Characteristics of ion beams generated in the interaction of ultra-short laser pulses with ultra-thin foils

McIlvenny, A. and Ahmed, H. and Scullion, C. and Doria, D. and Romagnani, L. and Martin, P. and Naughton, K. and Sgattoni, A. and Symes, D.R. and Macchi, A. and McKenna, P. and Zepf, M. and Kar, S. and Borghesi, M. (2020) Characteristics of ion beams generated in the interaction of ultra-short laser pulses with ultra-thin foils. Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, 62. 054001. ISSN 0741-3335 (https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6587/ab7d26)

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Abstract

Experiments investigating ion acceleration from laser-irradiated ultra-thin foils on the GEMINI laser facility at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory indicate a transition to 'Light Sail' Radiation Pressure Acceleration when using circularly polarized, high contrast laser pulses. This paper complements previously published results with additional data and modelling which provide information on the multispecies dynamics taking place during the acceleration, and provides an indication on expected scaling of these processes at higher laser intensities.

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