Efficient ion acceleration by collective laser-driven electron dynamics with ultra-thin foil targets

AbstractExperiments on ion acceleration by irradiation of ultra-thin diamond-like carbon (DLC) foils, with thicknesses well below the skin depth, irradiated with laser pulses of ultra-high contrast and linear polarization, are presented. A maximum energy of 13 MeV for protons and 71 MeV for carbon ions is observed with a conversion efficiency of ~10%. Two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations reveal that the increase in ion energies can be attributed to a dominantly collective rather than thermal motion of the foil electrons, when the target becomes transparent for the incident laser pulse.

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Simulations of carbon ion acceleration by 10 PW laser pulses on ELI-NP

Laser and Particle Beams ◽

10.1017/s0263034619000648 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 37 (4) ◽

pp. 346-353

Author(s):

D. Sangwan ◽

O. Culfa ◽

C.P. Ridgers ◽

S. Aogaki ◽

D. Stutman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Laser Pulses ◽

Target Thickness ◽

Ion Acceleration ◽

Carbon Ions ◽

Carbon Target ◽

Carbon Ion ◽

Particle In Cell ◽

Energy Cutoff ◽

Optimal Target ◽

The Ideal

AbstractWe present results of 2D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of carbon ion acceleration by 10 petawatt (PW) laser pulses, studying both circular polarized (CP) and linear polarized (LP) pulses. We carry out a thickness scanning of a solid carbon target to investigate the ideal thickness for carbon ion acceleration mechanisms using a 10 PW laser with an irradiance of 5 × 1022 W cm−2. The energy spectra of carbon ions and electrons and their temperature are studied. Additionally, for the carbon ions, their angular divergence is studied. It is shown that the ideal thickness for the carbon acceleration is 120 nm and the cutoff energy for carbon ions is 5 and 3 GeV for CP and LP pulses, respectively. The corresponding carbon ions temperature is ~1 and ~0.75 GeV. On the other hand, the energy cutoff for the electrons is ~500 MeV with LP and ~400 MeV with CP laser pulses. We report that the breakout afterburner mechanism is most likely causing the acceleration of carbon ions to such high energies for the optimal target thickness.

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Optimization of laser acceleration of protons from mixed structure nanotarget

Laser and Particle Beams ◽

10.1017/s0263034615000129 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 33 (2) ◽

pp. 339-346 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Saeed Mirzanejhad ◽

Farshad Sohbatzadeh ◽

Atefeh Joulaei ◽

Javad Babaei ◽

Khadijeh Shahabei

Keyword(s):

Laser Pulses ◽

Analytical Models ◽

Ion Acceleration ◽

Carbon Ions ◽

Simulation Code ◽

Particle In Cell ◽

Target Composition ◽

Cell Simulation ◽

Fs Laser ◽

20 Nm

AbstractIn this study, ion acceleration from thin planar diamond-like carbon (DLC) and polystyrene (PS) foils irradiated by ultraintense (a0 = 200) and ultrashort (15 fs) laser pulses is investigated numerically. The effects of target composition and thickness on the acceleration of protons and carbon ions are reported by 1D3V particle-in-cell simulation code and compared with the analytical models of ion acceleration. In the analytical formalism, the acceleration criterion of ions with different charge-to-mass ratio (q/m) is obtained. This criterion is related to the potential difference through the electrostatic shock distortion and its velocity. According to this result, charged particles with large q/m ratio have a good chance to accelerate in front of the electrostatic shock field. It is shown that mono-energetic proton bunch with energies >1.5 GeV is produced by 20 nm DLC foil supported by 10 nm hydrogen layer. Finally nanometer PS foil is examined and 2.33 Gev protons with ~1.5% energy spread are obtained for 50 nm thickness.

