Optimizing laser plasma acceleration performance for proton beams beyond the 100 MeV frontier

Exploiting the strong electromagnetic fields that can be supported by a laser driven compact plasma accelerator enables generation of short, high-intensity pulses of high energy ions with special beam properties. The maturation of such laser driven ion accelerators from physics experiments to turn-key sources for applications will rely on breakthroughs in both, generated beam parameters (kinetic energy, flux), as well as increased scrutiny on reproducibility, robustness, and scalability to high repetition rate. Recent developments at the high-power laser facility DRACO-PW enabled the production of polychromatic proton beams with unprecedented stability [1]. This facilitated the first in vivo radiobiological study using a laser-driven proton source [2]. For many related advanced applications, the ability to generate proton beams with energies beyond the 100 MeV frontier at a repetition rate and in a controllable way is essential and the subject of ongoing research. Latest experimental studies concentrated on pre-expanded plastic foil target undergoing relativistically induced transparency using linearly polarized laser pulses with peak intensities beyond 1021 W/cm2. A complex suite of particle and optical diagnostics allowed characterization of spatial and spectral proton beam parameters and the stability of this regime for best acceleration performance exceeding 100 MeV cut-off energies. Combined hydrodynamic and 3D particle-in-cell simulations helped to identify the most promising target parameter range matched to the carefully measured prevailing laser contrast conditions.