Temporally-resolved proton radiography of rapidly-varying electric and magnetic fields in laser-driven capacitor coil targets

摘要

Understanding the dynamics of rapidly varying electromagnetic fields in intense short pulse laser plasma interactions is of key importance to understand the mechanisms at the basis of a wide variety of physical processes, from high energy density physics and fusion science to the development of ultra-fast laser plasma devices to control laser-generated particle beams. Target normal sheath accelerated (TNSA) proton radiography represents an ideal tool to diagnose ultrafast electromagnetic phenomena, providing 2D spatially and temporally resolved radiographs with temporal resolution varying from 2-3 ps to few tens of ps. In this work we introduce the proton radiography technique and its application to diagnose the spatial and temporal evolution of electromagnetic fields in laser-driven capacitor coil targets.