Commissioning of the 1 PW experimental area at ELI-NP using a short focal parabolic mirror for proton acceleration

Cernaianu M. O.; Ghenuche P.; Rotaru F.; Tudor L.; Chalus O.; Gheorghiu C.; Popescu D. C.; Gugiu M.; Balascuta S.; Magureanu A.; Tataru M.; Horny V.; Corobean B.; Dancus I.; Alincutei A.; Asavei T.; Diaconescu B.; Dinca L.; Dreghici D. B.; Ghita D. G.; Jalba C.; Leca V.; Lupu A. M.; Nastasa V.; Negoita F.; Patrascoiu M.; Schimbeschi F.; Stutman D.; Ticos C.; Ursescu D.; Arefiev A.; Tomassini P.; Malka V.; Gales S.; Tanaka K. A.; Ur C. A.; Doria D.

doi:10.1063/5.0241077

Volume 10 Issue 2

Mar. 2025

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Cernaianu M. O., Ghenuche P., Rotaru F., Tudor L., Chalus O., Gheorghiu C., Popescu D. C., Gugiu M., Balascuta S., Magureanu A., Tataru M., Horny V., Corobean B., Dancus I., Alincutei A., Asavei T., Diaconescu B., Dinca L., Dreghici D. B., Ghita D. G., Jalba C., Leca V., Lupu A. M., Nastasa V., Negoita F., Patrascoiu M., Schimbeschi F., Stutman D., Ticos C., Ursescu D., Arefiev A., Tomassini P., Malka V., Gales S., Tanaka K. A., Ur C. A., Doria D.. Commissioning of the 1 PW experimental area at ELI-NP using a short focal parabolic mirror for proton acceleration[J]. Matter and Radiation at Extremes, 2025, 10(2): 027204. doi: 10.1063/5.0241077

Citation:

Cernaianu M. O., Ghenuche P., Rotaru F., Tudor L., Chalus O., Gheorghiu C., Popescu D. C., Gugiu M., Balascuta S., Magureanu A., Tataru M., Horny V., Corobean B., Dancus I., Alincutei A., Asavei T., Diaconescu B., Dinca L., Dreghici D. B., Ghita D. G., Jalba C., Leca V., Lupu A. M., Nastasa V., Negoita F., Patrascoiu M., Schimbeschi F., Stutman D., Ticos C., Ursescu D., Arefiev A., Tomassini P., Malka V., Gales S., Tanaka K. A., Ur C. A., Doria D.. Commissioning of the 1 PW experimental area at ELI-NP using a short focal parabolic mirror for proton acceleration[J]. Matter and Radiation at Extremes, 2025, 10(2): 027204. doi: 10.1063/5.0241077

Citation:

Cernaianu M. O., Ghenuche P., Rotaru F., Tudor L., Chalus O., Gheorghiu C., Popescu D. C., Gugiu M., Balascuta S., Magureanu A., Tataru M., Horny V., Corobean B., Dancus I., Alincutei A., Asavei T., Diaconescu B., Dinca L., Dreghici D. B., Ghita D. G., Jalba C., Leca V., Lupu A. M., Nastasa V., Negoita F., Patrascoiu M., Schimbeschi F., Stutman D., Ticos C., Ursescu D., Arefiev A., Tomassini P., Malka V., Gales S., Tanaka K. A., Ur C. A., Doria D.. Commissioning of the 1 PW experimental area at ELI-NP using a short focal parabolic mirror for proton acceleration[J]. Matter and Radiation at Extremes, 2025, 10(2): 027204. doi: 10.1063/5.0241077

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Commissioning of the 1 PW experimental area at ELI-NP using a short focal parabolic mirror for proton acceleration

doi: 10.1063/5.0241077

Cernaianu M. O.^1
,,
Ghenuche P.^1
,,
Rotaru F.^1
,,
Tudor L.^1
,,
Chalus O.²,
Gheorghiu C.^1
,,
Popescu D. C.^1
,,
Gugiu M.^1
,,
Balascuta S.^1
,,
Magureanu A.^{1, 3
,},
Tataru M.¹,
Horny V.^1
,,
Corobean B.^{1, 3
,},
Dancus I.^1
,,
Alincutei A.⁴,
Asavei T.^1
,,
Diaconescu B.^1
,,
Dinca L.¹,
Dreghici D. B.^{1, 3},
Ghita D. G.^1
,,
Jalba C.^1
,,
Leca V.¹,
Lupu A. M.^1
,,
Nastasa V.^1
,,
Negoita F.^1
,,
Patrascoiu M.^1
,,
Schimbeschi F.¹,
Stutman D.^{1, 5
,},
Ticos C.^{1, 3
,},
Ursescu D.^{1, 3
,},
Arefiev A.^6
,,
Tomassini P.^1
,,
Malka V.^{1, 7
,},
Gales S.¹,
Tanaka K. A.^{1, 3, 8
,},
Ur C. A.^{1, 3
,},
Doria D.^{1
,
,
,}

1.
ELI-NP, “Horia Hulubei” National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering, 30 Reactorului Street, RO-077125 Bucharest-Magurele, Romania
2.
Thales LAS France, 78990 Élancourt, France
3.
Engineering and Applications of Lasers and Accelerators Doctoral School (SDIALA), National University of Science and Technology Politehnica of Bucharest, Splaiul Independenței 313, RO-060042 Bucharest, Romania
4.
Thales Systems Romania, 060071 Bucuresti, Romania
5.
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
6.
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
7.
Faculty of Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel
8.
Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka 565-081, Japan

