US 12,295,092 B2
Efficient production of high-energy ultrashort ion-, especially proton bunches
Gábor Almási, Kozármisleny (HU); János Hebling, Pécs (HU); László Pálfalvi, Pécs (HU); and Zoltán Tibai, Pécs (HU)
Assigned to PÉCSI TUDOMÁNYEGYETEM, Pécs (HU)
Appl. No. 17/614,828
Filed by Pécsi Tudományegyetem, Pécs (HU)
PCT Filed May 29, 2020, PCT No. PCT/HU2020/050020
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Nov. 29, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/033001, PCT Pub. Date Feb. 25, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. P1900189 (HU), filed on May 29, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0240364 A1, Jul. 28, 2022
Int. Cl. H05H 15/00 (2006.01)
CPC H05H 15/00 (2013.01) 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for accelerating electrically charged particles, the method comprising:
introducing gas into a vacuum chamber (2) through at least one nozzle (3) opening into said vacuum chamber (2);
focusing an ionizing beam (4) of laser pulses with a duration and wavelength into the gas, thereby ionizing said gas in the vacuum chamber (2) to generate a plasma (5) comprising electrons and positively charged particles, the plasma (5) having a spatial distribution determined by the duration and a manner of focusing the laser pulses of the ionizing beam;
tearing off a majority of the electrons from the thus obtained plasma (5) by electromagnetic pulses (6a, 6b) with identical beam properties propagating towards each other and superimposed into a standing wave such that the electric field strengths of electromagnetic pulses (6a, 6b) add up and the magnetic field strengths of the electromagnetic pulses (6a, 6b) cancel and having a wavelength at least ten times the wavelength of the laser pulses of the ionizing beam, said electromagnetic pulses (6a, 6b) being linearly polarized and comprised of at most five optical cycles, said tearing-off of electrons being performed along a straight line defined by a net electric field strength (7) of the electromagnetic pulses (6a, 6b) applied; and
simultaneously with the tearing-off of electrons, accelerating the positively charged particles of the remaining plasma (5) by Coulomb electrostatic forces arising among the positively charged particles thereby making the positively charged particles to repel each other.
 
11. An apparatus for accelerating electrically charged particles, the apparatus comprising:
a vacuum chamber (2) with an inner volume enclosed thereby in an airtight manner;
at least one nozzle (3) arranged to open into the inner volume of the vacuum chamber (2);
at least one gas source, wherein individual ones of the at least one gas source is in gaseous communication with at least one nozzle (3) for introducing gas into the vacuum chamber (2) from the at least one gas source;
a laser source configured to generate at least one laser pulse forming an ionizing beam (4) in the gas introduced into the vacuum chamber (2) and thereby converting the gas into plasma (5), wherein said plasma (5) is composed of particles with a net positive charge and electrons obtained by ionizing the gas; and
an electromagnetic pulse generator configured to generate electromagnetic pulses (6a, 6b) with identical beam properties propagating towards each other and superimposed into a standing wave such that electric field strengths of the electromagnetic pulses (6a, 6b) add up and magnetic field strengths of the electromagnetic pulses (6a, 6b) cancel and the electromagnetic pulses (6a, 6b) are capable of tearing off electrons from the plasma (5), the electromagnetic pulses (6a, 6b) being linearly polarized electromagnetic pulses comprised of at most five optical cycles and having a wavelength at least ten times a wavelength of the laser pulses generated by the laser source.