Proton acceleration from laser interaction with a complex double-layer plasma target

Abstract

Target-normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) of protons from a solid-density plasma target consisting of a thin foil, with a thin hydrogen layer behind it and a plasma-filled tube with a parabolic density profile at its front, is investigated using two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation. It is found that the targetback sheath field induced by the laser driven hot electrons is double peaked, so that the protons are additionally accelerated. The hot sheath electrons, and thus the TNSA protons, depend strongly on the tube plasma, which unlike the preplasma caused by the laser prepulse can be easily controlled. It is also found that the most energetic and best collimated TNSA protons are produced when the tube plasma is of near-critical density.

Proton acceleration from picosecond-laser interaction with a hydrocarbon target

“…Since the number and cutoff energy of TNSA protons are often overestimated in 2D simulations [7,51], we have also carried out full 3D simulations of the scheme. The 3D simulation result for the electron density at t = 473 fs is shown in figure 6(a).…”

“…Target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] and radiation-pressure acceleration (RPA) [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] have been widely invoked as schemes for table-top proton acceleration through laser-matter interaction. In TNSA, protons on the target rear surface are accelerated by the intense charge-separation sheath field produced by the hot laser driven electrons that have propagated through the target.…”

Electron and ion acceleration from femtosecond laser-plasma peeler scheme

“…This is because in realistic laser-plasma interactions, the light pressure carried by photons, thermal pressure carried by hot electrons and electrostatic pressure induced by charge separation always exist simultaneously [62]. Moreover, enhanced TNSA has been reported in various schemes, including but not limited to using cone-like targets [63][64][65][66], thin foil coated behind a long near-critical-density plasma [67][68][69], thin foil attached microwire arrays in front [70][71][72] and multi-picosecond laser pulses [73]. Cascaded ion acceleration has also been proposed in several different setups [74][75][76].…”

Enhanced proton acceleration from laser interaction with curved surface nanowire targets

“…There has been a good deal of effort put into investigating the effect of structured targets on laser–plasma coupling, including double-layer targets (Yang et al. 2018), cone targets (Honrubia, Morace & Murakami 2017), nanotube targets (Chatterjee et al. 2012) and nano-structured targets (Zhao et al.…”

“…An effective way to enhance the energy coupling efficiency from the laser to the electrons is using targets with a structured front surface. There has been a good deal of effort put into investigating the effect of structured targets on laser-plasma coupling, including double-layer targets (Yang et al 2018), cone targets (Honrubia, Morace & Murakami 2017), nanotube targets (Chatterjee et al 2012) and nano-structured targets (Zhao et al 2010;Xie et al 2020;Blanco et al 2017), etc. Thus, a high-contrast laser is required to prevent the surface structures from being damaged or destroyed before the main laser pulse arrives (Calestani et al 2021).…”