2013/10/31 by B. M. Hegelich, D. Jung, Hegelich, B. M. +28 · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Medicine · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #High-pressure geophysics and materials #Laser-Plasma Interactions and Diagnostics #Plasma Physics (physics.plasm-ph) #Radiation Therapy and Dosimetry #physics.plasm-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1310.8650
17 pages, 4 figures
arxiv created 2013/10/31 · openalex publication_date 2013/10/31 · arxiv updated 2013/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Proton (and ion) cancer therapy has proven to be an extremely effective even supe-rior method of treatment for some tumors 1-4. A major problem, however, lies in the cost of the particle accelerator facilities; high procurement costs severely limit the availability of ion radiation therapy, with only ~26 centers worldwide. Moreover, high operating costs often prevent economic operation without state subsidies and have led to a shutdown of existing facilities 5,6. Laser-accelerated proton and ion beams have long been thought of as a way out of this dilemma, with the potential to provide the required ion beams at lower cost and smaller facility footprint 7-14. The biggest challenge has been the achievement of sufficient particle energy for therapy, in the 150-250 MeV range for protons 15,16. For the last decade, the maximum exper-imentally observed energy of laser-accelerated protons has remained at ~60 MeV 17. Here we the experimental demonstration of laser-accelerated protons to energies exceeding 150 MeV, reaching the therapy window. This was achieved through a dif-ferent acceleration regime rather than a larger laser, specifically a 150 TW laser with CH2 nano-targets in the relativistically transparent regime 18,19. We also demonstrate a clear scaling law with laser intensity based on analytical theory, computer simulations and experimental validation that will enable design of a pro-totype system spanning the full range of therapeutically desirable energies.