Assessment of the reliability of Deconvolution Procedures for RCF Spectroscopy of Laser-Driven Ion Beams

TL;DR

This paper evaluates a deconvolution algorithm based on Monte Carlo simulations for accurately reconstructing the energy spectra of laser-driven ion beams using radiochromic film stacks, addressing the challenge of large energy spreads.

Contribution

It introduces a novel deconvolution procedure validated through Geant4 Monte Carlo simulations for precise spectral reconstruction of laser-driven ion beams.

Findings

The deconvolution algorithm accurately retrieves known energy spectra from simulated RCF stacks.

Monte Carlo validation demonstrates the method's potential for real experimental data.

The approach improves the characterization of laser-driven ion beams with broad energy distributions.

Abstract

Laser-driven ion beams are defined by a number of unique features, including a large spread in energy. A stack configuration of radiochromic film (RCF) can be utilized to characterize such beams through measurements of their energy spectra. A spectroscopic procedure is reported that allows the proton energy density within each active layer of a radiochromic film (RCF) stack to be retrieved. This is based upon on a deconvolution algorithm developed through Geant4 Monte Carlo simulations to correct the contributions of energy depositions within a given film layer. Through Monte Carlo calculations, the spectrum retrieved from a simulated film stack can be retrieved and compared with a known energy spectrum, providing an examination of the efficacy of this tool. Application of the developed deconvolution procedure thus offers the potential to correctly reconstruct the incident energy spectrum of a laser-driven proton and ion beam from a stack of irradiated RCF.