Nuclear diagnostics of high intensity laser plasma interactions

Nuclear activation has been observed in materials exposed to energetic protons and heavy ions generated from high intensity laser-solid interactions (at focused intensities up to 5×1019 W/cm2). The energy spectrum of the protons is determined through the use of these nuclear activation techniques and is found to be consistent with other ion diagnostics. Heavy ion fusion reactions and large neutron fluxes from the (p, n) reactions were also observed. The reduction of proton emission and increase in heavy ion energy using heated targets was also observed.