Ion acceleration by laser

The generation of energetic ion beams has become a major topic of ultrahigh intensity laser-plasma interaction. The resulting ion sources stand out with charge densities much higher than those obtained on conventional accelerators, together with much shorter acceleration distances. The great diversity of the interaction conditions, in terms of both the laser and target parameters, leads to various acceleration mechanisms (target normal sheath acceleration - TNA, radiation pressure acceleration - RPA and light sail acceleration - LSA) that have specific features and may operate simultaneously. Proton energies are now approaching 100 MeV at the higher performance laser facilities. This article presents the main processes of ion acceleration in solid targets, and reviews the major applications of these new particle sources