Laser Induced Beams of Radiation and their Applications (LIBRA

最近的实验表明，通过将强大的激光照射到微小的物理目标(例如金属、塑料或液体)上，可以产生强烈的高能电离辐射(例如离子束、质子束、中子束、电子束、伽马射线束和X射线束)。发射的辐射类型取决于目标的尺寸和组成；这些因素还决定了辐射源的独特空间和时间特性，这些辐射源具有极小的尺寸(微米量级--百万分之一米)，并发射超短辐射脉冲(持续时间为皮秒，即百万分之一秒)。基础源技术的发展将为工业和医疗领域提供具有最佳性能的紧凑和灵活的源。我们将质子、离子和伽马射线确定为最具潜在社会效益的产品，并将集中精力开发这些类型的辐射源。预计这项技术将在以下领域得到应用：医疗--使用激光驱动的质子和离子改善癌症治疗，成本比目前实现的要低得多，辐射屏蔽要求也减少；使用多个同时辐射模拟航空和太空旅行中的宇宙射线效应的放射生物学研究工业-原位闪光照相、卫星辐射硬度测试、工程诊断、半导体生产和制造控制科学-从坚固和紧凑的来源生产多种强度的同步光束的机会，允许需要同时提供不同类型辐射的新实验(泵浦-探测器实验)。安全-使用伽马射线断层扫描和用于快速化学分析的激活技术对隐藏材料/爆炸物进行快速成像探测。拟议的项目旨在开发相关技术，用于高通量、高重复频率源的交付和表征，同时达到上述应用所必需的输出光束质量和可靠性标准。这些目标将通过在目标生产和交付、探测器技术、光束特性优化和控制方面的创新发展相结合来实现。

Recent experiments have demonstrated that by shining powerful laser beams on small physical targets (e.g. metals, plastics or liquids), intense energetic beams of ionizing radiation (e.g. beams of ions, protons, neutrons, electrons, gamma and x-rays) are produced. The type of radiation emitted depends on the dimensions and composition of the targets; these factors also determine the unique spatial and temporal properties of the radiation sources, which have an extremely small size (of micrometer order - a millionth of a meter) and emit ultra-short radiation bursts (of picosecond duration, i.e. a millionth of a millionth of a second). Development of basic source technology will provide compact and flexible sources with optimal properties for use in industrial and medical context. We identify protons, ions and gamma rays as the products with the highest potential benefit to society, and will concentrate our efforts on developing sources of these radiation types. Applications of this technology are envisaged in the following areas:Medicine - improved cancer treatment using laser-energised protons and ions, at a significantly lower cost than currently achieved and with reduced radiation shielding requirements;radiobiology studies using multiple simultaneous radiations to simulate cosmic ray effects during air and space travelIndustry - in-situ flash radiography, satellite radiation hardness testing, engineering diagnostics, semiconductor production and manufacturing controlScience - opportunities for versatile production of intense, synchronised beams from a robust and compact source, allowing novel experiments requiring simultaneous delivery of different types of radiation (pump-probe experiments).Security - rapid imaging detection of hidden materials/explosives using gamma-ray tomography and activation techniques for rapid chemical analysis.The proposed project aims to develop the relevant technology for high-flux, high-repetition source delivery and characterisation, while achieving the standards of output beam quality and reliability essential for the above applications. These will be achieved via a combination of innovative developments in target production and delivery, detector technology, beam property optimization and control.