Beam Science with LaserNetUS & Other User Facilities

11:30 am – 1:54 pm, Wednesday March 19 // Session MAR-M45 //Anaheim Convention Center, 263A (Level 2)

Chair:: Felicie Albert, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Topics:
Sponsored by: DLS
DPB

Measurements of Proton Stopping Power in Warm Dense Matter approaching the Bragg Peak

12:54 pm – 1:06 pm

Presenter: Krish A Bhutwala (Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL))

Authors: Xavier Vaisseau (Focused Energy), Valeria Ospina Bohorquez (Focused Energy), Michael Ehret (CLPU), Jon Imanol Apiñaniz Aguinaco (Centro de Laseres Pulsados (CLPU), Salamanca, Spain.), Diego De Luis (CLPU), Marine Huault (University of Bordeaux), Witold CAYZAC (CEA-DAM-DIF), Joao Santos (University of Bordeaux), Joe Vargas (MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center), Mathieu Bailly-Grandvaux (University of California, San Diego), Christopher McGuffey (General Atomics), Reed Hollinger (Colorado State University), Shoujun Wang (Colorado State University), Ghassan Zeraouli (Colorado State University), Frances Kraus (Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL)), William Fox (Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory), Derek Schaeffer (University of California, Los Angeles), Derek Schaeffer (University of California, Los Angeles), Jorge Rocca (Colorado State University), Robert Fedosejevs (University of Alberta), Luca Volpe (Universidad Politecnica de Madrid), Sophia Malko (Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL))

The transport of protons through plasma is a highly active field of research due to its myriad applications in high energy density science. A crucial accounting of proton transport is the energy loss rate dε/dx, or stopping power, that comes with propagation in some medium. In the gray space between condensed matter and plasma, warm dense matter (WDM) has proven to be one such perplexing medium, evading accurate modeling from both classical and quantum treatments. Models of proton stopping power in WDM generally agree for fast projectiles (v_p » v_th,e), but when compounded with the Bragg peak regime (v_p ≈ v_th,e) in which protons lose most of their energy quickly, model predictions vary by as much as 30-40%. The first experimental measurements of proton stopping power in WDM approaching the Bragg peak (v_p / v_th,e ~ 3-10) were made on the VEGA-II laser [Malko (2022)]. Here, we report on platform advancements made on the CSU ALEPH laser, where 500±10 keV protons with short bunch duration (<200 ps) were generated [Apiñaniz (2021)] and directed toward a laser-heated WDM sample. We present a preliminary analysis of the stopping power measurements along with WDM characterization through streaked optical pyrometry.

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