Experimental and computational characterization of hydrodynamic expansion of a preformed plasma from thin-foil target for laser-driven proton acceleration

Sagisaka, Akito; Nagatomo, Hideo*; Daido, Hiroyuki; Pirozhkov, A. S.; Ogura, Koichi; Orimo, Satoshi; Mori, Michiaki; Nishiuchi, Mamiko; Yogo, Akifumi; Kado, Masataka

We characterize the electron density distributions of preformed plasma for laser-accelerated proton generation. The preformed plasma of a thin-foil target is generated by prepulse and ASE of a high-intensity Ti:sapphire laser and is measured with an interferometer using a second harmonic probe beam. High-energy protons are obtained by reducing the size of the preformed plasma by changing the ASE duration before main pulse at the front side of the target. Simulation results with two-dimensional radiation hydrodynamic code are close to the experimental results for low-density region 410 cm at the front side.