Measurement of ion acceleration and diffusion in a laser-driven magnetized plasma

J. T. Y. Chu; J. W. D. Halliday; C. Heaton; K. Moczulski; A. Blazevic; D. Schumacher; M. Metternich; H. Nazary; C. D. Arrowsmith; A. R. Bell; K. A. Beyer; A. F. A. Bott; T. Campbell; E. Hansen; D. Q. Lamb; F. Miniati; P. Neumayer; C. A. J. Palmer; B. Reville; A. Reyes; S. Sarkar; A. Scopatz; C. Spindloe; C. B. Stuart; H. Wen; P. Tzeferacos; R. Bingham; G. Gregori

doi:10.1038/s41467-026-70113-y

Measurement of ion acceleration and diffusion in a laser-driven magnetized plasma

J. T. Y. Chu^*
, J. W. D. Halliday
, C. Heaton
, K. Moczulski
, A. Blazevic
, D. Schumacher
, M. Metternich
, H. Nazary
, C. D. Arrowsmith
, A. R. Bell
, K. A. Beyer
, A. F. A. Bott
, T. Campbell
, E. Hansen
, D. Q. Lamb
, F. Miniati
, P. Neumayer
, C. A. J. Palmer
, B. Reville
, A. Reyes

S. Sarkar, A. Scopatz, C. Spindloe, C. B. Stuart, H. Wen, P. Tzeferacos, R. Bingham, G. Gregori

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Here we present results from an experiment performed at the GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research. A mono-energetic beam of chromium ions with initial energies of ~ 450 MeV was fired through a magnetized interaction region formed by the collision of two counter-propagating laser-ablated plasma jets. While laser interferometry revealed the absence of strong fluid-scale turbulence, acceleration and diffusion of the beam ions was driven by wave-particle interactions. A possible mechanism is particle acceleration by electrostatic, short scale length kinetic turbulence, such as the lower-hybrid drift instability.

Original language	English
Article number	3354
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	17
Issue number	1
Early online date	2 Mar 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-70113-y
Publication status	Published - 9 Apr 2026

Funding

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement no. 871124 Laserlab Europe, the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Frontier Research Guarantee under Grant No. EP/Y035038/1 (JETLAB), and by the Central Laser Facility Vulcan dark period community support program 24-1. The results presented here are based on the experiment P-22-00089, which was performed at the target station Z6 at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum fuer Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt (Germany) in the frame of FAIR Phase-0.

Keywords

laboratory astrophysics
laser-produced plasmas

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10.1038/s41467-026-70113-yLicence: CC BY 4.0

Chu-etal-NC-2026-Measurement-of-ion-acceleration-and-diffusion-in-a-laser-driven-magnetized-plasmaFinal published version, 1.24 MBLicence: CC BY 4.0

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Chu, J. T. Y., Halliday, J. W. D., Heaton, C., Moczulski, K., Blazevic, A., Schumacher, D., Metternich, M., Nazary, H., Arrowsmith, C. D., Bell, A. R., Beyer, K. A., Bott, A. F. A., Campbell, T., Hansen, E., Lamb, D. Q., Miniati, F., Neumayer, P., Palmer, C. A. J., Reville, B., ... Gregori, G. (2026). Measurement of ion acceleration and diffusion in a laser-driven magnetized plasma. Nature Communications, 17(1), Article 3354. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-70113-y

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abstract = "Here we present results from an experiment performed at the GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research. A mono-energetic beam of chromium ions with initial energies of \textasciitilde{} 450 MeV was fired through a magnetized interaction region formed by the collision of two counter-propagating laser-ablated plasma jets. While laser interferometry revealed the absence of strong fluid-scale turbulence, acceleration and diffusion of the beam ions was driven by wave-particle interactions. A possible mechanism is particle acceleration by electrostatic, short scale length kinetic turbulence, such as the lower-hybrid drift instability.",

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Chu, JTY, Halliday, JWD, Heaton, C, Moczulski, K, Blazevic, A, Schumacher, D, Metternich, M, Nazary, H, Arrowsmith, CD, Bell, AR, Beyer, KA, Bott, AFA, Campbell, T, Hansen, E, Lamb, DQ, Miniati, F, Neumayer, P, Palmer, CAJ, Reville, B, Reyes, A, Sarkar, S, Scopatz, A, Spindloe, C, Stuart, CB, Wen, H, Tzeferacos, P, Bingham, R & Gregori, G 2026, 'Measurement of ion acceleration and diffusion in a laser-driven magnetized plasma', Nature Communications, vol. 17, no. 1, 3354. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-70113-y

TY - JOUR

T1 - Measurement of ion acceleration and diffusion in a laser-driven magnetized plasma

AU - Chu, J. T. Y.

AU - Halliday, J. W. D.

AU - Heaton, C.

AU - Moczulski, K.

AU - Blazevic, A.

AU - Schumacher, D.

AU - Metternich, M.

AU - Nazary, H.

AU - Arrowsmith, C. D.

AU - Bell, A. R.

AU - Beyer, K. A.

AU - Bott, A. F. A.

AU - Campbell, T.

AU - Hansen, E.

AU - Lamb, D. Q.

AU - Miniati, F.

AU - Neumayer, P.

AU - Palmer, C. A. J.

AU - Reville, B.

AU - Reyes, A.

AU - Sarkar, S.

AU - Scopatz, A.

AU - Spindloe, C.

AU - Stuart, C. B.

AU - Wen, H.

AU - Tzeferacos, P.

AU - Bingham, R.

AU - Gregori, G.

PY - 2026/4/9

Y1 - 2026/4/9

N2 - Here we present results from an experiment performed at the GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research. A mono-energetic beam of chromium ions with initial energies of ~ 450 MeV was fired through a magnetized interaction region formed by the collision of two counter-propagating laser-ablated plasma jets. While laser interferometry revealed the absence of strong fluid-scale turbulence, acceleration and diffusion of the beam ions was driven by wave-particle interactions. A possible mechanism is particle acceleration by electrostatic, short scale length kinetic turbulence, such as the lower-hybrid drift instability.

AB - Here we present results from an experiment performed at the GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research. A mono-energetic beam of chromium ions with initial energies of ~ 450 MeV was fired through a magnetized interaction region formed by the collision of two counter-propagating laser-ablated plasma jets. While laser interferometry revealed the absence of strong fluid-scale turbulence, acceleration and diffusion of the beam ions was driven by wave-particle interactions. A possible mechanism is particle acceleration by electrostatic, short scale length kinetic turbulence, such as the lower-hybrid drift instability.

KW - laboratory astrophysics

KW - laser-produced plasmas

UR - https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30024130

U2 - 10.1038/s41467-026-70113-y

DO - 10.1038/s41467-026-70113-y

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C2 - 41771938

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 17

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

IS - 1

M1 - 3354

ER -

Measurement of ion acceleration and diffusion in a laser-driven magnetized plasma

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