Laser-driven shock acceleration of ion beams from spherical mass-limited targets

We report on experimental studies of ion acceleration from spherical targets of diameter 15 microm irradiated by ultraintense (1x10(20) W/cm2) pulses from a 20-TW Ti:sapphire laser system. A highly directed proton beam with plateau-shaped spectrum extending to energies up to 8 MeV is observed in the...

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Published inPhysical review letters Vol. 102; no. 9; p. 095002
Main Authors Henig, A, Kiefer, D, Geissler, M, Rykovanov, S G, Ramis, R, Hörlein, R, Osterhoff, J, Major, Zs, Veisz, L, Karsch, S, Krausz, F, Habs, D, Schreiber, J
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 06.03.2009
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Summary:We report on experimental studies of ion acceleration from spherical targets of diameter 15 microm irradiated by ultraintense (1x10(20) W/cm2) pulses from a 20-TW Ti:sapphire laser system. A highly directed proton beam with plateau-shaped spectrum extending to energies up to 8 MeV is observed in the laser propagation direction. This beam arises from acceleration in a converging shock launched by the laser, which is confirmed by 3-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. The temporal evolution of the shock-front curvature shows excellent agreement with a two-dimensional radiation pressure model.
ISSN:0031-9007
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.102.095002