# A New Line for Laser-Driven Light Ions Acceleration and Related TNSA Studies
## 7 Conclusions  
In summary, we described the L3 IA project dedicated to the establishment of a new laser-driven light ions acceleration line based on the physical mechanism known as Target Normal Sheath Acceleration. The project takes advantage of the ongoing ILIL-PW upgrades at the Intense Laser Irradiation Laboratory, providing a sub-PW class laser combined with a new interaction area. The L3 IA initiative was developed after major research and development advances in laser-driven ion acceleration in the TNSA regime, carried out during the past few years and dedicated to the establishment of the key scientific and technological aspects required for a reliable operation of the acceleration line. In particular, significant effort has been dedicated to the control of the underlying physical processes that play a role in the complex dynamics of TNSA: non-linear optical scattering occurring at the plasma interface as a quantitative marker of plasma formation; optical transition radiation imaging and fast electron energy measurements as a critical indicator of laser focusing quality; and finally, direct measurement of the ions cut-off energy. Pilot exploration of basic target parameters such as target material and thickness shows results well in line with expected values from  
Figure 6: (**a**) Raw signal of the diamond Time of Flight (TOF) detector showing the ion signal from the irradiation of a 5 \(\upmu\)m thick Mylar target corresponding to ions between 1.9 MeV and 0.8 MeV. T = 0 is arbitrary in this plot. The strong emission at T = \(-10\) ns is the signal due to fast electrons. (**b**) Same measurement as (**a**), but with magnetic shielding in front of the diamond detector. The blue arrow indicate the onset of the ion signal corresponding to the cut-off energy.  
dedicated numerical simulations and published results in this regime. All these aspects provide a quite complete characterization of the laser-target interaction regime in our experimental conditions and a reference set of ion acceleration data for the upcoming upgrade of the laser installation that is expected to soon provide a >20-fold increase in the laser power.  
We acknowledge financial contribution from the CNR ELI-Italy Network funded by the MIUR for the upgrade of the ILIL-PW installation. The L3 IA is a project of the INFN CSN5. This work is also partially supported by the MIUR-PRIN 2012 (Contract No. PRIN2012 AY5 LEL).  
[PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON] and [PERSON] conceived, designed and realized the experimental setup. [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON] and [PERSON] performed the experiments and the data acquisition and participated to the data analysis; [PERSON] and [PERSON] were in charge of laser control; all authors contributed to the interpretation of the data; [PERSON] wrote the paper.  
The authors declare no conflict of interest. The founding bodies had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, and in the decision to publish the results.