Towards optical polarization control of laser-driven proton acceleration in foils undergoing relativistic transparency.
Control of the collective response of plasma particles to intense laser light is intrinsic to relativistic optics, the development of compact laser-driven particle and radiation sources, as well as investigations of some laboratory astrophysics phenomena. We recently demonstrated that a relativistic plasma aperture produced in an ultra-thin foil at the focus of intense laser radiation can induce diffraction, enabling polarization-based control of the collective motion of plasma electrons. Here we show that under these conditions the electron dynamics are mapped into the beam of protons accelerated via strong charge-separation-induced electrostatic fields. It is demonstrated experimentally and numerically via 3D particle-in-cell simulations that the degree of ellipticity of the laser polarization strongly influences the spatial-intensity distribution of the beam of multi-MeV protons. The influence on both sheath-accelerated and radiation pressure-accelerated protons is investigated. This approach opens up a potential new route to control laser-driven ion sources.
SUPA Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG, UK.
Bruno
B
Gonzalez-Izquierdo
SUPA Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG, UK.
Martin
M
King
SUPA Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG, UK.
Ross J
RJ
Gray
SUPA Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG, UK.
Robbie
R
Wilson
SUPA Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG, UK.
Rachel J
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8252-5342
RJ
Dance
SUPA Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG, UK.
Haydn
H
Powell
SUPA Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG, UK.
David A
DA
Maclellan
SUPA Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG, UK.
John
J
McCreadie
SUPA Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG, UK.
Nicholas M H
NMH
Butler
SUPA Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG, UK.|Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX, UK.
Steve
S
Hawkes
Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX, UK.
James S
JS
Green
Department of Physics, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK.
Chris D
CD
Murphy
Centro de Láseres Pulsados (CLPU), M5 Parque Científico, 37185 Salamanca, Spain.
Luca C
LC
Stockhausen
Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX, UK.
David C
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7894-0882
DC
Carroll
Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX, UK.
Nicola
N
Booth
SUPA Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG, UK.|Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX, UK.
Graeme G
GG
Scott
Centre for Plasma Physics, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK.
Marco
M
Borghesi
SUPA Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG, UK.|Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX, UK.
David
D
Neely
SUPA Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG, UK.
Paul
P
McKenna