Speaker
Dr
Charlotte Palmer
(Lancaster University/Cockcroft Institute)
Description
In the interaction of high intensity lasers with solid targets, electron heating and transport play a crucial role in the transfer of energy from the laser to an energetic ion beam. When hot electrons traverse the target bulk, measurements have shown that they are subject to filamentation and can be strongly influenced by fields formed at the target rear surface resulting in a non-laminar beam, or in recirculation of the electrons back into the bulk of the target. Recirculation has been inferred from increased target heating in thin targets and an enlarge proton emission region. Here, we present studies of features, including annular rings, within the spatial profile of proton beams generated by the interaction of a high intensity laser (55 J, 0.6 ps) with micron scale metal foils. Particle tracking and fluid simulations are considered to explain the observed structures and to illustrate the importance of control of electron transport for the generation of high quality laminar proton beams for applications.
Primary author
Dr
Charlotte Palmer
(Lancaster University/Cockcroft Institute)
Co-authors
Dr
A. E. Dangor
(Imperial College London)
Alexander Sävert
(Institute for Optics and Quantumelectronics, FSU Jena)
Dr
Andreas Henig
(LMU/MPQ)
Dr
Claudio Bellei
(Imperial College London)
Prof.
Jörg Schreiber
(LMU Munich)
Dr
Louise Willingale
(University of Michigan)
Prof.
Malte Kaluza
(University of Jena, Helmholtz-Institute Jena)
Dr
Matthew Streeter
(DESY)
Dr
Ridgers Christopher
(University of York)
Mr
Rob Heathecote
(STFC)
Mr
Robert Clarke
(STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory)
Dr
Sabrina Nagel
(LLNL)
Dr
Stefan Kneip
(Imperial College London)
Dr
Stuart Mangles
(Imperial College London)
Prof.
Zulfikar Najmudin
(Imperial College London)
