Related papers: Ion acceleration by superintense laser-plasma inte…
In the present paper we introduce a new accelerator concept for ions. The accelerator is nano-structured and can consist of a range of materials. It is capable of generating large ionic currents at moderate ion energies. The nano-structures…
The acceleration of polarized electrons, positrons, protons and ions in strong laser and plasma fields is a very attractive option to obtain polarized beams in the multi-MeV range. Recently, there has been substantial progress in the…
We demonstrate an ion acceleration scheme capable of simultaneously focusing and accelerating a multispecies ion beam with monoenergetic spectra to a few micron radius. The focal length and ion mean energy can be independently controlled:…
A method is proposed for producing monoergetic, high-quality ion beams in vacuum, via direct acceleration by the electromagnetic field of two counterpropagating, variable-frequency lasers: ions are trapped and accelerated by a beat-wave…
Laser plasma interaction with micro-engineered targets at relativistic intensities has been greatly promoted by recent progress in the high contrast lasers and the manufacture of advanced micro- and nano-structures. This opens new…
Magnetic Vortex Acceleration (MVA) from near critical density targets is one of the promising schemes of laser-driven ion acceleration. 3D particle-in-cell simulations are used to explore a more extensive laser-target parameter space than…
An effective theory of laser--plasma based particle acceleration is presented. Here we treated the plasma as a continuous medium with an index of refraction $n_{m}$ in which a single electron propagates. Because of the simplicity of this…
The propagation of ultra intense laser pulses through matter is connected with the generation of strong moving magnetic fields in the propagation channel as well as the formation of a thin ion filament along the axis of the channel. Upon…
We present a parametric study based on 1-D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations conducted with the objective of understanding the interaction of intense lasers with near-critical non-uniform density gas targets. Specifically, we aim to find…
Efficient laser ion acceleration requires high laser intensities, which can only be obtained by tightly focusing laser radiation. In the radiation pressure acceleration regime, where the tightly focused laser driver leads to the appearance…
A two-phase model, where the plasma expansion is an isothermal one when laser irradiates and a following adiabatic one after laser ends, has been proposed to predict the maximum energy of the proton beams induced in the ultra-intense…
Ion acceleration by using a laser pulse irradiating a disk target which includes hydrogen and carbon is examined using three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. It is shown that over $200$ MeV protons can be generated by using a…
Laser-plasma acceleration is an emerging technique for accelerating electrons to high energies over very short distances. The accelerated electron bunches have femtosecond duration, making them particularly relevant for applications such as…
Recent studies have demonstrated the possibility of accelerating electrons to MeV energies in ambient air using tightly focused laser configurations. In this article, we explore possible strategies to control and optimize the resulting…
Experimental results, supported by precise modelling, demonstrate optimisation of a plasma-based injector with intermediate laser pulse energy ($<1$ J), corresponding to a normalised vector potential $a_0 = 2.15$, using ionisation injection…
We review recent PIC simulation results which show that double-sided irradiaton of a thin overdense plasma slab by ultra-intense laser pulses from both sides can lead to sustained comoving acceleration of surface electrons to energies much…
Recent experimental and theoretical results have demonstrated the possibility of accelerating electrons in the MeV range by focusing tightly a few-cycle laser beam in ambient air. Using Particle-In-Cell (PIC) simulations, this configuration…
Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation results of sustained acceleration of electron-positron (e+e-) plasmas by comoving electromagnetic (EM) pulses are presented. When a thin slab of overdense e+e- plasma is irradiated with linear-polarized…
Proton acceleration by high-intensity laser pulses from ultra-thin foils for hadron therapy is discussed. With the improvement of the laser intensity contrast ratio to 10-11 achieved on Hercules laser at the University of Michigan, it…
Ultra-intense laser-matter interactions are often difficult to predict from first principles because of the complexity of plasma processes and the many degrees of freedom relating to the laser and target parameters. An important approach to…