Abstract
Laser–plasma acceleration of ions has been of interest for the past few decades. An effective way to enhance laser-driven proton acceleration is to improve laser absorption in plasmas. In this study, we show that lithium (Li) is the most promising candidate for accelerating protons with better absorption among target light weight materials used for ion acceleration. For this, two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations were performed to investigate the acceleration of ions and protons with a high-power laser (with an amplitude a0=10 and a pulse duration of 30 fs) to determine the optimal lithium target thickness for maximum energies. The maximum energy of Li ions is achievable with a target thickness of 40 nm, while the maximum proton energy can be achieved for a 30nm thickness of the target. Moreover, a series of PIC simulations were also performed with targets of different atomic numbers and thicknesses to understand lithium's performance for the acceleration of protons. Compared to other targets, such as Al (Aluminum), C (Carbon), and Be (Beryllium), the Li target has a significant enhancement in proton energy, which can be used as an alternative target to enhance proton and ion energies in future experiments.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
Data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
References
M. Almassarani, B. Beleites, F. Ronneberger, G.G. Paulus, A. Gopal, Plasma 4, 670 (2021)
G. Costa, L. Torrisi, Radiat. Eff. Defects Solids 174, 11 (2019)
S.S. Bulanov, V.Y. Bychenkov, V. Chvykov, G. Kalinchenko, D.W. Litzenberg, T. Matsuoka, A.G.R. Thomas, L. Willingale, V. Yanovsky, K. Krushelnick, A. Maksimchuk, Phys. Plasmas 17, 043105 (2010)
S.S. Bulanov, A. Brantov, V.Y. Bychenkov, V. Chvykov, G. Kalinchenko, Med. Phys. 35, 1770 (2008)
X.P. Zhu, L. Ding, Q. Zhang, Y. Isakova, Y. Bondarenko, A.I. Pushkarev, M.K. Lei, Laser Part. Beams 35, 587 (2017)
M. Passoni, F.M. Arioli, L. Cialfi, D. Dellasega, L. Fedeli, A. Formenti, A.C. Giovannelli, A. Maffini, F. Mirani, A. Pazzaglia, A. Tentori, D. Vavassori, M. Zavelani-Rossi, V. Russo, Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 62, 014022 (2019)
M. Borghesi, D.H. Campbell, A. Schiavi, M.G. Haines, O. Willi, A.J. MacKinnon, P. Patel, L.A. Gizzi, M. Galimberti, R.J. Clarke, F. Pegoraro, H. Ruhl, S. Bulanov, Plasma Phys. 9, 2214 (2002)
B.Y. Sharkov, D.H.H. Hoffmann, A.A. Golubev, Y. Zhao, Matter Radiat. Extremes 1, 28 (2016)
K.W.D. Ledingham, P.R. Bolton, N. Shikazono, C.-M. Charlie Ma, Appl. Sci. 4, 402 (2014)
S.C. Wilks, A.B. Langdon, T.E. Cowan, M. Roth, M. Singh, S. Hatchett, M.H. Key, D. Pennington, A. MacKinnon, R.A. Snavely, Phys. Plasmas 8, 542 (2001)
T. Esirkepov, M. Borghesi, S.V. Bulanov, G. Mourou, T. Tajima, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 175003 (2004)
L. Yin, B.J. Albright, B.M. Hegelich, K.J. Bowers, K.A. Flippo, T.J.T. Kwan, J.C. Fernández, Phys. Plasmas 14, 056706 (2007)
Z. Lécz, A. Andreev, Phys. Plasmas 22, 043103 (2015)
D. Strickland, G. Mourou, Opt. Commun. 56, 219 (1985)
V.T. Tikhonchuk, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A 620, 1 (2010)
O. Culfa, G.J. Tallents, M.E. Korkmaz, A.K. Rossall, E. Wagenaars, C.P. Ridgers, C.D. Murphy, N. Booth, D.C. Carroll, L.A. Wilson, K.L. Lancaster, N.C. Woolsey, Laser Part. Beams 35, 58 (2017)
