Target Nano-particles size effect on the laser proton acceleration in the TNSA mechanism

One of the most common laser proton acceleration mechanism is Target Normal Sheath Acceleration method. The use of a foam layer in front of the main target plays an important role in the amount of laser energy absorption by the electrons and consequently the acceleration of the proton. The front layer can be either uniform and homogeneous or nano-structured. In this study, by assuming a nanostructured foam layer, and using two-dimensional particle simulations code, the effect of nanoparticle's radius on the proton cut-off energy is investigated. Particles with radii of 10, 60 and 120 nm and random sizes in the range of 10 to 120 nm have been studied and simulated in a front layer with thickness of 10 and 20 μm with near-critical average density at laser intensity a =10 (I≈10²0^W/cm²⁾. According to the results, in the case of thin foam layer, the differences of electron and consequently proton spectra are negligible. However, by increasing the foam thickness, the influence of nanoparticle radius causes a further dissociation in the final proton energy spectra. So that, the proton energy increases almost 45% by reducing the nanoparticle size from 120 nm to 10 nm.