MPRAD: A Monte Carlo and ray-tracing code for the proton radiography in high-energy-density plasma experiments

Yingchao Lu; Hui Li; Kirk A Flippo; Kwyntero Kelso; Andy Liao; Shengtai Li; Edison Liang

doi:10.1063/1.5123392

MPRAD: A Monte Carlo and ray-tracing code for the proton radiography in high-energy-density plasma experiments

Rev Sci Instrum. 2019 Dec 1;90(12):123503. doi: 10.1063/1.5123392.

Authors

Yingchao Lu¹, Hui Li¹, Kirk A Flippo¹, Kwyntero Kelso¹, Andy Liao¹, Shengtai Li¹, Edison Liang²

Affiliations

¹ Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
² Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.

PMID: 31893788
DOI: 10.1063/1.5123392

Abstract

Proton radiography is used in various high-energy-density (HED) plasma experiments. In this paper, we describe a Monte Carlo and ray-tracing simulation tool called multimegaelectronvolt proton radiography (MPRAD) that can be used for modeling the deflection of proton beams in arbitrary three dimensional electromagnetic fields as well as the diffusion of the proton beams by Coulomb scattering and stopping power. The Coulomb scattering and stopping power models in cold matter and fully ionized plasma are combined using interpolation. We discuss the application of MPRAD in a few setups relevant to HED plasma experiments where the plasma density can play a role in diffusing the proton beams and affecting the prediction and interpretation of the proton images. It is shown how the diffusion due to plasma density can affect the resolution and dynamical range of the proton radiography.