Currents from relativistic laser-plasma interaction as a novel metrology for the system stability of high-repetition-rate laser secondary sources
This work demonstrates experimentally the close relation between return currents from relativistic laser-driven target polarization and the quality of the relativistic laser–plasma interaction for laser-driven secondary sources, taking as an example ion acceleration by target normal sheath acceleration. The Pearson linear correlation of maximum return current amplitude and proton spectrum cutoff energy is found to be in the range from ∼0.70 to 0.94. kA-scale return currents rise in all interaction schemes where targets of any kind are charged by escaping laser-accelerated relativistic electrons. Their precise measurement is demonstrated using an inductive scheme that allows operation at high repetition rates. Thus, return currents can be used as a metrological online tool for the optimization of many laser-driven secondary sources and for diagnosing their stability. In particular, in two parametric studies of laser-driven ion acceleration, we carry out a noninvasive online measurement of return currents in a tape target system irradiated by the 1 PW VEGA-3 laser at Centro de Láseres Pulsados: first, the size of the irradiated area is varied at best compression of the laser pulse; second, the pulse duration is varied by means of induced group delay dispersion at best focus. This work paves the way to the development of feedback systems that operate at the high repetition rates of PW-class lasers.
Authors
- José Luis Henares (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8990-4839)
- Iuliana-Mariana Vladisavlevici (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4415-2439)
- C. Méndez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9032-5842)
- P. Vicente (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1167-0846)
- J. Cikhardt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8222-8038)
- G. Gatti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7730-7893)
- O. Varela (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5682-5720)
- P. Bradford (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9618-6342)
- Evgeny D. Filippov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8774-8860)
- Enrique García-García (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6678-3181)
- M. Ehret (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7671-6246)
- M. D. Rodríguez-Friás (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2550-4462)
- J. A. Pérez-Hernández (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1117-0190)
- Diego de Luis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9656-8343)
- J. J. Santos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4737-8559)
- T. Burian (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3982-9978)
- Rubén Hernández Martín
- J. Hernandez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6200-6059)
- M. Ruiz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0312-7691)
Institutions
- Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (GB)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Université de Bordeaux (FR)
- Universidad de Alcalá (ES)
- Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (FR)
- Extreme Light Infrastructure Beamlines (CZ)
- Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications (FR)
- FZU ‒ Institute of Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (CZ)
- Spanish Center for Pulsed Lasers (ES)
- Czech Technical University in Prague (CZ)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Matter and Radiation at Extremes
- Published
- 2025-03-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0247778
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Laser-Plasma Interactions and Diagnostics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 7.48
Funders
- EUROfusion
- Grantová Agentura České Republiky
- Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
- Junta de Castilla y León
- Horizon 2020 Framework Programme