M. Moll, M. Schlanges, T. Bornath, V.P. Krainov, New J. Phys. 14, 065010 (2012)
K. Estabrook, W.L. Kruer, Phys. Rev. Lett. 40, 42 (1978)
F. Brunel, Phys. Rev. Lett. 59, 52 (1987)
S.C. Wilks, W.L. Kruer, M. Tabak, A.B. Langdon, Phys. Rev. Lett. 69, 1383 (1992)
O. Culfa, G.J. Tallents, A.K. Rossall, E. Wagenaars, C.P. Ridgers, C.D. Murphy, R.J. Dance, R.J. Gray, P. McKenna, C.D.R. Brown, S.F. James, D.J. Hoarty, N. Booth, A.P.L. Robinson, K.L. Lancaster, S.A. Pikuz, A.Y. Faenov, T. Kampfer, K.S. Schulze, I. Uschmann, N.C. Woolsey, Phys. Rev. E 93, 043201 (2016)
Y.-Q. Cui, W.-M. Wang, Z.-M. Sheng, Y.-T. Li, J. Zhang, Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 55, 085008 (2013)
J. Braenze, A.A. Andreev, K. Platonov, M. Klingsporn, L. Ehrentraut, W. Sandner, M. Schnürer, Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 124801 (2015)
T.D. Arber, K. Bennett, C.S. Brady, A. Lawrence-Douglas, M.G. Ramsay, N.J. Sircombe, P. Gillies, R.G. Evans, H. Schmitz, A.R. Bell, Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 57, 113001 (2015)
S. Ikeda, M. Okamura, T. Kanesue, D. Raparia, A. Hershcovitch, K. Yip, K. Takahashi, A. Cannavò, G. Ceccio, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 91, 023304 (2020)
A. Cannavò, K. Takahashi, M. Okamura, G. Ceccio, T. Kanesue, S. Ikeda, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 91, 033317 (2020)
G.M. Petrov, J. Davis, Appl. Phys. B 96, 773 (2009)
P. McKenna, F. Lindau, O. Lundh, D. Neely, A. Persson, C.-G. Wahlström, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. A 364, 711 (2003)
R.C. Shah, R.P. Johnson, T. Shimada, K.A. Flippo, J.C. Fernandez, B.M. Hegelich, Opt. Lett. 34, 2273 (2009)
D. Neely, P. Foster, A. Robinson, F. Lindau, O. Lundh, A. Persson, C.-G. Wahlström, P. McKenna, Appl. Phys. Lett. 89, 021502 (2006)
D.C. Carroll, O. Tresca, R. Prasad, L. Romagnani, P.S. Foster, P. Gallegos, S. Ter-Avetisyan, J.S. Green, M.J.V. Streeter, N. Dover, C.A.J. Palmer, C.M. Brenner, F.H. Cameron, K.E. Quinn, J. Schreiber, A.P.L. Robinson, T. Baeva, M.N. Quinn, X.H. Yuan, Z. Najmudin, M. Zepf, D. Neely, M. Borghesi, P. McKenna, New J. Phys. 12, 045020 (2010)
T. Esirkepov, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 105001 (2006)
K.N. Kim, K. Lee, M. Kumar, H.-N. Kim, S.H. Park, Y.U. Jeong, N. Vinokurov, Y.G. Kim, Phys. Plasmas 23, 033119 (2016)
M. Kumar, K. Lee, H.-N. Kim, W.-J. Ryu, S.H. Park, Y.U. Jeong, AIP Adv. 9, 045304 (2019)
P. Antici, J. Fuchs, E. d’Humières, E. Lefebvre, M. Borghesi, E. Brambrink, C.A. Cecchetti, S. Gaillard, L. Romagnani, Y. Sentoku, T. Toncian, O. Willi, P. Audebert, H. Pépin, Phys. Plasmas 14, 033102 (2007)
T. Ceccotti, A. Levy, H. Popescu, F. Reau, P. D’Oliveira, P. Monot, J.P. Geindre, E. Lefebvre, P. Martin, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 18 (2007)
S. Fourmaux, S. Buffechoux, B. Albertazzi, D. Capelli, A. Lévy, S. Gnedyuk, L. Lecherbourg, P. Lassonde, S. Payeur, P. Antici, H. Pépin, R.S. Marjoribanks, J. Fuchs, J.C. Kieffer, Phys. Plasmas 20, 013110 (2013)
Q.L. Dong, Phys. Rev. E 68, 026408 (2003)
A. Henig, D. Kiefer, K. Markey, D.C. Gautier, K.A. Flippo, S. Letzring, R.P. Johnson, T. Shimada, L. Yin, B.J. Albright, K.J. Bowers, J.C. Fernández, S.G. Rykovanov, H.-C. Wu, M. Zepf, D. Jung, V.K. Liechtenstein, J. Schreiber, D. Habs, B.M. Hegelich, Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 045002 (2009)
