors are used to monitor radiation levels in the experimental building and surrounding grounds. In fact, in recent years, BeO-OSL have become an increasingly more popular choice for personal and environmental dosimetry. At ELI Beamlines, an exhaustive and thorough characterization process of the BeO-OSLs is in place. Dosimeter responses are studied as a function of delivered air kerma and photon energies. Calibration curves are calculated. Results from the latest calibration campaign are presented.

Radiation Protection Around High-intensity Laser Interactions with Solid Targets

Interaction of a high-intensity optical laser with a solid target can generate an ionizing radiation hazard in the form of high-energy "hot" electrons and bremsstrahlung, resulting from hot electrons interacting with the target itself and the surrounding target chamber. Previous studies have characterized the bremsstrahlung dose yields generated by such interactions for lasers in the range of 10 to 10 W cm using particle-in-cell code EPOCH and Monte Carlo code FLUKA. In this paper, electron measurements based on a depth-dose approach are presented for two laser intensities, which indicate a Maxwellian distribution is more suitable for estimating the hot electrons' energy distribution. Also, transmission factors for the resulting bremsstrahlung for common shielding materials are calculated with FLUKA, and shielding tenth-value-layer thicknesses are also derived. In combination with the bremsstrahlung dose yield, the tenth-value layers provide radiation protection programs the means to evaluate radiation hazards and design shielding for high-intensity laser facilities.

DOSIMETRIC EVALUATION OF LASER-DRIVEN X-RAY AND NEUTRON SOURCES UTILIZING XG-III PS LASER WITH PEAK POWER OF 300 TERAWATT

Current short-pulse high-intensity lasers can accelerate electrons and proton/ions to energies of giga-electron volts. For certain advanced applications, laser-accelerated electrons and protons are optimised for high-energy X-ray and neutron generation at the XG-III picosecond (ps) laser beamline. These energetic X-ray and neutron beams can significantly affect radiation safety at the facility; therefore, proper evaluation of the radiological hazards induced by laser-driven X-ray and neutron sources is required. This study presents a dosimetric evaluation of laser-driven X-ray and neutron sources at the XG-III ps laser beamline. The 'source terms' of the laser-accelerated electrons and protons are characterised utilising the particle-in-cell method and an analytical model, respectively. The Monte Carlo code FLUKA is used to calculate prompt and residual dose yields due to all radiation field components and the number of residual activated nuclei. Our results can provide a reference for radiation hazard analysis at short-pulse high-intensity laser facilities worldwide.

A pinhole camera for ultrahigh-intensity laser plasma experiments

A pinhole camera is an important instrument for the detection of radiation in laser plasmas. It can monitor the laser focus directly and assist in the analysis of the experimental data. However, conventional pinhole cameras are difficult to use when the target is irradiated by an ultrahigh-power laser because of the high background of hard X-ray emission generated in the laser/target region. Therefore, an improved pinhole camera has been developed that uses a grazing-incidence mirror that enables soft X-ray imaging while avoiding the effect of hard X-ray from hot dense plasmas.

Laser-plasmas in the relativistic-transparency regime: Science and applications

Laser-plasma interactions in the novel regime of relativistically induced transparency (RIT) have been harnessed to generate intense ion beams efficiently with average energies exceeding 10 MeV/nucleon (>100 MeV for protons) at "table-top" scales in experiments at the LANL Trident Laser. By further optimization of the laser and target, the RIT regime has been extended into a self-organized plasma mode. This mode yields an ion beam with much narrower energy spread while maintaining high ion energy and conversion efficiency. This mode involves self-generation of persistent high magnetic fields (∼10⁴ T, according to particle-in-cell simulations of the experiments) at the rear-side of the plasma. These magnetic fields trap the laser-heated multi-MeV electrons, which generate a high localized electrostatic field (∼0.1 T V/m). After the laser exits the plasma, this electric field acts on a highly structured ion-beam distribution in phase space to reduce the energy spread, thus separating acceleration and energy-spread reduction. Thus, ion beams with narrow energy peaks at up to 18 MeV/nucleon are generated reproducibly with high efficiency (≈5%). The experimental demonstration has been done with 0.12 PW, high-contrast, 0.6 ps Gaussian 1.053 μm laser pulses irradiating planar foils up to 250 nm thick at 2-8 × 10²⁰ W/cm². These ion beams with co-propagating electrons have been used on Trident for uniform volumetric isochoric heating to generate and study warm-dense matter at high densities. These beam plasmas have been directed also at a thick Ta disk to generate a directed, intense point-like Bremsstrahlung source of photons peaked at ∼2 MeV and used it for point projection radiography of thick high density objects. In addition, prior work on the intense neutron beam driven by an intense deuterium beam generated in the RIT regime has been extended. Neutron spectral control by means of a flexible converter-disk design has been demonstrated, and the neutron beam has been used for point-projection imaging of thick objects. The plans and prospects for further improvements and applications are also discussed.

