{"id":{"repo_id":"lund","oai_identifier":"oai:lup.lub.lu.se:fa54ce25-a995-4b47-af21-40803b91e8f5"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/lund/oai:lup.lub.lu.se:fa54ce25-a995-4b47-af21-40803b91e8f5","repository":{"repo_id":"lund","name":"University of Lund","base_url":"https://lup.lub.lu.se/oai"},"display":{"title":"Laser-Driven Particle Acceleration - Improving Performance Through Smart Target Design","abstract":"Laser-driven particle acceleration makes use of sub-picosecond, pulsed, high-power laser systems, capable of producing intensities ~10^{19} W/cm^2 at the laser focus to form plasmas, and use ultra-relativistic and nonlinear dynamics to produce quasistatic acceleration fields. This allows electrons to be accelerated to ~100 MeV over sub-centimetre distances, while protons may be accelerated to the ~10 MeV regime. In addition, novel sources of x-ray radiation become available with these schemes. The topics covered in this thesis focus mainly on target normal sheath acceleration of protons in the overdense plasma regime and laser wakefield acceleration of electrons in the underdense regime. An experimental approach leads to novel acceleration concepts and investigations on properties of new target designs. In the overdense plasma regime, hollow microspheres were found to have the potential to enhance the conversion of laser energy into proton energy. The microscopic structure of the material used as target has impact on electron beam filamentation during electron transport through the target bulk. Long-range order was found to result in smoother beams of TNSA-produced protons as compared to amorphous structures. In addition it was demonstrated that short pulse (fs) laser-solid interactions produce magnetic fields, the strength of which can reach 10 kT, mimicking astrophysical conditions. In the underdense regime, it was found that when tailored appropriately, density ramps can provide means of dividing the laser wakefield acceleration process into four steps: nonlinear laser evolution, trapping, bunch transfer into the second bucket, and acceleration, resulting in beams with reduced relative energy spread and divergence compared to self-injection by a nonlinear plasma wave. It was further shown that capillaries can be used to improve efficiency by guiding and refocusing the laser light onto the central axis. Short bursts of soft x-rays were produced inside capillaries. Finally, the use of an asymmetric laser field at the focus facilitated off-axis electron injection into the accelerating phase of a plasma wake oscillation and enhanced x-ray emission.","abstract_html":"Laser-driven particle acceleration makes use of sub-picosecond, pulsed, high-power laser systems, capable of producing intensities ~10^{19} W/cm^2 at the laser focus to form plasmas, and use ultra-relativistic and nonlinear dynamics to produce quasistatic acceleration fields. This allows electrons to be accelerated to ~100 MeV over sub-centimetre distances, while protons may be accelerated to the ~10 MeV regime. In addition, novel sources of x-ray radiation become available with these schemes. The topics covered in this thesis focus mainly on target normal sheath acceleration of protons in the overdense plasma regime and laser wakefield acceleration of electrons in the underdense regime. An experimental approach leads to novel acceleration concepts and investigations on properties of new target designs. In the overdense plasma regime, hollow microspheres were found to have the potential to enhance the conversion of laser energy into proton energy. The microscopic structure of the material used as target has impact on electron beam filamentation during electron transport through the target bulk. Long-range order was found to result in smoother beams of TNSA-produced protons as compared to amorphous structures. In addition it was demonstrated that short pulse (fs) laser-solid interactions produce magnetic fields, the strength of which can reach 10 kT, mimicking astrophysical conditions. In the underdense regime, it was found that when tailored appropriately, density ramps can provide means of dividing the laser wakefield acceleration process into four steps: nonlinear laser evolution, trapping, bunch transfer into the second bucket, and acceleration, resulting in beams with reduced relative energy spread and divergence compared to self-injection by a nonlinear plasma wave. It was further shown that capillaries can be used to improve efficiency by guiding and refocusing the laser light onto the central axis. Short bursts of soft x-rays were produced inside capillaries. Finally, the use of an asymmetric laser field at the focus facilitated off-axis electron injection into the accelerating phase of a plasma wake oscillation and enhanced x-ray emission.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Burza, Matthias"],"institution":"Camilla Nilsson, Department of Physics, Division of Atomic Physics, Lund University","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012","date_published":"2012","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:59:49Z","subjects":["Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics","wakefield","ultra-relativistic","ultra-intense","TNSA","Terawatt","sheath","proton","polarimetry","plasma mirror","plasma","Petawatt","particle","oscillation","Normarski","micromachining","LWFA","laser","interferometry","electron","contrast","acceleration","bubble","Fysicumarkivet A:2012:Burza"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["urn:isbn:978-91-7473-320-4","other:Lund Report on Atomic Physics, LRAP-455"],"render_values":[{"text":"urn:isbn:978-91-7473-320-4","href":null,"code":true},{"text":"other:Lund Report on Atomic Physics, LRAP-455","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/2535362","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Burza, Matthias"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2012"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Camilla Nilsson, Department of Physics, Division of Atomic Physics, Lund University"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["thesis/doccomp","info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis","text"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics","wakefield","ultra-relativistic","ultra-intense","TNSA","Terawatt","sheath","proton","polarimetry","plasma