Design of a compact Thomson Parabola Spectrometer for diagnostics of proton-boron fusion reaction products initiated by laser

Abstract

Abstract The proton-boron aneutronic fusion reaction has numerous potential applications varying from controlled nuclear fusion reactor to broad-energy spectrum α-particle source, as well as uses in medicine, where it can serve as a source for radioisotope production, or directly in proton boron capture therapy. However, proton-boron fusion reaction and its by-products should be investigated extensively to provide a stable and controlled secondary ion source. In order to monitor the multi-ion beam emitted and accelerated from the target surface after interaction with laser pulses, a new Thomson Parabola Spectrometer (TPS) has been designed to differentiate proton and alpha traces in the energy ranges 0.5–5 MeV and 1–10 MeV respectively, with a high energy resolution (≤ 1%), while maintaining compactness of the spectrometer (∼ 20 cm).