Measurements of X-ray doses and spectra produced by picosecond laser-irradiated solid targets

Experiments have shown that high-intensity laser interaction with a solid target can generate significant X-ray doses. This study was conducted to determine the X-ray doses and spectra produced for picosecond laser-irradiated solid targets. The photon doses and X-ray spectra in the laser forward and side directions were measured using an XG III ps 300 TW laser system. For laser intensities of 7×10¹⁸-4×10¹⁹W/cm², the maximum photon dose was 16.8 mSv at 50cm with a laser energy of ~153J on a 1-mm Ta target. The photon dose in the forward direction increased more significantly with increasing laser intensity than that in the side direction. For photon energies >300keV, the X-ray spectrum can be fit with an effective temperature distribution of the exponential form, dN/dE = k× exp(-E/T_x). The X-ray temperature T_x increased with the laser intensity in the forward direction with values of 0.46-0.75MeV. T_x was less strongly correlated with the laser intensity in the side direction with values of 0.29-0.32MeV. The escaping electron spectrum was also measured. The measured electron temperature was correlated with the electron temperature predicted by the ponderomotive law. The observations in this experiment were also investigated numerically. A good agreement was observed between the experimental and simulation results.

Evaluating laser-driven Bremsstrahlung radiation sources for imaging and analysis of nuclear waste packages

A small scale sample nuclear waste package, consisting of a 28mm diameter uranium penny encased in grout, was imaged by absorption contrast radiography using a single pulse exposure from an X-ray source driven by a high-power laser. The Vulcan laser was used to deliver a focused pulse of photons to a tantalum foil, in order to generate a bright burst of highly penetrating X-rays (with energy >500keV), with a source size of <0.5mm. BAS-TR and BAS-SR image plates were used for image capture, alongside a newly developed Thalium doped Caesium Iodide scintillator-based detector coupled to CCD chips. The uranium penny was clearly resolved to sub-mm accuracy over a 30cm(2) scan area from a single shot acquisition. In addition, neutron generation was demonstrated in situ with the X-ray beam, with a single shot, thus demonstrating the potential for multi-modal criticality testing of waste materials. This feasibility study successfully demonstrated non-destructive radiography of encapsulated, high density, nuclear material. With recent developments of high-power laser systems, to 10Hz operation, a laser-driven multi-modal beamline for waste monitoring applications is envisioned.

Review of laser-driven ion sources and their applications

For many years, laser-driven ion acceleration, mainly proton acceleration, has been proposed and a number of proof-of-principle experiments have been carried out with lasers whose pulse duration was in the nanosecond range. In the 1990s, ion acceleration in a relativistic plasma was demonstrated with ultra-short pulse lasers based on the chirped pulse amplification technique which can provide not only picosecond or femtosecond laser pulse duration, but simultaneously ultra-high peak power of terawatt to petawatt levels. Starting from the year 2000, several groups demonstrated low transverse emittance, tens of MeV proton beams with a conversion efficiency of up to several percent. The laser-accelerated particle beams have a duration of the order of a few picoseconds at the source, an ultra-high peak current and a broad energy spectrum, which make them suitable for many, including several unique, applications. This paper reviews, firstly, the historical background including the early laser-matter interaction studies on energetic ion acceleration relevant to inertial confinement fusion. Secondly, we describe several implemented and proposed mechanisms of proton and/or ion acceleration driven by ultra-short high-intensity lasers. We pay special attention to relatively simple models of several acceleration regimes. The models connect the laser, plasma and proton/ion beam parameters, predicting important features, such as energy spectral shape, optimum conditions and scalings under these conditions for maximum ion energy, conversion efficiency, etc. The models also suggest possible ways to manipulate the proton/ion beams by tailoring the target and irradiation conditions. Thirdly, we review experimental results on proton/ion acceleration, starting with the description of driving lasers. We list experimental results and show general trends of parameter dependences and compare them with the theoretical predictions and simulations. The fourth topic includes a review of scientific, industrial and medical applications of laser-driven proton or ion sources, some of which have already been established, while the others are yet to be demonstrated. In most applications, the laser-driven ion sources are complementary to the conventional accelerators, exhibiting significantly different properties. Finally, we summarize the paper.