Generation of intense sub-nanosecond proton bunches with a novel laser-driven beamline concept

In the context of the Laser Ion Generation, Handling and Transport (LIGHT) research project at GSI, laser-driven ion acceleration and beam shaping are explored, combining a target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) proton source with conventional accelerator technology. Therefore, an ion test beamline was built at the Z6 experimental area. In the LIGHT experimental campaign in 2014, protons were accelerated via the TNSA mechanism, an energy of 7.8 MeV was selected and collimated with a pulsed solenoid and injected into a rf cavity. Through phase focusing, temporally compressed proton bunches were generated to a pulse length of <500 ps (FWHM) with up to 5.10⁸ particles in a single bunch at a distance of 6 m from the source.