Transverse emittance growth of proton sources from laser-irradiated sub-µm-thin planar targets.
Phys Rev E
; 109(2-2): 025201, 2024 Feb.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38491621
ABSTRACT
Proton bunches with maximum energies between 12 and 22 MeV were emitted from submicrometer-thin plastic foils upon irradiation by laser pulses with peak intensity of 4×10^{20}W/cm^{2}. The images of the protons by a magnetic quadrupole doublet on a screen remained consistently larger by a factor of 10 compared to expectations drawn from the ultralow transverse emittance values reported for thick foil targets. Analytic estimates and particle-in-cell simulations attribute this drastically increased emittance to formerly excluded Coulomb collisions between charged particles. The presence of carbon ions and significant transparency likely play a decisive role. This observation is highly relevant because such thin, partially transparent foils are considered ideal for optimizing maximum proton energies.
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01-internacional
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MEDLINE
Language:
En
Journal:
Phys Rev E
Year:
2024
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Article
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