Related papers: Synchronized ion acceleration by ultraintense slow…
Due to the high computational cost of 3D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations, lower-dimensional (2D or 1D) simulations are frequently used in their place. Our work shows that when modeling high-intensity laser ion acceleration, simulation…
A regime of multi-cascade proton acceleration in the interaction of $10^{21}-10^{22}$ W/cm$^2$ laser pulse with a structured target is proposed. The regime is based on the electron charge displacement under the action of laser ponderomotive…
Intense laser acceleration of ions is inherently difficult due to the velocity mismatch between laser pulses moving at the speed of light and slowly moving massive ions. Instead of directly accelerating the ions, current approaches rely on…
The future applications of the short-duration, multi-MeV ion beams produced in the interaction of high-intensity laser pulses with solid targets will require improvements in the conversion efficiency, peak ion energy, beam monochromaticity,…
The acceleration of super-heavy ions (SHIs) from plasmas driven by ultrashort (tens of femtoseconds) laser pulses is a challenging topic waiting for breakthrough. The detecting and controlling of the ionization process, and the adoption of…
Laser-driven collisonless electrostatic shock formation and the subsequent ion acceleration have been studied in near critical density plasmas. Particle-in-cell simulations show that both the speed of laser-driven collisionless…
By using multi-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation, we present a new regime of stable proton beam acceleration which takes place when a two-specie shaped foil is illuminated by a circularly polarized laser pulse. It is observed that the…
A new, maximum proton energy, $e$, scaling law with the laser pulse energy, $E_L$ has been derived from the results of 3D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. Utilizing numerical modelling, protons are accelerated during interactions of the…
The interaction of ultrashort, high intensity laser pulses with thin foil targets leads to ion acceleration on the target rear surface. To make this ion source useful for applications, it is important to optimize the transfer of energy from…
Self-trapping and acceleration of ions in laser-driven relativistically transparent plasma are investigated with the help of particle-in-cell simulations. A theoretical model based on ion wave breaking is established in describing ion…
Ultrahigh peak power femtosecond laser pulses create extreme states of matter that are currently being probed with great interest. Plasma optics have been proposed for shaping and amplifying high-power pulses, but they are subject to huge…
We demonstrate laser-plasma acceleration of high charge electron beams to the ~10 MeV scale using ultrashort laser pulses with as little energy as 10 mJ. This result is made possible by an extremely dense and thin hydrogen gas jet. Total…
Compact laser-plasma acceleration of fast ions has made great strides since its discovery over two decades ago, resulting in the current generation of high-energy ($\geq 100\,\rm MeV$) ultracold beams over ultrashort ($\leq 1\,\rm ps$)…
The efficient generation of intense X-rays and $\gamma$-radiation is studied. The scheme is based on the relativistic mirror concept, {\it i.e.}, a flying thin plasma slab interacts with a counterpropagating laser pulse, reflecting part of…
A hollow cylindrical micron-scale structure is proposed to enhance and manipulate the laser plasma interaction. It is shown through 3-D particle-in-cell simulations that the incident laser pulse intensity is enhanced within the tube. A…
In a dense gas plasma a short laser pulse propagates in relativistic self-trapping mode, which enables effective conversion of laser energy to the accelerated electrons. This regime sustains effective loading which maximizes the total…
Longitudinal ion acceleration from high-intensity (I ~ 10^20 Wcm^-2) laser interactions with helium gas jet targets (n_e ~ 0.04 n_c) have been observed. The ion beam has a maximum energy for He^2+ of approximately 40 MeV and was directional…
When a finite contrast petawatt laser pulse irradiates a micron-thick foil, a prepulse (including amplified spontaneous emission) creates a preplasma, where an ultrashort relativistically strong portion of the laser pulse (the main pulse)…
In the past two decades, laser-accelerated ion sources and their applications have been intensely researched. Recently, it has been shown through experiments that proton beams with characteristics comparable to those obtained with solid…
High-quality proton beams generated by laser-plasma interactions are of significant interest for applications ranging from tumor therapy to fast ignition in inertial confinement fusion. However, simultaneously achieving high energy coupling…