Current research project: High-energy, laser-driven ion sources for advanced applications

My research focuses on using high energy laser beams to generate beams of high energy ions. Beams accelerated through laser-based techniques have unique properties, particularly in terms of their ultrashort temporal profile, which are very distinctive and different from the characteristics of beams obtained from conventional accelerators.
Laser-accelerated protons can be used in advanced radiography techniques for investigating and characterizing the highly transient, large amplitude electric and magnetic fields appearing in dense, hot plasmas, or to generate, by irradiation of suitable samples, transient states of matter in between plasmas and solids (warm dense matter) of interest to astrophysical objects (planetary cores) as well as to fusion plasmas. 

QUB has been at the forefront internationally in this area of research pioneering applications such as ultrafast radiobiology and high-resolution proton radiography. My project will be specifically focused on developing approaches for delivering optimised beams, with higher energies and flux, to allow new applicative capabilities in high energy density physics. For this purpose, novel acceleration concepts will be explored, theoretically capable of providing proton and ion beams with higher energies. This can be applied to ultrathin foils, in the so-called Light Sail regime of acceleration, but also in suitably preformed plasma profiles, in order to reduce the ion beam divergence, and enhance the particle flux.

Biography:

Before beginning my PhD, I completed a 4-year integrated masters in Applied Mathematics and Physics at Queen's University Belfast. My MSci project involved the investigation and characterisation of coronal post-flare loop systems imaged in the 1600Å and 1700Å channels of the Solar Dynamics Observatory's Atmospheric Imaging Assembly.

Supervisors:

Professor Marco Borghesi, Dr Satya Kar & Dr Tom Hodge (AWE Plc)