Laser-driven three-stage heavy-ion acceleration from relativistic laser-plasma interaction

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2014 Jan;89(1):013107. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.89.013107. Epub 2014 Jan 23.

Abstract

A three-stage heavy ion acceleration scheme for generation of high-energy quasimonoenergetic heavy ion beams is investigated using two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation and analytical modeling. The scheme is based on the interaction of an intense linearly polarized laser pulse with a compound two-layer target (a front heavy ion layer + a second light ion layer). We identify that, under appropriate conditions, the heavy ions preaccelerated by a two-stage acceleration process in the front layer can be injected into the light ion shock wave in the second layer for a further third-stage acceleration. These injected heavy ions are not influenced by the screening effect from the light ions, and an isolated high-energy heavy ion beam with relatively low-energy spread is thus formed. Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that ∼100MeV/u quasimonoenergetic Fe24+ beams can be obtained by linearly polarized laser pulses at intensities of 1.1×1021W/cm2.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Computer Simulation
  • Heavy Ions*
  • Lasers*
  • Models, Chemical*
  • Plasma Gases / chemistry*
  • Plasma Gases / radiation effects*

Substances

  • Plasma Gases