Relativistic Buneman instability in the laser breakout afterburner
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)
A new laser-driven ion acceleration mechanism has been identified in particle-in-cell simulations of high-contrast-ratio ultraintense lasers with very thin (10 s of nm) solid targets [Yin et al., Laser and Particle Beams 24, 291 (2006); Yin et al., Phys. Plasmas 13, 072701 (2007)]. After a brief period of target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA), 'enhanced' TNSA follows. In this stage, the laser rapidly heats all the electrons in the target as the target thickness becomes comparable to the skin depth and enhanced acceleration of the ions results. Then, concomitant with the laser penetrating the target, a large accelerating longitudinal electric field is generated that co-moves with the ions. This last phase has been termed the laser 'breakout afterburner' (BOA). Earlier work suggested that the BOA was associated with the Buneman instability that efficiently converts energy from the drift of the electrons into the ions. In this Brief Communication, this conjecture is found to be consistent with particle-in-cell simulation data and the analytic dispersion relation for the relativistic Buneman instability.
- OSTI ID:
- 21069860
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 14, Issue 9; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2768933; (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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