Laser-Driven Ion Accelerators: State of the Art and Applications
Year: 2016
Authors: Borghesi M., Macchi A.
Autors Affiliation: 1) Queen’s University of Belfast, Belfast, UK
2) Istituto Nazionale di Ottica, Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche (CNR/INO), Pisa, Italy
Abstract: Laser-plasma based accelerators of protons and heavier ions are a source of potential interest for several applications, including in the biomedical area. While the potential future use in cancer hadrontherapy acts as a strong aspirational motivation for this research field, radiobiology employing laser-driven ion bursts is already an active field of research. Here we give a summary of the state of the art in laser-driven ion acceleration, of the main challenges currently faced by the research in this field and of some of the current and future strategies for overcoming them.
Journal/Review: JOURNAL OF THE OPTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA B-OPTICAL PHYSICS
KeyWords: laser-plasma acceleration of ions; biomedical laser applications;
