Efficient ion acceleration by multistaged intense short laser pulses

Abstract

We present a computational study of laser-driven ion acceleration that optimizes a combination of target transparency and extended field acceleration at moderate relativistic intensity. Our scheme applies two sequential laser pulses irradiating a thin target foil along the same direction: The first pulse drives a rapid expansion of the target, while the second one drives a quasistatic electric field in the expanding target with increasing electron temperature. In our particle-in-cell simulations we observe proton peak energies and numbers enhanced by factors of up to 3 compared with regular target-normal sheath acceleration.Received 6 October 2020Accepted 4 May 2022DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.L032003Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.Published by the American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasHigh-energy-density plasmasLaser driven ion accelerationAccelerators & BeamsPlasma PhysicsParticles & Fields