Laser ion source activities at Brookhaven National Laboratory

In Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), we have been developing laser ion sources for diverse accelerators. Tabletop Nd:YAG lasers with up to several Joules of energy are mainly used to create ablation plasmas for stable operations. The obtained charge states depend on laser power density and target species. Two types of ion extraction schemes, direct plasma injection scheme (DPIS) and conventional static extraction, are used depending on the application. We optimized and selected a suitable laser irradiation condition and a beam extraction scheme to meet the requirement of the following accelerator system. We have demonstrated to accelerate more than 5?×?10¹⁰ of C⁶⁺ ions using the DPIS. We successfully commissioned a low-charge ion beam provider to the user facilities in BNL. To achieve higher current, higher charge state and lower emittance, further studies will continue.