Published December 21, 2012 | Version v1
Journal article

Monoenergetic acceleration of a target foil by circularly polarized laser pulse in RPA regime without thermal heating

  • 1. Department of Physics and Institute for Fusion Studies, University of Texas at Austin, One University Station C1500, Austin, Texas 78712 (United States)

Description

A kinetic model of the monoenergetic acceleration of a target foil irradiated by the circularly polarized laser pulse is developed. The target moves without thermal heating with constant acceleration which is provided by chirping the frequency of the laser pulse and correspondingly increasing its intensity. In the accelerated reference frame, bulk plasma in the target is neutral and its parameters are stationary: cold ions are immobile while nonrelativistic electrons bounce back and forth inside the potential well formed by ponderomotive and electrostatic potentials. It is shown that a positive charge left behind of the moving target in the ion tail and a negative charge in front of the target in the electron sheath form a capacitor whose constant electric field accelerates the ions of the target. The charge separation is maintained by the radiation pressure pushing electrons forward. The scalings of the target thickness and electromagnetic radiation with the electron temperature are found.

Additional details

Identifiers

Publishing Information

Journal Title
AIP Conference Proceedings
Journal Volume
1507
Journal Issue
1
Journal Page Range
p. 803-807
ISSN
0094-243X
CODEN
APCPCS

Conference

Title
15. advanced accelerator concepts workshop
Dates
10-15 Jun 2012
Place
Austin, TX (United States)

INIS

Country of Publication
United States
Country of Input or Organization
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
INIS RN
44035012
Subject category
S70: PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY;
Resource subtype / Literary indicator
Conference
Descriptors DEI
ACCELERATION; ELECTRIC FIELDS; ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION; ELECTRON TEMPERATURE; ELECTRONS; FOILS; ION TEMPERATURE; IONS; LASER-PRODUCED PLASMA; PONDEROMOTIVE FORCE; RADIATION PRESSURE; RANDOM PHASE APPROXIMATION
Descriptors DEC
APPROXIMATIONS; CALCULATION METHODS; CHARGED PARTICLES; ELEMENTARY PARTICLES; FERMIONS; LEPTONS; PLASMA; RADIATIONS

Optional Information

Notes
(c) 2012 American Institute of Physics