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Improvement of proton beam quality by an optimized dragging field generated by the ultraintense laser interactions with a complex double-layer target

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 August 2016

F. J. Wu
Affiliation:
Joint Laboratory for Extreme Conditions Matter Properties, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, Sichuan, People's Republic of China
L. Q. Shan
Affiliation:
Science and Technology on Plasma Physics Laboratory, Research Center of Laser Fusion, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang, Sichuan, People's Republic of China
W. M. Zhou
Affiliation:
Science and Technology on Plasma Physics Laboratory, Research Center of Laser Fusion, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang, Sichuan, People's Republic of China
T. Duan
Affiliation:
Joint Laboratory for Extreme Conditions Matter Properties, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, Sichuan, People's Republic of China
Y. L. Ji
Affiliation:
Joint Laboratory for Extreme Conditions Matter Properties, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, Sichuan, People's Republic of China
C. R. Wu
Affiliation:
Joint Laboratory for Extreme Conditions Matter Properties, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, Sichuan, People's Republic of China
J. L. Jiao
Affiliation:
Science and Technology on Plasma Physics Laboratory, Research Center of Laser Fusion, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang, Sichuan, People's Republic of China
Z. M. Zhang
Affiliation:
Science and Technology on Plasma Physics Laboratory, Research Center of Laser Fusion, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang, Sichuan, People's Republic of China
Y. Q. Gu*
Affiliation:
Science and Technology on Plasma Physics Laboratory, Research Center of Laser Fusion, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang, Sichuan, People's Republic of China
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Y. Q. Gu, Science and Technology on Plasma Physics Laboratory, Research Center of Laser Fusion, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang, Sichuan, People's Republic of China. E-mail: yqgu@caep.cn

Abstract

A scheme for the improvement of proton beam quality by the optimized dragging field from the interaction of ultraintense laser pulse with a complex double-layer target is proposed and demonstrated by one-dimensional particle-in-cell (Opic1D) simulations. The complex double-layer target consists of an overdense proton thin foil followed by a mixed hydrocarbon (CH) underdense plasma. Because of the existence of carbon ions, the dragging field in the mixed CH underdense plasma becomes stronger and flatter in the location of the proton beam than that in a pure hydrogen (H) underdense plasma. The optimized dragging field can keep trapping and accelerating protons in the mixed CH underdense target to high quality. Consequently, the energy spread of the proton beam in the mixed CH underdense plasma can be greatly reduced down to 2.6% and average energy of protons can reach to 9 GeV with circularly polarized lasers at intensities 2.74 × 1022 W/cm2.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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