Interaction experiments of MeV heavy ions with a laser plasma and a z-pinch helium plasma

Experimental investigations into the interaction of an ion beam with a plasma target showed increased stripping as compared to cold targets. Measurements were performed with a 900 keV ion beam of 7Li1+. The plasma was created by irradiating the surface of a polyethylene disk with a 6 J TEA CO2 laser. This produced a partially ionized surface blow-off plasma with electron densities between 1018 and 1016 cm-3. As another plasma target a Z-pinch discharge in helium gas has been prepared. This target yields electron densities of about 5 x 1017 cm-3. Interaction will be measured with a 6 MeV/u 40Ar18+ beam from the HIMAC accelerator. Concerning the detector signals, the beam line was designed to minimize any noise stemming from the pulsed discharge. The beam line allows acceptably good beam transmission for current densities in the plasma of up to 80 kA/cm2. (orig.)