Related papers: Enhanced target normal sheath acceleration using c…
The multiple colliding laser pulse concept formulated in Ref. [1] is beneficial for achieving an extremely high amplitude of coherent electromagnetic field. Since the topology of electric and magnetic fields oscillating in time of multiple…
Although the interaction of a flat-foil with currently available laser intensities is now considered a routine process, during the last decade emphasis is given to targets with complex geometries aiming on increasing the ion energy. This…
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…
Two dimensional particle-in-cell simulations characterizing the interaction of ultraintense short pulse lasers in the range 10^{18} \leq I \leq 10^{20} W/cm^{2} with converging target geometries are presented. Seeking to examine intensity…
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…
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…
Direct laser acceleration (DLA) offers a compact source of high-charge, energetic electrons for generating secondary radiation or neutrons. While DLA in high-density plasma optimizes the energy transfer from a laser pulse to electrons, it…
The development of ultra-intense laser-based sources of high energy ions is an important goal, with a variety of potential applications. One of the barriers to achieving this goal is the need to maximize the conversion efficiency from laser…
We briefly report on the recently proposed [G. Fiore, R. Fedele, U. de Angelis, Phys. Plasmas 21 (2014), 113105], [G. Fiore, S. De Nicola, arXiv:1509.04656] electron acceleration mechanism named "slingshot effect": under suitable conditions…
Relativistic electrons colliding with intense counterpropagating laser pulses are expected to lose energy through radiation reaction. However, we reveal a counterintuitive regime where reflected leptons (including incident electrons,…
A high-intensity laser beam propagating through a dense plasma drives a strong current that robustly sustains a strong quasi-static Mega Tesla-level azimuthal magnetic field. The transverse laser field efficiently accelerates electrons in…
An experimental investigation of collisionless shock ion acceleration is presented using a multicomponent plasma and a high-intensity picosecond duration laser pulse. Protons are the only accelerated ions when a near-critical-density plasma…
Direct laser acceleration has proven to be an efficient source of high-charge electron bunches and high brilliance X-rays. However, an analytical description of the acceleration in the interaction with varying plasma density targets is…
In this work, we investigate the application of the plasma shutters for heavy ion acceleration driven by a high-intensity laser pulse. We use particle-in-cell (PIC) and hydrodynamic simulations. The laser pulse, transmitted through the…
We report on laser-based ion acceleration using freely suspended liquid crystal film targets, formed with thicknesses varying from 100 $nm$ to 2 $\mu m$ for this experiment. Optimization of Target Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA) of…
The differential sparing of normal tissues relative to tumor control observed at ultra-high dose rates, referred to as the FLASH effect, has recently gained considerable attention. The therapeutic advantages of FLASH radiotherapy are…
While laser-plasma accelerators have demonstrated a strong potential in the acceleration of electrons up to giga-electronvolt energies, few experimental tools for studying the acceleration physics have been developed. In this paper, we…
A novel efficient scheme of acceleration and collimation of dense plasma is proposed and examined. In the proposed scheme, a target placed in a cavity at the entrance of a guiding channel is irradiated by a laser beam introduced into the…
It is conjectured that all perturbative approaches to quantum electrodynamics (QED) break down in the collision of a high-energy electron beam with an intense laser, when the laser fields are boosted to `supercritical' strengths far greater…
The interaction of an intense laser pulse with a solid target produces energetic proton and ion beams through the Target Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA) mechanism. Such beams are under active investigation for applications in proton beam…