Numerical and Experimental Study of High-Pressure Gas-Jet Targets for Ion Acceleration in the Near-Critical Density Regime

Ion acceleration in the near-critical density regime is a captivating research area in high-energy physics and plasma physics. High-pressure gas jets have gained popularity as targets for ion acceleration experiments, due to their potential to offer debris-free ion sources that support high repetition rates. The purpose of this research is the design and fabrication of such gas targets for future ion acceleration experiments in the near-critical density regime. The optimization of two nozzle geometries has been studied using the ANSYS Student simulation program. The Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) problem is efficiently solved, and the determination of their cubic particle density maps is achieved. In addition, these nozzle geometries were fabricated using 3D printing and characterized in a vacuum environment, using Mach-Zehnder interferometry. These results make a significant contribution to the production of high-pressure gas targets for ion acceleration experiments and offer valuable insights for the design of future experiments.