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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 April 2010

S. Steinke ,
A. Henig ,
M. Schnürer ,
T. Sokollik ,
P.V. Nickles ,
D. Jung ,
D. Kiefer ,
R. Hörlein ,
J. Schreiber ,
T. Tajima ,
X.Q. Yan ,
M. Hegelich ,
J. Meyer-ter-Vehn ,
W. Sandner  and
D. Habs
S. Steinke
Affiliation:
Max-Born-Institut, D-12489 Berlin, Germany
A. Henig
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut f. Quantenoptik, D-85748 Garching, Germany Fakultät f. Physik, LMU München, D-85748 Garching, Germany
M. Schnürer
Affiliation:
Max-Born-Institut, D-12489 Berlin, Germany
T. Sokollik
Affiliation:
Max-Born-Institut, D-12489 Berlin, Germany
P.V. Nickles
Affiliation:
Max-Born-Institut, D-12489 Berlin, Germany Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, GIST, Gwangju 500-712, Republic of Korea
D. Jung
Affiliation:
Fakultät f. Physik, LMU München, D-85748 Garching, Germany Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
D. Kiefer
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut f. Quantenoptik, D-85748 Garching, Germany Fakultät f. Physik, LMU München, D-85748 Garching, Germany
R. Hörlein
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut f. Quantenoptik, D-85748 Garching, Germany Fakultät f. Physik, LMU München, D-85748 Garching, Germany
J. Schreiber
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut f. Quantenoptik, D-85748 Garching, Germany Fakultät f. Physik, LMU München, D-85748 Garching, Germany Imperial College London, SW7 2BZ, UK
T. Tajima
Affiliation:
Fakultät f. Physik, LMU München, D-85748 Garching, Germany Photomedical Research Center, JAEA. Kyoto, Japan
X.Q. Yan
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut f. Quantenoptik, D-85748 Garching, Germany State Key Lab of Nuclear physics and technology, Peking University, 100871, Beijing, China
M. Hegelich
Affiliation:
Fakultät f. Physik, LMU München, D-85748 Garching, Germany Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
J. Meyer-ter-Vehn
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut f. Quantenoptik, D-85748 Garching, Germany
W. Sandner
Affiliation:
Max-Born-Institut, D-12489 Berlin, Germany
D. Habs
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut f. Quantenoptik, D-85748 Garching, Germany Fakultät f. Physik, LMU München, D-85748 Garching, Germany
Corresponding
E-mail address:
steinke@mbi-berlin.de
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Abstract

Experiments 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.

Keywords

Laser-driven acceleration Laser-plasma interactions Laser-produced plasma Particle-in-cell method Plasma simulation
Type
Research Article
Information
Laser and Particle Beams , Volume 28 , Issue 1 , March 2010 , pp. 215 - 221
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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