Reducing ion energy spread in hole-boring radiation pressure acceleration by using two-ion-species targets

Radiation Pressure Acceleration: the factors limiting maximum attainable ion energy

S. S. Bulanov, E. Esarey, C. B. Schroeder, S. V. Bulanov, 3 T. Zh. Esirkepov, M. Kando, F. Pegoraro, and W. P. Leemans 5 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA QuBS, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Kizugawa, Kyoto, 619-0215, Japan A. M. Prokhorov Institute of General Physics RAS, Moscow, 119991, Russia Physics Department, University of Pisa and Istituto Nazionale di ...

Ion acceleration in multispecies targets driven by intense laser radiation pressure.

The acceleration of ions from ultrathin foils has been investigated by using 250 TW, subpicosecond laser pulses, focused to intensities of up to 3 × 10(20) W cm(-2). The ion spectra show the appearance of narrow-band features for protons and carbon ions peaked at higher energies (in the 5-10 MeV/nucleon range) and with significantly higher flux than previously reported. The spectral features an...

Enhancement of maximum attainable ion energy in the radiation pressure acceleration regime using a guiding structure.

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 in...

AFRL-AFOSR-UK-TR-2017-0015 High energy ion acceleration by extreme laser radiation pressure

Radiation-pressure acceleration of ion beams from nanofoil targets: the leaky light-sail regime.

A new ion radiation-pressure acceleration regime, the "leaky light sail," is proposed which uses sub-skin-depth nanometer foils irradiated by circularly polarized laser pulses. In the regime, the foil is partially transparent, continuously leaking electrons out along with the transmitted laser field. This feature can be exploited by a multispecies nanofoil configuration to stabilize the acceler...