Generating sub-TeV quasi-monoenergetic proton beam by an ultra-relativistically intense laser in the snowplow regime

TL;DR

This paper proposes a method to generate sub-TeV quasi-monoenergetic proton beams using an ultra-relativistically intense laser in the snowplow regime, combining radiation pressure acceleration and laser wakefield acceleration.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach combining snowplow ion acceleration with laser wakefield acceleration to produce high-energy proton beams with specific parameters.

Findings

Proton beams with energies approaching sub-TeV levels can be generated.

The method achieves quasi-monoenergetic proton bunches with controlled parameters.

Laser parameters such as intensity and duration are critical for beam quality.

Abstract

Snowplow ion acceleration is presented, using an ultra-relativistically intense laser pulse irradi- ating on a combination target, where the relativistic proton beam generated by radiation pressure acceleration can be trapped and accelerated by the laser plasma wakefield. The theory suggests that sub-TeV quasi-monoenergetic proton bunches can be generated by a centimeter-scale laser wakefield accelerator, driven by a circularly polarized (CP) laser pulse with the peak intensity of 10^23W/cm^2 and duration of 116fs.