Proton generation from a thin-foil target with a high-intensity laser

Sagisaka, Akito

High-intensity laser and thin-foil interactions produce high-energy particles, hard X-ray, high-order harmonics, and terahertz radiation. A proton beam driven by a high-intensity laser has received attention as a compact ion source for medical and other applications. We have performed high intensity laser-matter interaction experiments using a thin-foil target irradiated by Ti:sapphire laser (J-KAREN) at JAEA. The pulse duration is typically 40 fs (FWHM). The protons are observed with a track detector (CR-39) and RCF in the direction normal to the target. The maximum proton energy of 40 MeV is observed at the peak laser intensity of 110W/cm. The spectrometer is placed at the reflection direction for harmonics measurement. The UV harmonics are observed with the spectrometer in the reflected direction simultaneously.