High efficiency proton beam generation through target thickness control in femtosecond laser-plasma interactions

Green, J. S. and Robinson, A. P. L. and Booth, N. and Carroll, D. C. and Dance, R. J. and Gray, R. J. and MacLellan, D. A. and McKenna, P. and Murphy, C. D. and Rusby, D. and Wilson, L. (2014) High efficiency proton beam generation through target thickness control in femtosecond laser-plasma interactions. Applied Physics Letters, 104 (21). 214101. ISSN 0003-6951 (https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4879641)

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Abstract

Bright proton beams with maximum energies of up to 30MeV have been observed in an experiment investigating ion sheath acceleration driven by a short pulse (<50 fs) laser. The scaling of maximum proton energy and total beam energy content at ultra-high intensities of ∼10<sup>21</sup> W cm<sup>-2</sup> was investigated, with the interplay between target thickness and laser pre-pulse found to be a key factor. While the maximum proton energies observed were maximised for lm-thick targets, the total proton energy content was seen to peak for thinner, 500 nm, foils. The total proton beam energy reached up to 440 mJ (a conversion efficiency of 4%), marking a significant step forward for many laser-driven ion applications. The experimental results are supported by hydrodynamic and particle-in-cell simulations.

ORCID iDs

Green, J. S., Robinson, A. P. L., Booth, N., Carroll, D. C., Dance, R. J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8252-5342, Gray, R. J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0610-9595, MacLellan, D. A., McKenna, P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8061-7091, Murphy, C. D., Rusby, D. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8324-729X and Wilson, L.;
  • Item type:Article
    ID code:54704
    Dates:
    Date
    Event
    26 May 2014
    Published
    12 May 2014
    Accepted
    Subjects:Science > Physics
    Department:Faculty of Science > Physics
    Depositing user: Pure Administrator
    Date deposited:11 Dec 2015 01:16
    Last modified:11 Nov 2024 11:13
    Related URLs:
    URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/54704
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