Target Normal Sheath Acceleration Regime Research Articles

Coulomb-Boltzmann-Shifted distribution in laser-generated plasmas from 1010 up to 1019 W/cm2 intensities

The charge production from laser-generated plasmas generates not isotropically ion acceleration in vacuum and with mean kinetic energy proportional to the ion charge state. The ion velocity depends on many factors of which the most important are the plasma temperature, the adiabatic gas expansion in vacuum and the Coulomb acceleration. The ion energy distributions of the emitted ions from the plasma can be well explained by the Coulomb–Boltzmann-Shifted function, with a cut-off limitation at high energy for a wide range of laser intensities. It can be applied for intensities of 1010 W/cm2, when plasma is produced only in the backward direction from thick targets (backward plasma acceleration regime), as well as at intensities of the order of 1019 W/cm2, when plasma is produced in the forward direction from thin targets in target-normal sheath acceleration regime. It loses of validity in radiation pressure acceleration regime, at which ions are emitted near mono-energetically.

An unconventional ion implantation method for producing Au and Si nanostructures using intense laser-generated plasmas

The present paper describes measurements of ion implantation by high-intensity lasers in an innovative configuration. The ion acceleration and implantation were performed using the target normal sheath acceleration regime. Highly ionized charged ions were generated and accelerated by the self-consistent electrostatic accelerating field at the rear side of a directly illuminated foil surface. A sub-nanosecond pulsed laser operating at an intensity of about 1016 W cm−2 was employed to irradiate thin foils containing Au atoms. Multi-energy and multi-species ions with energies of the order of 1 MeV per charge state were implanted on exposed substrates of monocrystalline silicon up to a concentration of about 1% Au atoms in the first superficial layers.The target, laser parameters and irradiation conditions play a decisive role in the dynamic control of the characteristics of the ion beams to be implanted. The ion penetration depth, the depth profile, the integral amount of implanted ions and the concentration–depth profiles were determined by Rutherford back-scattering analysis. Ion implantation produces Si nanocrystals and Au nanoparticles and induces physical and chemical modifications of the implanted surfaces.

Collimated proton beams by ultra-short, ultra-intense laser pulse interaction with a foil–ramparts target

AbstractA foil–ramparts target interaction with an ultra-short, ultra-intense laser pulse (pulse duration between 10−12 and 10−15 s, intensity above 1018 W cm−2) to produce proton beams with controlled divergence and concentrated energy density in target normal sheath acceleration regime is studied. Two-dimension-in-space and three-dimension-in-velocity particle-in-cell simulations show that the foil–ramparts target helps to reshape the sheath electric field and generate a transverse quasi-static electric field of ~6.7 TV m−1 along the inner wall of the ramparts. The transverse electric field suppresses the transverse expansion of the proton beam effectively, as it tends to force the produced protons to focus inwards to the central axis, resulting in controlled divergence and concentrated energy density compared with that of a single plain target. The dependence of proton beam divergence on length of the rampart h is investigated in detail. A rough estimation of h ranges depending on dimensionless parameter a0 of the incident laser is also given.

Advanced targets, diagnostics and applications of laser-generated plasmas

High-intensity sub-nanosecond-pulsed lasers irradiating thin targets in vacuum permit generation of electrons and ion acceleration and high photon yield emission in non-equilibrium plasmas. At intensities higher than 1015 W/cm2 thin foils can be irradiated in the target-normal sheath acceleration regime driving ion acceleration in the forward direction above 1 MeV per charge state. The distributions of emitted ions in terms of energy, charge state and angular emission are controlled by laser parameters, irradiation conditions, target geometry and composition. Advanced targets can be employed to increase the laser absorption in thin foils and to enhance the energy and the yield of the ion acceleration process. Semiconductor detectors, Thomson parabola spectrometer and streak camera can be employed as online plasma diagnostics to monitor the plasma parameters, shot by shot. Some applications in the field of the multiple ion implantation, hadrontherapy and nuclear physics are reported.

