Related papers: Direct laser acceleration in varying plasma densit…
The similarity theory is derived for ultra-relativistic laser-plasma interactions. First, it is shown that the most fundamental S-similarity is valid for both under- and overdense plasmas. Then, the particular case of tenious plasma is…
Laser-plasma acceleration produces ultrashort, high-brightness ion beams reaching tens of MeV, yet their large divergence and broad energy spread require dedicated capture elements for beam transport. Using laser-accelerated protons from…
Ultra-short high-power lasers can deliver extreme light intensities ($\ge 10^{20}$ W/cm$^2$ and $\leq 30 f$s) and drive large amplitude Surface Plasma Wave (SPW) at over-dense plasma surface. The resulting current of energetic electron has…
We report on systematic and high-precision measurements of dephasing, an effect that fundamentally limits the performance of laser wakefield accelerators. Utilizing shock-front injection, a technique providing stable, tunable and…
We study the onset of electron heating in intense laser-solid interactions and its impact on the spectral quality of radiation pressure accelerated ions in both hole boring and light sail regimes. Two- and three-dimensional particle-in-cell…
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…
Dielectric laser acceleration of electrons close to a fused-silica grating has recently been observed (Peralta et al., Nature 503, 91 (2013); Breuer, Hommelhoff, PRL 111, 134803 (2013)). Here we present the theoretical description of the…
This research demonstrates high-repetition-rate laser-accelerated ion beams via dual, intersecting, counterpropagating laser-driven blast waves to precisely shape underdense gas into long-lived near-critical density targets. The collision…
Theoretical investigations show that linearly and radially polarized multiterawatt and petawatt laser beams, focused to subwavelength waist radii, can directly accelerate protons and carbon nuclei, over micron-size distances, to the…
Laser-driven plasma accelerators provide acceleration gradients three orders of magnitude greater than conventional machines, offering the potential to shrink the length of accelerators by the same factor. To date, laser-acceleration of…
Contact and projection electron radiography of static targets was demonstrated using a laser plasma accelerator driven by a kilojoule, picosecond class laser as a source of relativistic electrons with an average energy of 20 MeV. Objects…
Laser-plasma proton acceleration was investigated in the Target Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA) regime using a novel gas-foil target. The target is designed for reaching higher laser intensity at the foil plane owing to relativistic…
Particles are accelerated to very high, non-thermal energies in space, solar, and astrophysical plasma environments. In cosmic ray physics, the "Hillas limit" is often used as a rough estimate (or the necessary condition) of the maximum…
We demonstrate that laser reflection acts as a catalyst for superponderomotive electron production in the preplasma formed by relativistic multipicosecond lasers incident on solid density targets. In 1D particle-in-cell simulations, high…
The idea of using a gas-mixture comprising atoms with high mass number in order to increase proton energies in laser induced plasma acceleration at under critical density is investigated by means of 2D PIC (Particle-In-Cell) simulations.…
The generation of energetic electron bunches by the interaction of a short, ultra-intense ($I>10^{19} \textrm{W/cm}^2$) laser pulse with "grating" targets has been investigated in a regime of ultra-high pulse-to-prepulse contrast…
Ultra-high intensity laser-plasma interactions can produce ultra-relativistic electrons via direct laser acceleration, assisted by quasi-static plasma magnetic and electric fields. These fields transversely confine electron motion and…
A numerical study on ion acceleration in electrostatic shock waves is presented, with the aim of determining the best plasma configuration to achieve quasi-monoenergetic ion beams in laser-driven systems. It was recently shown that tailored…
We consider a possibilty to use an echelon of mutually coherent laser pulses generated by the emerging CAN (Coherent Amplification Network) technology for direct particle acceleration in periodic plasma structures. The plasma structure…
Progress in optical techniques has made precision control of the phase profile in optical pulses common and accessible in scientific laboratories. Carefully shaping the field profile of a laser pulse can be used to master the dynamics of…