Correlation of spectral, spatial, and angular characteristics of an ultrashort laser driven proton source

Ter-Avetisyan, S.*; Schnrer, M.*; Nickles, P. V.*; Sandner, W.*; Nakamura, Tatsufumi; Mima, Kunioki*

The laser driven ion source is highly organized dynamical system. It relies on a well defined interaction between the spatial and momentum distributions of emitted ions. This correlation is found by a consecutive spectral characterization of distinct proton beamlets emitted from different spatial target positions and under different angles. In case of a flat target and a perfectly round laser focal spot, the proton source is circular symmetric and each source point behaves similarly: the higher the proton energy the smaller the source size and the larger the emission angle for a similar source extension. Only the symmetry axis is unique; here all protons are emitted at 0 to the target normal.