No Arabic abstract
Laser-driven proton acceleration from novel cryogenic hydrogen target of the thickness of tens of microns irradiated by multiPW laser pulse is investigated here for relevant laser parameters accessible in near future. It is demonstrated that the efficiency of proton acceleration from relatively thick hydrogen solid ribbon largely exceeds the acceleration efficiency for a thinner ionized plastic foil, which can be explained by enhanced hole boring driven by laser ponderomotive force in the case of light ions and lower target density. Three-dimensional (3D) particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of laser pulse interaction with relatively thick hydrogen target show larger energies of protons accelerated in the target interior during the hole boring phase and reduced energies of protons accelerated from the rear side of the target by quasistatic electric field compared with the results obtained from two-dimensional (2D) PIC calculations. Linearly and circularly polarized multiPW laser pulses of duration exceeding 100 fs show similar performance in terms of proton acceleration from both the target interior as well as from the rear side of the target. When ultrashort pulse ($sim$ 30 fs) is assumed, the number of accelerated protons from the target interior is substantially reduced.
The generation of fast ion beams in the hole-boring radiation pressure acceleration by intense laser pulses has been studied for targets with different ion components. We find that the oscillation of the longitudinal electric field for accelerating ions can be effectively suppressed by using a two-ion-species target, because fast ions from a two-ion-species target are distributed into more bunches and each bunch bears less charge. Consequently, the energy spread of ion beams generated in the hole-boring radiation pressure acceleration can be greatly reduced down to 3.7% according to our numerical simulation.
We study electron acceleration in a plasma wakefield under the influence of the radiation-reaction force caused by the transverse betatron oscillations of the electron in the wakefield. Both the classical and the strong quantum-electrodynamic (QED) limits of the radiation reaction are considered. For the constant accelerating force, we show that the amplitude of the oscillations of the QED parameter $chi$ in the radiation-dominated regime reaches the equilibrium value determined only by the magnitude of the accelerating field, while the averaged over betatron oscillations radiation reaction force saturates at the value smaller than the accelerating force and thus is incapable of preventing infinite acceleration. We find the parameters of the electron bunch and the plasma accelerator for which reaching such a regime is possible. We also study effects of the dephasing and the corresponding change of accelerating force over the course of acceleration and conclude that the radiation-dominated regime is realized both in cases of single-stage acceleration with slow dephasing (usually corresponding to bunch-driven plasma accelerators) and multi-stage acceleration with fast dephasing (corresponding to the use of laser-driven accelerators).
In the interaction of laser pulses of extreme intensity ($>10^{23}~{rm W cm}^{-2}$) with high-density, thick plasma targets, simulations show significant radiation friction losses, in contrast to thin targets for which such losses are negligible. We present an analytical calculation, based on classical radiation friction modeling, of the conversion efficiency of the laser energy into incoherent radiation in the case when a circularly polarized pulse interacts with a thick plasma slab of overcritical initial density. By accounting for three effects including the influence of radiation losses on the single electron trajectory, the global `hole boring motion of the laser-plasma interaction region under the action of radiation pressure, and the inhomogeneity of the laser field in both longitudinal and transverse direction, we find a good agreement with the results of three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. Overall, the collective effects greatly reduce radiation losses with respect to electrons driven by the same laser pulse in vacuum, which also shift the reliability of classical calculations up to higher intensities.
We show efficient laser driven proton acceleration up to 14MeV from a 50 $mu$m thick cryogenic hydrogen ribbon. Pulses of the short pulse laser ELFIE at LULI with a pulse length of $approx$ 350 fs at an energy of 8 J per pulse are directed onto the target. The results are compared to proton spectra from metal and plastic foils with different thicknesses and show a similar good performance both in maximum energy as well as in proton number. Thus, this target type is a promising candidate for experiments with high repetition rate laser systems.
Radiation Pressure Acceleration relies on high intensity laser pulse interacting with solid target to obtain high maximum energy, quasimonoenergetic ion beams. Either extremely high power laser pulses or tight focusing of laser radiation is required. The latter would lead to the appearance of the maximum attainable ion energy, which is determined by the laser group velocity and is highly influenced by the transverse expansion of the target. Ion acceleration is only possible with target velocities less than the group velocity of the laser. The transverse expansion of the target makes it transparent for radiation, thus reducing the effectiveness of acceleration. Utilization of an external guiding structure for the accelerating laser pulse may provide a way of compensating for the group velocity and transverse expansion effects.