Experimental study of proton emission from 60-fs, 200-mJ high-repetition-rate tabletop-laser pulses interacting with solid targets

Analysis of laser-proton acceleration experiments for development of empirical scaling laws

Numerous experiments on laser-driven proton acceleration in the MeV range have been performed with a large variety of laser parameters since its discovery around the year 2000. Both experiments and simulations have revealed that protons are accelerated up to a maximum cut-off energy during this process. Several attempts have been made to find a universal model for laser proton acceleration in the target normal sheath acceleration regime. While these models can qualitatively explain most experimental findings, they can hardly be used as predictive models, for example, for the energy cut-off of accelerated protons, as many of the underlying parameters are often unknown. Here we analyze experiments on laser proton acceleration in which scans of laser and target parameters were performed. We derive empirical scaling laws from these parameter scans and combine them in a scaling law for the proton energy cut-off that incorporates the laser pulse energy, the laser pulse duration, the focal spot radius, and the target thickness. Using these scaling laws, we give examples for predicting the proton energy cut-off and conversion efficiency for state-of-the-art laser systems.

Role of target material in proton acceleration from thin foils irradiated by ultrashort laser pulses

We report on the proton acceleration studies from thin metallic foils of varying atomic number (Z) and thicknesses, investigated using a 45 fs, 10 TW Ti:sapphire laser system. An optimum foil thickness was observed for efficient proton acceleration for our laser conditions, dictated by the laser ASE prepulse and hot electron propagation behavior inside the material. The hydrodynamic simulations for ASE prepulse support the experimental observation. The observed maximum proton energy at different thicknesses for a given element is in good agreement with the reported scaling laws. The results with foils of different atomic number Z suggest that a judicious choice of the foil material can enhance the proton acceleration efficiency, resulting into higher proton energy.

Enhanced proton acceleration by an ultrashort laser interaction with structured dynamic plasma targets

We experimentally demonstrate a notably enhanced acceleration of protons to high energy by relatively modest ultrashort laser pulses and structured dynamical plasma targets. Realized by special deposition of snow targets on sapphire substrates and using carefully planned prepulses, high proton yields emitted in a narrow solid angle with energy above 21 MeV were detected from a 5 TW laser. Our simulations predict that using the proposed scheme protons can be accelerated to energies above 150 MeV by 100 TW laser systems.

Plasma expansion into vacuum assuming a steplike electron energy distribution

The expansion of a semi-infinite plasma slab into vacuum is analyzed with a hydrodynamic model implying a steplike electron energy distribution function. Analytic expressions for the maximum ion energy and the related ion distribution function are derived and compared with one-dimensional numerical simulations. The choice of the specific non-Maxwellian initial electron energy distribution automatically ensures the conservation of the total energy of the system. The estimated ion energies may differ by an order of magnitude from the values obtained with an adiabatic expansion model supposing a Maxwellian electron distribution. Furthermore, good agreement with data from experiments using laser pulses of ultrashort durations τ(L)</~80fs is found, while this is not the case when a hot Maxwellian electron distribution is assumed.

Review of laser-driven ion sources and their applications

For many years, laser-driven ion acceleration, mainly proton acceleration, has been proposed and a number of proof-of-principle experiments have been carried out with lasers whose pulse duration was in the nanosecond range. In the 1990s, ion acceleration in a relativistic plasma was demonstrated with ultra-short pulse lasers based on the chirped pulse amplification technique which can provide not only picosecond or femtosecond laser pulse duration, but simultaneously ultra-high peak power of terawatt to petawatt levels. Starting from the year 2000, several groups demonstrated low transverse emittance, tens of MeV proton beams with a conversion efficiency of up to several percent. The laser-accelerated particle beams have a duration of the order of a few picoseconds at the source, an ultra-high peak current and a broad energy spectrum, which make them suitable for many, including several unique, applications. This paper reviews, firstly, the historical background including the early laser-matter interaction studies on energetic ion acceleration relevant to inertial confinement fusion. Secondly, we describe several implemented and proposed mechanisms of proton and/or ion acceleration driven by ultra-short high-intensity lasers. We pay special attention to relatively simple models of several acceleration regimes. The models connect the laser, plasma and proton/ion beam parameters, predicting important features, such as energy spectral shape, optimum conditions and scalings under these conditions for maximum ion energy, conversion efficiency, etc. The models also suggest possible ways to manipulate the proton/ion beams by tailoring the target and irradiation conditions. Thirdly, we review experimental results on proton/ion acceleration, starting with the description of driving lasers. We list experimental results and show general trends of parameter dependences and compare them with the theoretical predictions and simulations. The fourth topic includes a review of scientific, industrial and medical applications of laser-driven proton or ion sources, some of which have already been established, while the others are yet to be demonstrated. In most applications, the laser-driven ion sources are complementary to the conventional accelerators, exhibiting significantly different properties. Finally, we summarize the paper.

