Optimization of relativistic laser–ion acceleration

Experiments have shown that the ion energy obtained by laser–ion acceleration can be optimized by choosing either the appropriate pulse duration or the appropriate target thickness. We demonstrate that this behavior can be described either by the target normal sheath acceleration model of Schreiber et al. or by the radiation pressure acceleration model of Bulanov and coworkers. The starting point of our considerations is that the essential property of a laser system for ion acceleration is its pulse energy and not its intensity. Maybe surprisingly we show that higher ion energies can be reached with reduced intensities

Particle acceleration using intense laser produced plasmas

Recent results from high intensity (up to 5 × 10 20 W/cm 2 ) laser plasma interaction experiments at Imperial College London have shown that the plasmas produced during such interactions can be efficient sources of relativistic electron beams and also of high quality beams of non-relativistic ions. These beams may be important for the development of compact sources of energetic particles for applications in science, medicine and technology. (© 2007 by Astro Ltd., Published exclusively by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA)Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/57406/1/847_ftp.pd

Self-guided wakefield experiments driven by petawatt class ultra-short laser pulses

We investigate the extension of self-injecting laser wakefield experiments to the regime that will be accessible with the next generation of petawatt class ultra-short pulse laser systems. Using linear scalings, current experimental trends and numerical simulations we determine the optimal laser and target parameters, i.e. focusing geometry, plasma density and target length, that are required to increase the electron beam energy (to > 1 GeV) without the use of external guiding structures.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure