Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Laser-driven proton acceleration from ultrathin foils with nanoholes

Cantono, Giada LU orcid ; Permogorov, Alexander LU ; Ferri, Julien ; Smetanina, Evgeniya ; Dmitriev, Alexandre ; Persson, Anders LU ; Fülöp, Tünde and Wahlström, Claes-Göran LU (2021) In Scientific Reports 11.
Abstract
Structured solid targets are widely investigated to increase the energy absorption of high-power laser pulses so as to achieve efficient ion acceleration. Here we report the first experimental study of the maximum energy of proton beams accelerated from sub-micrometric foils perforated with holes of nanometric size. By showing the lack of energy enhancement in comparison to standard flat foils, our results suggest that the high contrast routinely achieved with a double plasma mirror does not prevent damaging of the nanostructures prior to the main interaction. Particle-in-cell simulations support that even a short scale length plasma, formed in the last hundreds of femtoseconds before the peak of an ultrashort laser pulse, fills the holes... (More)
Structured solid targets are widely investigated to increase the energy absorption of high-power laser pulses so as to achieve efficient ion acceleration. Here we report the first experimental study of the maximum energy of proton beams accelerated from sub-micrometric foils perforated with holes of nanometric size. By showing the lack of energy enhancement in comparison to standard flat foils, our results suggest that the high contrast routinely achieved with a double plasma mirror does not prevent damaging of the nanostructures prior to the main interaction. Particle-in-cell simulations support that even a short scale length plasma, formed in the last hundreds of femtoseconds before the peak of an ultrashort laser pulse, fills the holes and hinders enhanced electron heating. Our findings reinforce the need for improved laser contrast, as well as for accurate control and diagnostics of on-target plasma formation. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Scientific Reports
volume
11
article number
5006
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • pmid:33658533
  • scopus:85102013457
ISSN
2045-2322
DOI
10.1038/s41598-021-84264-z
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
1586f1bf-251f-40ca-87c9-38d33b288568
date added to LUP
2021-09-06 17:15:48
date last changed
2022-04-27 03:42:25
@article{1586f1bf-251f-40ca-87c9-38d33b288568,
  abstract     = {{Structured solid targets are widely investigated to increase the energy absorption of high-power laser pulses so as to achieve efficient ion acceleration. Here we report the first experimental study of the maximum energy of proton beams accelerated from sub-micrometric foils perforated with holes of nanometric size. By showing the lack of energy enhancement in comparison to standard flat foils, our results suggest that the high contrast routinely achieved with a double plasma mirror does not prevent damaging of the nanostructures prior to the main interaction. Particle-in-cell simulations support that even a short scale length plasma, formed in the last hundreds of femtoseconds before the peak of an ultrashort laser pulse, fills the holes and hinders enhanced electron heating. Our findings reinforce the need for improved laser contrast, as well as for accurate control and diagnostics of on-target plasma formation.}},
  author       = {{Cantono, Giada and Permogorov, Alexander and Ferri, Julien and Smetanina, Evgeniya and Dmitriev, Alexandre and Persson, Anders and Fülöp, Tünde and Wahlström, Claes-Göran}},
  issn         = {{2045-2322}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{03}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Scientific Reports}},
  title        = {{Laser-driven proton acceleration from ultrathin foils with nanoholes}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84264-z}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41598-021-84264-z}},
  volume       = {{11}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}