title: Coulomb explosion effect and the maximum energy of protons accelerated by high-power lasers.
abstract: The acceleration of light ions (protons) through the interaction of a high-power laser pulse with a double-layer target is theoretically studied by means of two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations and a one-dimensional analytical model. It is shown that the maximum energy acquired by the accelerated light ions (protons) depends on the physical characteristics of a heavy-ion layer (electron-ion mass ratio and effective charge state of the ions). In our theoretical model, the hydrodynamic equations for both electron and heavy-ion species are solved and the test-particle approximation for the light ions (protons) is applied. The heavy-ion motion is found to modify the longitudinal electric field distribution, thus changing the acceleration conditions for the protons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Physics, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19111, USA.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fourkal
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Velchev
authors.forename: C-M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D001703:Biophysics / Q000379:methods*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004583:Electrons; D007477:Ions; D007834:Lasers; D015233:Models, Statistical; D011522:Protons
chemical_list: D007477:Ions; D011522:Protons