Quasimonoenergetic Proton Bunch Generation by Dual-Peaked Electrostatic-Field Acceleration in Foils Irradiated by an Intense Linearly Polarized Laser

Abstract

It is found that stable proton acceleration from a thin foil irradiated by a linearly polarized ultraintense laser can be realized for appropriate foil thickness and laser intensity. A dual-peaked electrostatic field, originating from the oscillating and nonoscillating components of the laser ponderomotive force, is formed around the foil surfaces. This field combines radiation-pressure acceleration and target normal sheath acceleration to produce a single quasimonoenergetic ion bunch. A criterion for this mechanism to be operative is obtained and verified by two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation. At a laser intensity of ∼5.5×10(22) W/cm(2), quasimonoenergetic GeV proton bunches are obtained with ∼100 MeV energy spread, less than 4° spatial divergence, and ∼50% energy conversion efficiency from the laser.

Collimation of Energetic Electrons from a Laser-Target Interaction by a Magnetized Target Back Plasma Preformed by a Long-Pulse Laser

“…To further clarify the collimation effect of the BMF as observed in our experiments, we have carried out 2D simulations of the process using the particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation code PDLPICC2D [7]. A 3.425 × 10…”

“…Energetic electron (EE) bunches are useful for fast ignition in inertial fusion [1][2][3][4], realization of high energy density states [5], compact particle accelerators [7] and novel radiation sources [8], as well as in medical therapy [6]. Fast ignition, for example, demands electron energy deposition at the kilojoule level inside the fuel pellet core [1].…”

Transition of Proton Energy Scaling Using an Ultrathin Target Irradiated by Linearly Polarized Femtosecond Laser Pulses

“…But, recent observation for a narrow-band feature in the proton/ion energy spectrum was reported from an experiment using sub-picosecond (700fs), CP and linearly polarized (LP), laser pulses with a maximum intensity of 3×10 20 W/cm 2 [18]. Alternative RPA schemes such as the hybrid RPA-TNSA [19,20] and leaky light-sail RPA [21] have been proposed for stable generation of high energy mono-energetic proton/ion beams even at lower intensities (10 20 -10 21 W/cm 2 ) and/or with linear polarization.…”

Tunable Radiation Source by Coupling Laser-Plasma-Generated Electrons to a Periodic Structure

“…The weak emission can be attributed to other mechanisms such as transition [11] and blackbody [12] radiation at low efficiencies. To further verify the radiation mechanism, 2D particlein-cell (PIC) simulations are carried out using the PDLPICC2D code [13]. In the simulations, the wedge target is assumed to be a fully ionized plasma of initial density n ¼ 100n c , where n c is the critical density.…”