2016/07/01 by I. Jong Kim, Ki Hong Pae, Il Woo Choi +13
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Laser-Matter Interactions and Applications #Laser-Plasma Interactions and Diagnostics #Laser-induced spectroscopy and plasma
paper · doi:10.1063/1.4958654
openalex publication_date 2016/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
The radiation pressure acceleration (RPA) of charged particles has been a challenging task in laser-driven proton/ion acceleration due to its stringent requirements in laser and target conditions. The realization of radiation-pressure-driven proton acceleration requires irradiating ultrathin targets with an ultrahigh contrast and ultraintense laser pulses. We report the generation of 93-MeV proton beams achieved by applying 800-nm 30-fs circularly polarized laser pulses with an intensity of 6.1×1020 W/cm2 to 15-nm-thick polymer targets. The radiation pressure acceleration was confirmed from the obtained optimal target thickness, quadratic energy scaling, polarization dependence, and three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. We expect this clear demonstration of RPA to facilitate the realization of laser-driven proton/ion sources delivering energetic and short-pulse particle beams for novel applications.