Break-out afterburner ion acceleration in the longer laser pulse length regime

Kinetic simulations of break-out-afterburner (BOA) ion acceleration from nm-scale targets are examined in a longer pulse length regime than studied previously. It is shown that when the target becomes relativistically transparent to the laser, an epoch of dramatic acceleration of ions occurs that lasts until the electron density in the expanding target reduces to the critical density in the non-relativistic limit. For given laser parameters, the optimal target thickness yielding the highest maximum ion energy is one in which this time window for ion acceleration overlaps with the intensity peak of the laser pulse. A simple analytic model of relativistically induced transparency is presented for plasma expansion at the time-evolving sound speed, from which these times may be estimated. The maximum ion energy attainable is controlled by the finite acceleration volume and time over which the BOA acts.

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

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

[3]  K. Yee.  Numerical solution of initial boundary value problems involving maxwell's equations in isotropic media , 1966 .

[4]  William Daughton,et al.  Advances in petascale kinetic plasma simulation with VPIC and Roadrunner , 2009 .

[5]  G. Kyrala,et al.  Laser-ablation treatment of short-pulse laser targets: Toward an experimental program on energetic-ion interactions with dense plasmas , 2005 .

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

[7]  The impact of contaminants on laser-driven light ion acceleration , 2010 .

[8]  K. Bowers,et al.  Mono-energetic ion beam acceleration in solitary waves during relativistic transparency using high-contrast circularly polarized short-pulse laser and nanoscale targets , 2011 .

[9]  Brian James Albright,et al.  GeV laser ion acceleration from ultrathin targets: The laser break-out afterburner , 2006 .

[10]  G. Petrov,et al.  Laser acceleration of light ions from high-intensity laser-target interactions , 2009 .

[11]  K. Bowers,et al.  Ultrahigh performance three-dimensional electromagnetic relativistic kinetic plasma simulationa) , 2008 .

[12]  K. Flippo,et al.  Laser acceleration of quasi-monoenergetic MeV ion beams , 2006, Nature.

[13]  Tsutomu Shimada,et al.  High-temporal contrast using low-gain optical parametric amplification. , 2009, Optics letters.

[14]  M. D. Perry,et al.  Fast ignition by intense laser-accelerated proton beams. , 2001, Physical review letters.

[15]  A. Pukhov,et al.  Three-dimensional simulations of ion acceleration from a foil irradiated by a short-pulse laser. , 2001, Physical review letters.

[16]  D. Habs,et al.  Theory of laser ion acceleration from a foil target of nanometer thickness , 2010 .

[17]  Michael D. Perry,et al.  Electron, photon, and ion beams from the relativistic interaction of Petawatt laser pulses with solid targets , 2000 .

[18]  B. Albright,et al.  Spectral properties of laser-accelerated mid-Z MeV∕u ion beams , 2005 .

[19]  Michael Marti,et al.  Proton shock acceleration in laser-plasma interactions. , 2004, Physical review letters.

[20]  Deanna M. Pennington,et al.  Energetic proton generation in ultra-intense laser–solid interactions , 2000 .

[21]  Stefano Atzeni,et al.  Numerical study of fast ignition of ablatively imploded deuterium–tritium fusion capsules by ultra-intense proton beams , 2002 .

[22]  K. Bowers,et al.  Three-dimensional dynamics of breakout afterburner ion acceleration using high-contrast short-pulse laser and nanoscale targets. , 2010, Physical review letters.

[23]  T. Mehlhorn,et al.  Generation of laser-driven light ions suitable for fast ignition of fusion targets , 2011 .

[24]  Yasuhiko Sentoku,et al.  High energy proton acceleration in interaction of short laser pulse with dense plasma target , 2003 .

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

[26]  S Meyroneinc,et al.  Ultralow emittance, multi-MeV proton beams from a laser virtual-cathode plasma accelerator. , 2004, Physical review letters.

[27]  H. Daido,et al.  Ion acceleration in a solitary wave by an intense picosecond laser pulse. , 2002, Physical review letters.

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

[29]  R. G. Evans,et al.  Radiation pressure acceleration of thin foils with circularly polarized laser pulses , 2007, 0708.2040.

[30]  Denavit.  Absorption of high-intensity subpicosecond lasers on solid density targets. , 1992, Physical review letters.

[31]  K. Bowers,et al.  Ultraintense laser interaction with nanoscale targets: a simple model for layer expansion and ion acceleration , 2010 .

[32]  K. Witte,et al.  Source-size measurements and charge distributions of ions accelerated from thin foils irradiated by high-intensity laser pulses , 2004 .

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

[34]  K. Y. Ng.  Continuous multiple injections at the Fermilab Main Injector , 2002 .

[35]  O Jäkel,et al.  Determination of water absorbed dose in a carbon ion beam using thimble ionization chambers. , 1999, Physics in medicine and biology.

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

[37]  Samuel A. Letzring,et al.  Laser-driven ion accelerators: Spectral control, monoenergetic ions and new acceleration mechanisms , 2007 .

[38]  Brian James Albright,et al.  Progress and prospects of ion-driven fast ignition , 2009 .

[39]  K. Witte,et al.  MeV ion jets from short-pulse-laser interaction with thin foils. , 2002, Physical review letters.