Influence of the laser prepulse on proton acceleration in thin-foil experiments

We investigate the influence of the laser prepulse due to amplified spontaneous emission on the acceleration of protons in thin-foil experiments. We show that changing the prepulse duration has a profound effect on the maximum proton energy. We find an optimal value for the target thickness, which s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPhysical review letters Vol. 93; no. 4; p. 045003
Main Authors Kaluza, M, Schreiber, J, Santala, M I K, Tsakiris, G D, Eidmann, K, Meyer-Ter-Vehn, J, Witte, K J
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 23.07.2004
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Summary:We investigate the influence of the laser prepulse due to amplified spontaneous emission on the acceleration of protons in thin-foil experiments. We show that changing the prepulse duration has a profound effect on the maximum proton energy. We find an optimal value for the target thickness, which strongly depends on the prepulse duration. At this optimal thickness, the rear side acceleration process leads to the highest proton energies, while this mechanism is rendered ineffective for thinner targets due to a prepulse-induced plasma formation at the rear side. In this case, the protons are primarily accelerated by the front side mechanism leading to lower cutoff energies.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.93.045003