Influence of laser irradiated spot size on energetic electron injection and proton acceleration in foil targets
Author
Summary, in English
The influence of irradiated spot size on laser energy coupling to electrons, and subsequently to protons, in the interaction of intense laser pulses with foil targets is investigated experimentally. Proton acceleration is characterized for laser intensities ranging from 2 x 10(18) - 6 x 10(20) W/cm(2), by (1) variation of the laser energy for a fixed irradiated spot size, and (2) by variation of the spot size for a fixed energy. At a given laser pulse intensity, the maximum proton energy is higher under defocus illumination compared to tight focus and the results are explained in terms of geometrical changes to the hot electron injection. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3685615]
Department/s
Publishing year
2012
Language
English
Publication/Series
Applied Physics Letters
Volume
100
Issue
7
Full text
- Available as PDF - 82 MB
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Document type
Journal article
Publisher
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Topic
- Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 0003-6951