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Updated: Apr 15, 2026

Automated Delivery of Microfabricated Targets for Intense Laser Irradiation Experiments
Published on: January 28, 2021
Coulomb-driven energy boost of heavy ions for laser-plasma acceleration
J Braenzel1,2, A A Andreev1,3,4, K Platonov3
1Max Born Institute, Max Born Strasse 2A, 12489 Berlin, Germany.
Abstract:
An unprecedented increase of kinetic energy of laser accelerated heavy ions is demonstrated. Ultrathin gold foils have been irradiated by an ultrashort laser pulse at a peak intensity of 8×10^{19} W/ cm^{2}. Highly charged gold ions with kinetic energies up to >200 MeV and a bandwidth limited energy distribution have been reached by using 1.3 J laser energy on target. 1D and 2D particle in cell simulations show how a spatial dependence on the ion's ionization leads to an enhancement of the accelerating electrical field. Our theoretical model considers a spatial distribution of the ionization inside the thin target, leading to a field enhancement for the heavy ions by Coulomb explosion. It is capable of explaining the energy boost of highly charged ions, enabling a higher efficiency for the laser-driven heavy ion acceleration.
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