Projects per year
Abstract
Control of the collective response of plasma particles to intense laser light is intrinsic to relativistic optics, the development of compact laser-driven particle and radiation sources, as well as investigations of some laboratory astrophysics phenomena. We recently demonstrated that a relativistic plasma aperture produced in an ultra-thin foil at the focus of intense laser radiation can induce diffraction, enabling polarization-based control of the collective motion of plasma electrons. Here we show that under these conditions the electron dynamics are mapped into the beam of protons accelerated via strong charge-separation-induced electrostatic fields. It is demonstrated experimentally and numerically via 3D particle-in-cell simulations that the degree of ellipticity of the laser polarization strongly influences the spatial-intensity distribution of the beam of multi-MeV protons. The influence on both sheath accelerated and radiation pressure accelerated protons is investigated. This approach opens up new routes to control laser-driven ion sources.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 12891 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Nature Communications |
Volume | 7 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 14 Sept 2016 |
Keywords
- laser-plasma interaction
- proton acceleration
- charged particle dynamics
- plasma particles
- laser light
- multi-MeV protons
- plasma based accelerators
- laser-produced plasmas
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Dive into the research topics of 'Towards optical polarization control of laser-driven proton acceleration in foils undergoing relativistic transparency'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Profiles
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Ross Gray
- SUPA
- Measurement Science and Enabling Technologies
- Physics - Senior Research Fellow
Person: Academic, Research Only
Projects
- 3 Finished
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Multi-PetaWatt Laser-Plasma Interactions: A New Frontier in Physics
EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council)
1/03/12 → 28/02/17
Project: Research Fellowship
Datasets
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Optical polarization control of laser-driven proton acceleration in foils undergoing relativistic transparency
Izquierdo, B. (Creator), McKenna, P. (Creator), Gray, R. (Creator) & King, M. (Creator), University of Strathclyde, 9 Jun 2016
DOI: 10.15129/cb8de272-7651-4ac8-8eea-3961291e1e30, http://www.scarf.rl.ac.uk/module/epoch
Dataset