Theory of laser ion acceleration from a foil target of nanometer thickness

A theory for ion acceleration by ultrashort laser pulses is presented to evaluate the maximum ion energy in the interaction of ultrahigh contrast (UHC) intense laser pulses with a nanometer-scale foil. In this regime, the ion energy may be directly related to the laser intensity and subsequent electron dynamics. This leads to a simple analytical expression for the ion energy gain under the laser irradiation of thin targets. Significantly higher energies for thin targets than for thicker targets are predicted. The theory is concretized with a view to compare with the results and their details of recent experiments.

[1]  S. Ter-Avetisyan,et al.  Analytical model for ion acceleration by high-intensity laser pulses. , 2006, Physical review letters.

[2]  T. Sokollik,et al.  Optimal ion acceleration from ultrathin foils irradiated by a profiled laser pulse of relativistic intensity , 2009 .

[3]  M. H. Blewett.  CERN Symposium on High‐Energy Accelerators and Pion Physics , 1956 .

[4]  S. V. Bulanov,et al.  Energetic protons from a few-micron metallic foil evaporated by an intense laser pulse. , 2003, Physical review letters.

[5]  T. Tajima,et al.  Collective ion acceleration by a reflexing electron beam: model and scaling. Memorandum report , 1983 .

[6]  T E Cowan,et al.  Comment on "measurements of energetic proton transport through magnetized plasma from intense laser interactions with solids". , 2006, Physical review letters.

[7]  Martin Reiser,et al.  Theory and Design of Charged Particle Beams , 1994 .

[8]  P. Norreys,et al.  Dynamic control of laser-produced proton beams. , 2007, Physical review letters.

[9]  Francesco Pegoraro,et al.  Nonlinear electrodynamics of the interaction of ultra-intense laser pulses with a thin foil , 1998 .

[10]  Michael Geissler,et al.  Ion acceleration with ultra-thin foils using elliptically polarized laser pulses , 2008 .

[11]  Tabak,et al.  Absorption of ultra-intense laser pulses. , 1992, Physical review letters.

[12]  Brian James Albright,et al.  Relativistic Buneman instability in the laser breakout afterburner , 2007 .

[13]  Julien Fuchs,et al.  Proton spectra from ultraintense laser-plasma interaction with thin foils: Experiments, theory, and simulation , 2003 .

[14]  V. Tikhonchuk,et al.  Charge separation effects in solid targets and ion acceleration with a two-temperature electron distribution. , 2004, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[15]  T. Tajima,et al.  Self-consistent potential for a relativistic magnetized electron beam through a metallic boundary , 1978 .

[16]  P. Audebert,et al.  Laser-driven proton scaling laws and new paths towards energy increase , 2006 .

[17]  Anders Persson,et al.  Enhanced proton beams from ultrathin targets driven by high contrast laser pulses , 2006 .

[18]  S. Chu,et al.  Laser Manipulation of Atoms and Particles , 1991, Science.

[19]  Gu,et al.  Forward ion acceleration in thin films driven by a high-intensity laser , 2000, Physical review letters.

[20]  T Shimada,et al.  Enhanced laser-driven ion acceleration in the relativistic transparency regime. , 2009, Physical review letters.

[21]  J. Meyer-ter-Vehn,et al.  Harmonic emission from the rear side of thin overdense foils irradiated with intense ultrashort laser pulses. , 2004, Physical review letters.

[22]  Erik Lefebvre,et al.  Proton acceleration mechanisms in high-intensity laser interaction with thin foils , 2005 .

[23]  F. Réau,et al.  Proton acceleration with high-intensity ultrahigh-contrast laser pulses. , 2007, Physical review letters.

[24]  P. Mora,et al.  Plasma expansion into a vacuum. , 2003, Physical review letters.

[25]  T. Tajima,et al.  Laser ion-acceleration scaling laws seen in multiparametric particle-in-cell simulations. , 2006, Physical review letters.

[26]  Brian James Albright,et al.  Monoenergetic and GeV ion acceleration from the laser breakout afterburner using ultrathin targets , 2007 .

[27]  M. Grieser,et al.  Electron cooling and recombination experiments with an adiabatically expanded electron beam , 1996 .

[28]  T. C. Sangster,et al.  Intense high-energy proton beams from Petawatt-laser irradiation of solids. , 2000, Physical review letters.

[29]  Stanley Humphries,et al.  Charged Particle Beams , 1990 .

[30]  J. Fang,et al.  Mono-Energetic Proton Beam Acceleration in Laser Foil-Plasma Interactions , 2008 .

[31]  A. Sessler.  Collective methods of acceleration: (eds. N. Rostoker and M. Reiser) , 1980 .

[32]  Z. Sheng,et al.  Generating high-current monoenergetic proton beams by a circularly polarized laser pulse in the phase-stable acceleration regime. , 2008, Physical review letters.

[33]  R. Loch,et al.  Fast-ion energy-flux enhancement from ultrathin foils irradiated by intense and high-contrast short laser pulses. , 2008, Physical review letters.

[34]  T. C. Sangster,et al.  Intense electron and proton beams from PetaWatt laser–matter interactions , 2000 .