Towards a novel laser-driven method of exotic nuclei extraction-acceleration for fundamental physics and technology

Mamiko Nishiuchi; Hironao Sakaki; Katsuhisa Nishio; Riccard Orlandi; Hiroyuki Sako; Tatiana. A. Pikuz; Anatory Ya. Faenov; Timur Zh. Esirkepov; Alexander S. Pirozhkov; Kenya Matsukawa; Akito Sagisaka; Koichi Ogura; Masato Kanasaki; Hiromitsu Kiriyama; Yuji Fukuda; Hiroyuki Koura; Masaki Kando; Tomoya Yamauchi; Yukinobu Watanabe; Sergei V. Bulanov; Kiminori Kondo; Kenichi Imai; Shoji Nagamiya

arXiv · 1402.5729

Towards a novel laser-driven method of exotic nuclei extraction-acceleration for fundamental physics and technology

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Abstract

The measurement of properties of exotic nuclei, essential for fundamental nuclear physics, now confronts a formidable challenge for contemporary radiofrequency accelerator technology. A promising option can be found in the combination of state-of-the-art high-intensity short pulse laser system and nuclear measurement techniques. We propose a novel Laser-driven Exotic Nuclei extraction-acceleration method (LENex): a femtosecond petawatt laser, irradiating a target bombarded by an external ion beam, extracts from the target and accelerates to few GeV highly-charged nuclear reaction products. Here a proof-of-principle experiment of LENex is presented: a few hundred-terawatt laser focused onto an aluminum foil, with a small amount of iron simulating nuclear reaction products, extracts almost fully stripped iron nuclei and accelerate them up to 0.9 GeV. Our experiments and numerical simulations show that short-lived, heavy exotic nuclei, with a much larger charge-to-mass ratio than in conventional technology, can be obtained in the form of an energetic, low-emittance, high-current beam.

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Mamiko Nishiuchi, Hironao Sakaki, Katsuhisa Nishio, Riccard Orlandi, Hiroyuki Sako, Tatiana. A. Pikuz, Anatory Ya. Faenov, Timur Zh. Esirkepov, Alexander S. Pirozhkov, Kenya Matsukawa, Akito Sagisaka, Koichi Ogura, Masato Kanasaki, Hiromitsu Kiriyama, Yuji Fukuda, Hiroyuki Koura, Masaki Kando, Tomoya Yamauchi, Yukinobu Watanabe, Sergei V. Bulanov, Kiminori Kondo, Kenichi Imai, Shoji Nagamiya. 2014-02-24. Towards a novel laser-driven method of exotic nuclei extraction-acceleration for fundamental physics and technology. https://arxiv.org/abs/1402.5729

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