Enhanced proton acceleration using hollow silica nano-sphere coated targets

Kumar, Rakesh Y. and Singh, Baljeet and Sharma, Vandana and et al, . (2020) Enhanced proton acceleration using hollow silica nano-sphere coated targets. Physics of Plasmas, 27 (6). pp. 1-8. ISSN 1070-664X

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Abstract

Acceleration of protons by transient strong electric fields formed with intense ultrashort laser pulses is important for advancements in radiography and biomedical applications. Controlling the absorption mechanisms by material modification or adding structural features to the solid substrate is important to enhance ion energies for a given laser intensity. We present here an experimental demonstration of enhanced proton acceleration when a BK-7 glass target is coated with 150 nm diameter silica hollow spheres. The hollow particle coated target yielded a maximum proton energy of ≥ 800 keV at a peak intensity of 1018 W cm-2 while the maximum energy is only up to 200 keV with a plain glass target under otherwise identical conditions. Two-dimensional particle in cell simulations demonstrate the role of local fields in the hollow spherical cavities that lead to the enhanced proton energies comparable to the experiments. © 2020 Author(s).

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IITH Creators:

IITH Creators	ORCiD
Sharma, Vandana	https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9830-2485

Item Type:

Article

Additional Information:

We acknowledge the support from T. N. Narayanan, D. Kushalani, and M. Deshmuk for access to lab facilities and the help from Lalit C. Borde, Bagyashri Chalke, and Shravani in the operation of SEM and TEM instruments. The financial support from DAE to facilitate this work is acknowledged, in particular the DAE-SRC-OI grants. Support from MHRD through No. SPARC/2018-2019/P1404/SL and IMPRINT 5627 is also acknowledged.

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Absorption mechanisms; Biomedical applications; Experimental demonstrations; Identical conditions; Material modifications; Particle-in-cell simulations; Proton acceleration; Strong electric fields

Subjects:

Physics

Divisions:

Department of Physics

Depositing User:

. LibTrainee 2021

Date Deposited:

02 Nov 2022 10:28

Last Modified:

02 Nov 2022 10:28

URI:

http://raiithold.iith.ac.in/id/eprint/11135