Ion acceleration in interaction of high intensity laser with mass-limited targets

The interaction of intense laser field with matter leads to various interesting physical phenomena. Acceleration of plasma ions due to interaction of laser with underdense or overdense targets have been widely studied during last two decades. In the present work, 3D PIC simulation has been performed to understand ion-acceleration for a wide range of parameters, such as, plasma density, target thickness, laser- polarization etc. It is observed that the ion spectrum is the result of competition among different dynamical processes. Depending on the target parameters, ion may be accelerated from the rear surface due to Target Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA), or from the front surface due to Radiation Pressure Acceleration (RPA). Our effort is to identify the optimum parameter range suitable for ion acceleration through various mechanisms. (author)