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S8-4 · Proton Probing Measurement of Electric and Magnetic Fields Generated By ns and ps Laser-Matter Interactions

L. Romagnani¹, M. Borghesi¹, C. A. Cecchetti¹, S. Kar¹, P. Antici^2-10, P. Audebert², S. Bandhoupadjay³, F. Ceccherini⁴, T. Cowan⁵, J. Fuchs², M. Galimberti⁶, L. A. Gizzi⁶, T. Grismayer⁷, R. Heathcote³, R. Jung⁸, T. V. Liseykina⁴, A. Macchi⁴, P. Mora⁷, D. Neely³, M. Notley³, J. Osterholtz⁹, C. A. Pipahl⁹, G. Pretzler⁹, A. Schiavi¹⁰, G. Schurtz⁸, T. Toncian⁹, P. A. Wilson¹, O. Willi<sup>9

1</sup>School of Mathematics and Physics, The Queen’s University of Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK
²Laboratoire pour l’Utilisation des Lasers Intenses (LULI), UMR 7605, CNRS-CEA-Ecole Polytechnique-Univ, 91128 Palaiseau, France
³Central Laser Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Didcot, UK
⁴Dipartimento di Fisica “E. Fermi”, Universita di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
⁵Physics Department, MS-220, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89557, USA
⁶Intense Laser Irradiation Laboratory, IPCF-CNR, Pisa, Italy
⁷Centre de Physique Theorique, UMR 7644, CNRS-Ecole Polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau, France
⁸ Centre d’Etudes des Lasers Intenses et Applications, UMR 5107 Univ. Bordeaux I-CNRS-CEA, France
⁹Institut für Laser und Plasma Physik, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Germany
¹⁰Dipartimento di Energetica, Università di Roma « La Sapienza », Via Scarpa 14-16, 00165 Roma, Italy

Abstract: The use of laser-accelerated protons as a particle probe for the detection of electric fields in plasmas has led in recent years to a wealth of novel information regarding the ultrafast plasma dynamics following high intensity laser-matter interactions [1, 2]. The high spatial quality and short duration of the beams have been essential to this purpose. We will discuss some of the most recent results obtained with this diagnostic at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (UK) and at LULI - Ecole Polytechnique (France), also applied to conditions of interest to conventional Inertial Confinement Fusion. In particular, the technique has been used to measure electric fields responsible for proton acceleration from solid targets irradiated with ps pulses, magnetic fields formed by ns pulse irradiation of solid targets, and electric fields associated with the ponderomotive channelling of ps laser pulses in under-dense plasmas.

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