Scaling Laws for Proton Acceleration from the Rear Surface of Laser-Irradiated Thin Foils

Journal Article · Fri Apr 07 00:00:00 EDT 2006 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2195215· OSTI ID:20798467

Fuchs, J ^[1]; Antici, P ^[1]; D'Humieres, E; Lefebvre, E ^[2]; Borghesi, M; Cecchetti, C A ^[3]; Brambrink, E; Audebert, P ^[1]; Kaluza, M; Schreiber, J ^[4]; Malka, V; Manclossi, M ^[5]; Meyroneinc, S ^[6]; Mora, P ^[7]; Toncian, T ^[8]; Pepin, H ^[9]

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1. Laboratoire pour l'Utilisation des Lasers Intenses, UMR 7605 CNRS-CEA-Ecole Polytechnique-Universite Paris VI, Palaiseau (France)
2. DPTA, CEA-DIF, Bruyeres-le-Chatel (France)
3. School of Mathematics and Physics, The Queen's University, Belfast (United Kingdom)
4. Max-Planck-Institut fuer Quantenoptik, 85748 Garching (Germany)
5. Laboratoire d'Optique Appliquee, ENSTA -- Ecole Polytechnique, Chemin de la Huniere, 91761 Palaiseau Cedex (France)
6. Centre de Protontherapie d'Orsay, BP 65, 91402 Orsay (France)
7. Centre de Physique Theorique, UMR 7644 CNRS-Ecole Polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau (France)
8. Institut fuer Laser und Plasmaphysik, Heinrich-Heine-Universitaet, Duesseldorf (Germany)
9. INRS-EMT, 1650 bd. L. Boulet, J3X1S2 Varennes, Quebec (Canada)

In the last few years, intense research has been conducted on the topic of laser-accelerated ion sources and their applications. Ultra-bright beams of multi-MeV protons are produced by irradiating thin metallic foils with ultra-intense short laser pulses. These sources open new opportunities for ion beam generation and control, and could stimulate development of compact ion accelerators for many applications, in particular proton therapy of deep-seated tumours. Here we show that scaling laws deduced from fluid models reproduce well the acceleration of proton beams for a large range of laser and target parameters. These scaling laws show that, in our regime, there is an optimum in the laser pulse duration of {approx}200 fs-1 ps, with a needed laser energy level of 30 to 100 J, in order to achieve e.g. 200 MeV energy protons necessary for proton therapy.

• OSTI ID: 20798467
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 827, Issue 1; Conference: 3. international conference on superstrong fields in plasmas, Varenna (Italy), 19-24 Sep 2005; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2195215; (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ACCELERATION
ACCELERATORS
CONTROL
ENERGY LEVELS
FOILS
ION BEAMS
ION SOURCES
IONS
LASER RADIATION
LASERS
MEV RANGE
PLASMA HEATING
PLASMA PRODUCTION
PROTON BEAMS
PROTONS
PULSES
SCALING LAWS