NSF-BSF: Ultrafast Laser-Electron Heating for Tailoring the Emittance and Charge of High-Energy Proton Beams

该奖项支持斯坦福大学和以色列特拉维夫大学之间的合作，研究高强度激光的离子加速。 这项联合努力的目的是开发离子束癌症治疗技术，该技术可以应用于每家医院，并能够去除人体各处的癌细胞，同时使周围的健康组织不受伤害。这一新颖的概念承诺一个紧凑的，米级的加速器，有可能彻底改变离子束治疗领域，使其广泛提供给患者。 该项目将通过产生大型数据集来测试最近对特拉维夫激光设施拟议加速器概念的模拟预测，目标是充分优化成功部署所需的离子束特性。 潜在的好处，包括改善癌症护理，预计将提高公众对科学和技术的兴趣和参与，同时吸引新的学生进入等离子体和加速器科学领域。该项目将建立在先前在特拉维夫大学（TAU）使用高强度NEPTUN激光器进行高重复率实验的新质子加速机制的示范基础上。 新的质子加速制度的特点是在目标内的电子再循环。该项目将使用TAU的高重复频率10 Hz，20 TW激光和斯坦福大学开发的最先进的模拟和建模来研究和优化这种效应。目前的理论预测表明，关键的依赖性和密切相关的电子加热与激光对比度和离子束发射度。该项目的实验和理论能力的结合提供了一个独特的机会来测试这些理论预测。专注于等离子体物理和加速器物理的应用，这项研究将确定离子的空间和能量分布对激光强度和脉冲对比度的依赖性，使用NEPTUN激光器独特的皮秒激光脉冲整形能力。该项目的目标是证明注入高梯度线性质子加速器所需的质子束特性。该项目预计将提供一个清晰的路径，以发展一个紧凑的加速器，能够达到迫切需要的250+ MeV制度的应用在医疗治疗和imaging.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准的支持。

This award supports a collaboration between Stanford University and Tel Aviv University in Israel to study ion acceleration with high-intensity lasers. The joint effort is motivated by the goal of developing ion beam cancer therapy technology that could be placed in every hospital and would be able to remove cancer cells everywhere in a human body while leaving the surrounding healthy tissue unharmed. The novel concept promises a compact, meter-scale accelerator with the potential to revolutionize the field of ion beam therapy by making it widely accessible to patients. The project will test predictions of recent simulation of the proposed accelerator concept at Tel Aviv’s laser facility by producing large data sets with the goal to fully optimize the ion beam properties needed for successful deployment. The potential benefits, including improved cancer care, are expected to increase public interest and engagement in science and technology while attracting new students into the fields of plasma and accelerator science.This project will build on a prior demonstration of a new proton acceleration regime using high-repetition rate experiments at the high-intensity NEPTUN laser at Tel Aviv University (TAU). The new proton acceleration regime is characterized by the recirculation of electrons within the target. This project will study and optimize this effect using the high repetition rate 10 Hz, 20 TW laser at TAU and state-of-the-art simulations and modeling developed at Stanford. Current theoretical predictions show critical dependence and close correlation of the electron heating with the laser contrast and the ion beam emittance. The combination of experimental and theoretical capabilities of this project provides a unique opportunity to test these theoretical predictions. Focusing on applications in plasma physics and accelerator physics, this study will determine the dependence of the ion spatial and energy distribution on laser intensity and pulse contrast using the NEPTUN laser’s unique picosecond laser pulse-shaping capabilities. The goal of the project is to demonstrate proton beam properties required for injection into a high-gradient linear proton accelerator. The project is expected to provide a clear path towards the development of a compact accelerator capable of reaching the urgently needed 250+ MeV regime for applications in medical therapies and imaging.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.