Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

Advancements in high intensity laser interactions, enabled by the 2018 Nobel Prize winning technology of Chirped Pulse Amplification, have led to a new generation of bright, compact, laser--driven particle accelerators, producing beams and radiation sources over a broad range of energies and wavelengths. However, the greatest challenge in the wide-spread adoption of laser--driven particle accelerators remains in its multi--parameter optimization and control. High- repetition rate operation supports higher levels of control and stability of laser--driven sources using active feedback hardware and software systems to vary laser and plasma conditions in real time. Here, we propose a novel end--station dedicated to high--repetition rate laser experiments using the new 15 TW laser at the University of Alberta (UofA). This compact 10 Hz end-station will be the first of its kind in Canada, and one of few many-Hz TW platforms in the world. It will provide training opportunities to Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP) to pursue the optimization and application of laser--wakefield acceleration for energetic particle production and the generation of ultrafast (femtosecond duration), multi-modal sources of X-ray and infrared radiation. Development of these sources on the UofA campus can have far--reaching applications in material science, manufacturing, medicine, and agriculture, including ultrafast time--resolved studies of transient heating and phase transitions in materials, X--ray probes for advanced manufacturing, tailored particle sources for precise tumor treatment, radiation sources for imaging of biological tissue, and novel probes for soil complexes and grain attributes. Most importantly, the proposed end--station will provide daily, hands -on training opportunities for HQP in a cutting--edge branch of plasma science and compact particle accelerators. It is anticipated that this end--station could provide at least 15 new training opportunities for HQP over the next three years, with extended training opportunities as sources are optimized for interdisciplinary applications. This end--station will support trainees at all levels (undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral) to develop marketable skills and apply new techniques in optical, laser and plasma physics for the benefit of Canadian science, industry, and medicine. The next frontier of laser--plasma science will be pursued using high repetition rate laser systems, and the proposed equipment will position Canadian scientists to become leaders in this area.