Influence of a preplasma on electron heating and proton acceleration in ultraintense laser-foil interaction

Journal Article · Sat Nov 15 04:00:00 EST 2008 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3028274· OSTI ID:21185916

Nuter, R; Gremillet, L; Combis, P; Drouin, M; Lefebvre, E ^[1]; Flacco, A; Malka, V ^[2]

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1. CEA, DAM, DIF, F-91297 Arpajon (France)
2. Laboratoire d'Optique Appliquee (LOA), ENSTA-CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, F-91761 Palaiseau (France)

Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations are performed to study laser-induced proton acceleration from solid-density targets in the presence of laser-generated preformed plasma. The preplasma generation and hydrodynamics are described using a one-dimensional Lagrangian code. The electron acceleration mechanism is shown to depend on the plasma scale length, exhibiting a transition from j-vectorxB-vector heating to standing wave heating as smoother and smoother profiles are considered. Accordingly, the relativistic electron temperature and the cutoff proton energy are found to increase with the preplasma characteristic length.

• OSTI ID: 21185916
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Applied Physics Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 104; ISSN JAPIAU; ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ACCELERATION
ACCELERATORS
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
ELECTRONS
FOILS
HYDRODYNAMICS
LAGRANGIAN FUNCTION
LASERS
ONE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
PLASMA
PLASMA GUNS
PLASMA HEATING
PLASMA PRODUCTION
PLASMA SIMULATION
PROTON BEAMS
PROTONS
RELATIVISTIC RANGE
STANDING WAVES
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS