Ion acceleration with an ultra-intense two-frequency laser tweezer. (29th May 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wan, Y; Andriyash, I A; Pai, C H; Hua, J F; Zhang, C J; Li, F; Wu, Y P; Nie, Z; Mori, W B; Lu, W; Malka, V; Joshi, C
• Is Part Of: New journal of physics. Volume 22:Number 5(2020:May)
• Publication Date: 2020-05-29
• Subjects: laser ion acceleration -- two frequency laser tweezer -- plasma instability; Physics -- Periodicals; Physics; Periodicals; 530.05
• DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/ab8678
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1367-2630

Abstract

Abstract: Ultra-intense lasers produce and manipulate plasmas, allowing to locally generate extremely high static and electromagnetic fields. This study presents a concept of an ultra-intense optical tweezer, where two counter-propagating circularly polarized intense lasers of different frequencies collide on a nano-foil. Interfering inside the foil, lasers produce a beat wave, which traps and moves plasma electrons as a thin sheet with an optically controlled velocity. The electron displacement creates a plasma micro-capacitor with an extremely strong electrostatic field, that efficiently generates narrow-energy-spread ion beams from the multi-species targets, e.g. protons from the hydrocarbon foils. The proposed ion accelerator concept is explored theoretically and demonstrated numerically with the multi-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations.