Experimental test of TOF diagnostics for PW class lasers

New particle acceleration regimes driven by PW class lasers imply the development of new in-situ diagnostics. Before constructing new types of detectors one must test currently available diagnostics in these new regimes of high intensity laser-matter interaction. Experimental tests on two types of time of flight detectors are presented, demonstrating the possibility of their measuring capabilities in harsh conditions, namely the strong laser induced electromagnetic pulse. A recently developed silicon carbide detector was successfully tested and particle beams were characterized. Further tests were performed on a detector based on secondary emission of electrons during the transition of laser accelerated particle beams. The presented results show a clear consistency and sufficient capabilities for high intensity laser driven particle beam detection. © (2013) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.