Experimental study of proton acceleration from thin-foil on a table top Ti:Sapphire

Abstract

Table-top lasers of moderate energies (0.1- 0.5 J) are promising, cost-effective laser-driven sources of MeV-energy protons and ions accelerators, but many applications of laser-accelerated ion beams will not only require a low cost, compact system but also require operation at high repetition rates (>10 Hz). This paper focus the effort to characterize and optimize proton acceleration processes using 3 TW/55 fs, table-top Ti:Sapphire (Ti:Sa) laser capable to operate at 10 Hz, with this intention the maximum proton energy obtained, in a single shot, was evaluated by irradiating a variety of flat targets, from thin film to sub-micrometric film membranes designed for our purposes in a high density target array. The presented work is a previous stage and this study has the intention to be the prelude of the technological challenge, both in laser technology as well target design capable of operating at high repetition rates.