title: Picosecond metrology of laser-driven proton bursts.
abstract: Tracking primary radiation-induced processes in matter requires ultrafast sources and high precision timing. While compact laser-driven ion accelerators are seeding the development of novel high instantaneous flux applications, combining the ultrashort ion and laser pulse durations with their inherent synchronicity to trace the real-time evolution of initial damage events has yet to be realized. Here we report on the absolute measurement of proton bursts as short as 3.5±0.7 ps from laser solid target interactions for this purpose. Our results verify that laser-driven ion acceleration can deliver interaction times over a factor of hundred shorter than those of state-of-the-art accelerators optimized for high instantaneous flux. Furthermore, these observations draw ion interaction physics into the field of ultrafast science, opening the opportunity for quantitative comparison with both numerical modelling and the adjacent fields of ultrafast electron and photon interactions in matter.
authors: Centre for Plasma Physics, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK.
authors: B
authors: B
authors: Dromey
authors: Centre for Plasma Physics, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Coughlan
authors: Department of Physics, Lund University, PO Box 118, S-221 00 Lund, Sweden.
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Senje
authors: Centre for Plasma Physics, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Taylor
authors: Helmholtz-Institut Jena, Frobelstieg 3, 07743 Jena, Germany.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Kuschel
authors: Centre for Plasma Physics, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK.
authors: B
authors: B
authors: Villagomez-Bernabe
authors: School of Physics, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Stefanuik
authors: Centre for Plasma Physics, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK.
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Nersisyan
authors: Atomistic Simulation Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK.
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Stella
authors: Atomistic Simulation Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Kohanoff
authors: Centre for Plasma Physics, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Borghesi
authors: Centre for Plasma Physics, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK.
authors: F
authors: F
authors: Currell
authors: Centre for Plasma Physics, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK.
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Riley
authors: Centre for Plasma Physics, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK.
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Jung
authors: Department of Physics, Lund University, PO Box 118, S-221 00 Lund, Sweden.
authors: C-G
authors: CG
authors: Wahlström
authors: Centre for Plasma Physics, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK.
authors: C L S
authors: CL
authors: Lewis
authors: Centre for Plasma Physics, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK.|Helmholtz-Institut Jena, Frobelstieg 3, 07743 Jena, Germany.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Zepf