Physics of chromatic focusing, post-acceleration and bunching of laser-driven proton beams in helical coil targets

0539113 - FZÚ 2021 RIV GB eng J - Journal Article
Bardon, M. - Moreau, J.G. - Romagnani, L. - Rousseaux, C. - Ferri, M. - Lefévre, L. - Lantuejoul, I. - Etchessahar, B. - Bazzoli, S. - Farcage, D. - Maskrot, H. - Serres, F. - Chevrot, M. - Loyez, E. - Veuillot, E. - Cayzac, W. - Vauzour, B. - Boutoux, G. - Sary, G. - Compant-La-Fontaine, A. - Gremillet, L. - Poyé, A. - Humiéres, E. D. - Tikhonchuk, Vladimir
Physics of chromatic focusing, post-acceleration and bunching of laser-driven proton beams in helical coil targets.
Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. Roč. 62, č. 12 (2020), s. 1-13, č. článku 125019. ISSN 0741-3335. E-ISSN 1361-6587
Institutional support: RVO:68378271
Keywords : laser-driven ions * helical coil targets * chromatic focusing * post-acceleration * proton bunching
OECD category: Atomic, molecular and chemical physics (physics of atoms and molecules including collision, interaction with radiation, magnetic resonances, Mössbauer effect)
Impact factor: 2.458, year: 2020
Method of publishing: Limited access
https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6587/abbe35

To increase the fluence and maximum energy of laser-driven proton beams in view of potential applications such as isochoric heating of dense material or isotope production, it has been proposed to attach a helical coil normally to the rear side of the irradiated target. By driving the target discharge current pulse through the coil, this scheme allows a fraction of the proton beam to be selected in energy and to be focused and further accelerated. The previously published results are extended to higher laser pulse energies and longer coils. This leads to an increased number of guided protons and the generation of several proton bunches. Large scale particle-in-cell simulations with realistic boundary conditions reproduce well the experimental results. A detailed analysis of the numerical simulations and an analytical model demonstrate that the current propagation along a helical wire differs from the one of a linear or folded wire.

Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0316853