Laser-driven ion accelerators for applications in radiobiology

Laser-driven plasmas – generated in the interaction of a focused high power laser pulse with a solid surface – can sustain electrical field strengths of ~TV/m, allowing for compact and efficient particle acceleration of proton pulses with up to 100 MeV kinetic energies on ~µm spatial scales. The particle pulses feature a picosecond pulse duration at the source and extremely high pulse currents and dose, making them an ideal tool for laboratory-scale high dose-rate radiobiology research.
At the Draco Petawatt laser source, we have established and now successfully operate a source-to-sample just meter-scale setup for high dose-rate in vivo radiobiological studies based on a laser-driven proton source and a compact, versatile pulsed high-field magnetic beamline.
The setup development and preliminary experimental results will be presented, also intending to foster collaborations within HZDR for a wide range of high dose-rate applications.