Theory of laser ion acceleration from a foil target of nanometers

TL;DR

This paper develops an analytical theory to predict maximum ion energies in laser-foil interactions, highlighting that ultrathin nanometer-scale targets can achieve higher energies than thicker ones, aligning with recent experimental observations.

Contribution

It introduces a simple analytical model for ion energy gain in ultrahigh contrast laser interactions with nanometer-scale foils, emphasizing the impact of target thickness.

Findings

Higher ion energies are predicted for thinner targets.

The theory relates ion energy directly to laser intensity and electron dynamics.

Results are consistent with recent experimental data.

Abstract

A theory for laser ion acceleration is presented to evaluate the maximum ion energy in the interaction of ultrahigh contrast (UHC) intense laser with a nanometer-scale foil. In this regime the energy of ions may be directly related to the laser intensity and subsequent electron dynamics. This leads to a simple analytical expression for the ion energy gain under the laser irradiation of thin targets. Significantly, higher energies for thin targets than for thicker targets are predicted. Theory is concretized to the details of recent experiments which may find its way to compare with these results.