Enhancement of Maximum Attainable Ion Energy in the Radiation Pressure Acceleration Regime Using a Guiding Structure

Year: 2015

Authors: Bulanov SS., Esarey E., Schroeder CB., Bulanov SV., Esirkepov TZ., Kando M., Pegoraro F., Leemans WP.

Autors Affiliation: Univ Calif Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA; Univ Calif Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley Natl Lab, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA; JAEA, Kansai Photon Sci Inst, Kizugawa, Kyoto 6190215, Japan; Russian Acad Sci, Prokhorov Inst Gen Phys, Moscow 119991, Russia; Moscow Inst Phys & Technol, Dolgoprudnyi 141700, Moscow Region, Russia; Univ Pisa, Dept Phys, I-56127 Pisa, Italy; CNR, Ist Nazl Ott, I-56127 Pisa, Italy.

Abstract: Radiation pressure acceleration is a highly efficient mechanism of laser-driven ion acceleration, with the laser energy almost totally transferrable to the ions in the relativistic regime. There is a fundamental limit on the maximum attainable ion energy, which is determined by the group velocity of the laser. In the case of tightly focused laser pulses, which are utilized to get the highest intensity, another factor limiting the maximum ion energy comes into play, the transverse expansion of the target. Transverse expansion makes the target transparent for radiation, thus reducing the effectiveness of acceleration. Utilization of an external guiding structure for the accelerating laser pulse may provide a way of compensating for the group velocity and transverse expansion effects.

Journal/Review: PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS

Volume: 114 (10)      Pages from: 105003-1  to: 105003-5

More Information: We acknowledge support from the NSF under Grant No. PHY-0935197 and the Office of Science of the US DOE under Contracts No. DE-AC02-05CH11231 and No. DE-FG02-12ER41798 and Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports of the Czech Republic under the Project No. CZ.1.05/1.1.00/02.0061. The authors would like to thank C. Benedetti, M. Chen, C. G. R. Geddes, and L. Yu for discussions.
KeyWords: Intense Laser-pulses; Ultra-intense; Underdense Plasma; Fast Ignition; Electrodynamics; Generation; Physics
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.105003

Citations: 32
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