Martina Salvadori

• PhD
• Research Fellow at INO - Istituto Nazionale di Ottica - CNR

Fast electron generation and transport in high-intensity laser–solid interactions induces X-ray emission and drives ion acceleration. Effective production of these sources hinges on an efficient laser absorption into the fast electron population and control of divergence as the beam propagates through the target. Nanowire targets can be employed to...

Understanding the physics of electromagnetic pulse (EMP) emission and nozzle damage is critical for the long-term operation of laser experiments with gas targets, particularly at facilities looking to produce stable sources of radiation at high repetition rates. We present a theoretical model of plasma formation and electrostatic charging when high...

Ion acceleration from gaseous targets driven by relativistic-intensity lasers was demonstrated as early as the late 1990s, yet most of the experiments conducted to date have involved picosecond-duration, Nd:glass lasers operating at low repetition rate. Here, we present measurements on the interaction of ultraintense ( ≈ 10 20 W cm − 2 , 1 PW ) , u...

Particle-induced x-ray emission (PIXE) is a well-established ion-beam analysis technique, enabling quantitative measurement of the elemental composition of a sample surface under an ambient atmosphere with an external beam, which significantly simplifies the measurements, and is strictly necessary for those samples that cannot sustain a vacuum envi...

We present a theoretical model of electromagnetic pulse emission and nozzle damage from high-power laser interactions with gas jets. As hot electrons are accelerated beyond the laser channel, they produce a positively-charged plasma that expands into the ambient gas until it reaches the gas jet nozzle. A strong plasma potential leads to electrical...

We have recently proposed a new technique of plasma tailoring by laser-driven hydrodynamic shockwaves generated on both sides of a gas jet [Marquès et al., Phys. Plasmas 28, 023103 (2021)]. In a continuation of this numerical work, we study experimentally the influence of the tailoring on proton acceleration driven by a high-intensity picosecond la...

The energy problem is an open issue becoming increasingly pressing. The possibility to use nuclear fusion as an alternative energy source is thus acquiring progressively more importance and many investors are pushing to achieve the goal of an electric plant based on fusion. The most studied reaction is the deuterium-tritium one, but this poses seve...

The aneutronic 11B(p, α)2α fusion reaction driven by the interaction of high-energy lasers with matter has become a popular topic of research, since it represents a potential long-term goal alternative to the most studied deuterium-tritium reaction. However, the detection of the typical ionic products, especially alpha particles, of this low-rate f...

In this paper, we test the possibility to use luminescence of metal (aluminum and silver) nanoparticles (NPs), synthesized using different laser-driven ablation methods, as sensors for radiation detection. Energetic photon and electron radiation produced by intense plasma induces a red-shift in the luminescence emitted by the NPs. Observing the phe...

A novel detector based on a polycrystalline diamond sensor is here employed in an advanced time-of-flight scheme for the characterization of energetic ions accelerated during laser-matter interactions. The optimization of the detector and of the advanced TOF methodology allow to obtain signals characterized by high signal-to-noise ratio and high dy...

Thomson spectrometers (TS) are designed to detect and distinguish protons from heavier ions in experiments of intense laser-matter interaction. The combination of electric and magnetic field allows for deflecting ion species with different mass-to-charge ratio on different trajectories. However, even small distortions of the internal fields of the...

The time-of-flight technique coupled with semiconductor detectors is a powerful instrument to provide real-time characterization of ions accelerated because of laser–matter interactions. Nevertheless, the presence of strong electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) generated during the interactions can severely hinder its employment. For this reason, the diagn...

A novel detector based on a polycrystalline diamond sensor is here employed in an advanced Time-Of-Flight scheme for the characterization of energetic ions accelerated during laser-matter interactions. The optimization of the detector and of the advanced TOF methodology allow to obtain signals characterized by high signal-to-noise ratio and high dy...

Large-amplitude electromagnetic radiofrequency fields are created by the charge-separation induced in interactions of high-intensity, short-pulse lasers with solid targets and have intensity that decreases with the distance from the target. Alternatively, it was experimentally proved very recently that charged particles emitted by petawatt laser–ta...

Time-Of-Flight (TOF) technique coupled with semiconductor detectors is a powerful instrument to provide real-time characterization of ions accelerated because of laser-matter interactions. Nevertheless, the presence of strong electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) generated during the interactions, can severely hinder its employment. For this reason, the di...

Particle and radiation sources are widely employed in manifold applications. In the last decades, the upcoming of versatile, energetic, high-brilliance laser-based sources, as produced by intense laser–matter interactions, has introduced utilization of these sources in diverse areas, given their potential to complement or even outperform existing t...

Time-Of-Flight (TOF) methods are very effective to detect ions accelerated in laser plasma interactions, but they show significant limitations when used in experiments with high energy and intensity lasers, where both high-energy ions and remarkable levels of ElectroMagnetic Pulses (EMPs) in the radiofrequency-microwave range are generated. In this...

Time-Of-Flight (TOF) methods are very effective to detect particles accelerated in laser-plasma interactions, but they show significant limitations when used in experiments with high energy and intensity lasers, where both high-energy ions and remarkable levels of ElectroMagnetic Pulses (EMPs) in the radiofrequency-microwave range are generated. He...

Laser‐driven proton acceleration is a growing eld of interest in the high‐power laser community. One of the big challenges related to the most routinely used laser‐driven ion acceleration mechanism, Target‐Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA), is to enhance the laser‐to‐proton energy transfer such as to maximize the proton kinetic energy and number. A...

