A novel technique for quantitative non-destructive elemental analysis of materials in ambient atmosphere based on a compact laser-plasma proton accelerator

The implementation of Chirped Pulse Amplification technique (2018 Nobel price to Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland) has led to important and significant advancements in ultra-intense laser-matter interaction, enabling for example the efficient generation of high-order optical harmonics subsequently giving rise to the so-called attosecond science (2023 Nobel price to Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier).
At the Intense Laser Irradiation Laboratory of the Pisa section of the Istituto Nazionale di Ottica, ultra-intense laser-matter interaction is currently implemented to perform laser-plasma particle acceleration and to study its practical applications. Laser-plasma acceleration is in fact today recognized as a competitive methodology to achieve high-energy pulsed particle beams thanks mainly to its compactness, reduced ionizing radiation shielding requirements and very high peak flux.
In this context, we have conceived, implemented and validated an original External-Beam Laser-driven Particle-Induced X-ray Emission (EBL-PIXE) methodology for accurate quantitative non-destructive elemental analysis of specimens in ambient atmosphere using a compact 10 TW laser. The demonstration of EBL-PIXE will foster further use of laser-plasma accelerators not only for material science study but also for other applications like seeder for free-electron lasers and sources for flash-radiotherapy.
The novel EBL-PIXE technique has been developed within the grant “Laser-PIXE” (principal investigator Dr. Fernando Brandi) as part of the research program ARCO-CNR, co-funded by Regione Toscana (POR FSE 2014-2020) and VCS S.r.l. an Italian company specialized in the production of vacuum systems and components. The results have been published in the article “Quantitative elemental analysis of a specimen in air via external beam laser-driven particle-induced x-ray emission with a compact proton source” Phys. Rev. Applied 21, 064020, that can be found here.