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Formenti A, Galbiati M, Passoni M. Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of laser-driven multiradiation sources based on double-layer targets. Phys Rev E 2024; 109:035206. [PMID: 38632811 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.109.035206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2023] [Accepted: 02/01/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024]
Abstract
Double-layer targets (DLTs), made of a low-density foam on top of a solid substrate, can efficiently convert the energy of a high-intensity laser to provide sources of photons and protons. We investigate a 30-fs pulse with a peak intensity of I∼8.7×10^{20}W/cm^{2} and a peak power of ∼120 TW interacting with a DLT using three-dimensional (3D) particle-in-cell simulations. We focus on providing quantitative results in full 3D geometry on the foam thickness dependence; on the competition between two photon-generating processes in DLTs, i.e., nonlinear inverse Compton scattering (NICS) and bremsstrahlung (BS); and on the acceleration of protons via enhanced target-normal sheath acceleration. We discuss conversion efficiency, average energy, and angular distributions of such multiradiation sources. We find that NICS can prevail over BS if the DLT's substrate is thin enough (∼µm) and that the optimal foam thickness that maximizes the conversion efficiency in NICS and BS photons and the proton cutoff energy, among those considered, is the same (15µm). These results show that DLTs constitute an excellent tool for developing relatively compact and optimized laser-driven multicomponent radiation sources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arianna Formenti
- Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Milano 20133, Italy
| | - Marta Galbiati
- Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Milano 20133, Italy
| | - Matteo Passoni
- Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Milano 20133, Italy
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Maffini A, Mirani F, Galbiati M, Ambrogioni K, Gatti F, Galli De Magistris MS, Vavassori D, Orecchia D, Dellasega D, Russo V, Zavelani-Rossi M, Passoni M. Towards compact laser-driven accelerators: exploring the potential of advanced double-layer targets. EPJ TECHNIQUES AND INSTRUMENTATION 2023; 10:15. [PMID: 37304894 PMCID: PMC10250455 DOI: 10.1140/epjti/s40485-023-00102-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2023] [Accepted: 05/28/2023] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The interest in compact, cost-effective, and versatile accelerators is increasing for many applications of great societal relevance, ranging from nuclear medicine to agriculture, pollution control, and cultural heritage conservation. For instance, Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) is a non-destructive material characterization technique applied to environmental analysis that requires MeV-energy ions. In this context, superintense laser-driven ion sources represent a promising alternative to conventional accelerators. In particular, the optimization of the laser-target coupling by acting on target properties results in an enhancement of ion current and energy with reduced requirements on the laser system. Among the advanced target concepts that have been explored, one appealing option is given by double-layer targets (DLTs), where a very low-density layer, which acts as an enhanced laser absorber, is grown to a thin solid foil. Here we present some of the most recent results concerning the production with deposition techniques of advanced DLTs for laser-driven particle acceleration. We assess the potential of these targets for laser-driven ion acceleration with particle-in-cell simulations, as well as their application to PIXE analysis of aerosol samples with Monte Carlo simulations. Our investigation reports that MeV protons, accelerated with a ∼20 TW compact laser and optimized DLTs, can allow performing PIXE with comparable performances to conventional sources. We conclude that compact DLT-based laser-driven accelerators can be relevant for environmental monitoring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Maffini
- Dipartimento di Energia, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza L. Da Vinci, 32, Milano, 20133 Italy
| | - Francesco Mirani
- Dipartimento di Energia, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza L. Da Vinci, 32, Milano, 20133 Italy
| | - Marta Galbiati
- Dipartimento di Energia, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza L. Da Vinci, 32, Milano, 20133 Italy
| | - Kevin Ambrogioni
- Dipartimento di Energia, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza L. Da Vinci, 32, Milano, 20133 Italy
| | - Francesco Gatti
- Dipartimento di Energia, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza L. Da Vinci, 32, Milano, 20133 Italy
| | | | - Davide Vavassori
- Dipartimento di Energia, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza L. Da Vinci, 32, Milano, 20133 Italy
| | - Davide Orecchia
- Dipartimento di Energia, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza L. Da Vinci, 32, Milano, 20133 Italy
| | - David Dellasega
- Dipartimento di Energia, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza L. Da Vinci, 32, Milano, 20133 Italy
| | - Valeria Russo
- Dipartimento di Energia, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza L. Da Vinci, 32, Milano, 20133 Italy
| | | | - Matteo Passoni
- Dipartimento di Energia, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza L. Da Vinci, 32, Milano, 20133 Italy
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Knyazev AR, Zhang Y, Krasheninnikov SI. Laser-driven electron acceleration in nanoplate array targets. Phys Rev E 2021; 103:013204. [PMID: 33601626 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.103.013204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2020] [Accepted: 12/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
This paper proposes a model of the laser-driven electron acceleration that occurs when a high-intensity laser interacts with a nanoplate target. It shows that quasistatic electric E_{qs} and magnetic B_{qs} fields can be formed when the laser, polarized normal to the nanoplates, extracts electrons from the nanoplates. Considering the physical natures of E_{qs} and B_{qs}, the amplitude of E_{qs} is relatively larger than B_{qs}. Such a residual between static electric and magnetic field is shown to be crucial for the electron acceleration beyond the ponderomotive scaling, as it can cause onset of stochastic electron motion. The analysis demonstrates that the maximum electron energy in units of ponderomotive scaling depends on a single universal parameter, which is composed of laser amplitude, spacing between nanoplates, and electron initial conditions. The analytical results are confirmed by a series of two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations using epoch code.
