Enhancement of ion generation in femtosecond ultraintense laser-foil interactions by defocusing

M. H. Xu, Y. T. Li, D. C. Carroll, P. S. Foster, S. Hawkes, S. Kar, F. Liu, K. Markey, P. McKenna, M. J. V. Streeter, C. Spindloe, Z. M. Sheng, Claes-Göran Wahlström, M. Zepf, J. Zheng, J. Zhang, D. Neely

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

206 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

A simple method to enhance ion generation with femtosecond ultraintense lasers is demonstrated experimentally by defocusing laser beams on target surface. When the laser is optimally defocused, we find that the population of medium and low energy protons from ultra-thin foils is increased significantly while the proton cutoff energy is almost unchanged. In this way, the total proton yield can be enhanced by more than 1 order, even though the peak laser intensity drops. The depression of the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) effect and the population increase of moderate-energy electrons are believed to be the main reasons for the effective enhancement. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3688027]
Original languageEnglish
Article number084101
JournalApplied Physics Letters
Volume100
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012

Subject classification (UKÄ)

  • Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Enhancement of ion generation in femtosecond ultraintense laser-foil interactions by defocusing'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this