High-energy ion generation

We report on multi-MeV ion beam generation from the interaction of a 10 TW, 400 fs, 1.053 μm laser focused onto thin foil targets at intensities ranging from 1017 to 1019 W/cm2. Ion beam characteristics were studied by changing laser intensity, the preformed plasma scale-length and target material initial conductivity. We manipulated the proton beam divergence by using shaped targets. We observed nuclear transformation induced by high-energy protons and deuterons. A fully relativistic two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation modeled energetic ion generation. These simulations identify the mechanism for the hot electron generation at the laser-plasma interface. Comparison with experiments sheds light on the dependence of ion-energy on preplasma scale length and solid density plasma thickness as well as relates ion energies for multi-species plasma.