Laser Acceleration of Ions for Radiation Therapy

Ion beam therapy for cancer has proven to be a successful clinical approach, affording as good a cure as surgery and a higher quality of life. However, the ion beam therapy installation is large and expensive, limiting its availability for public benefit. One of the hurdles is to make the accelerator more compact on the basis of conventional technology. Laser acceleration of ions represents a rapidly developing young field. The prevailing acceleration mechanism (known as target normal sheath acceleration, TNSA), however, shows severe limitations in some key elements. We now witness that a new regime of coherent acceleration of ions by laser (CAIL) has been studied to overcome many of these problems and accelerate protons and carbon ions to high energies with higher efficiencies. Emerging scaling laws indicate possible realization of an ion therapy facility with compact, cost-efficient lasers. Furthermore, dense particle bunches may allow the use of much higher collective fields, reducing the size of beam transport and dump systems. Though ultimate realization of a laser-driven medical facility may take many years, the field is developing fast with many conceptual innovations and technical progress.

Energy increase in multi-MeV ion acceleration in the interaction of a short pulse laser with a cluster-gas target

An approach for accelerating ions, with the use of a cluster-gas target and an ultrashort pulse laser of 150-mJ energy and 40-fs duration, is presented. Ions with energy 10-20 MeV per nucleon having a small divergence (full angle) of 3.4 degrees are generated in the forward direction, corresponding to approximately tenfold increase in the ion energies compared to previous experiments using solid targets. It is inferred from a particle-in-cell simulation that the high energy ions are generated at the rear side of the target due to the formation of a strong dipole vortex structure in subcritical density plasmas.

Generation of intense proton beams from plastic targets irradiated by an ultraintense laser pulse

Proton beams generated from thin aluminum and Mylar foil targets that are irradiated by a 30fs Ti:sapphire laser pulse with an intensity of 2.2x10;{18}Wcm;{2} were investigated. Protons from the Mylar targets were observed to have an energy higher by a factor of 2 and were higher in number by an order of magnitude as compared with those generated from the aluminum targets. The maximum proton energy of 1.3+/-0.12MeV obtained from the Mylar target was found to be similar with previous observations that used laser pulses with different intensities. To address the anomalous behavior of the maximum proton energy for plastic targets, an acceleration model is proposed. In this model, the protons are accelerated by a resistively induced electric field in the front of the target, which can account for the experimental observations.

Theory of light-ion acceleration driven by a strong charge separation

A theoretical model of the quasistatic electric field, formed at the rear surface of a thin solid target irradiated by a ultraintense subpicosecond laser pulse, due to the appearance of a cloud of ultrarelativistic bound electrons, is developed. It allows one to correctly describe the spatial profile of the accelerating field and to predict the maximum energies and the energy spectra of the accelerated ions. The agreement of the theoretical expectations with the experimental data looks satisfactory in a wide range of conditions. Previsions of regimes achievable in the future are given.

Proton acceleration with high-intensity ultrahigh-contrast laser pulses

We report on simultaneous measurements of backward- and forward-accelerated protons spectra when an ultrahigh intensity (approximately 5 x 10(18) W/cm(20), ultrahigh contrast (>10(10)) laser pulse interacts with foils of thickness ranging from 0.08 to 105 microm. Under such conditions, free of preplasma originating from ionization of the laser-irradiated surface, we show that the maximum proton energies are proportional to the p component of the laser electric field only and not to the ponderomotive force and that the characteristics of the proton beams originating from both target sides are almost identical. All these points have been corroborated by extensive 1D and 2D particle-in-cell simulations showing a very good agreement with the experimental data.

Analytical model for ion acceleration by high-intensity laser pulses

We present a general expression for the maximum ion energy observed in experiments with thin foils irradiated by high-intensity laser pulses. The analytical model is based on a radially confined surface charge set up by laser accelerated electrons on the target rear side. The only input parameters are the properties of the laser pulse and the target thickness. The predicted maximum ion energy and the optimal laser pulse duration are supported by dedicated experiments for a broad range of different ions.

