Experimental observation of transverse modulations in laser-driven proton beams

Autor: J Metzkes, T Kluge, K Zeil, M Bussmann, S D Kraft, T E Cowan, U Schramm
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2014
Předmět:
Zdroj: New Journal of Physics, Vol 16, Iss 2, p 023008 (2014)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1367-2630
DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/16/2/023008
Popis: We report on the experimental observation of transverse modulations in proton beams accelerated from micrometer thick targets which were irradiated with ultra-short (30 fs) laser pulses of a peak intensity of 5 × 10 ^20 W cm ^−2 . The net-like proton beam modulations were recorded using radiochromic film and the data suggest a dependence on laser energy and target thickness for their onset and strength. Numerical simulations suggest that intensity-dependent instabilities in the laser-produced plasma at the target front side lead to electron beam break-up or filamentation, then serving as the source of the observed proton beam modulations.
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