Radiation pressure-driven plasma surface dynamics in ultra-intense laser pulse interactions with ultra-thin foils

Bruno Gonzalez-Izquierdo, Remi Capdessus, Martin King, Ross J. Gray, Robbie Wilson, Rachel J. Dance, John McCreadie, Nicholas M.H. Butler, Steve J. Hawkes, James S. Green, Nicola Booth, Marco Borghesi, David Neely, Paul McKenna*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)
235 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The dynamics of the plasma critical density surface in an ultra-thin foil target irradiated by an ultra-intense (~6 × 1020 Wcm-2) laser pulse is investigated experimentally and via 2D particle-in-cell simulations. Changes to the surface motion are diagnosed as a function of foil thickness. The experimental and numerical results are compared with hole-boring and light-sail models of radiation pressure acceleration, to identify the foil thickness range for which each model accounts for the measured surface motion. Both the experimental and numerical results show that the onset of relativistic self-induced transparency, in the thinnest targets investigated, limits the velocity of the critical surface, and thus the effectiveness of radiation pressure acceleration.

Original languageEnglish
Article number336
JournalApplied Sciences (Switzerland)
Volume8
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 27 Feb 2018

Keywords

  • Laser-driven ion acceleration
  • Relativistic laser-plasma interactions

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Materials Science
  • Instrumentation
  • General Engineering
  • Process Chemistry and Technology
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes

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