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Hard x‐ray emission in the range of 100 keV has been measured from plasmas produced by irradiation of solid targets with ps laser pulses up to 7×1017 W/cm2. The experimental data obtained for oblique incidence of p‐polarized laser light at different illumination angles are compared to computer calculations, which include the processes of resonance absorption and vacuum heating. The scaling of hard x‐ray emission with varying laser flux is consistent with the theoretical model of bremsstrahlung emission of hot electrons. From this, together with an absolute radiation dose measured with calibrated detectors, a transfer of up to 50% of the incident laser energy to suprathermal (∼10...100 keV) electrons is estimated.

The radiation pressure acceleration (RPA) of charged particles has been a challenging task in laser-driven proton/ion acceleration due to its stringent requirements in laser and target conditions. The realization of radiation-pressure-driven proton acceleration requires irradiating ultrathin targets with an ultrahigh contrast and ultraintense laser pulses. We report the generation of 93-MeV proton beams achieved by applying 800-nm 30-fs circularly polarized laser pulses with an intensity of 6.1×1020 W/cm2 to 15-nm-thick polymer targets. The radiation pressure acceleration was confirmed from the obtained optimal target thickness, quadratic energy scaling, polarization dependence, and three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. We expect this clear demonstration of RPA to facilitate the realization of laser-driven proton/ion sources delivering energetic and short-pulse particle beams for novel applications.

Two-step laser acceleration of protons with two foils and two laser pulses is modelled and optimized. It is shown that a nearly mono-energetic distribution of proton bunches can be realized by a suitable parameter choice. Two-step acceleration schemes make it possible to obtain both higher efficiency and energy as compared to the acceleration with only one laser pulse of an energy equal to the sum of the energy of the two pulses. With the aid of our analytical model, the optimal distance between the two targets, the delay between the two laser pulses, and the parameters of the laser pulses are determined. Estimates and results of the modelling are proven with 2D PIC simulations of the acceleration of proton bunches moving through the second target.

The scenario of “electron capture and loss” has been recently proposed for the formation of negative ion and neutral atom beams with up to MeV kinetic energy [S. Ter-Avetisyan, et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 99, 051501 (2011)]. Validation of these processes and of their generic nature is here provided in experiments where the ion source and the interaction medium have been spatially separated. Fast positive ions accelerated from a laser plasma source are sent through a cold spray where their charge is changed. Such formed neutral atom or negative ion has nearly the same momentum as the original positive ion. Experiments are released for protons, carbon, and oxygen ions and corresponding beams of negative ions and neutral atoms have been obtained. The electron capture and loss phenomenon is confirmed to be the origin of the negative ion and neutral atom beams. The equilibrium ratios of different charge components and cross sections have been measured. Our method is general and allows the creation of beams of neutral atoms and negative ions for different species which inherit the characteristics of the positive ion source.

A narrow band proton bursts at energies of 1.6±0.08 MeV were observed when a water spray consisting of ∅(150 nm)-diameter droplets was irradiated by an ultrashort laser pulse of about 45 fs duration and at an intensity of 5×1019 W/cm2. The results are explained by a Coulomb explosion of sub-laser-wavelength droplets composed of two ion species. The laser prepulse plays an important role. By pre-evaporation of the droplets, its diameter is reduced so that the main pulse can interact with a smaller droplet, and this remaining bulk can be ionized to high states. In the case of water, the mixture of quite differently charged ions establishes an “iso-Coulomb-potential” during the droplet explosion such that protons are accelerated to a peak energy with a narrow energy spread. The model explains this crucial point, which differs critically from usual Coulomb explosion or ion sheath acceleration mechanisms.

An analytical distribution function is developed that describes the influence of a light ion component on the explosion of a spherically symmetric, charged cluster composed of two species, when the cluster is irradiated by an ultrashort, intense laser pulse. It is shown that the energy distribution of light ions can be used for diagnostics of the initial density profile of the plasma cluster. The evolution of the energy distribution of light ions is investigated as a function of their number in the cluster. It is possible to create a quasimonoenergetic distribution of the light ions at a specific proportion of the light ions and the degree of ionization of the heavier ion component. Analytical calculations of the explosion of 50 nm water clusters exposed by ultrashort and intense laser pulses are in good agreement with Particle-In-Cell simulations.

