Radiation pressure effects at the focus of intense lasers

强激光焦点处的辐射压力效应

• 批准号: 2443052
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Imperial College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2443052
• 关键词: Radiation; pressure; effects; focus; intense

State-of-the-art lasers can now reach intensities well in excess of 1020 Wcm-2 at focus. When directed onto a target that is sufficiently dense that it can stop the laser beam, the intense radiation pressure can directly drive the critical density surface of the target. This can manifest itself in a number of ways. It can drive a collisionless shocks which can be diagnosed by the ions it accelerates in its path. Alternatively, for sufficiently thin targets, the whole plasma can be propelled forward gaining momentum as it propagates. The result in both cases is the production of dense beams of energetic ions. These ions could have numerous applications, not least in next-generation particle accelerators. The project proposed here will investigate radiation pressure driven acceleration schemes through optimisation of targets and of the characteristics of the laser beam that drives them. The experiments will take place on the high intensity lasers at the Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory and the IR laser at the ATF Brookhaven National Laboratory. A near term goal is to produce protons with energies exceeding 100 MeV, which would be of interest for applications such as radiation treatment of tumours or for fast heating of fusion capsules.

最先进的激光器现在可以在焦点处达到超过1020 Wcm-2的强度。当被引导到足够致密的目标上时，它可以阻止激光束，强烈的辐射压力可以直接驱动目标的临界密度表面。这可以通过多种方式表现出来。它可以驱动一个无碰撞的冲击波，这可以通过它在其路径上加速的离子来诊断。或者，对于足够薄的目标，整个等离子体可以在传播时获得动量向前推进。这两种情况的结果都是产生密集的高能离子束。这些离子可能有许多应用，尤其是在下一代粒子加速器中。这里提出的项目将通过优化目标和驱动它们的激光束的特性来研究辐射压力驱动的加速方案。实验将在卢瑟福-阿普尔顿实验室的高强度激光器和ATF布鲁克海文国家实验室的红外激光器上进行。近期目标是产生能量超过100 MeV的质子，这将对诸如肿瘤的辐射治疗或聚变舱的快速加热等应用感兴趣。