Laser-driven quasimonoenergetic proton burst from water spray target

B. Ramakrishna, M. Murakami, Marco Borghesi, L. Ehrentraut, P.V. Nickles, M. Schnurer, S. Steinke, J. Psikal, V. Tikhonchuk, Sargis Ter-Avetisyan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

34 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A narrow band proton bursts at energies of 1.6 +/- 0.08 MeV were observed when a water spray consisting of empty set(150 nm)-diameter droplets was irradiated by an ultrashort laser pulse of about 45 fs duration and at an intensity of 5 X 10(19) W/cm(2). 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
Original languageEnglish
Article number083113
Pages (from-to)083113
Number of pages1
JournalPhysics of Plasmas
Volume17
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2010

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Condensed Matter Physics

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