Two surface plasmon decay of plasma oscillations

Abstract

The interaction of ultra-intense lasers with solid foils can be used to accelerate ions to high energies well exceeding 60 MeV [Gaillard et al., Phys. Plasmas 18, 056710 (2011)]. The non-linear relativistic motion of electrons in the intense laser radiation leads to their acceleration and later to the acceleration of ions. Ions can be accelerated from the front surface, the foil interior region, and the foil rear surface (target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA), most widely used), or the foil may be accelerated as a whole if sufficiently thin (radiation pressure acceleration). Here, we focus on the most widely used mechanism for laser ion-acceleration of TNSA. Starting from perfectly flat foils, we show by simulations how electron filamentation at or inside the solid leads to spatial modulations in the ions. The exact dynamics depend very sensitively on the chosen initial parameters which has a tremendous effect on electron dynamics. In the case of step-like density gradients, we find evidence that suggests a two-surface-plasmon decay of plasma oscillations triggering a Raileigh-Taylor-like instability.