Related papers: Advanced strategies for ion acceleration using hig…
Scaling laws of ion acceleration in ultrathin foils driven by radiation pressure of intense laser pulses are investigated by theoretical analysis and two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. Considering the instabilities are inevitable…
We report the experimental generation of highly energetic carbon ions up to 48 MeV per nucleon by shooting double-layer targets composed of well-controlled slightly underdense plasma (SUP) and ultrathin foils with ultra-intense femtosecond…
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…
Thanks to the fabrication of large aperture phase optics, ultra-intense relativistic laser plasma interaction (RLPI) experiments with complex polarization states are becoming feasible. In this work, we perform a computational investigation…
We investigate the target normal sheath acceleration of protons in thin aluminum targets irradiated at relativistic intensity by two time-separated ultrashort (35 fs) laser pulses. For identical laser pulses and target thicknesses of 3 and…
This dissertation explores the interaction between high-intensity lasers and plasmas to accelerate electrons and produce radiation via experimental and computational efforts. The laser pulses used in this dissertation have ultrashort…
Ion acceleration resulting from the interaction of 11 fs laser pulses of ~35 mJ energy with ultrahigh contrast (<10^-10), and 10^19 W/cm^2 peak intensity with foil targets made of various materials and thicknesses at normal (0-degree) and…
Compact laser-driven accelerators are versatile and powerful tools of unarguable relevance on societal grounds for the diverse purposes of science, health, security, and technology because they bring enormous practicality to…
We present an experimental demonstration of the efficient acceleration of electrons beyond 60 MeV using micro-channel plasma targets. We employed a high-contrast, 2.5 J, 32 fs short pulse laser interacting with a 5 \mu m inner diameter, 300…
The dynamics of the acceleration of ultrathin foil targets by the radiation pressure of superintense, circularly polarized laser pulses is investigated by analytical modeling and particle-in-cell simulations. By addressing self-induced…
Accelerating particles to relativistic energies over very short distances using lasers has been a long standing goal in physics. Among the various schemes proposed for electrons, vacuum laser acceleration has attracted considerable interest…
Laser-driven ion acceleration from nanostructured targets offers a promising route to compact, high-energy ion sources. In this work, we demonstrate through particle-in-cell simulations that rectangular nanoring targets significantly…
The interaction of a high-intensity ultrashort laser pulse with a few microns-thick hydrocarbon target is known to accelerate protons/ions to multi-MeV, on the rear side of the target, via the mechanism of target normal sheath acceleration.…
To this day the interaction of high-intensity lasers with matter is considered to be a possible candidate for next generation particle accelerators. Within the LIGHT collaboration crucial work for the merging of a high-intensity laser…
Laser-plasma accelerators present a promising alternative to conventional accelerators. To fully exploit the extreme amplitudes of the plasma fields and produce high-quality beams, precise control over electron injection into the…
Laser pulses of extreme intensities ($I>10^{22}~ \mathrm{W/cm^2}$) are about to become available in the laboratory. The prepulse of such a laser can induce a plasma expansion that generates a low-density channel in near-critical gas jets.…
An enhanced ionization injection scheme using a tightly focused laser pulse with intensity near the ionization potential to trigger the injection process in a mismatched pre-plasma channel has been proposed and examined via…
A novel radiation pressure acceleration (RPA) regime of heavy ion beams from laser-irradiated ultrathin foils is proposed by self-consistently taking into account the ionization dynamics. In this regime, the laser intensity is required to…
We demonstrate a scheme for enhanced proton acceleration from near-critical-density targets by splitting a laser pulse into a linearly and a circularly polarized laser pulse. The combination of two laser pulses generates a shock wave as…
Radiation pressure acceleration (RPA) is a highly efficient mechanism of laser-driven ion acceleration, with with near complete transfer of the laser energy to the ions in the relativistic regime. However, there is a fundamental limit on…