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VOLUME 70 (1999) | ISSUE 2 | PAGE 80
Ion Acceleration by super intense laser pulses in plasmas
PACS: 52.40.-w
Ion acceleration by petawatt laser radiation in underdense and overdense plasmas is studied with 2D3V-PIC (Particle in Cell) numerical simulations. These simulations show that the laser pulse drills a channel through the plasma slab, electrons and ions expand in vacuum. Fast electrons escape first from the electron-ion cloud. Later ions gain a high energy, due to the Coulomb explosion of the cloud and inductive electric field which appears due to fast change of the magnetic field generated by the laser pulse. Similarly, when a superintense laser pulse interacts with a thin slab of overdense plasma, its pondermotive pressure blows all the electrons away from a finite diameter spot on the slab. Then, due to the Coulomb explosion, ions gain an energy as high as 1 GeV.