In the case of a thin plasma slab accelerated by the radiation pressure of an ultra-intense laser pulse, the development of Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI) will destroy the acceleration structure and terminate the acceleration process much sooner than theoretical limit. In this paper, a new scheme using multiple Gaussian pulses for ion acceleration in a radiation pressure acceleration regime is investigated with particle-in-cell simulation. We found that with multiple Gaussian pulses, the instability could be efficiently suppressed and the divergence of the ion bunch is greatly reduced, resulting in a longer acceleration time and much more collimated ion bunch with higher energy than using a single Gaussian pulse. An analytical model is developed to describe the suppression of RTI at the laser-plasma interface. The model shows that the suppression of RTI is due to the introduction of the long wavelength mode RTI by the multiple Gaussian pulses.
References
1.
G. A.
Mourou
, T.
Tajima
, and S. V.
Bulanov
, “Optics in the relativistic regime
,” Rev. Mod. Phys.
78
, 309
(2006
).2.
M.
Borghesi
, D. H.
Campbell
, A.
Schiavi
, M. G.
Haines
, O.
Willi
, A. J.
MacKinnon
, P.
Patel
, L. A.
Gizzi
, M.
Galimberti
, R. J.
Clarke
, F.
Pegoraro
, H.
Ruhl
, and S.
Bulanov
, “Electric field detection in laser-plasma interaction experiments via the proton imaging technique
,” Phys. Plasmas
9
, 2214
(2002
).3.
N.
Naumova
, T.
Schlegel
, V. T.
Tikhonchuk
, C.
Labaune
, I. V.
Sokolov
, and G.
Mourou
, “Hole boring in a DT pellet and fast-ion ignition with ultraintense laser pulses
,” Phys. Rev. Lett.
102
, 025002
(2009
).4.
M.
Roth
, T. E.
Cowan
, M. H.
Key
, S. P.
Hatchett
, C.
Brown
, W.
Fountain
, J.
Johnson
, D. M.
Pennington
, R. A.
Snavely
, S. C.
Wilks
, K.
Yasuike
, H.
Ruhl
, F.
Pegoraro
, S. V.
Bulanov
, E. M.
Campbell
, M. D.
Perry
, and H.
Powell
, “Fast Ignition by intense laser-accelerated proton beams
,” Phys. Rev. Lett.
86
, 436
(2001
).5.
M.
Temporal
, J. J.
Honrubia
, and S.
Atzeni
, “Numerical study of fast ignition of ablatively imploded deuterium ctritium fusion capsules by ultra-intense proton beams
,” Phys. Plasmas
9
, 3098
(2002
).6.
S. V.
Bulanov
and V. S.
Khoroshkov
, “Feasibility of using laser ion accelerators in proton therapy
,” Plasma Phys. Rep.
28
, 453
(2002
).7.
T.
Tajima
, D.
Habs
, and X. Q.
Yan
, “Laser acceleration of ions for radiation therapy
,” Rev. Accel. Sci. Technol.
02
, 201
(2009
).8.
T.
Esirkepov
, M.
Borghesi
, S. V.
Bulanov
, G.
Mourou
, and T.
Tajima
, “Highly efficient relativistic-ion generation in the laser-piston regime
,” Phys. Rev. Lett.
92
, 175003
(2004
).9.
A.
Macchi
, F.
Cattani
, T.
Liseykina
, and F.
Cornolti
, “Laser acceleration of ion bunches at the front surface of overdense plasmas
,” Phys. Rev. Lett.
94
, 165003
(2005
).10.
X. Q.
Yan
, C.
Lin
, Z. M.
Sheng
, Z. Y.
Guo
, B. C.
Liu
, Y. R.
Lu
, J. X.
Fang
, and J. E.
Chen
, “Generating high-current monoenergetic proton beams by a circularlypolarized laser pulse in the phase-stable acceleration regime
,” Phys. Rev. Lett.
100
, 135003
(2008
).11.
B.
Qiao
, M.
Zepf
, M.
Borghesi
, and M.
Geissler
, “Stable GeV ion-beam acceleration from thin foils by circularly polarized laser pulses
,” Phys. Rev. Lett.
102
, 145002
(2009
).12.
M.
Chen
, A.
Pukhov
, T. P.
Yu
, and Z. M.
Sheng
, “Enhanced collimated GeV monoenergetic ion acceleration from a shaped foil target irradiated by a circularly polarized laser pulse
,” Phys. Rev. Lett.
103
, 024801
(2009
).13.
F.
Pegoraro
and S. V.
Bulanov
, “Photon bubbles and ion acceleration in a plasma dominated by the radiation pressure of an electromagnetic pulse
,” Phys. Rev. Lett.
99
, 065002
(2007
).14.
O.
Klimo
, J.
Psikal
, J.
Limpouch
, and V. T.
Tikhonchuk
, “Monoenergetic ion beams from ultrathin foils irradiated by ultrahigh-contrast circularly polarized laser pulses
,” Phys. Rev. Spec. Top.—Accel. Beams
11
, 031301
(2008
).15.
Z. M.
Zhang
, X. T.
He
, Z. M.
Sheng
, and M. Y.
Yu
, “High-density highly collimated monoenergetic GeV ions from interaction of ultraintense short laser pulse with foil in plasma
,” Phys. Plasmas
17
, 043110
(2010
).16.
S. V.
Bulanov
, E. Yu.
Echkina
, T. Zh.
Esirkepov
, I. N.
Inovenkov
, M.
Kando
, F.
Pegoraro
, and G.
Korn
, “Unlimited ion acceleration by radiation pressure
,” Phys. Rev. Lett.
104
, 135003
(2010
).17.
M.
Chen
, A.
Pukhov
, Z. M.
Sheng
, and X. Q.
Yan
, “Laser mode effects on the ion acceleration during circularly polarized laser pulse interaction with foil targets
,” Phys. Plasmas
15
, 113103
(2008
).18.
M. L.
Zhou
, S.
Zhao
, H. Y.
Wang
, C.
Lin
, H. Y.
Lu
, Y. R.
Lu
, T.
Tajima
, X. T.
He
, C. E.
Chen
, Y. Q.
Gu
, and X. Q.
Yan
, “Instability-free ion acceleration by two laser pulses
,” Eur. Phys. J. Spec. Top.
223
(6
), 1031
–1035
(2014
).19.
G.
Mourou
, B.
Brocklesby
, T.
Tajima
, and J.
Limpert
, “The future is fibre accelerators
,” Nat. Photonics
7
, 258
(2013
).20.
M.
Chen
, Z. M.
Sheng
, J.
Zheng
, Y. Y.
Ma
, and J.
Zhang
, “Development and application of multi-dimensional particle-in-cell codes for investigation of laser plasma interactions
,” Chin. J. Comput. Phys.
25
(1
), 50
(2008
).21.
T.
Esirkepov
, M.
Yamagiwa
, and T.
Tajima
, “Laser ion-acceleration scaling laws seen in multiparametric particle-in-cell simulations
,” Phys. Rev. Lett.
96
, 105001
(2006
).22.
E.
Ott
, “Nonlinear evolution of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability of a thin layer
,” Phys. Rev. Lett.
29
, 1429
(1972
).23.
H. J.
Kull
, “Nonlinear free-surface Rayleigh-Taylor instability
,” Phys. Rev. A
33
, 1957
(1986
).© 2016 Author(s).
2016
Author(s)
You do not currently have access to this content.
