title: Laser-driven shock acceleration of ion beams from spherical mass-limited targets.
abstract: We report on experimental studies of ion acceleration from spherical targets of diameter 15 microm irradiated by ultraintense (1x10(20) W/cm2) pulses from a 20-TW Ti:sapphire laser system. A highly directed proton beam with plateau-shaped spectrum extending to energies up to 8 MeV is observed in the laser propagation direction. This beam arises from acceleration in a converging shock launched by the laser, which is confirmed by 3-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. The temporal evolution of the shock-front curvature shows excellent agreement with a two-dimensional radiation pressure model.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Garching, Germany. andreas.henig@mpq.mpg.de
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Henig
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kiefer
authors.forename: M
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authors.lastname: Geissler
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authors.lastname: Rykovanov
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authors.lastname: Ramis
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authors.lastname: Hörlein
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authors.lastname: Osterhoff
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authors.lastname: Veisz
authors.forename: S
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authors.lastname: Karsch
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authors.lastname: Krausz
authors.forename: D
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authors.lastname: Habs
authors.forename: J
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authors.lastname: Schreiber