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This paper presents a new approach to space charge dominated beamline design using an artificial intelligence (AI)-based optimization code named giotto. The code incorporates advanced algorithms for multiobjective genetic optimizations in particle accelerators, allowing efficient exploration of the parameter space and improved beam quality. The study demonstrates the application of giotto in the design of a high-brightness injector for an Energy Recovery Linac (ERL) called BriXSinO. The optimized injector features a low energy (4.5 MeV) and relatively high bunch charge (100 pC) operation. The results show promising beam parameters comparable to other ERL projects. Furthermore, the paper introduces innovative techniques, including bunches back-rotation the use of Lorentzian distributions in the fitness function. The approach successfully achieves dispersion closure in a space charge dominated dogleg. Overall, this work contributes to the advancement of accelerator science, offering a powerful methodology for beamline design and optimization. The new techniques and methodologies introduced have the potential to enhance the performance and stability of particle accelerators in various applications.

We show that both the flux and the cutoff energy of protons accelerated by ultraintense lasers can be simultaneously increased when using targets consisting of thin layers of bundled nanochannels. Particle-in-cell simulations suggest that the propagation of an electromagnetic field in the subwavelength channels occurs via excitation of surface plasmon polaritons that travel in the channels down to the end of the target, sustaining continuous and efficient electron acceleration and boosting acceleration of protons via enhancement of the target normal sheath acceleration mechanism.

The interaction of ultraintense laser pulses with solids is largely affected by the plasma gradient at the vacuum-solid interface, which modifies the absorption and ultimately, controls the energy distribution function of heated electrons. A micrometer scale-length plasma has been predicted to yield a significant enhancement of the energy and weight of the fast electron population and to play a major role in laser-driven proton acceleration with thin foils. We report on recent experimental results on proton acceleration from laser interaction with foil targets at ultra-relativistic intensities. We show a threefold increase of the proton cut-off energy when a micrometer scale-length pre-plasma is introduced by irradiation with a low energy femtosecond pre-pulse. Our realistic numerical simulations agree with the observed gain of the proton cut-off energy and confirm the role of stochastic heating of fast electrons in the enhancement of the accelerating sheath field.

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a compound semiconductor, which is considered as a possible alternative to silicon for particles and photons detection. Its characteristics make it very promising for the next generation of nuclear and particle physics experiments at high beam luminosity. Silicon Carbide detectors for Intense Luminosity Investigations and Applications (SiCILIA) is a project starting as a collaboration between the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) and IMM-CNR, aiming at the realization of innovative detection systems based on SiC. In this paper, we discuss the main features of silicon carbide as a material and its potential application in the field of particles and photons detectors, the project structure and the strategies used for the prototype realization, and the first results concerning prototype production and their performance.

The reliability of Fricke gel dosimeters in form of layers for measurements aimed at the characterization of epithermal neutron beams has been studied. By means of dosimeters of different isotopic composition (standard, containing (10)B or prepared with heavy water) placed against the collimator exit, the spatial distribution of gamma and fast neutron doses and of thermal neutron fluence are attained. In order to investigate the accuracy of the results obtained with in-air measurements, suitable MC simulations have been developed and experimental measurements have been performed utilizing Fricke gel dosimeters, thermoluminescence detectors and activation foils. The studies were related to the epithermal beam designed for BNCT irradiations at the research reactor LVR-15 (Řež). The results of calculation and measurements have revealed good consistency of gamma dose and fast neutron 2D distributions obtained with gel dosimeters in form of layers. In contrast, noticeable modification of thermal neutron fluence is caused by the neutron moderation produced by the dosimeter material. Fricke gel dosimeters in thin cylinders, with diameter not greater than 3mm, have proved to give good results for thermal neutron profiling. For greater accuracy of all results, a better knowledge of the dependence of gel dosimeter sensitivity on radiation LET is needed., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A study of the response of EBT3 films to protons has been carried out with the aim of finding a simple modality to achieve dose images in which the effect of the film sensitivity dependence on radiation LET is amended. Light transmittance images (around 630 nm) were acquired by means of a CCD camera and the difference of optical density was assumed as dosimeter response. The calibration of EBT3 film was performed by means of protons of 173.61 MeV. Some EBT3 films were exposed, in a solid-water phantom, to proton beams of three different energies (89.17 MeV, 110.96 MeV and 130.57 MeV) and the obtained depth-dose profiles were compared with the calculated profiles. From the ratios of calculated and measured Bragg peaks, a trend of the decrease in EBT3 sensitivity with increasing peak depth has been deduced. A method for correcting the data measured with EBT3 films, utilizing the file of irradiation planning data, has been proposed and tested. The results confirm that the method can be advantageously applied for obtaining spatial distribution of the absorbed dose in proton therapy., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Suitable instrumentation for laser-accelerated proton (ion) beams is critical for development of integrated, laser-driven ion accelerator systems. Instrumentation aimed at beam diagnostics and control must be applied to the driving laser pulse, the laser-plasma that forms at the target and the emergent proton (ion) bunch in a correlated way to develop these novel accelerators. This report is a brief overview of established diagnostic techniques and new developments based on material presented at the first workshop on 'Instrumentation for Diagnostics and Control of Laser-accelerated Proton (Ion) Beams' in Abingdon, UK. It includes radiochromic film (RCF), image plates (IP), micro-channel plates (MCP), Thomson spectrometers, prompt inline scintillators, time and space-resolved interferometry (TASRI) and nuclear activation schemes. Repetition-rated instrumentation requirements for target metrology are also addressed., (Copyright © 2013 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)