NSF-BSF: Investigation of Streaming Instabilities for Tailoring the Profile of High-Energy Laser-Generated Proton Beams

质子束加速器在技术和研究中有着广泛的应用。最著名的机器是欧洲核子研究中心的大型强子对撞机，位于欧洲的法国和瑞士边境，周长为16.6英里。减小这些机器的尺寸是加速器物理学的一个主要目标。一个有前途的途径是利用强激光束作为紧凑的质子源。该项目中产生的激光驱动质子束有望达到相对论速度，并具有良好的性能，以减少未来加速器设施的尺寸和成本。为此，一种新的斯坦福大学喷气靶技术将与以色列特拉维夫强激光和超快科学设施的高功率激光相结合，该设施拥有世界上最快的重复率之一，每秒发射10次。在这些高速率下，研究人员将使用机器学习算法进行质子束优化，以实现对社会有高回报的应用。研究人员将进行高重复率激光实验，允许应用机器学习算法来操纵激光脉冲形状和对比度，以优化质子束特性。目标是实现适合注入射频供电加速器的束流，该加速器能够在米级上达到230 MeV +的束流能量。这一研究将在激光等离子体和加速器物理学领域之外产生深远的影响。流不稳定性的控制和提供能量为20 MeV，1 nC电荷，0.03 mm mrad发射度和重复率为10 Hz的质子束的演示非常适合于随后加速到高质子能量，用于研究，医学和制造业。斯坦福大学在激光、高重复率实验和加速器方面拥有专业知识，在提供紧凑型高效混合加速器所需组件方面处于独特的地位。 这项工作将涉及斯坦福大学、SLAC国家加速器实验室和以色列特拉维夫大学之间的合作，并将在NSF和美国之间的研究合作谅解备忘录的保护伞下进行-以色列两国科学基金会。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响进行评估，被认为值得支持审查标准。

Proton beam accelerators find wide applications in technology and research. The most famous machine is the Large Hadron Collider at CERN on the Franco-Swiss border in Europe with a circumference of 16.6 miles. Reducing the size of these machines is a major goal in accelerator physics. A promising avenue utilizes intense laser beams as a compact proton source. The laser-driven proton beams to be generated in this project are expected to achieve relativistic speeds with favorable properties to reduce the size and cost of future accelerator facilities. For this purpose, a new Stanford jet target technology will be combined with a high-power laser at the Tel-Aviv Intense Lasers and Ultrafast Science facility in Israel, which has one of the fastest repetition rates in the world, firing 10 times per second. At these high rates the group will use machine learning algorithms for proton beam optimization to enable applications with high pay-off for society.The investigators will perform high-repetition rate laser experiments that allow the application of machine learning algorithms to manipulate the laser pulse shape and contrast to optimize the proton beam properties. The goal is to achieve beams suitable for injection into a radio-frequency powered accelerator that has the capability to reach beam energies of 230 MeV + on a meter scale. This research will have far-reaching impact beyond the fields of laser-plasma and accelerator physics. The demonstration of the control of streaming instabilities and delivering protons beams of energy 20 MeV, 1 nC charge, 0.03 mm mrad emittance and repetition rates of 10 Hz as proposed here are well suited for subsequent acceleration to high proton energies for applications in research, medicine, and manufacturing. Stanford, with expertise in lasers, high-repetition rate experiments and accelerators, is in a unique position to deliver the components needed for compact high-efficiency hybrid accelerators. This work will involve collaboration between Stanford University, the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, and Tel-Aviv University in Israel, and will be performed under the umbrella of the Memorandum of Understanding on Research Cooperation between NSF and the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.