See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/313733562

Advanced polymer targets for TNSA regime producing 6 MeV protons at 10 16

W/cm 2 laser intensity

Article in Physics of Plasmas · February 2017

DOI: 10.1063/1.4976134

CITATIONS READS

12 261

1 author:

Lorenzo Torrisi
Università degli Studi di Messina
48 PUBLICATIONS 137 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Research and Mobility, University of Messina, Prof. Lorenzo Torrisi Coordinator View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Lorenzo Torrisi on 08 February 2019.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 16 2
Advanced polymer targets for TNSA regime producing 6 MeV protons at 10 W/cm
laser intensity
L. Torrisi

Citation: Phys. Plasmas 24, 023111 (2017); doi: 10.1063/1.4976134

View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4976134
View Table of Contents: http://aip.scitation.org/toc/php/24/2
Published by the American Institute of Physics
 PHYSICS OF PLASMAS 24, 023111 (2017)

Advanced polymer targets for TNSA regime producing 6 MeV protons

at 1016 W/cm2 laser intensity
L. Torrisia)
Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche - MIFT, Universit
a di Messina V.le F. S. D’Alcontres 31,
98166 S. Agata, Messina, Italy
(Received 29 December 2016; accepted 30 January 2017; published online 14 February 2017)
High intensity laser pulses, at an intensity of the order of 1016 W/cm2, are employed to irradiate in
vacuum polyethylene terephthalate thin foils in the target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) regime.
The plasma obtained in the forward emission is investigated using ion collectors and semiconductor
detectors connected in a time-of-flight configuration, Thomson parabola spectrometer, and X-ray
streak camera. The results indicate that the foil thickness of 1 micron is optimal to accelerate protons
of up to 6.5 MeV. The high ion acceleration can be due to different effects such as the high absorption
in the advanced semicrystalline polymer containing spherulite centers, the high resonant absorption
in gold nanoparticles embedded in the polymer, the optimal thickness of the used polymer to enhance
the electron density in the forward plasma, and the self-focusing effect induced by preplasma created
in front of the irradiated target. Published by AIP Publishing. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4976134]

I. INTRODUCTION plasma rich in electron density. Moreover, many polymers

Many polymers consist of more or less long molecular
chains, whose form is irregular and may show partial align-
ment known as polymer crystallization. Some polymers
retain from the melt a disordered structure until they freeze
and then are converted into amorphous solids, while others
show chains rearranged upon freezing forming partially
ordered regions with micrometric size. Many polymers show
both ordered and disordered molecular chains, containing
crystalline and amorphous phases, respectively; they are the
so called semicrystalline polymers, such as polyethylene
(PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polytetrafluoroethy-
lene (PTFE), and polypropylene (PP). During solidification
of the melt, some polymers show a nucleation process that
starts with small nanometer-sized areas where, as a result of
heat motion, some chains or their segments are arranged in
parallel. The growth of the crystalline regions, preferably
occurring in the direction of the largest temperature gradient,
may produce larger quasi-spherical aggregates, so called
spherulites. These structures consist of entangled molecules
between them with a size between about 1 and 100 lm.1
Semicrystalline polymers are usually opaque because of light
scattering on the numerous boundaries between the crystal-
line and amorphous regions, and for light absorption of the
spherulites centers, they become transparent, decreasing the
density of such boundaries and microstructures.
In the ambit of high ion acceleration produced by high
intensity lasers irradiating thin foils in a vacuum in the Target
Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA) regime, the use of poly-
meric foils is strategic for many motives. Polymers are rich in
hydrogen and allow us to generate high yields of energetic
protons and carbon and oxygen ions in the plasma. Many pol-
ymers are suitable to be covered by thin metallic films or to
embed with metallic nanoparticles, making the produced
a)
Lorenzo.Torrisi@unime.it
having high mechanical resistance and elastic properties can
be employed as substrates to be irradiated by lasers and to be
transformed in the plasma. The presence of embedded nano-
particles and nanostructures or thin conductive films enhances
the polymer absorbance at the laser wavelength permitting
higher energy transfer to the atoms of the substrate and greater
electric field of charge separation driving the ion acceleration.
Thanks to specific resonant absorption effects, such as Surface
Plasmon Resonance (SPR) induced in metallic nanoparticles,
and to special irradiation conditions, it is possible to enhance
the effect of ion acceleration.2
Many hydrogenated polymers, such as polyethylene,
-(CH2)-n, polystyrene, -(C8H8)-n, and polymethylmethacry-
late, -(C5O2H8)-n, can be used as thin foils to produce plasma
to accelerate high energetic protons and oxygen and carbon
ions to high currents of the order of 1 A. In particular, poly-
ethylene terephthalate, commonly called PET or commer-
cially mylar, whose monomer is -(C10H8O4)-n, can be used
as thin foil for its peculiar properties. PET is a thermoplastic
polymeric resin of the polyester family; it consists of poly-
merized units of the monomer ethylene terephthalate, with a
density of 1.38 g/cm3, a melting point of 260  C, a thermal
conductivity of 0.2 W/m K, and a high refractive index of
1.575.3 Depending on its chemical and thermal processing,
PET may exhibit both amorphous and transparent structures
in the visible and IR regions and also a semi-crystalline
(50%) structure, containing high spherulite concentrations.
The semicrystalline material might appear transparent when
its particle size is lower than 500 nm or opaque and white
when its particle size is higher up to few microns, depending
on its crystal structure, spherulite particle size, and film thick-
ness. The chemical structure of PET, containing one benzene
ring per monomer, is reported in the inset of Fig. 2(b).
PET becomes white under the influence of chloroform
or other chemicals such as toluene, due to the generation of
micrometric spherulite particles.

