Inviter: 李玉同 研究员（Tel：82648014）

Host: 中国科学院光物理重点实验室

Abstract:

Laser-plasma accelerators (LPAs) provide ultrashort, high-current particle beams with unique potential for applications. At HZDR, their development follows a challenge-driven co-design approach in which accelerator physics, computational science, diagnostics and applications continuously shape and advance one another.

Radiation-based cancer research has been a key driver of this development. The demanding requirements of preclinical irradiation and FLASH research on beam control, dosimetry, stability and reproducibility have pushed laser-driven proton acceleration from fundamental plasma physics towards application-ready performance, culminating in the first tumour irradiation in mice with laser-accelerated protons [1]. The presentation will highlight this interplay between accelerator physics, medical physics and radiobiology, and discuss current opportunities for exploiting the unique temporal characteristics of LPA beams in radiation research.

Complementary milestones, including the first externally seeded free-electron laser driven by laser-plasma-accelerated electrons [2], demonstrate the broader potential of this co-development philosophy. More recently, fast-neutron spectroscopy using a petawatt-laser-driven neutron source [3] has shown how the resulting capabilities can be opened to new scientific communities and their specific requirements.

The talk will conclude with the research and innovation platform that has emerged from this development, providing a versatile basis for future scientific and industrial collaborations and positioning us well to explore where our expertise can contribute to the emerging field of laser-driven fusion.

References:

[1] F. Kroll et al., Nat. Phys. 18, 316 (2022).
[2] M. Labat et al., Nat. Photon. 17, 150 (2023).
[3] M. A. Millán-Callado et al., Nat. Commun. 17 (2026).

About the speaker:

Dr. Karl Zeil is a physicist and research group leader at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), specializing in laser-driven ion acceleration. He received his Ph.D. from TU Dresden in 2013, conducting his doctoral research at HZDR on efficient laser-driven proton acceleration in the ultra-short pulse regime. Following his Ph.D., he continued at HZDR as a postdoctoral researcher and subsequently led the HZDR Junior Research Group on Laser Ion Acceleration from 2015 to 2020. Since 2020, he has served as an HZDR Research Fellow and Group Leader for Laser Ion Acceleration. His research focuses on the development and application of high-intensity laser-driven ion sources.