Proton beam experiments open new areas of research

News published on Dec 6, 2012

Infrared laser at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)

picture: Joe Cowan, Kirk Flippo (LANL)

HZDR scientists took part in proton beam experiments at Los Alamos National Laboratory, USA, unveiling a new way to heat material and create new states of matter in the laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Lab writes today.

"Using the Trident sub-picosecond laser at Los Alamos, the team generated and focused a proton beam using a cone-shaped target. The protons were found to have unexpectedly curved trajectories due to the large electric fields in the beam. A sheath electric field also channeled the proton beam through the cone tip, substantially improving the beam focus."

The experiments were carried out by researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL); Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California, San Diego; Los Alamos National Laboratory; Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf of Germany; Technische Universitaet Darmstadt of Germany, and General Atomics of San Diego.