title: Ion acceleration by collisionless shocks in high-intensity-laser-underdense-plasma interaction.
abstract: Ion acceleration by the interaction of an ultraintense short-pulse laser with an underdense-plasma has been studied at intensities up to 3 x 10(20) W/cm(2). Helium ions having a maximum energy of 13.2+/-1.0 MeV were measured at an angle of 100 degrees from the laser propagation direction. The maximum ion energy scaled with plasma density as n(0.70+/-0.05)(e). Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations suggest that multiple collisionless shocks are formed at high density. The interaction of shocks is responsible for the observed plateau structure in the ion spectrum and leads to an enhanced ion acceleration beyond that possible by the ponderomotive potential of the laser alone.
authors.affiliation: Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, London SW7 2BZ, UK.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: S P D
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Mangles
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Najmudin
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Walton
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gopal
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tatarakis
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Dangor
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fritzler
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hernandez-Gomez
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Neely
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tzoufras
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Krushelnick