Collisionless shocks driven by 800 nm laser pulses generate high-energy carbon ions

Abstract

We present experimental studies on ion acceleration from diamond-like carbon (DLC) foils irradiated by 800 nm, linearly polarized laser pulses with peak intensity of 1.7 × 1019 W/cm2 to 3.5 × 1019 W/cm2 at oblique incidence. Diamond-like carbon foils are heated by the prepulse of a high-contrast laser pulse and expand to form plasmas of near-critical density caused by thermal effect before the arrival of the main pulse. It is demonstrated that carbon ions are accelerated by a collisionless shock wave in slightly overdense plasma excited by forward-moving hot electrons generated by the main pulse.