The laser driven ion source is a highly organized dynamical system. It relies on a well defined interrelation between the spatial and momentum distributions of emitted ions. This correlation is found by a consecutive spectral characterization of distinct proton beamlets emitted from different spatial target positions and under different angles. In case of a flat target and a perfectly round laser focal spot, the proton source is circular symmetric and each source point behaves similarly: the higher the proton energy the smaller the source size and the larger the emission angle for a similar source extension. Only the symmetry axis is unique; here all protons are emitted at 0° to the target normal.

Recent investigations of relativistic laser plasmas have shown that the energy transfer from the laser field to the kinetic ion energy and therefore the attainable maximum energy of the ions increases when ultrathin targets are irradiated by laser pulse without prepulse. In this paper, the influence of the target thickness and laser pulse contrast on the energy of the accelerated ions has been studied theoretically as well as experimentally. An optimum target was searched if a real laser pulse with a certain prepulse irradiates the target.

Studies of interaction of a cloud of submicrometer water droplets with ultrashort (40fs) and intense (∼2×1019W∕cm2) laser pulses demonstrate an efficient acceleration of protons and oxygen ions. Due to a high ratio of the volume to the enveloping surface of a single droplet and a large number of droplets in a focal volume, efficient laser pulse absorption is enabled, which provides high electron temperatures and ion acceleration to high energies. The generation of ions with energies more than 1MeV per nucleon is demonstrated. The observed quasi-monoenergetic feature in the proton spectrum is discussed with the thermal expansion–Coulomb explosion model and numerical simulations.

Specific ion spectra have been obtained by irradiating spherical and planar targets with 40fs Ti:Sa laser pulses at intensities of ∼1019W∕cm2. From the mass-limited spherical target, strong modulations in the proton/deuteron spectra and a high laser to ion energy conversion originate, whereas the planar target provides higher cutoff energies of protons. We compare qualitatively models in which the acceleration field is assigned to a multitemperature electron distribution and alternatively where multispecies ion acceleration is important, which both can account for the observed modulations in the spectra. The abundance of ion species and especially the observed strong suppression of the heavy ion species during the ion acceleration from planar targets are estimated on the basis of the interplay of ions with different mass during their ultrafast acceleration and the further ion-bunch propagation.

The paper presents an analytical model and particle-in-cell simulations of the quasi-mono-energetic ion acceleration by an intense laser pulse in a multispecies target and the corresponding experimental observations. Homogeneous and heterogeneous targets are considered, and it is shown that the formation of the energy spectrum proceeds in three stages: (1) the initial light ion acceleration in the sheath electric field, (2) the ion species separation followed by the electrostatic shock formation, and (3) the interaction of spatially separated ion bunches accompanied by electron cooling. The field ionization of heavy ions and interaction between the heavy and light species play an important role in the formation and preservation of the energy spectrum of light ions. The simulation results are compared with the theoretical predictions and the experiments.

Small fluctuations in the acceleration sheath change the pointing of a proton beam accelerated from the rear side of a laser irradiated thin aluminum foil. The proton acceleration was produced with 40fs pulses of a Ti:sapphire laser at an intensity of approximately 1019W∕cm2. This observation has been made with a high spatial resolution Thomson spectrometer. The proton beam pointing has appeared stable in the energy range between the high energy cutoff (3MeV) and 50% of this value. Deviations of the beam position at lower energies changes in a range of 0–3mrad. The recorded pictures show wiggled and continuous proton traces which imply a release of the proton beam from the acceleration zone with a velocity chirp.

The fusion neutron yield from a laser-irradiated heavy-water (D2O) spray target was studied. Heavy-water droplets of about 150nm diameter in the spray were exposed to 35fs laser pulses at an intensity of 1×1019W∕cm2. Due to the 10–50 times bigger size of the spray droplets compared to usual cluster sizes, deuterons are accelerated to considerably higher kinetic energies of up to 1MeV. Neutrons are generated by the deuterons escaping from the plasma and initiating a fusion reaction within the surrounding cold plume of the spray jet. For each 0.6J of laser pulse energy, 6×103 neutrons are produced by about 1011 accelerated deuterons. This corresponds to a D(d,n) reaction probability of about 6×10−8. Compared to cluster targets, the reaction probability in the spray target is found to be two orders of magnitude larger. This finding apparently is due to both the considerably higher deuteron energies and the larger effective target thickness in the spray target. The measured neutron yield per accelerated deute...