Polarimetry for 3He Ion Beams from Laser–Plasma Interactions

Abstract

We present a compact polarimeter for 3He ions with special emphasis on the analysis of short-pulsed beams accelerated during laser–plasma interactions. We discuss the specific boundary conditions for the polarimeter, such as the properties of laser-driven ion beams, the selection of the polarization-sensitive reaction in the polarimeter, the representation of the analyzing-power contour map, the choice of the detector material used for particle identification, as well as the production procedure of the required deuterated foil-targets. The assembled polarimeter has been tested using a tandem accelerator delivering unpolarized 3He ion beams, demonstrating good performance in the few-MeV range. The statistical accuracy and the deduced figure-of-merit of the polarimetry are discussed, including the count-rate requirement and the lower limit of accuracy for beam-polarization measurements at a laser-based ion source.