Related papers: Orientation-Dependent Ion Acceleration from Laser-…
We predict that electrons in an ion channel can gain ultra-relativistic energies by simultaneously interacting with a laser pulse and, counter-intuitively, with a decelerating electric field. The crucial role of the decelerating field is to…
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…
Ultra-intense lasers produce and manipulate plasmas, allowing to locally generate extremely high static and electromagnetic fields. This Letter presents a concept of an ultra-intense optical tweezer, where two counter-propagating circularly…
Calculations on the dynamics of ions and electrons in near-infrared laser fields at intensities up to $3 \times 10^{23}$ W/cm$^2$ are presented. We explore the acceleration of ions in a laser focus by conservation of canonical momentum…
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,…
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 influence of laser frequency on laser-driven ion acceleration is investigated by means of two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. When ultrashort intense laser pulse at higher harmonic frequency irradiates a thin solid foil, the…
Laser-induced ionization is a fundamental tool for the frequency conversion of lasers into spectral regions so far inaccessible, including both extreme ultraviolet and terahertz. The low-frequency currents induced by laser-driven ionization…
Studies on out-of-equilibrium dynamics have paved a way to realize a new state of matter. Especially, superconductor-like properties above room temperatures recently suggested in copper oxides achieved by selectively exciting vibrational…
High-energy ion irradiation deposits extreme energy in a narrow range (1-10 nm) along ion trajectories in solid through electronic energy loss, producing unique irradiation effects such as ion tracks. However, intrinsic velocity effects…
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…
Ionising radiation interactions in matter can trigger a cascade of processes that underpin long-lived damage in the medium. To date, however, a lack of suitable methodologies has precluded our ability to understand the role that material…
The generation of compact, high-energy ion beams is one of the most promising applications of intense laser-matter interactions, but the control of the beam spectral quality remains an outstanding challenge. We show that in radiation…
The substantial angular divergence of electron beams produced by direct laser acceleration is often considered as an inherent negative feature of the mechanism. The divergence however arises primarily because the standard approach relies on…
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…
We examine ion acceleration by irradiating a hundred TW laser pulse on a double-layer target. It is shown analytically and by three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations that higher energy protons are obtained by using material with a…
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…
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…
Positron creation and acceleration is one of the major challenges for constructing future lepton colliders. On the one hand, conventional technology can provide a solution, but at a prohibitive cost and scale. On the other hand,…
Ionization and excitation of water molecules in intense laser pulses is studied theoretically by solving the three-dimensional time-dependent electronic Schr\"odinger equation within the single-active-electron approximation. The possibility…