Acceleration of ions with a nonadiabatic linearly polarized laser pulse

Abstract

Acceleration of ions during interaction of a nonadiabatic laser pulse (i.e., a pulse with a sharp front) with a nanofilm is considered. If the amplitude of such a pulse is large enough, all electrons are removed from the target at the beginning of interaction and an energy of the most energetic ions follows approximately a parabolic law with time. Two main physical mechanisms limiting the maximal ions energy are identified and investigated in detail with the help of two-dimensional (2D) particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. The first effect is a compensation of the ions charge due to the longitudinal return of the electrons to their initial position. The second effect is the compensation of the ions charge in the laser spot due to the transverse motion of the electrons from the periphery of the target. The theory for both effects is developed and a good agreement with the 2D PIC results is established. This theory allows predicting the optimal parameters for ions acceleration. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.