Effects of the Transverse Instability and Wave Breaking on the Laser-Driven Thin Foil Acceleration

Y. Wan, I. A. Andriyash, W. Lu, W. B. Mori, and V. Malka
Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 104801 – Published 2 September 2020
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Abstract

Acceleration of ultrathin foils by the laser radiation pressure promises a compact alternative to the conventional ion sources. Among the challenges on the way to practical realization, one fundamental is a strong transverse plasma instability, which develops density perturbations and breaks the acceleration. In this Letter, we develop a theoretical model supported by three-dimensional numerical simulations to explain the transverse instability growth from noise to wave breaking and its crucial effect on stopping the acceleration. The wave-broken nonlinear mode triggers rapid stochastic heating that finally explodes the target. Possible paths to mitigate this problem for getting efficient ion acceleration are discussed.

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  • Received 29 January 2020
  • Revised 28 May 2020
  • Accepted 4 August 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.104801

© 2020 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Accelerators & Beams

Authors & Affiliations

Y. Wan1,*, I. A. Andriyash1, W. Lu2, W. B. Mori3, and V. Malka1

  • 1Department of Physics of Complex Systems, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel
  • 2Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
  • 3University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA

  • *yang.wan@weizmann.ac.il

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Vol. 125, Iss. 10 — 4 September 2020

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