Enhanced proton acceleration by intense laser interaction with an inverse cone target

Journal Article · Mon Aug 15 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4960026· OSTI ID:22599943

Bake, Muhammad Ali; Aimidula, Aimierding; Xiaerding, Fuerkaiti; Rashidin, Reyima ^[1]

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1. School of Physics Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046 (China)

The generation and control of high-quality proton bunches using focused intense laser pulse on an inverse cone target is investigated with a set of particle-in-cell simulations. The inverse cone is a high atomic number conical frustum with a thin solid top and open base, where the laser impinges onto the top surface directly, not down the open end of the cone. Results are compared with a simple planar target, where the proton angular distribution is very broad because of transverse divergence of the electromagnetic fields behind the target. For a conical target, hot electrons along the cone wall surface induce a transverse focusing sheath field. This field can effectively suppress the spatial spreading of the protons, resulting in a high-quality small-emittance, low-divergence proton beam. A slightly lower proton beam peak energy than that of a conventional planar target was also found.

• OSTI ID: 22599943
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 23, Issue 8; Other Information: (c) 2016 Author(s); Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ACCELERATION
ANGULAR DISTRIBUTION
ATOMIC NUMBER
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CONES
CONTROL
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
ELECTRONS
FOCUSING
INTERACTIONS
LASERS
PARTICLES
PROTON BEAMS
PROTONS
SIMULATION
SOLIDS
SURFACES
WALLS