Laser Acceleration of Highly Energetic Carbon Ions Using a Double-Layer Target Composed of Slightly Underdense Plasma and Ultrathin Foil

Ma, Wu; Kim, I. Jong; Yu, Jinqing; Choi, Il Woo; Singh, Prashant Kumar; Lee, Hwang Woon; Sung, Jae Hee; Lee, Seong Ku; Lin, Chen; Liao, Qing; Zhu, Jinying; Lu, Haijiao; Liu, Bin; Wang, H. Y.; Xu, Rongjie; He, X. T.; Chen, J. E.; Zepf, M.; Schreiber, Jörg; Yan, Xiumin; Nam, Chang Hee

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.122.014803

Cited by 101 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Specifically, we consider the case of a 2 μm thick carbon foil target in contact with a 25 μm hydrogen gas layer such that when fully ionized it turns into a plasma of the order of the critical density. Our work extends previous simulation studies on double-layer targets, which have so far dealt with shorter and denser foam coatings as first layers (Nakamura et al 2010;Sgattoni et al 2012), or with ultrathin foils as second layers, thus giving rise to possibly different ion dynamics (Wang et al 2013;Bin et al 2018;Ma et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 68%

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Enhanced laser-driven proton acceleration with gas–foil targets

et al. 2020

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We study numerically the mechanisms of proton acceleration in gas–foil targets driven by an ultraintense femtosecond laser pulse. The target consists of a near-critical-density hydrogen gas layer of a few tens of microns attached to a $2\ \mathrm {\mu }$ m-thick solid carbon foil with a contaminant thin proton layer at its back side. Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that, at optimal gas density, the maximum energy of the contaminant protons is increased by a factor of $\sim$ 4 compared with a single foil target. This improvement originates from the near-complete laser absorption into relativistic electrons in the gas. Several energetic electron populations are identified, and their respective effect on the proton acceleration is quantified by computing the electrostatic fields that they generate at the protons’ positions. While each of those electron groups is found to contribute substantially to the overall accelerating field, the dominant one is the relativistic thermal bulk that results from the nonlinear wakefield excited in the gas, as analysed recently by Debayle et al. (New J. Phys., vol. 19, 2017, 123013). Our analysis also reveals the important role of the neighbouring ions in the acceleration of the fastest protons, and the onset of multidimensional effects caused by the time-increasing curvature of the proton layer.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 68%

“…Employing thinner nozzles and higher gas backing pressures, this experimental scheme has the potential of reaching the range of densities and lengths investigated in the present work. Alternatively, these target parameters could be achieved using carbon nanotube foam coatings, as recently demonstrated in Ma et al (2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhanced laser-driven proton acceleration with gas–foil targets

et al. 2020

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“…In some scenarios where the ion energy is a critical issue, the use of advanced ion acceleration strategies could even enable a particular application on a given laser system. Neutron conversion is emblematic of this last case, since it is crucial to reach at least the energy threshold for the nuclear reaction.Among the advanced ion acceleration schemes, the use of foils coated with a low-density, near-critical, nanostructured layer [41, 42] as a target for TNSA is emerging as a promising strategy [43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51]. Here, 'nearcritical' means having an electron density close to the critical one, n c =π m e c 2 /λ 2 e 2 (where m e is the electron mass, λ is the laser wavelength and e is the elementary charge).…”

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confidence: 99%

Enhanced laser-driven hadron sources with nanostructured double-layer targets

et al. 2020

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Laser-driven ion sources are approaching the requirements for several applications in materials and nuclear science. Relying on compact, table-top, femtosecond laser systems is pivotal to enable most of these applications. However, the moderate intensity of these systems (I10 19 W cm −2 ) could lead to insufficient energy and total charge of the accelerated ions. The use of solid foils coated with a nanostructured near-critical layer is emerging as a promising targeted solution to enhance the energy and the total charge of the accelerated ions. For an appropriate theoretical understanding of this acceleration scheme, a realistic description of the nanostructure is essential, also to precisely assess its role in the physical processes at play. Here, by means of 3D particle-in-cell simulations, we investigate ion acceleration in this scenario, assessing the role of different realistic nanostructure morphologies, such as fractal-like foams and nanowire forests. With respect to a simple flat foil, the presence of a nanostructure allows for up to a×3 increase of the maximum ion energy and for a significant increase of the conversion efficiency of laser energy into ion kinetic energy. Simulations show also that the details of the nanostructure morphology affect both the maximum energy of the ions and their angular distribution. Furthermore, combined 3D particle-in-cell and Monte Carlo simulations show that if accelerated ions are used for neutron generation with a beryllium converter, double-layer nanostructured targets allow to greatly enhance the neutron yield. These results suggest that nanostructured double-layer targets could be an essential component to enable applications of hadron sources driven by compact, table-top lasers. feasibility of laser-driven ion beam analysis for non-destructive materials characterization. Laser-driven ion sources have been considered to test electronic components in a harsh radiation environment [18], for thermal stress testing [19], to study ultra-fast dynamics in irradiated materials [20,21], and for materials synthesis [22,23]. Ultrashort pulsed neutron sources driven by laser-accelerated ions [24-32] have been investigated for applications such as fast neutron spectroscopy [33] and radiography [34].What make these applications particularly attractive are the requirements for the ion source. Energies of few MeVs are perfectly suitable for several ion beam analysis techniques [35] or to generate neutrons with a lithium [36] or beryllium [37] converter. Moreover, for selected applications, the inherently broad energy spectrum of a laser-driven ion source [2] is not detrimental [15,17] and could even be beneficial [18]. Maximum ion energies of ∼1 MeV have been recently demonstrated even with commercial, sub-terawatt laser systems [38]. These lasersystems are truly table-top and can operate at a high repetition rate (kiloHertz). Relying on these systems could make laser-driven ion sources portable and competitive with conventional accelerators, paving the way for their widesprea...

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“…Near the source, such bunches can be ~10 10 times denser than classically accelerated ion bunches. 29 This technical feature is of great importance not only in high energy density physics studies, but also in magnetic fusion plasma studies by enabling poloidal magnetic and electric eld measurement in 2D pro les. 30 An implication of creating a large V d in a proton and modest-Z ion plasma of ~10 2 keV in temperature would be a rst laboratory experiment on the aneutronic CNO fusion chain 1-2 reaction rates.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toroidal plasma conditions where the p-11B fusion Lawson criterion could be eased

Peng¹,

Shi²,

Wang³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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We examine the theoretical conditions in which the Lawson ignition criterion for p-11B fusion in a magnetized toroidal plasma can be reduced substantially. It is determined that a velocity differential between the protons and the boron ions of the order of the plasma sound speed (Mach number of 1 or 2 at a plasma temperature of ~102 keV) could raise the p-11B fusion reaction rate to ~2x10-22 m3/s or ~6x10-22 m^3/s, respectively, from the ~1x10-22 m3/s level in a static plasma. The Lawson triple product (ni τE Ti) required for ignition can thereby be reduced to as low as ~1023 m-3 s keV, which is one order of magnitude above the ITER requirement for D-T burn. Since order-unity Mach numbers in velocity differentials between deuterons and impurity carbon ions have been maintained in tokamak plasmas under excellent confinement conditions, similar levels of velocity differentials between protons and minority boron-11 ions could in principle be maintained also. A theoretical possibility of achieving p-11B fusion ignition in a toroidal plasma of ~102 keV in ion temperature is hereby presented. Similar p-13C plasmas, for example, will introduce a possibility of measuring the CNO fusion chain reaction rates in a laboratory.

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Laser Acceleration of Highly Energetic Carbon Ions Using a Double-Layer Target Composed of Slightly Underdense Plasma and Ultrathin Foil

Cited by 101 publications

References 44 publications

Enhanced laser-driven proton acceleration with gas–foil targets

Enhanced laser-driven proton acceleration with gas–foil targets

Enhanced laser-driven hadron sources with nanostructured double-layer targets

Toroidal plasma conditions where the p-11B fusion Lawson criterion could be eased

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