1070-664X/2017/24(2)/023111/7/$30.00 24, 023111-1 Published by AIP Publishing.

023111-2 L. Torrisi Phys. Plasmas 24, 023111 (2017)

The laser irradiation of thin foils may induce resonant between 0 and 30 . The schematic view of the experimental
absorption effects if the wavelength is comparable with the arrangement is reported in Fig. 1(a).
spherulite particle sizes or with other nanoparticles or nucle- Generally, the focal point of the laser was maintained at
ation centers embedded in the polymer. In these cases, high 100 lm in front of the target surface, in order to induce
laser energy is absorbed in the thin polymer and transferred preplasma and possible self-focusing effects, by using micro-
to the plasma particles, permitting the enhancement of the metric step motors controlled in a vacuum. This focalization
ponderomotive energy transferred to the electrons and conse- guarantees high plasma temperature production and high for-
quently the electric field driving the ion acceleration devel- ward ion acceleration, as demonstrated in previous
oped in the TNSA regime. The value of this electric field measurements.9
depends on the following parameters:4 The targets consist of thin polymeric films of semicrys-
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi talline PET. The preparation of thin films was accomplished
~ kTe ne kTe by the formation of spherulites associated with the crystalli-
E¼ ¼ ; (1)
ekD e0 zation conduced in the viscous state from the melt (264  C)
with a high undercooling process controlled by the cooling
where kTe is the electron temperature of the plasma, e the rate.
electron charge, kD the Debye length, ne the electron density, In the polymeric fuse, Au spherical nanoparticles of
and e0 the dielectric constant in a vacuum. Increasing the 0.5% in weight with 100 nm average size were added. The
electron density and the plasma temperature, the electric diameter of spherulites in the polymers was measured by
field generated between the emitted electrons and the target optical microscopy in polarized light, obtaining a size distri-
ions increases. Generally, in polymers the electron density is bution varying in a wide range, from a fraction of micron to
low; thus, in order to enhance the electric field driving the about 2.5 lm. The polymer crystallization process was
ion acceleration, it is necessary to increase the plasma tem-
perature, i.e., the laser energy transferred to the target, or
embedding the polymer with metallic additives to enhance
the mean electron density. Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) can
be embedded uniformly in the polymeric fuse in order to
enhance the electron density of the material and the absorp-
tion coefficient to the light. Metallic nanoparticles in insula-
tors induce surface plasmon resonance (SPR) absorption at
large wavelength bands depending on their nature, dimen-
sion, shape, and dielectric medium, producing high ion
acceleration in laser-generated plasmas, as reported in the
literature.2,5
In the standard description of the TNSA mechanism, a
laser pulse heats electrons in a target and creates charge sep-
aration on a femtosecond time scale. The laser accelerated
electrons emitted from the rear side of the thin foil (target)
generate a high electric field able to ionize the target surface
and to drive hydrogen and carbon ions. In the experiment
reported in this manuscript, the laser illumination time-scale
and the target thickness are favorable to produce a strong
heating of the electrons that are pushed away from the focus,
followed by a Coulomb explosion of the target due to the
strong ion charge density. Thus, although the TNSA regime
occurs mainly for fs lasers at intensity higher than 1018 W/
cm2, the mechanism involved using 300 ps laser pulses at an
intensity of about 1016 W/cm2 producing high ion accelera-
tion is very similar and it can be called “TNSA-like”
regime.6,7

II. EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP

The present experiment was carried out at the PALS in
Prague using an iodine laser system, at the fundamental
wavelength k ¼ 1.315 lm, pulse energies up to 700 J, pulse
length of 300 ps, and laser spot of 70 lm in diameter.8 The
target was irradiated perpendicularly, while the emitted ion FIG. 1. Experimental setup at PALS (a) and target holder for measurements
stream was investigated in the forward direction at angles in the TNSA regime (b).
023111-3 L. Torrisi Phys. Plasmas 24, 023111 (2017)

optimized in order to maximize the density of spherulites’

formation with a diameter of the order of 1 lm. The final
polymeric films exhibit about 50% amorphous and 50% crys-
talline phases. The target thickness ranged between 10 lm
and 0.5 lm. The sample holder consisted of two metallic
slides with seven holes, 3 mm in diameter and 10 mm rela-
tive distance, between which the film is closed tightly.
A photo of the target holder is reported in Fig. 1(b).
The characteristics of the plasma accelerated ions were
investigated by ion collectors, both the closed ion collector
(IC), both the closed and the feed through ring (ICR-ion col-
lector ring), and also by SiC detectors, using Time of Flight
(TOF) configuration. Generally, the flight distance target-
detector was 60 cm, ICs were used with a suppression grid
polarized to 100 V, and the active depth of the SiC detector
was 80 lm under a reverse bias of 600 V. More details on IC
and SiC are reported in the literature.10 Two pin-holes were
employed to reduce the ion pencil to 100 lm in diameter and
to be deflected by the electromagnetic fields of a Thomson
parabola spectrometer (TPS) towards a multichannel plate
(MCP) coupled to a phosphorus screen and a CCD camera.
The details of the parabola images allow us to give the
charge to mass ratio, the number of charge states, and the
maximum ion energies.11 UV and soft X-ray radiations from
the produced plasma were monitored by the SiC diodes
revealing their photopeak with various Al filters and by using
the NIST database of the massive absorption coefficients for
the absorber materials.12 A Kentech low-magnification X-
ray streak camera with a sweep range up to 5 ps/mm, placed
side-on recorded radiation of energy higher than 0.8 keV, to
provide time- and space-resolved information on expanding
plasma radiation was employed. Two different orientations
FIG. 2. PET transmission (%) versus wavelength for different PET films (a)
of its entrance slits (parallel and perpendicular to the laser and typical X-ray diffraction spectrum of semicrystalline PET (b).
beam axis) provide a spatial resolution of 20 lm, either along
the target normal or across the laser beam with a total expo-
sition time of 2 ns.13 shows a low transmission of about 10% at the wavelengths
Optical measurements of foil transmission and absor- ranging between 600 nm and 1300 nm.
bance, evaluated with the Lambert-Beer law, have been per- Fig. 2(b) shows a typical X-ray diffraction spectrum (XRD)
formed using a Nd:YAG laser operating at 1064 nm of the used semicrystalline PET reporting characteristic peaks
wavelength, optical fibers for the light transport, and an opti- demonstrating the presence of ordered structures, as expected.14
cal spectrophotometer to evaluate both the incident and The original PET was mostly amorphous with less crystallinity
transmitted intensities at this and at other wavelengths. and about the absence of peaks in the XRD spectrum. Due to
the thermal treatments and to the spherulites’ formation, the
III. RESULTS ordered polymeric fibers increase and the XRD analysis shows
the characteristic peaks of the crystalline components.
Optical measurements of absorbance in the investigated The laser irradiation of thin PET films permits generat-
polymers demonstrated that PET has an absorption band at ing plasma accelerating protons and carbon and oxygen ions.
1.35 lm, i.e., near the wavelength of the used laser. This The maximum acceleration can be easily measured from the
absorption increases with the density of the spherulite cen- SiC-TOF spectra for the faster protons.
ters and with the target thickness. Fig. 2(a) shows a typical Fig. 3 reports three typical SiC-TOF spectra relative to
transmission curve of 2 mm transparent (without spherulites) PET foils, containing spherulites and Au NPs, irradiated in
PET thickness (continuum line) as a function of the wave- the same experimental conditions at different thicknesses
length. The transmission at 1064 nm and 1315 nm increases and monitored at 60 cm flight distance and 0 angle with
to about 100%, for a thin pure PET foil with 2 lm thickness. respect to the normal direction. Spectra are characterized by
In films containing high spherulite concentration, the trans- an initial photopeak, due to the detection of UV and X-rays
mission at 1064 nm and 1315 nm decreases to about 20% and emitted from the plasma and used as start for the TOF meas-
50% for opaque foils of 2 mm and 2 lm thickness, respec- urements, by a valley region where electrons are detected,
tively. The film, 2 lm in thickness, containing 50% spheru- and by a large peak due to the detection of ion emission from
lites with a dimension of about 1 lm and 0.5% Au NPs the plasma.
023111-4 L. Torrisi Phys. Plasmas 24, 023111 (2017)

