Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Journal | Applied Physics Letters |
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Date | Published - 26 May 2014 |
Issue number | 21 |
Volume | 104 |
Original language | English |
Bright proton beams with maximum energies of up to 30MeV have been observed in an experiment investigating ion sheath acceleration driven by a short pulse (<50 fs) laser. The scaling of maximum proton energy and total beam energy content at ultra-high intensities of ∼1021 W cm-2 was investigated, with the interplay between target thickness and laser pre-pulse found to be a key factor. While the maximum proton energies observed were maximised for lm-thick targets, the total proton energy content was seen to peak for thinner, 500 nm, foils. The total proton beam energy reached up to 440 mJ (a conversion efficiency of 4%), marking a significant step forward for many laser-driven ion applications. The experimental results are supported by hydrodynamic and particle-in-cell simulations.
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