Thanks to their high dynamic range and ability to withstand electromagnetic pulse, imaging plates (IPs) are commonly used as passive detectors in laser-plasma experiments. In the framework of the development of the diagnostics for the Petawatt Aquitaine Laser facility, we present an absolute calibration and spatial resolution study of five different available types of IP (namely, MS-SR-TR-MP-ND) performed by using laser-induced K-shell X-rays emitted by a solid silver target irradiated by the laser ECLIPSE at CEntre Lasers Intenses et Applications. In addition, IP sensitivity measurements were performed with a 160 kV X-ray generator at CEA DAM DIF, where the absolute response of IP SR and TR has been calibrated to X-rays in the energy range 8-75 keV with uncertainties of about 15%. Finally, the response functions have been modeled in Monte Carlo GEANT4 simulations in order to reproduce experimental data. Simulations enable extrapolation of the IP response functions to photon energies from 1 keV to 1 GeV, of interest, e.g., for laser-driven radiography.

Highly energetic electrons are generated at the early phases of the interaction of short-pulse high-intensity lasers with solid targets. These escaping particles are identified as the essential core of picosecond-scale phenomena such as laser-based acceleration, surface manipulation, generation of intense magnetic fields and electromagnetic pulses. Increasing the number of the escaping electrons facilitate the late time processes in all cases. Up to now only indirect evidences of these important forerunners have been recorded, thus no detailed study of the governing mechanisms was possible. Here we report, for the first time, direct time-dependent measurements of energetic electrons ejected from solid targets by the interaction with a short-pulse high-intensity laser. We measured electron bunches up to 7 nanocoulombs charge, picosecond duration and 12 megaelectronvolts energy. Our ’snapshots’ capture their evolution with an unprecedented temporal resolution, demonstrat- ing a significant boost in charge and energy of escaping electrons when increasing the geometrical target curvature. These results pave the way toward significant improvement in laser acceleration of ions using shaped targets allowing the future development of small scale laser-ion accelerators.

A new methodology able to model and reconstruct the transverse trace space of low-emittance electron beams accelerated in the bubble regime of laser-plasma interaction is presented. The single-shot measurement of both the electron energy spectrum and the betatron radiation spectrum is shown to allow a complete measurement of the transverse emittance, including the correlation term. A novel technique to directly measure the betatron oscillation amplitude distribution is described and tested at the SPARC-LAB test facility through the interaction of the ultrashort ultraintense Ti:Sa laser FLAME with a He gas-jet target. Via the exposed technique the beam transverse profile is also retrieved. From the study of the electron transverse dynamics inside the plasma bubble, the nonlinear correlation between the betatron amplitude and the divergence, i.e. the angle with respect the acceleration axis, is found. The angular distribution of the electron beam inside the bubble is retrieved. The knowledge of the trace-space density allows a more accurate measurement of the transverse emittance with respect to previous paradigms.