Spectral characterization of laser-accelerated protons with CR-39 nuclear track detector

CR-39 nuclear track material is frequently used for the detection of protons accelerated in laser-plasma interactions. The measurement of track densities allows for determination of particle angular distributions, and information on the kinetic energy can be obtained by the use of passive absorbers. We present a precise method of measuring spectral distributions of laser-accelerated protons in a single etching and analysis process. We make use of a one-to-one relation between proton energy and track size and present a precise calibration based on monoenergetic particle beams. While this relation is limited to proton energies below 1 MeV, we show that the range of spectral measurements can b…