title: Monoenergetic proton beams accelerated by a radiation pressure driven shock.
abstract: We report on the acceleration of impurity-free quasimononenergetic proton beams from an initially gaseous hydrogen target driven by an intense infrared (λ=10 μm) laser. The front surface of the target was observed by optical probing to be driven forward by the radiation pressure of the laser. A proton beam of ∼MeV energy was simultaneously recorded with narrow energy spread (σ∼4%), low normalized emittance (∼8 nm), and negligible background. The scaling of proton energy with the ratio of intensity over density (I/n) confirms that the acceleration is due to the radiation pressure driven shock.
authors.affiliation: Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Charlotte A J
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.forename: N P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Dover
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pogorelsky
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Babzien
authors.forename: G I
authors.initials: GI
authors.lastname: Dudnikova
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ispiriyan
authors.forename: M N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Polyanskiy
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schreiber
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Shkolnikov
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Yakimenko
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Najmudin