Abstract
Experimental data are presented for laser-driven carbon C6+ ion-acceleration, verifying 2D-PIC studies for multi-species targets in the Break-Out Afterburner regime. With Trident's ultra-high contrast at relativistic intensities of 5 × 1020 W/cm2 and nm-scale diamond targets, acceleration of carbon ions has been optimized by using target laser-preheating for removal of surface proton contaminants. Using a high-resolution wide angle spectrometer, carbon C6+ ion energies exceeding 1 GeV or 83 MeV/amu have been measured, which is a 40% increase in maximum ion energy over uncleaned targets. These results are consistent with kinetic plasma modeling and analytic theory.
Original language | Undefined/Unknown |
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Pages (from-to) | 083103 |
Number of pages | 1 |
Journal | Physics of Plasmas |
Volume | 20 |
Issue number | 8 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2013 |
Keywords
- combustion
- diamond
- plasma diagnostics
- plasma heating by laser
- plasma kinetic theory
- plasma light propagation
- plasma simulation
- relativistic plasmas