Collisionless electrostatic shock generation and ion acceleration by ultraintense laser pulses in overdense plasmas
- 1 May 2007
- journal article
- research article
- Published by AIP Publishing in Physics of Plasmas
- Vol. 14 (5), 053102
- https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2722723
Abstract
Collisionless electrostatic shock (CES) generation and subsequent ion acceleration in laser plasma interaction are studied numerically by particle-in-cell simulations. Usually a CES is composed of a high ion density spike surrounded by a bipolar electric field. Ions in front of it can be either submerged or reflected by the shock front. The submerged ions experience few oscillations before becoming part of the shock itself, while the reflected ions are accelerated to twice the shock speed. The effects of the target thickness, density, ion mass, preplasma conditions, as well as the laser intensity on the shock generation are examined. Simulations show that such shocks can be formed in a wide range of laser and target conditions. The characteristic of the shock propagation through a plane interface between two targets with different properties is also investigated. These results are useful for future experimental studies of shock generation and acceleration.Keywords
This publication has 26 references indexed in Scilit:
- Laser-Driven Particle AcceleratorsScience, 2006
- Very High Mach-Number Electrostatic Shocks in Collisionless PlasmasPhysical Review Letters, 2006
- Measurements of forward scattered spectra from intense laser interactions in the forced laser wake-field regimePlasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, 2005
- Bulk acceleration of ions in intense laser interaction with foamsPlasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, 2005
- Direct acceleration of solid-density plasma bunch by ultraintense laserPhysical Review E, 2005
- Ion Acceleration by Collisionless Shocks in High-Intensity-Laser–Underdense-Plasma InteractionPhysical Review Letters, 2004
- Proton Acceleration from High-Intensity Laser Interactions with Thin Foil TargetsPhysical Review Letters, 2003
- Effect of Plasma Scale Length on Multi-MeV Proton Production by Intense Laser PulsesPhysical Review Letters, 2001
- Angular Distributions of Fast Electrons, Ions, and Bremsstrahlung x/-Rays in Intense Laser Interaction with Solid TargetsPhysical Review Letters, 2000
- Absorption of high-intensity subpicosecond lasers on solid density targetsPhysical Review Letters, 1992