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Efficient acceleration of a small dense plasma pellet by consecutive action of multiple short intense laser pulses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2009

X. Wang ,
W. Yu ,
M.Y. Yu ,
V.K. Senecha ,
H. Xu ,
J.W. Wang ,
X. Yuan  and
Z.M. Sheng
X. Wang*
Affiliation:
Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
W. Yu
Affiliation:
Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China Institute for Fusion Theory and Simulation, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
M.Y. Yu
Affiliation:
Institute for Fusion Theory and Simulation, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
V.K. Senecha
Affiliation:
Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore, India
H. Xu
Affiliation:
School of Computer Science, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, China
J.W. Wang
Affiliation:
Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
X. Yuan
Affiliation:
School of Optoelectronic Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Z.M. Sheng
Affiliation:
Institute for Fusion Theory and Simulation, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China Beijing National Laboratory of Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China Department of Physics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Xin Wang, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China. E-mail: wxeverest@gmail.com
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Abstract

The acceleration of a micrometer-sized plasma pellet at 100 critical densities (1023 cm−3) by consecutive application of ultra-short ultra-intense laser pulses is studied using two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation. It is shown that due to the repeated actions of the laser ponderomotive force, a small dense plasma pellet can be efficiently accelerated, with a considerable fraction of the plasma ions accelerated to high speeds. The proposed scheme can provide a high-density flux of energetic ions, which should be valuable in many practical applications.

Keywords

Ion bunch accelerationPIC simulationShort intense laser pulses
Type
Research Article
Information
Laser and Particle Beams , Volume 27 , Issue 4 , December 2009 , pp. 629 - 634
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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