Recent progress in using picosecond CO2 lasers for Thomson scattering and ion-acceleration experiments underlines their potentials for enabling secondary radiation- and particle-sources. These experiments capitalize on certain advantages of long-wavelength CO2 lasers, such as higher number of photons per energy unit, and favorable scaling of the electrons' ponderomotive energy and critical plasma density. The high-flux x-ray bursts produced by Thomson scattering of the CO2 laser off a counter-propagating electron beam enabled high-contrast, time-resolved imaging of biological objects in the picosecond time frame. In different experiments, the laser, focused on a hydrogen jet, generated monoenergetic proton beams via the radiation-pressure mechanism. The strong power-scaling of this regime promises realization of proton beams suitable for laser-driven proton cancer therapy after upgrading the CO2 laser to sub-PW peak power. This planned improvement includes optimizing the 10-μm ultra-short pulse generation, assuring higher amplification in the CO2 gas under combined isotopic- and power-broadening effects, and shortening the post-amplification pulse to a few laser cycles (150-200 fs) via chirping and compression. These developments will move us closer to practical applications of ultra-fast CO2 lasers in medicine and other areas.
Pogorelsky, I., Polyanskiy, M., Yakimenko, V., Ben-Zvi, I., Shkolnikov, P., Najmudin, Z., et al. (2011). Proton- and x-ray beams generated by ultra-fast CO2 lasers for medical applications. In Laser Acceleration of Electrons, Protons, and Ions; and Medical Applications of Laser-Generated Secondary Sources of Radiation and Particles [10.1117/12.889113].
Proton- and x-ray beams generated by ultra-fast CO2 lasers for medical applications
Carpinelli, M.
2011
Abstract
Recent progress in using picosecond CO2 lasers for Thomson scattering and ion-acceleration experiments underlines their potentials for enabling secondary radiation- and particle-sources. These experiments capitalize on certain advantages of long-wavelength CO2 lasers, such as higher number of photons per energy unit, and favorable scaling of the electrons' ponderomotive energy and critical plasma density. The high-flux x-ray bursts produced by Thomson scattering of the CO2 laser off a counter-propagating electron beam enabled high-contrast, time-resolved imaging of biological objects in the picosecond time frame. In different experiments, the laser, focused on a hydrogen jet, generated monoenergetic proton beams via the radiation-pressure mechanism. The strong power-scaling of this regime promises realization of proton beams suitable for laser-driven proton cancer therapy after upgrading the CO2 laser to sub-PW peak power. This planned improvement includes optimizing the 10-μm ultra-short pulse generation, assuring higher amplification in the CO2 gas under combined isotopic- and power-broadening effects, and shortening the post-amplification pulse to a few laser cycles (150-200 fs) via chirping and compression. These developments will move us closer to practical applications of ultra-fast CO2 lasers in medicine and other areas.
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