More Information

Author Bio:
Current address: Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN-HH), RO-077125 Bucharest, Romania.
Corresponding author: b)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: domenico.doria@eli-np.ro
Received Date: 2024-09-28
Accepted Date: 2025-02-01

Available Online: 2025-04-08

Publish Date: 2025-03-01

Abstract

Abstract

High-power laser systems have opened new frontiers in scientific research and have revolutionized various scientific fields, offering unprecedented capabilities for understanding fundamental physics and allowing unique applications. This paper details the successful commissioning of the 1 PW experimental area at the Extreme Light Infrastructure–Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP) facility in Romania, using both of the available laser arms. The experimental setup featured a short focal parabolic mirror to accelerate protons through the target normal sheath acceleration mechanism. Detailed experiments were conducted using various metallic and diamond-like carbon targets to investigate the dependence of the proton acceleration on different laser parameters. Furthermore, the paper discusses the critical role of the laser temporal profile in optimizing proton acceleration, supported by hydrodynamic simulations that are correlated with experimental outcomes. The findings underscore the potential of the ELI-NP facility to advance research in laser–plasma physics and contribute significantly to high-energy physics applications. The results of this commissioning establish a strong foundation for experiments by future users.

Conflict of Interest
The authors have no conflicts to disclose.
M. O. Cernaianu: Conceptualization (lead); Data curation (lead); Formal analysis (lead); Investigation (lead); Methodology (lead); Resources (lead); Software (equal); Supervision (lead); Validation (lead); Visualization (lead); Writing – original draft (lead); Writing – review & editing (lead). P. Ghenuche: Conceptualization (lead); Data curation (lead); Formal analysis (lead); Investigation (equal); Methodology (equal); Resources (equal); Software (equal); Supervision (lead); Validation (equal); Visualization (equal); Writing – original draft (equal); Writing – review & editing (equal). F. Rotaru: Conceptualization (equal); Data curation (lead); Formal analysis (lead); Investigation (equal); Methodology (equal); Resources (equal); Supervision (equal); Validation (equal); Visualization (equal); Writing – original draft (equal); Writing – review & editing (equal). L. Tudor: Conceptualization (equal); Investigation (supporting); Supervision (equal). O. Chalus: Investigation (supporting); Methodology (supporting); Writing – original draft (supporting). C. Gheorghiu: Investigation (supporting); Methodology (supporting); Resources (supporting); Writing – original draft (supporting). D. C. Popescu: Data curation (supporting); Formal analysis (supporting); Methodology (supporting); Resources (supporting); Software (equal). M. Gugiu: Data curation (equal); Formal analysis (equal); Investigation (equal); Resources (equal); Software (equal); Writing – original draft (equal). S. Balascuta: Data curation (equal); Formal analysis (equal); Investigation (equal); Resources (equal). A. Magureanu: Data curation (supporting); Formal analysis (supporting); Investigation (equal); Methodology (supporting). M. Tataru: Methodology (supporting); Resources (supporting). V. Horny: Data curation (supporting); Investigation (supporting); Methodology (supporting); Resources (equal); Software (equal). B. Corobean: Data curation (supporting); Investigation (supporting); Methodology (supporting); Resources (equal); Software (equal). I. Dancus: Data curation (supporting); Formal analysis (supporting); Investigation (equal); Methodology (equal); Resources (equal); Software (equal); Supervision (equal); Validation (equal); Visualization (equal); Writing – original draft (supporting). A. Alincutei: Investigation (supporting); Methodology (supporting). T. Asavei: Investigation (supporting). B. Diaconescu: Investigation (supporting); Resources (supporting). L. Dinca: Resources (supporting). D. B. Dreghici: Data curation (supporting); Investigation (supporting); Methodology (supporting); Resources (equal); Software (equal). D. G. Ghita: Investigation (supporting). C. Jalba: Resources (supporting). V. Leca: Resources (supporting); Writing – original draft (supporting). A. M. Lupu: Investigation (supporting). V. Nastasa: Formal analysis (supporting); Investigation (equal). F. Negoita: Conceptualization (supporting). M. Patrascoiu: Investigation (supporting). F. Schimbeschi: Investigation (supporting). D. Stutman: Conceptualization (supporting). C. Ticos: Formal analysis (supporting); Investigation (supporting); Methodology (supporting). D. Ursescu: Methodology (supporting). A. Arefiev: Resources (supporting); Software (supporting). P. Tomassini: Investigation (equal); Methodology (equal); Resources (equal); Software (equal). C. A. Ur: Conceptualization (supporting); Funding acquisition (lead); Project administration (lead); Resources (lead). V. Malka: Conceptualization (supporting); Data curation (supporting); Writing – review & editing (supporting). S. Gales: Methodology (supporting). K. A. Tanaka: Data curation (supporting); Investigation (supporting); Methodology (supporting); Supervision (supporting). D. Doria: Conceptualization (lead); Data curation (lead); Formal analysis (lead); Investigation (lead); Methodology (lead); Resources (lead); Software (equal); Supervision (lead); Validation (lead); Visualization (lead); Writing – original draft (lead); Writing – review & editing (lead).
Author Contributions
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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References(43)

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