Proton-aided light-ion generation for fast ignition via a short-pulse laser interaction with a coupled plasma target

초록

We studied energetic light-ion-beam generation from short-pulse laser irradiation onto a coupled plasma target (proton and carbon). In the coupled target configuration, the laser pulse irradiates the surface of the proton target first, and the acceleration of the light ions in the second carbon target is driven by electric fields from both leading electrons and following protons from the first target. Compared with a single-material target, the proton-light-ion (carbon) configuration shows remarkable improvements in ion-beam properties, including the maximum relativistic energy, total yield, and angular directionality. We verified that throughout the study, the accelerated protons from the first target exert a pressure on the light ions in the second target, which enhances the acceleration of the light ions; we call this process proton-aided acceleration (PAA). The detailed mechanism of light-ion-beam generation by PAA is discussed and illustrated with representative results from a fully-relativistic 2D3V particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation.

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