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Effect of temporally modified ultra-short laser pulses on ion acceleration from thin foil targets

Physics of Plasmas ◽

10.1063/1.5037260 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 25 (8) ◽

pp. 083113 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

M. Tayyab ◽

S. Bagchi ◽

J. A. Chakera ◽

R. A. Khan ◽

P. A. Naik

Keyword(s):

Thin Foil ◽

Laser Pulses ◽

Ion Acceleration ◽

Short Laser Pulses

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Towards ultra-intense ultra-short ion beams driven by a multi-PW laser

Laser and Particle Beams ◽

10.1017/s0263034619000533 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 37 (03) ◽

pp. 288-300 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

J. Badziak ◽

J. Domański

Keyword(s):

Nuclear Physics ◽

Inertial Confinement Fusion ◽

Copper Ions ◽

Laser Pulses ◽

High Energy ◽

Ion Beams ◽

High Energy Density ◽

Inertial Confinement ◽

Carbon Ions ◽

Particle In Cell

AbstractThe multi-petawatt (PW) lasers currently being built in Europe as part of the Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) project will be capable of generating femtosecond light pulses of ultra-relativistic intensities (~1023–1024 W/cm2) that have been unattainable so far. Such laser pulses can be used for the production of high-energy ion beams with unique features that could be applied in various fields of scientific and technological research. In this paper, the prospect of producing ultra-intense (intensity ≥1020 W/cm2) ultra-short (pico- or femtosecond) high-energy ion beams using multi-PW lasers is outlined. The results of numerical studies on the acceleration of light (carbon) ions, medium-heavy (copper) ions and super-heavy (lead) ions driven by a femtosecond laser pulse of ultra-relativistic intensity, performed with the use of a multi-dimensional (2D3 V) particle-in-cell code, are presented, and the ion acceleration mechanisms and properties of the generated ion beams are discussed. It is shown that both in the case of light ions and in the case of medium-heavy and super-heavy ions, ultra-intense femtosecond multi-GeV ion beams with a beam intensity much higher (by a factor ~102) and ion pulse durations much shorter (by a factor ~104–105) than achievable presently in conventional radio frequency-driven accelerators can be produced at laser intensities of 1023 W/cm2 predicted for the ELI lasers. Such ion beams can open the door to new areas of research in high-energy density physics, nuclear physics and inertial confinement fusion.

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Effects of front surface plasma expansion on proton acceleration in ultraintense laser irradiation of foil targets

Laser and Particle Beams ◽

10.1017/s0263034608000657 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 26 (4) ◽

pp. 591-596 ◽

Cited By ~ 78

Author(s):

P. McKenna ◽

D.C. Carroll ◽

O. Lundh ◽

F. Nürnberg ◽

K. Markey ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Laser Pulse ◽

Laser Irradiation ◽

Proton Energy ◽

Front Surface ◽

Picosecond Laser ◽

Thin Foil ◽

Energy Conversion Efficiency ◽

High Energy ◽

Maximum Energy ◽

Incident Laser Pulse

AbstractThe properties of beams of high energy protons accelerated during ultraintense, picosecond laser-irradiation of thin foil targets are investigated as a function of preplasma expansion at the target front surface. Significant enhancement in the maximum proton energy and laser-to-proton energy conversion efficiency is observed at optimum preplasma density gradients, due to self-focusing of the incident laser pulse. For very long preplasma expansion, the propagating laser pulse is observed to filament, resulting in highly uniform proton beams, but with reduced flux and maximum energy.

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Comparison of femtosecond laser-driven proton acceleration using nanometer and micrometer thick target foils

Laser and Particle Beams ◽

10.1017/s0263034611000553 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 29 (4) ◽

pp. 437-446 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

M. Schnürer ◽

A.A. Andreev ◽

S. Steinke ◽

T. Sokollik ◽

T. Paasch-Colberg ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Laser Pulses ◽

Record Values ◽

Linear Increase ◽

Thick Target ◽

Intense Laser ◽

Ion Acceleration ◽

Target Area ◽

Target Foil ◽

Thin Foils ◽

Ion Energies

AbstractAdvancement of ion acceleration by intense laser pulses is studied with ultra-thin nanometer-thick diamond like carbon and micrometer-thick Titanium target foils. Both investigations aim at optimizing the electron density distribution which is the key for efficient laser driven ion acceleration. While recently found maximum ion energies achieved with ultra-thin foils mark record values micrometer thick foils are flexible in terms of atomic constituents. Electron recirculation is one prerequisite for the validity of a very simple model that can approximate the dependence of ion energies of nanometer-thick targets when all electrons of the irradiated target area interact coherently with the laser pulse and Coherent Acceleration of Ions by Laser pulses (CAIL) becomes dominant. Complementary experiments, an analytical model and particle in cell computer simulations show, that with regard to ultra-short laser pulses (duration ~45 fs at intensities up to 5 × 1019 W/cm2) and a micrometer-thick target foil with higher atomic number a close to linear increase of ion energies manifests in a certain range of laser intensities.

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Towards Sub-TeV electron beams driven by ultra-short, ultra-intense laser pulses

Journal of Plasma Physics ◽

10.1017/s002237781200044x ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 78 (4) ◽

pp. 461-468 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

WEI-MIN WANG ◽

ZHENG-MING SHENG ◽

SHIGEO KAWATA ◽

CHUN-YANG ZHENG ◽

YU-TONG LI ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Laser Intensity ◽

Electron Beams ◽

Energetic Electron ◽

Thin Foil ◽

Laser Pulses ◽

Intense Laser ◽

Particle In Cell ◽

Intense Laser Pulses ◽

Laser Focus ◽

Foil Target

AbstractEnergetic electron beam generation from a thin foil target by the ponderomotive force of an ultra-intense circularly polarized laser pulse is investigated. Two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations show that laser pulses with intensity of 1022–1023 Wcm−2 generate about 1–10 GeV electron beams, in agreement with the prediction of one-dimensional theory. When the laser intensity is at 1024–1025 Wcm−2, the beam energy obtained from PIC simulations is lower than the values predicted by the theory. The radiation damping effect is considered, which is found to become important for the laser intensity higher than 1025 Wcm−2. The effect of laser focus positions is also discussed.

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Improvement of proton beam quality by an optimized dragging field generated by the ultraintense laser interactions with a complex double-layer target

Laser and Particle Beams ◽

10.1017/s0263034616000471 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 34 (3) ◽

pp. 562-566 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

F. J. Wu ◽

L. Q. Shan ◽

W. M. Zhou ◽

T. Duan ◽

Y. L. Ji ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Proton Beam ◽

Double Layer ◽

Beam Quality ◽

Average Energy ◽

Thin Foil ◽

Pure Hydrogen ◽

Carbon Ions ◽

One Dimensional ◽

Particle In Cell ◽

Underdense Plasma

AbstractA scheme for the improvement of proton beam quality by the optimized dragging field from the interaction of ultraintense laser pulse with a complex double-layer target is proposed and demonstrated by one-dimensional particle-in-cell (Opic1D) simulations. The complex double-layer target consists of an overdense proton thin foil followed by a mixed hydrocarbon (CH) underdense plasma. Because of the existence of carbon ions, the dragging field in the mixed CH underdense plasma becomes stronger and flatter in the location of the proton beam than that in a pure hydrogen (H) underdense plasma. The optimized dragging field can keep trapping and accelerating protons in the mixed CH underdense target to high quality. Consequently, the energy spread of the proton beam in the mixed CH underdense plasma can be greatly reduced down to 2.6% and average energy of protons can reach to 9 GeV with circularly polarized lasers at intensities 2.74 × 1022 W/cm2.

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Scaling of ion energies in the relativistic-induced transparency regime

Laser and Particle Beams ◽

10.1017/s0263034615000828 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 33 (4) ◽

pp. 695-703 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

D. Jung ◽

B.J. Albright ◽

L. Yin ◽

D.C. Gautier ◽

B. Dromey ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Linear Scaling ◽

Analytic Model ◽

Two Dimensional ◽

Carbon Ions ◽

Optimum Thickness ◽

Particle In Cell ◽

Ion Energies ◽

Laser Systems ◽

Induced Transparency ◽

Good Agreement

AbstractExperimental data are presented showing maximum carbon C6+ ion energies obtained from nm-scaled targets in the relativistic transparent regime for laser intensities between 9 × 1019 and 2 × 1021 W/cm2. When combined with two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, these results show a steep linear scaling for carbon ions with the normalized laser amplitude a0 ($a_0 \propto \sqrt ( I)$). The results are in good agreement with a semi-analytic model that allows one to calculate the optimum thickness and the maximum ion energies as functions of a0 and the laser pulse duration τλ for ion acceleration in the relativistic-induced transparency regime. Following our results, ion energies exceeding 100 MeV/amu may be accessible with currently available laser systems.

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