Electron heating enhancement by frequency-chirped laser pulses

Propagation of a chirped laser pulse with a circular polarization through an uprising plasma density profile is studied by using 1D-3V particle-in-cell simulation. The laser penetration depth is increased in an overdense plasma compared to an unchirped pulse. The induced transparency due to the laser frequency chirp results in an enhanced heating of hot electrons as well as increased maximum longitudinal electrostatic field at the back side of the solid target, which is very essential in target normal sheath acceleration regime of proton acceleration. For an applied chirp parameter between 0.008 and 0.01, the maximum amount of the electrostatic field is improved by a factor of 2. Furthermore, it is noticed that for a chirped laser pulse with a0 = 5, because of increasing the plasma transparency length, the laser pulse can penetrate up to about ne ≈ 6nc, where nc is plasma critical density. It shows 63% increase in the effective critical density compared to the relativistic induced transparency regime for an unchirped condition.

Enhanced laser ion acceleration with a multi-layer foam target assembly

AbstractInteraction of a linearly polarized Gaussian laser pulse (at relativistic intensity of 2.0 × 1020 Wcm−2) with a multi-layer foam (as a near critical density target) attached to a solid layer is investigated by using two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation. It is found that electrons with longitudinal momentum exceeding the free electrons limit of meca02/2 so-called super-hot electrons can be produced when the direct laser acceleration regime is fulfilled and benefited from self-focusing inside of the subcritical plasma. These electrons penetrate easily through the target and can enhance greatly the sheath field at the rear, resulting in a significant increase in the maximum energy of protons in target normal sheath acceleration regime. The results indicate that the maximum proton energy is enhanced by 2.7 times via using an assembled target arrangement compared to a bare solid target. Furthermore, by demonstration of this assembly, the maximum proton energy is improved beyond the optimum amount achieved by a two-layer target proposed by Sgattoni et al. (2012).

Investigation of longitudinal proton acceleration in exploded targets irradiated by intense short-pulse laser

It was recently shown that a promising way to accelerate protons in the forward direction to high energies is to use under-dense or near-critical density targets instead of solids. Simulations have revealed that the acceleration process depends on the density gradients of the plasma target. Indeed, under certain conditions, the most energetic protons are predicted to be accelerated by a collisionless shock mechanism that significantly increases their energy. We report here the results of a recent experiment dedicated to the study of longitudinal ion acceleration in partially exploded foils using a high intensity (∼5 × 1018 W/cm2) picosecond laser pulse. We show that protons accelerated using targets having moderate front and rear plasma gradients (up to ∼8 μm gradient length) exhibit similar maximum proton energy and number compared to proton beams that are produced, in similar laser conditions, from solid targets, in the well-known target normal sheath acceleration regime. Particle-In-Cell simulations, performed in the same conditions as the experiment and consistent with the measurements, allow laying a path for further improvement of this acceleration scheme.

Transport and energy selection of laser generated protons for postacceleration with a compact linac

Laser accelerated proton beams have a considerable potential for various applications including oncological therapy. However, the most consolidated target normal sheath acceleration regime based on irradiation of solid targets provides an exponential energy spectrum with a significant divergence. The low count number at the cutoff energy seriously limits at present its possible use. One realistic scenario for the near future is offered by hybrid schemes. The use of transport lines for collimation and energy selection has been considered. We present here a scheme based on a high field pulsed solenoid and collimators which allows one to select a beam suitable for injection at 30 MeV into a compact linac in order to double its energy while preserving a significant intensity. The results are based on a fully 3D simulation starting from laser acceleration.

Optimal proton acceleration from lateral limited foil sections and different laser pulse durations at relativistic intensity

The proton acceleration from a thin foil irradiated by a laser pulse at relativistic intensities is a process highly dependent on the electron dynamic at the rear side of the foil. By reducing the lateral size of the laser irradiated foil the hot electrons are confined in a small volume leading to an enhancement of both the maximum proton energy and the conversion efficiency in the target normal sheath acceleration regime. In this paper we demonstrate that an optimal lateral size of the target can be found. While a smaller target surface leads to a better hot electron confinement and enhances the Debye sheath accelerating the protons, it also leads to an increase of preplasma formation due to limited laser contrast available experimentally and hence to a decrease of the proton acceleration. The experimentally found optimum is in good agreement with analytic theory and 2D particle in cell simulations. In addition, the maximum proton energy as a function of pulse duration has been investigated. The experimental results fit to an analytical model.