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Affiliation(s)
- A R Knyazev
- University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0411, USA
| | - Y Zhang
- University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0411, USA
| | - S I Krasheninnikov
- University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0411, USA
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Vallières S, Salvadori M, Permogorov A, Cantono G, Svendsen K, Chen Z, Sun S, Consoli F, d'Humières E, Wahlström CG, Antici P. Enhanced laser-driven proton acceleration using nanowire targets. Sci Rep 2021; 11:2226. [PMID: 33500441 PMCID: PMC7838319 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-80392-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2020] [Accepted: 12/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Laser-driven proton acceleration is a growing field of interest in the high-power laser community. One of the big challenges related to the most routinely used laser-driven ion acceleration mechanism, Target-Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA), is to enhance the laser-to-proton energy transfer such as to maximize the proton kinetic energy and number. A way to achieve this is using nanostructured target surfaces in the laser-matter interaction. In this paper, we show that nanowire structures can increase the maximum proton energy by a factor of two, triple the proton temperature and boost the proton numbers, in a campaign performed on the ultra-high contrast 10 TW laser at the Lund Laser Center (LLC). The optimal nanowire length, generating maximum proton energies around 6 MeV, is around 1–2 \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\upmu$$\end{document}μm. This nanowire length is sufficient to form well-defined highly-absorptive NW forests and short enough to minimize the energy loss of hot electrons going through the target bulk. Results are further supported by Particle-In-Cell simulations. Systematically analyzing nanowire length, diameter and gap size, we examine the underlying physical mechanisms that are provoking the enhancement of the longitudinal accelerating electric field. The parameter scan analysis shows that optimizing the spatial gap between the nanowires leads to larger enhancement than by the nanowire diameter and length, through increased electron heating.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Vallières
- INRS-EMT, 1650 blvd. Lionel-Boulet, Varennes, QC, J3X 1P7, Canada. .,CELIA, Univ. of Bordeaux, 351 Cours de la Libération, 33400, Talence, France.
| | - M Salvadori
- INRS-EMT, 1650 blvd. Lionel-Boulet, Varennes, QC, J3X 1P7, Canada.,National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Via Enrico Fermi 45, 00044, Frascati, Rome, Italy.,Univ. of Rome "La Sapienza", P. Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Rome, Italy
| | - A Permogorov
- Department of Physics, Lund University, 22100, Lund, Sweden
| | - G Cantono
- Department of Physics, Lund University, 22100, Lund, Sweden
| | - K Svendsen
- Department of Physics, Lund University, 22100, Lund, Sweden
| | - Z Chen
- INRS-EMT, 1650 blvd. Lionel-Boulet, Varennes, QC, J3X 1P7, Canada
| | - S Sun
- INRS-EMT, 1650 blvd. Lionel-Boulet, Varennes, QC, J3X 1P7, Canada
| | - F Consoli
- National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Via Enrico Fermi 45, 00044, Frascati, Rome, Italy
| | - E d'Humières
- CELIA, Univ. of Bordeaux, 351 Cours de la Libération, 33400, Talence, France
| | - C-G Wahlström
- Department of Physics, Lund University, 22100, Lund, Sweden
| | - P Antici
- INRS-EMT, 1650 blvd. Lionel-Boulet, Varennes, QC, J3X 1P7, Canada
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