The 14th Global Conference on Materials Science and Engineering
(CMSE 2025)

Abstract: Nanostructured materials evolved to a wider range of applications with the present progres of nanoscience and nanotechnologies, from medical to industrial, and from sensing to laser particle acceleration. While surface to volume ratio is getting larger, nanostructure dominant properties tends to be the morphology and surface related characteristics. Thus, we could talk about adsorption, catalytic processes and surface morphology related applications. A new cutting edge morphology related application of such nanostructured surfaces is particle acceleration by laser interaction with nanostructured materials. In recent years, High-Power lasers acceleration, particularly from thin metalic targets, become a competitor of clasic particle accelerators, and nanostructured targets have already proved their role in improving electron extraction efficiency by laser beams. However, if nanoporous materials, easier (and cheaper) to be produced, have already been started to show their process enhancement potential, crystaline matrials and aligned nanostructure areas are still on their beginning. Starting from oxide single-crystal nanowire layers previously used in different other applications (e.g. sensors, solar cells) and crystaline substrates, we explore here the possibility of using such ‘targets’ in laser particles acceleration. Preliminary simulations data on electron transport through such surfaces are compared with experimental data obtained from an electron beam of a classic accelerator, for a better understanding of laser acceleration elementary processes from such targets. Some preliminary laser acceleration tests were also performed and some results are presented and discussed here, with a particular focus on the laser extracted charge and generated electromagnetic fields, in corelation with the target properties.

Keywords: ZnO nanowires, nanostructured targets, laser acceleration, electron beam

Acknowledgements: We acknowledge funds from Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitization / Institute of Atomic Physics from the National Research-Development and Innovation Plan III, through ELI-RO 30/2024 project and support of National Interest Infrastructure facility IOSIN—CETAL at INFLPR.

Biography: Dr. Eng. Habil. Aurelian Marcu, received his PhD in 2002 with a work on ‘Special Laser Deposition Techniques’ in University ‘Politehnica’ Bucharest - Romania, with further research within Postdoc positions in Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research – Osaka University – Japan and National Institute for Laser Plasma and Radiation Physics from Magurele – Romania on the ‘Oxide Nanostructure Fabrication by Laser Techniques’ and ‘Nanostructure Applications in Drug Delivery’. His Habilitation Theses in 2023 was focused on “Laser-matter interactions in nano-science and nano-scale applications”. He authored one book on “Pulsed Laser Ablation of Solids’ in Springer, as well as few laser-matter applications book chapters, has over 60 indexed research articles and coordinated several research national projects on the above related topics. He is member of different international associations on materials science and chemistry and from 2023 is the head of ‘Laser Plasma Radiation – Science and Technology’ professional association.