mirror","plasma","Petawatt","particle","oscillation","Normarski","micromachining","LWFA","laser","interferometry","electron","contrast","acceleration","bubble","Fysicumarkivet A:2012:Burza"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/2535362","urn:isbn:978-91-7473-320-4","https://portal.research.lu.se/files/4038316/2544312.pdf","other:Lund Report on Atomic Physics, LRAP-455"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Laser-driven particle acceleration makes use of sub-picosecond, pulsed, high-power laser systems, capable of producing intensities ~10^{19} W/cm^2 at the laser focus to form plasmas, and use ultra-relativistic and nonlinear dynamics to produce quasistatic acceleration fields. This allows electrons to be accelerated to ~100 MeV over sub-centimetre distances, while protons may be accelerated to the ~10 MeV regime. In addition, novel sources of x-ray radiation become available with these schemes. The topics covered in this thesis focus mainly on target normal sheath acceleration of protons in the overdense plasma regime and laser wakefield acceleration of electrons in the underdense regime. An experimental approach leads to novel acceleration concepts and investigations on properties of new target designs. In the overdense plasma regime, hollow microspheres were found to have the potential to enhance the conversion of laser energy into proton energy. The microscopic structure of the material used as target has impact on electron beam filamentation during electron transport through the target bulk. Long-range order was found to result in smoother beams of TNSA-produced protons as compared to amorphous structures. In addition it was demonstrated that short pulse (fs) laser-solid interactions produce magnetic fields, the strength of which can reach 10 kT, mimicking astrophysical conditions. In the underdense regime, it was found that when tailored appropriately, density ramps can provide means of dividing the laser wakefield acceleration process into four steps: nonlinear laser evolution, trapping, bunch transfer into the second bucket, and acceleration, resulting in beams with reduced relative energy spread and divergence compared to self-injection by a nonlinear plasma wave. It was further shown that capillaries can be used to improve efficiency by guiding and refocusing the laser light onto the central axis. Short bursts of soft x-rays were produced inside capillaries. Finally, the use of an asymmetric laser field at the focus facilitated off-axis electron injection into the accelerating phase of a plasma wake oscillation and enhanced x-ray emission."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Lund Reports on Atomic Physics; 455 (2012)","ISSN: 0281-2762"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Laser-Driven Particle Acceleration - Improving Performance Through Smart Target Design"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Burza, Matthias"],"dc:date":["2012"],"dc:description":["Laser-driven particle acceleration makes use of sub-picosecond, pulsed, high-power laser systems, capable of producing intensities ~10^{19} W/cm^2 at the laser focus to form plasmas, and use ultra-relativistic and nonlinear dynamics to produce quasistatic acceleration fields. This allows electrons to be accelerated to ~100 MeV over sub-centimetre distances, while protons may be accelerated to the ~10 MeV regime. In addition, novel sources of x-ray radiation become available with these schemes. The topics covered in this thesis focus mainly on target normal sheath acceleration of protons in the overdense plasma regime and laser wakefield acceleration of electrons in the underdense regime. An experimental approach leads to novel acceleration concepts and investigations on properties of new target designs. In the overdense plasma regime, hollow microspheres were found to have the potential to enhance the conversion of laser energy into proton energy. The microscopic structure of the material used as target has impact on electron beam filamentation during electron transport through the target bulk. Long-range order was found to result in smoother beams of TNSA-produced protons as compared to amorphous structures. In addition it was demonstrated that short pulse (fs) laser-solid interactions produce magnetic fields, the strength of which can reach 10 kT, mimicking astrophysical conditions. In the underdense regime, it was found that when tailored appropriately, density ramps can provide means of dividing the laser wakefield acceleration process into four steps: nonlinear laser evolution, trapping, bunch transfer into the second bucket, and acceleration, resulting in beams with reduced relative energy spread and divergence compared to self-injection by a nonlinear plasma wave. It was further shown that capillaries can be used to improve efficiency by guiding and refocusing the laser light onto the central axis. Short bursts of soft x-rays were produced inside capillaries. Finally, the use of an asymmetric laser field at the focus facilitated off-axis electron injection into the accelerating phase of a plasma wake oscillation and enhanced x-ray emission."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/2535362","urn:isbn:978-91-7473-320-4","https://portal.research.lu.se/files/4038316/2544312.pdf","other:Lund Report on Atomic Physics, LRAP-455"],"dc:language":["eng"],"dc:publisher":["Camilla Nilsson, Department of Physics, Division of Atomic Physics, Lund University"],"dc:rights":["info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess"],"dc:source":["Lund Reports on Atomic Physics; 455 (2012)","ISSN: 0281-2762"],"dc:subject":["Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics","wakefield","ultra-relativistic","ultra-intense","TNSA","Terawatt","sheath","proton","polarimetry","plasma mirror","plasma","Petawatt","particle","oscillation","Normarski","micromachining","LWFA","laser","interferometry","electron","contrast","acceleration","bubble","Fysicumarkivet A:2012:Burza"],"dc:title":["Laser-Driven Particle Acceleration - Improving Performance Through Smart Target Design"],"dc:type":["thesis/doccomp","info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis","text"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:59:49Z"}