in agreement with previous measurements of ion acceleration

in thin foils reported in the literature.15,16 The proton energy
decreases to 6.3 MeV using a thickness of 0.8 lm and to
0.52 MeV using a thickness of 6 lm. The measurements dem-
onstrated that although the semicrystalline polymer should
enhance the absorption with the thickness and a more laser
energy should be transferred to the polymer, the ion accelera-
tion does not enhance with the foil thickness. Probably, the
high thickness reduces the transmission of electrons in the
rear side of the target due to the electron energy loss and elec-
tron scattering effects. When the thickness is lower than 1 lm,
the electron density decreases because too few atoms and
electrons participate in the charge separation in the non-
equilibrium plasma production, and subsequently, the forward
ion acceleration decreases.
The irradiation of the thicker polymer, in fact, shows a
spectrum with a high amount of low energetic electrons in
the region 8 ns–50 ns, corresponding to a kinetic energy
within 16 keV and 400 eV.
Fig. 4 reports the maximum proton energy as a function
of the foil thickness (left vertical scale) and the maximum
carbon ion yield versus the foil thickness (right vertical
scale), demonstrating that the maximum acceleration is
obtained for an optimal foil thickness of 1 lm and that the
ion yield increases towards a saturation region for higher foil
thickness.
The photopeak of SiC detector, used as start TOF signal,
is due to UV and soft X-rays emitted from the plasma. In
order to evaluate the average energy of the emitted UV and
soft X-rays, some measurements were repeated irradiating in
the same conditions 1 lm PET and using different Al absorb-
ers placed in front of the SiC detector. The photopeak attenu-
ation trend with three different absorbers is reported in Fig.
5. The attenuation measurements indicated a massive absorp-
tion coefficient of 2000 cm2/g due to the ionization of the K
shell of aluminum. From the NIST X-ray attenuation data-
base12 in Al absorbers, it is possible to evince the corre-
sponding average photon energy of about 2.6 keV. Of
course, the X-ray emission is represented by a large energy
spectrum, probably as a black body at the mean plasma

FIG. 3. Comparison of three SiC-TOF spectra obtained in the same TNSA

irradiation conditions, irradiating a PET foil with a thickness of 0.8 lm (a),
1.0 lm (b), and 6 lm (c).