J.C. Fernández, D. Cort Gautier, C. Huang, S. Palaniyappan, B.J. Albright, W. Bang, G. Dyer, A. Favalli, J.F. Hunter, J. Mendez, M. Roth, M. Swinhoe, P.A. Bradley, O. Deppert, M. Espy, K. Falk, N. Guler, C. Hamilton, B.M. Hegelich, D. Henzlova, K.D. Ianakiev, M. Iliev, R.P. Johnson, A. Kleinschmidt, A.S. Losko, E. McCary, M. Mocko, R.O. Nelson, R. Roycroft, M.A. Santiago Cordoba, V.A. Schanz, G. Schaumann, D.W. Schmidt, A. Sefkow, T. Shimada, T.N. Taddeucci, A. Tebartz, S.C. Vogel, E. Vold Glen, A. Wurden, L. Yin, Phys. Plasmas 24, 56702 (2017)
A. Higginson, R.J. Gray, M. King, R.J. Dance, S.D.R. Williamson, N.M.H. Butler, R. Wilson, R. Capdessus, C. Armstrong, J.S. Green, S.J. Hawkes, P. Martin, W.Q. Wei, S.R. Mirfayzi, X.H. Yuan, S. Kar, M. Borghesi, R.J. Clarke, D. Neely, P. McKenna, Nat. Commun. 9, 724 (2018)
J. Strehlow, D. Kawahito, M. Bailly-Grandvaux, F.N. Beg, G.M. Petrov, Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 63, 065011 (2021)
B.M. Hegelich, I. Pomerantz, L. Yin, H.C. Wu, D. Jung, B.J. Albright, D.C. Gautier, S. Letzring, S. Palaniyappan, R. Shah, K. Allinger, R. Hörlein, J. Schreiber, D. Habs, J. Blakeney, G. Dyer, L. Fuller, E. Gaul, E. Mccary, A.R. Meadows, C. Wang, T. Ditmire, J.C. Fernandez, New J. Phys. 15, 085015 (2013)
D. Sangwan, O. Culfa, C.P. Ridgers, S. Aogaki, D. Stutman, B. Diaconescu, Laser Part. Beams 37, 1 (2019)
L.N. Su, B. Liu, X.X. Lin, F. Liu, F. Du, X.L. Liu, Y. Zheng, X.L. Ge, Y.T. Li, Z.M. Sheng, L.M. Chen, W.M. Wang, J.L. Ma, X. Lu, Z.Y. Wei, J.E. Chen, J. Zhang, Sci. China-Phys. Mech. Astron. 56, 457 (2013)
M. Tayyab, S. Bagchi, B. Ramakrishna, T. Mandal, A. Upadhyay, R. Ramis, J.A. Chakera, P.A. Naik, P.D. Gupta, Phys. Rev. E 90, 023103 (2014)
T. Esirkepov, M. Yamagiwa, T. Tajima, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 105001 (2006)
H. Daido, M. Nishiuchi, A.S. Pirozhkov, Rep. Prog. Phys. 75, 056401 (2012)
S. Sinigardi, J. Babaei, G. Turchetti, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A 909, 438 (2018)
L. Fedeli, A. Formenti, A. Pazzaglia, F.M. Arioli, A. Tentori, M. Passoni, New J. Phys. 22, 033045 (2020)
D. Jung, B.J. Albright, L. Yin, D.C. Gautier, R. Shah, S. Palaniyappan, S. Letzring, B. Dromey, H.-C. Wu, T. Shimada, R.P. Johnson, M. Roth, J.C. Fernandez, D. Habs, B.M. Hegelich, New J. Phys. 15, 123035 (2013)
Acknowledgements
The authors sincerely thank M. Kumar for valuable comments and for the manuscript editing. Additionally, the authors express our gratitude to Sarah North for proofreading. The EPOCH simulation studies of this work was in part funded by the UKEPSRC grants EP/G054950/1, EP/G056803/1, EP/G055165/1 EP/M018156/1, and EP/ M022-463/1.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
M.T. conceived of the presented idea, performed the computations, prepared figures and wrote the manuscript with support from O.C. O.C. reviewed the manuscript and contributed to results interpretations. D.B.D. reviewed the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Turki, M., Culfa, O. & Bennaceur-Doumaz, D. Enhancing laser-driven proton acceleration using a lithium target. Appl. Phys. B 129, 191 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-023-08136-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-023-08136-2