Proton acceleration due to anisotropic coulomb explosion of a double-layer target irradiated by an intense laser pulse

Morita, Toshimasa; Bulanov, S. V.; Esirkepov, T. Z.; Koga, J. K.; Kando, Masaki

It is shown analytically and by three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations that higher energy protons are obtained by using material with a high charge-to-mass ratio in the first layer of a double-layer target, because a strong Coulomb explosion occurs in such a material. As a result, the protons keep accelerating for a longer time. Using the optimal conditions for the target, it is shown that high energy and high quality protons can be generated.