Combining two-photon-polymerization with UV-lithography for laser particle acceleration targets

Abstract

In the field of laser driven particle acceleration, many experiments with plain foil targets have been performed to investigate ion acceleration mechanisms such as TNSA and BOA. A more complex target geometry, for which the front and rear surface can be structured in a deterministic way, will lead to a better understanding of e.g. the actual source size, laser contrast related effect to the coupling efficiency of laser energy into the target of specifically shaped target surfaces or means to reduce the particle beam divergence such as ballistic focusing. A promising technology to manufacture complex 3D freeform targets is the two-photon-polymerization. With resolutions better than 200 nm, it is possible to create small targets with microstructured surfaces. We implemented the combination of two-photon-polymerization and UV-lithography to facilitate the handling of such small structures.