[HHUD Theory Seminar] Laser-driven monoenergetic high energy ion acceleration from a microplate

durch Dr. Xiaofei Shen (Heinrich Heine Universität Düsseldorf)

Mittwoch 11.11.2020, 11:00 → 13:00 Europe/Berlin

HHUD

Intense laser-plasma ion sources are characterized by unsurpassed acceleration gradient and exceptional beam emittance. They are promising candidates for next-generation accelerator towards a broad range of potential applications. However, the ion beams achieved currently have limitations in energy spread and peak ion energy.

In this talk, I will present our recent work on achieving monoenergetic proton beams. Using fully three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we show that readily available femtosecond laser systems can stably generate proton beams with low spread at ~1% level and hundred MeV energy by parallel irradiation of a tens of micrometers long plasma plate. As the laser pulse sweeps along the plate, it drags out a huge charge (~100 nC) of collimated energetic electrons and accelerates them along the plate surface to superponderomotive energies. When this dense electron current arrives at the rear end of the plate, it induces a strong electrostatic field. Due to the excessive space charge of electrons, the longitudinal field becomes bunching while the transverse field is focusing. Together, this leads to a highly monoenergetic energy spectrum and much higher proton energy as compared to simulation results from typical target normal sheath acceleration and radiation pressure acceleration at the same laser parameters.

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