Full characterization of laser-accelerated ion beams using Faraday cup, silicon carbide, and single-crystal diamond detectors

Multi-MeV beams of light ions have been produced using the 300 picosecond, kJ-class iodine laser, operating at the Prague Asterix Laser System facility in Prague. Real-time ion diagnostics have been performed by the use of various time-of-flight (TOF) detectors: ion collectors (ICs) with and without absorber thin films, new prototypes of single-crystal diamond and silicon carbide detectors, and an electrostatic ion mass spectrometer (IEA). In order to suppress the long photopeak induced by soft X-rays and to avoid the overlap with the signal from ultrafast particles, the ICs have been shielded with Al foil filters. The application of large-bandgap semiconductor detectors (>3 eV) ensured cutting of the plasma-emitted visible and soft-UV radiation and enhancing the sensitivity to the very fast proton/ion beams. Employing the IEA spectrometer, various ion species and charge states in the expanding laser-plasma have been determined. Processing of the experimental data based on the TOF technique, including est...