Quasimonoenergetic deuteron bursts produced by ultraintense laser pulses

We report on the generation and laser acceleration of bunches of energetic deuterons with a small energy spread at about 2 MeV. This quasimonoenergetic peak within the ion energy spectrum was observed when heavy-water microdroplets were irradiated with ultrashort laser pulses of about 40 fs duration and high (10(-8)) temporal contrast, at an intensity of 10(19) W/cm(2). The results can be explained by a simple physical model related to spatial separation of two ion species within a finite-volume target. The production of quasimonoenergetic ions is a long-standing goal in laser-particle acceleration; it could have diverse applications such as in medicine or in the development of future compact ion accelerators.

High-intensity laser-driven proton acceleration: influence of pulse contrast

Proton acceleration from the interaction of ultra-short laser pulses with thin foil targets at intensities greater than 10(18) W cm(-2) is discussed. An overview of the physical processes giving rise to the generation of protons with multi-MeV energies, in well defined beams with excellent spatial quality, is presented. Specifically, the discussion centres on the influence of laser pulse contrast on the spatial and energy distributions of accelerated proton beams. Results from an ongoing experimental investigation of proton acceleration using the 10 Hz multi-terawatt Ti:sapphire laser (35f s, 35 TW) at the Lund Laser Centre are discussed. It is demonstrated that a window of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) conditions exist, for which the direction of proton emission is sensitive to the ASE-pedestal preceding the peak of the laser pulse, and that by significantly improving the temporal contrast, using plasma mirrors, efficient proton acceleration is observed from target foils with thickness less than 50 nm.

Laser-plasma acceleration of quasi-monoenergetic protons from microstructured targets

Particle acceleration based on high intensity laser systems (a process known as laser-plasma acceleration) has achieved high quality particle beams that compare favourably with conventional acceleration techniques in terms of emittance, brightness and pulse duration. A long-term difficulty associated with laser-plasma acceleration--the very broad, exponential energy spectrum of the emitted particles--has been overcome recently for electron beams. Here we report analogous results for ions, specifically the production of quasi-monoenergetic proton beams using laser-plasma accelerators. Reliable and reproducible laser-accelerated ion beams were achieved by intense laser irradiation of solid microstructured targets. This proof-of-principle experiment serves to illuminate the role of laser-generated plasmas as feasible particle sources. Scalability studies show that, owing to their compact size and reasonable cost, such table-top laser systems with high repetition rates could contribute to the development of new generations of particle injectors that may be suitable for medical proton therapy.

Direct acceleration of solid-density plasma bunch by ultraintense laser

The interaction of a petawatt laser with a small solid-density plasma bunch is studied by particle-in-cell simulation. It is shown that when irradiated by a laser of intensity >10(21) W/cm2, a dense plasma bunch of micrometer size can be efficiently accelerated. The kinetic energy of the ions in the high-density region of the plasma bunch can exceed ten MeV at a density in the 10(23)-cm(-3) level. Having a flux density orders of magnitude higher than that of the traditional charged-particle pulses, the laser-accelerated plasma bunch can have a wide range of applications. In particular, such a dense energetic plasma bunch impinging on the compressed fuel in inertial fusion can significantly enhance the nuclear-reaction cross section and is thus a promising alternative for fast ignition.

Observation of neutronless fusion reactions in picosecond laser plasmas

The yield of alpha particles in neutronless fusion reactions 11B +p in plasmas produced by picosecond laser pulses with the peak intensity of 2 x 10(18) W/cm2 has been observed. Experiments were carried out on the "Neodymium" laser facility at the pulse energy of 10-12 J and pulse duration of 1.5 ps. The composite targets 11B + (CH2)n were used. The yield of 10(3) alpha particles per pulse has been observed. The energy spectrum of alpha particles contains two maxima: at 3-4 MeV and at 6-10 MeV . The first of these peaks corresponds to the secondary alpha12 particles at the decay of the intermediate first excited state of 8Be, whereas the second peak demonstrates generation of alpha1 particles in the reaction 11B +p with the production of this excited state. Simultaneous measurements of neutrons result in zero yield, which proves the observation of neutronless fusion reactions in our experiments.

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 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.

Charge separation effects in solid targets and ion acceleration with a two-temperature electron distribution

The electrostatic field at the solid-vacuum interface generated by two electron populations with different thermal energies, each following a Boltzmann distribution, is analytically derived from the Poisson equation and studied in terms of plasma parameters. In particular, the effect of the pressure of each of the two populations on the amplitude of the electric field and on its spatial extension is described. In order to evaluate the cold electron temperature, an analytical model for the Ohmic heating of the background electron population by laser generated fast electrons is developed and the consequences on ion detachment, ionization, and acceleration processes in laser-solid experiments are discussed. The efficiency of ion acceleration is shown to be controlled by the heating rate of the background electrons.