Not-so-efficient proton acceleration by an intense laser pulse obliquely incident on a structured target

Abstract

The interaction of an obliquely incident laser pulse with a flat TNSA target is known to enhance the cut-off energy of protons/ions as compared to a normally incident laser pulse, owing to Brunel or v × B heating. However, it is not well understood how the oblique incidence of the laser pulse would affect the protons/ion spectra in the case of a micro-structured target. Using two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we show here that the protons/ions cut-off energies are rather reduced in the case of oblique incidence of the laser pulse if the target has a micron-sized groove on its front surface. This is also found to be true for a periodically grooved target.