Since their discovery, laser accelerated ion beams have been the
subject of great interest. The ion beam peak power and beam emittance is
unmatched by any conventionally accelerated ion beam. Due to the unique
quality, a wealth of applications has been proposed, and the first
experiments confirmed their prospects. Laser ion acceleration is strongly
linked to the generation and transport of hot electrons by the interaction
of ultra-intense laser light with matter. Comparing ion acceleration
experiments at laser systems with different beam parameters and using
targets of varying thickness, material and temperature, some insight on
the underlying physics can be obtained. The paper will present
experimental results obtained at different laser systems, first beam
quality measurement on laser accelerated heavy ions, and ion beam source
size measurements at different laser parameters. Using structured targets,
we compare information obtained from micro patterned ion beams about the
accelerating electron sheath, and the influence of magnetic fields on the
electron transport inside conducting targets.