Unlimited ion acceleration by radiation pressure

Bulanov, S. V.; Echkina, E. Yu.*; Esirkepov, T. Z.; Inovenkov, I. N.*; Kando, Masaki; Pegoraro, F.*; Korn, G.*

The energy of ions accelerated by an intense electromagnetic wave in the radiation pressure dominated regime can be greatly enhanced due to a transverse expansion of a thin target. The expansion decreases the number of accelerated ions in the irradiated region resulting in an increase in the ion energy and in the ion longitudinal velocity. In the relativistic limit, the ions become phase locked with respect to the electromagnetic wave resulting in unlimited ion energy gain.