Laser-accelerated high-energy ions: state of-the-art and applications

The acceleration of high-energy ion beams (up to several tens of MeV per nucleon) following the interaction of short (t < 1ps) and intense (I lambda(2)> 10(18) W cm(-2) mu m(-2)) laser pulses with solid targets has been one of the most important results of recent laser-plasma research. The acceleration is driven by relativistic electrons, which acquire energy directly from the laser pulse and set up extremely large (similar to TV/m) space charge fields at the target interfaces. In view of a number of advantageous properties, laser-driven ion beams can be employed in a number of innovative applications in the scientific, technological and medical areas. Among these, their possible use in hadrontherapy, with potential reduction of facility costs, has been proposed recently. This paper will briefly review the current state-of-the-art in laser-driven proton/ion source development, and will discuss the progress needed in order to implement some of the above applications. Recent results relating to the optimization of beam energy, spectrum and collimation will be presented.