Laser-Ion Lens and Accelerator

Abstract

Generation of highly collimated monoenergetic relativistic ion beams is one of the most challenging and promising areas in ultra-intense laser-matter interactions because of the numerous scientific and technological applications that require such beams. We address this challenge by introducing the concept of laser-ion lensing and acceleration (LILA). Using a simple analogy with a gradient-index lens, we demonstrate that simultaneous focusing and acceleration of ions is accomplished by illuminating a shaped solid-density target by an intense laser pulse at ~10^22 W/cm^2 intensity, and using radiation pressure of the laser to deform/focus the target into a cubic micron spot. We show that the LILA process can be approximated using a simple deformable mirror model, and then validate it using three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of a two-species plasma target comprised of electrons and ions. Extensive scans of the laser and target parameters identify the stable propagation regime where the Rayleigh-Taylor (RT)-like instability is suppressed. Stable focusing are found at different laser powers (from few- to multi-petawatt). Focused ion beams with the focused density of order 10^23 cm^-3, energies in access of 750MeV, and energy density up to 2*10^13 J/cm^3 at the focal point are predicted for future multi-petawatt laser systems.

References in corpus (7)

• Radiation Pressure Dominate Regime of Relativistic Ion Acceleration
• Radiation Pressure Acceleration of Thin Foils with Circularly Polarized Laser Pulses
• Laser acceleration of ion bunches at the front surface of overdense plasmas
• Stable laser-driven proton beam acceleration from a two-specie ultra-thin foil
• Reflection of light from a uniformly moving mirror
• Simulations of stable compact proton beam acceleration from a two-ion-species ultrathin foil
• Kilohertz binary phase modulator for pulsed laser sources using a digital micromirror device

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Radiation pressure acceleration of high-quality ion beams using ultrashort laser pulses
• On the control of electron heating for optimal laser radiation pressure ion acceleration
• Acceleration and focusing of multispecies ion beam using a converging laser-driven shock
• Radiation pressure acceleration of protons from structured thin-foil targets