Stable radiation pressure acceleration of ions by suppressing transverse Rayleigh-Taylor instability with multiple Gaussian pulses

Journal Article · Mon Aug 15 04:00:00 EDT 2016 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4960312· OSTI ID:22599944

Zhou, M. L.; Liu, B.; Hu, R. H.; Shou, Y. R.; Lin, C.; Lu, H. Y.; Lu, Y. R.; Gu, Y. Q. ^[1]

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1. Laser Fusion Research Center, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang, Sichuan 621900 (China)

In the case of a thin plasma slab accelerated by the radiation pressure of an ultra-intense laser pulse, the development of Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI) will destroy the acceleration structure and terminate the acceleration process much sooner than theoretical limit. In this paper, a new scheme using multiple Gaussian pulses for ion acceleration in a radiation pressure acceleration regime is investigated with particle-in-cell simulation. We found that with multiple Gaussian pulses, the instability could be efficiently suppressed and the divergence of the ion bunch is greatly reduced, resulting in a longer acceleration time and much more collimated ion bunch with higher energy than using a single Gaussian pulse. An analytical model is developed to describe the suppression of RTI at the laser-plasma interface. The model shows that the suppression of RTI is due to the introduction of the long wavelength mode RTI by the multiple Gaussian pulses.

• OSTI ID: 22599944
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 23; ISSN PHPAEN; 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
ANALYTICAL SOLUTION
GAUSSIAN PROCESSES
INHIBITION
INTERFACES
IONS
LASERS
PARTICLES
PLASMA
PULSES
RADIATION PRESSURE
RAYLEIGH-TAYLOR INSTABILITY
SIMULATION
SLABS
WAVELENGTHS