Laser acceleration of a thin, inflated layer of heavy material by the radiation pressure applied to a self-generated, imperfect plasma mirror

TL;DR

This paper investigates the use of radiation pressure on a self-generated plasma mirror to accelerate ultra-thin heavy material foils, aiming to produce energetic heavy ion beams with high efficiency and controlled collimation.

Contribution

It develops a relativistic model accounting for finite photon absorption probability to evaluate ion acceleration efficiency and beam quality in laser-foil interactions.

Findings

Efficiency of kinetic energy transfer depends on absorption probability and foil velocity.

Predicted ion beam collimation and energy range are feasible under certain conditions.

Model remains self-consistent considering finite absorption and Rayleigh-Taylor instability effects.

Abstract

The production of energetic (multi-GeV) heavy ion beams by acceleration of ultra-thin foils through the application of radiation pressure to a self-generated, imperfect plasma mirror (photon absorption probability {\eta} finite) is studied. To evaluate the foil dynamics a relativistic model was developed for a constant and relativistic invariant value of the phenomenological parameter {\eta}. The achievable efficiency of kinetic energy transfer to the matter has been evaluated as function of the parameters involved ({\eta}, the aimed average foil velocity in unit of the light speed {\beta}, etc.). The expected collimation degree for the generated ion beams, the associated energy range, the self-consistency of the model in view of the {\eta} finite value and the survival to R-T instability were evaluated for initially thin material disks.