Dominance of hole-boring radiation pressure acceleration regime with thin ribbon of ionized solid hydrogen

0521652 - FZÚ 2020 RIV GB eng J - Journal Article
Pšikal, Jan - Matys, M.
Dominance of hole-boring radiation pressure acceleration regime with thin ribbon of ionized solid hydrogen.
Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. Roč. 60, č. 4 (2018), s. 1-11, č. článku 044003. ISSN 0741-3335. E-ISSN 1361-6587
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT LQ1606
Institutional support: RVO:68378271
Keywords : ion-acceleration * laser-driven proton acceleration * hydrogen ribbon * hole boring * radiation pressure acceleration * particle-in-cell simulation
OECD category: Fluids and plasma physics (including surface physics)
Impact factor: 2.799, year: 2018
Method of publishing: Limited access
https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6587/aaa7fa

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 (HB) driven by laser ponderomotive force in the case of light ions and lower target density. Three-dimensional 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 HB 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 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 (∼30 fs) is assumed, the number of accelerated protons from the target interior is substantially reduced.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0306241