Accelerating monoenergetic protons from ultrathin foils by flat-top laser pulses in the directed-Coulomb-explosion regime
- 22 August 2008
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review E
- Vol. 78 (2) , 026412
Abstract
We consider the effect of laser beam shaping on proton acceleration in the interaction of a tightly focused pulse with ultrathin double-layer solid targets in the regime of directed Coulomb explosion. In this regime, the heavy ions of the front layer are forced by the laser to expand predominantly in the direction of the pulse propagation, forming a moving longitudinal charge separation electric field, thus increasing the effectiveness of acceleration of second-layer protons. The utilization of beam shaping, namely, the use of flat-top beams, leads to more efficient proton acceleration due to the increase of the longitudinal field.Keywords
This publication has 37 references indexed in Scilit:
- Enhancement of Proton Acceleration by Hot-Electron Recirculation in Thin Foils Irradiated by Ultraintense Laser PulsesPhysical Review Letters, 2002
- High-energy ion generation in interaction. of short laser pulse with high-density plasmaApplied Physics B, 2002
- Computer Simulation of the Three-Dimensional Regime of Proton Acceleration in the Interaction of Laser Radiation with a Thin Spherical TargetPlasma Physics Reports, 2001
- Three-Dimensional Simulations of Ion Acceleration from a Foil Irradiated by a Short-Pulse LaserPhysical Review Letters, 2001
- High density collimated beams of relativistic ions produced by petawatt laser pulses in plasmasPhysical Review E, 2000
- Intense High-Energy Proton Beams from Petawatt-Laser Irradiation of SolidsPhysical Review Letters, 2000
- Forward Ion Acceleration in Thin Films Driven by a High-Intensity LaserPhysical Review Letters, 2000
- Generation of collimated beams of relativistic ions in laser-plasma interactionsJETP Letters, 2000
- Measurements of Energetic Proton Transport through Magnetized Plasma from Intense Laser Interactions with SolidsPhysical Review Letters, 2000
- Ion acceleration by superintense laser pulses in plasmasJETP Letters, 1999