Self-Organizing GeV, Nanocoulomb, Collimated Proton Beam from Laser Foil Interaction at 7x10{sup 21} W/cm{sup 2}

Journal Article · Fri Sep 25 00:00:00 EDT 2009 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.103.135001· OSTI ID:21370699

Yan, X Q ^[1]; Wu, H C; Meyer-ter-Vehn, J ^[1]; Sheng, Z M ^[2]; Chen, J E ^[3]

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1. Max-Planck-Institut fuer Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Strasse 1, D-85748 Garching (Germany)
2. Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, CAS, Beijing 100190, China, and Department of Physics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240 (China)
3. State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Technology, Peking University, Beijing 100871 (China)

We report on a self-organizing, quasistable regime of laser proton acceleration, producing 1 GeV nanocoulomb proton bunches from laser foil interaction at an intensity of 7x10{sup 21} W/cm{sup 2}. The results are obtained from 2D particle-in-cell simulations, using a circular polarized laser pulse with Gaussian transverse profile, normally incident on a planar, 500 nm thick hydrogen foil. While foil plasma driven in the wings of the driving pulse is dispersed, a stable central clump with 1-2lambda diameter is forming on the axis. The stabilization is related to laser light having passed the transparent parts of the foil in the wing region and enfolding the central clump that is still opaque. Varying laser parameters, it is shown that the results are stable within certain margins and can be obtained both for protons and heavier ions such as He{sup 2+}.

• OSTI ID: 21370699
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 103, Issue 13; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.135001; (c) 2009 The American Physical Society; ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ACCELERATION
BEAM BUNCHING
FOILS
GEV RANGE 01-10
HEAVY IONS
HELIUM IONS
HYDROGEN
LASERS
PLASMA
PROTON BEAMS
PROTONS
PULSES
SIMULATION
BARYONS
BEAM DYNAMICS
BEAMS
CHARGED PARTICLES
DYNAMICS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ELEMENTS
ENERGY RANGE
FERMIONS
GEV RANGE
HADRONS
IONS
MECHANICS
NONMETALS
NUCLEON BEAMS
NUCLEONS
PARTICLE BEAMS