2025/04/28 by Wei, Tianyun, Lan, Zechen, Arikawa, Yasunobu +11
#Accelerator Physics (physics.acc-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex) #Plasma Physics (physics.plasm-ph)
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2504.19789
Generation of quasi-monoenergetic ions by intense laser is one of long-standing goals in laser-plasma physics. However, existing laser-driven ion acceleration schemes often produce broad energy spectra and limited control over ion species. Here we propose the acceleration mechanism, boosted Coulomb explosion, initiated by a standing wave, which is formed in a pre-expanded plasma by the interference between a continuously incoming main laser pulse and the pulse reflected by a solid target, where the pre-expanded plasma is formed from a thin layer on the solid target by a relatively strong pre-pulse. This mechanism produces a persistent Coulomb field on the target front side with field strengths on the order of TV/m for picoseconds. We experimentally demonstrate generation of quasi-monoenergetic deuterons up to 50 MeV using an in-situ D2O-deposited target. Our results show that the peak energy can be tuned by the laser pulse duration.