In the very thin used films, measurements demonstrated

that the ion emission yield increases with the polymer thick-
ness, as expected, due to the larger amount of matter irradi-
ated in thicker foils. The ion acceleration decreases at high
target thickness such as 20 microns, up to disappears for
thickness higher than 35 lm, due to the high absorption of
the laser accelerated electrons by the front target surface and
not sufficiently transmitted in the rear side of the target.
The ion peak represents the convolution of the proton and
carbon and oxygen ions at different charge states, of which
only faster protons can be directly measured in velocity.
The faster protons show a maximum kinetic energy of
6.5 MeV for the optimal polymer thickness of 1 lm. Such a FIG. 4. Maximum proton energy and maximum carbon yield as a function
maximum energy decreases for lower and higher thicknesses, of the PET foil thickness.
023111-5 L. Torrisi
FIG. 5. SiC-photopeak yield as a function of the Al absorber thickness.
temperature, with a trend depending on the Plank’s law of
black-body radiation, of which the 2.6 keV represents an
approximation of the maximum photon energy h Max. Using
this value and applying the Wien’s displacement law,17 it is
possible to have an indication of the mean temperature of the
produced plasma
T ¼ mMax =ð58:8 GHz=KÞ
¼ 1:07  107 K; corresponding to a value kT ¼ 923 eV:
(2)
At this temperature, C and O ions can be fully ionized to
490 eV and 871 eV, the ionization potentials to obtain C6þ
and O8þ, respectively, as reported in the NIST database.18
Moreover, assuming the proton energy to be an approxi-
mation of the energy per charge state assumed by the accel-
erated ions in the plasma, in the case of 1 lm PET irradiation
the extrapolated TNSA kinetic energies for the C6þ and O8þ
ions will be 39 MeV and 52 MeV, respectively.
SiC ion energy measurements were confirmed also by
IC and TPS detectors. Fig. 6(a) shows a typical example of
ICR-TOF measurement relative to the irradiation at 600 J of
a PET foil 0.8 lm in thickness. In this case, the flight dis-
tance is 1.0 m, the detection angle is 0 , and the proton detec-
tion is about 28 ns, indicating a maximum proton kinetic
energy of about 6.5 MeV.
Fig. 6(b) shows a typical TPS spectrum obtained by irra-
diating a PET foil with 3 lm thickness at 600 J and detecting
the ion emission at 0 angle. Spectra comparison with simu-
lation curves, obtained by inserting in the Tosca 3D code the
exact TPS geometry and the values of the used electric and
magnetic field, of 1.4 kV/cm and 0.01 T, respectively, has
permitted the recognition of the parabolas. Protons, detected
through the bottom parabola, show a minimum distance
from the undeflected photons (circle zone) corresponding to
a kinetic energy of about 2.6 MeV, in good agreement with
the SiC data. The other parabolas are relative to the carbon
and oxygen ions emitted from PET. The results demonstrate
that all the charge states of carbon and oxygen ions are
Phys. Plasmas 24, 023111 (2017)
FIG. 6. Typical IC-TOF spectrum of 0.8 lm PET irradiation (a) and typical
TPS spectrum of 3 lm PET irradiation (b).
present. This means that the plasma contains electrons at a
kinetic energy above 871 eV, which represents the ionization
potential of O8þ. Moreover, the long parabolas demonstrate
that ions are characterized by a large ion energy distribution,
probably in agreement with the Coulomb-Boltzmann-shifted
model, i.e., with Boltzmann distributions, which have a cut-
off at high energy and a shift towards high energy increasing
the ion charge state.19
A further analysis was performed with the X-ray streak
camera imaging. For polymer laser irradiated, only soft
X-rays, with energy of the order of some keV, are detected,
as demonstrated by the color scale of the CCD image where
hard X-rays (red colored) are not revealed and images have
low intensity. In order to maximize the intensity of such
X-ray emission, the optimal thickness of 1 lm PET was
employed, as reported in the X-ray image of Fig. 7. In such
an optimal condition, the image exhibits some plasma char-
acteristics such as the expansion velocity in a vacuum evalu-
ated by about
74 lm
vk  ¼ 1:06  105 m=s: (3)
0:7 ns
Taking into account the expansion velocity of the plasma
and assuming it to be constituted mainly by carbon atoms, it
is possible to evaluate the equivalent plasma electron tem-
perature using the adiabatic plasma expansion velocity in a
vacuum, assuming the adiabatic coefficient c ¼ 1.67
023111-6 L. Torrisi
FIG. 7. Typical X-ray streak camera image of 1 lm PET irradiation.
1 tively. In the present experiment, it decreases to about 1 keV,
kTe ¼ mv2k  843 eV: (4)
c
This temperature is in agreement with that calculated from
Eq. (2), starting from the average photon energy of 2.6 keV.
Assuming the plasma mean temperature of about 1 keV,
