Efficient hybrid acceleration scheme for generating 100 MeV protons with tabletop dual-laser pulses

Abstract

Proton beams with energies beyond 100 MeV are essential for a wide range of applications, including modern cancer therapies. The generation of high-energetic protons beyond 100 MeV in experiments using PW-level laser pulses normally requires laser energies of 10-200 J. We propose an efficient hybrid scheme using tabletop (tens of TW) dual-laser pulses with laser energy of a few Joules with tandem solid density and near-critical density targets. The results of a 2D particle-in-cell simulation show that the combination acceleration scheme of the radiation pressure acceleration (RPA), laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA), and target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) with the dual-pulses can considerably enhance the maximum proton energy to ∼220 MeV, which is nearly three times of the proton energy achieved by the RPA or the RPA-LWFA-TNSA using a single laser pulse.