A bremsstrahlung source term has been developed by the Radiation Protection (RP) group at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory for high-intensity short-pulse laser-solid experiments between 1017 and 1022 W cm-2. This source term couples the particle-in-cell plasma code EPOCH and the radiation transport code FLUKA to estimate the bremsstrahlung dose yield from laser-solid interactions. EPOCH characterizes the energy distribution, angular distribution, and laser-to-electron conversion efficiency of the hot electrons from laser-solid interactions, and FLUKA utilizes this hot electron source term to calculate a bremsstrahlung dose yield (mSv per J of laser energy on target). The goal of this paper is to provide RP guidelines and hazard analysis for high-intensity laser facilities. A comparison of the calculated bremsstrahlung dose yields to radiation measurement data is also made.
Published by Oxford University Press 2016. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.