and assuming the maximum electron density comparable
with that of the solid polymer (ne ¼ 4.3  1023 electrons/
cm3), using Eq. (1) it is possible to calculate the accelerating
electric field of the order of
~  2:7  1012 V=m ¼ 2:7  106 V=lm:
E (5)
This evaluation is in agreement with a Debye length of the
order of 1 lm, i.e., comparable with the optimal target
thickness.
IV. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
A recent literature reports that irradiating at PALS
metallic thin foils in the TNSA regime, using intensities of
the order of 1016 W/cm2, the maximum proton energies are
of the order of 4 MeV at the optimal thicknesses of about
10–15 lm Al20 and 4.8 MeV using 10 lm Au.15 For compar-
ison, the authors expected to get from polymer irradiation,
containing lower electron density with respect to metallic
foils, less proton energy, and higher optimal thickness,
instead the result was in the opposite direction. Not only the
proton energy was increased above 6 MeV but also the opti-
mal foil thickness was reduced up to 1 lm.
This unexpected result may be originated by different
contributions to the production of the plasma and charge sep-
aration on the rear side of the irradiated TNSA-like foil
- The use of high laser absorption due to the presence of
spherulite in the semicrystalline polymer may produce
high laser energy transfer to the plasma;
- The use of high laser absorption due to the presence of Au
NPs in the semicrystalline polymer may produce SPR
effects and high laser energy transfer to the plasma;
Phys. Plasmas 24, 023111 (2017)
- The use of a low density target may produce an undercriti-
cal low plasma density where laser light may propagate,
enhancing the interaction time with the plasma;
- The use of an optimal target thickness may enhance the
electron transmission of the ponderomotive electrons
accelerated by the laser light and develop optimal condi-
tions of charge separation generating high electric field
driving the ion acceleration;
- The use of the low polymer density may induce undercriti-
cal preplasma where laser light may enhance the probabil-
ity to produce self-focusing effect21 and to maximize the
intensity transmitted to the plasma.
- To the used condition of focal positioning of 100 lm dis-
tance in front of the target surface inducing self-focusing
effect.
In previous measurements obtained by irradiating
micrometric Al and Au foil in TNSA,13,17 the plasma tem-
perature was evaluated to be1.7 keV and 6.2 keV, respec-
as expected, confirming that it decreases with the atomic
number of the irradiated target, in agreement with the
literature.22
In conclusion, the measurements demonstrated that in
the used experimental conditions, the maximum PET plasma
temperature is of about 1 keV and that the maximum proton
acceleration in advanced targets is of about 6.5 MeV due to
the optimization of many parameters depending on the laser,
irradiation conditions, and target composition.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The research leading to these results has received
funding from LASERLAB-EUROPE (Grant Agreement No.
284464, EC’s Seventh Framework Program), and it has been
supported by the Research Collaboration Agreement
between NPI and IPP of ASCR and PPL of University of
Messina and by Project No. P108/12/G108.
Many thanks to Dr. Ullschmied, Deputy Director of the
PALS Lab in Prague (Czech Republic), and to Dr. A.
Velyhan, Dr. E. Krousky, and Dr. M. Pfeifer of PALS for
useful assistance during the run of measurements.
1
G. W. Ehrenstein and R. P. Theriault, Polymeric Materials: Structure,
Properties, Applications (Hanser Verlag, 2001).
2
M. A. Garcia, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 44, 283001 (2011).
3
Wikipedia, See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyethylene_terephthalate
for PET properties, 2017.
4
S. Eliezier, The Interaction of High-Power Lasers with Plasmas (IOP
Press, UK, 2002).
5
L. Torrisi, L. Calcagno, D. Giulietti, M. Cutroneo, M. Zimbone, and J.
Skala, Nucl Instrum. Methods B 355, 221–226 (2015).
6
L. Torrisi, Laser Part. Beams 32(3), 383–389 (2014).
7
P. McKenna, D. C. Carroll, L. Robson, K. W. Ledingham, T. McCanny, F.
Lindau, O. Lundh, C. G. Wahlstr€ om, A. P. L. Robinson, R. J. Clarke, D.
Neely, P. T. Simpson, and M. Zepf, See https://www.clf.stfc.ac.uk/Pages/
ar06-07_s1_multiplychargedion.pdf for “Multiply charged ion accelera-
tion studies using the Vulcan Petawatt laser,” Central Laser Facility
Annual Report No. 2006/2007 (2007), pp. 36–40.
8
See http://www.pals.cas.cz/ for PALS, Prague Asterix laser System,
Prague Czech Republic, 2017.
9
L. Laska, K. Jungwirth, J. Krasa, E. Krousky, M. Pfeifer, K. Rohlena, J.
Ullschmied, J. Badziak, P. Parys, J. Wolowski, S. Gammino, L. Torrisi,
and F. P. Boody, Laser Part. Beams 24(1), 175–179 (2006).
023111-7 L. Torrisi Phys. Plasmas 24, 023111 (2017)

