Above-60-MeV proton acceleration with a 150 TW laser system.
Laser-accelerated proton beams can be used in a variety of applications, e.g. ultrafast radiography of dense objects or strong electromagnetic fields. Therefore high energies of tens of MeV are required. We report on proton-acceleration experiments with a 150 TW laser system using mm-sized thin foils and mass-reduced targets of various thicknesses. Thin- foil targets yielded maximum energies of 50 MeV. A further reduction of the target dimensions from mm-size to 250 x 250 x 25 microns increased the maximum proton energy to >65 MeV, which is comparable to proton energies measured only at higher-energy, Petawatt-class laser systems. The dependence of the maximum energy on target dimensions was investigated, and differences between mm-sized thin foils and mass-reduced targets will be reported.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Laboratories
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 1035635
- Report Number(s):
- SAND2010-8553C
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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