Porous materials have many applications for laser–matter interaction experiments related to inertial confinement fusion. Obtaining new knowledge about the properties of the laser-produced plasma of porous media is a challenging task. In this work, we report, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, the time-dependent measurement of the refl...

When high-energy and high-power lasers interact with matter, a significant part of the incoming laser energy is transformed into transient electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) in the range of radiofrequencies and microwaves. These fields can reach high intensities and can potentially represent a significative danger for the electronic devices placed near...

The detection of the ionic products of low-rate fusion reactions, and in particular of the 11B(p,α)2α, is one of the recognized main problems in experiments where these reactions are initiated by tailored interaction of intense and high-energy lasers with matter. A thorough description of this important issue, with a critical comparison of the diag...

We report on the cross-calibration of Thomson Parabola (TP) and Time-of-Flight (TOF) detectors as particle diagnostics, implemented on the most recent setup of the ALLS 100 TW laser-driven ion acceleration beamline. The Microchannel Plate (MCP) used for particle detection in the TP spectrometer has been calibrated in intensity on the Tandem linear...

In the last decades the development of laser-driven acceleration and inertial fusion fields of research required the commissioning of laser systems with increasing power and repetion rate. This was accompained by a sensible growth of the produced electromagnetic pulses (EMP) inside the experimental chamber and on its surrounding, hindering the empl...

The interaction of an ultra-intense laser with a solid state target allows the production of multi-MeV proton and ion beams. This process is explained by the target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) model, predicting the creation of an electric field on the target rear side, due to an unbalanced positive charge. This process is related to the emiss...

Single crystal diamond detectors are widely employed in laser-induced plasma experiments to retrieve information about particles generated from the interaction. In particular, diamonds are used as Time of Flight (TOF) detectors featured by good sensitivity, high radiation hardness and fast response time. In this work, we provide a detailed characte...

The interaction of an ultra-intense laser with a solid state target allows the production of multi-MeV proton and ion beams. This process is explained by the TNSA model, predicting the creation of an electric field on the target rear side, due to an unbalanced positive charge. This process is related to the emission of relativistic ul-trafast elect...

In the last decades the development of laser-driven acceleration and inertial fusion fields of research required the commissioning of laser systems with increasing power and repetition rate. This was accompanied by a sensible growth of the produced electromagnetic pulses (EMP) inside the experimental chamber and on its surrounding, hindering the em...

The interaction of ultra-intense high-power lasers with solid-state targets has been largely studied for the past 20 years as a future compact proton and ion source. Indeed, the huge potential established on the target surface by the escaping electrons provides accelerating gradients of TV/m. This process, called target normal sheath acceleration,...

The interaction of ultra-intense high power lasers with solid-state targets have been largely studied for twenty years as future compact proton and ion source. Indeed, the huge potential established on the target surface by the escaping electrons provides accelerating gradients of TV/m. This process, called TNSA, involves a large number of phenomen...

Time-Of-Flight (TOF) methods are very effective to detect particles accelerated in laser-plasma interactions, but they shows significant limitations when used in experiments with high energy and intensity lasers, where both high-energy ions and remarkable levels of ElectroMagnetic Pulses (EMPs) in the radiofrequency-microwave range are generated. H...

Laser–plasma interactions have been studied in detail over the past twenty years, as they show great potential for the next generation of particle accelerators. The interaction between an ultra-intense laser and a solid-state target produces a huge amount of particles: electrons and photons (X-rays and gamma-rays) at early stages of the process, wi...

In this work we calibrate the newly developed EBT-XD Radiochromic films (RCF) manufactured by Gafchromic using protons in the energy range of 4-10 MeV. The irradiation was performed on the 2×6 MV Tandem linear accelerator located at the Université de Montréal. The RCFs were digitized using an Epson Perfection V700 flatbed scanner using both the RGB...

Laser-plasma interactions have been extremely studied in the last twenty years, showing great potentialities for the next generation of particle accelerators. The interaction between an ultra-intense laser and a solid state target produces a huge amount of particles: electrons and photons (x-rays and γ-rays) at early stages of the process, protons...

Time-of-flight (TOF) measurements are a powerful and effective method to obtain timely spectra of particles accelerated via laser-plasma interaction experiments. However, the intense interactions achieved in high power laser facilities usually generate strong Electromagnetic Pulses (EMPs), which remarkably affect the signal-to-noise ratio of electr...

We present recent advances of the laser-driven proton acceleration beamline on the Advanced Laser Light Source (ALLS) 200 TW located at INRS-EMT in Varennes near Montreal, Canada. We will present the different new tools and diagnostics that have been implemented on the chamber for target alignment and proton detection. These tools include a Target...

A promising field of application of the X-ray radiation generated by intense laser-matter interaction is the contact-microscopy of biological samples. In order to optimize the yield on the desired spectral window, it is fundamental to have an accurate characterization of this emitted radiation. To this purpose, an experimental campaign is underway...

A promising field of application of the X-ray radiation generated by intense laser-matter interaction is the contact-microscopy of biological samples. In order to optimize the yield on the desired spectral window, it is fundamental to have an accurate characterization of the emitted radiation. To this purpose, an experimental campaign is underway w...

An experimental campaign to characterize the laser radiation absorption of foam targets and the subsequent emission of radiation from the produced plasma was carried out in the ABC facility of the ENEA Research Center in Frascati (Rome). Different targets have been used: plastic in solid or foam state and aluminum targets. The activated different d...