10
M. Cutroneo, P. Musumeci, M. Zimbone, L. Torrisi, F. La Via, D.
Margarone, A. Velyhan, J. Ullschmied, and L. Calcagno, J. Mater. Res.
28(01), 87–93 (2013).
11
M. Cutroneo, L. Torrisi, L. Ando, S. Cavallaro, J. Ullschmied, J. Krasa, D.
Margarone, A. Velyhan, E. Krousky, and M. Pfeifer, Acta Polytech. 53(2),
138–141 (2013).
12
NIST, National Institute of Standards and Technology, See http://
www.nist.gov/pml/data/xraycoef/ for X-ray attenuation database, 2017.
13
L. Laska, J. Badziak, K. Jungwirth, M. Kalal, J. Krasa, E. Krousk y, P.
Kubes, D. Margarone, P. Parys, M. Pfeifer, K. Rohlena, M. Rosinski, L.
Ryc, J. Skala, L. Torrisi, J. Ullschmied, A. Velyhan, and J. Wolowski,
Radiat. Eff. Defects Solids 165(6–10), 463–471 (2010).
14
Z. Huang, L. Bi, Z. Zhang, and Y. Han, Mol. Med. Rep. 6(4), 709–715
(2012).
15
L. Torrisi, M. Cutroneo, L. And o, and J. Ullschmied, Phys. Plasmas 20,
023106 (2013).
16
J. Fuchs, P. Antici, E. D’Humieres, E. Lefebvre, M. Borghesi, E.
Brambrink, C. A. Cecchetti, M. Kaluza, V. Malka, M. Manclossi, S.
Meyroneinc, P. Mora, J. Schreiber, T. Toncian, P. Audebert, and H. Pepin,
Nat. Phys. 2, 48–54 (2006).
17
R. Nave, See http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/quantum/
wien3.html#c1 for Wien’s displacement law and other ways to character-
ize the peak of blackbody radiation, 2017.
18
NIST, National Institute of Standards and Technology, See http://physics.-
nist.gov/PhysRefData/ASD/ionEnergy.html for Atomic spectra database
ionization energies form, 2017.
19
L. Torrisi, S. Gammino, L. And o, L. Laska, J. Krasa, K. Rohlena, J.
Ullschmied, J. Wolowski, J. Badziak, and P. Parys, J. Appl. Phys. 99,
083301 (2006).
20
L. Torrisi and M. Cutroneo, J. Appl. Phys. 115, 083105 (2014).
21
L. Torrisi, D. Margarone, L. Laska, J. Krasa, A. Velyhan, M.
Pfeifer, J. Ullschmied, and L. Ryc, Laser Part. Beams 26, 379–387
(2008).
22
A. Picciotto, L. Torrisi, S. Gammino, A. M. Mezzasalma, F. Caridi, D.
Margarone, L. And o, J. Krasa, L. Laska, and J. Wolowski, Radiat. Eff.
Defects Solids 160(10–12), 705–713 (2005).

View publication stats