Suprathermal LPIC++ Model for Laser Plasma Acceleration

EasyChair Preprint no. 5195

Abstract

In the aim of researching and interpreting energy spectra and maximum energies of protons accelerated by ultra-intense and ultra-short laser pulses, authors have proposed simulations, assuming Maxwellian distributions for the electrons. Nevertheless, it is well known that electrons ejected during interaction of a high intensity laser with a solid target, responsible for proton acceleration, are nonthermally distributed inside the created plasma. In this work, one-dimensional Particle-In-Cell calculations using LPIC++ simulation code were established in the framework of Target Normal Sheath Acceleration “TNSA”. The prepulse laser CPA (Chirped Pulse Amplification) has an intensity ~ 10¹²W/cm² and a duration ~ ns, which creates a primary slab of plasma with nonthermal electrons, governed by a discretized kappa electron distribution function. The following main pulse has an intensity ~10¹⁸W/cm² and a duration ~fs. By varying the intensities of the main pulse, the initial plasma species distribution and the nonthermal parameter kappa, the proposed model shows an enhancement in the different acceleration features in the TNSA mechanism compared to those deduced from Maxwellian simulation models. This study is useful in applications involving the creation of energetic ion beams, such as protontherapy.

Keyphrases: accelerated proton beam, discretized kappa electron distribution, Kappa electron distribution function, Laser plasma acceleration, nonthermal effect, TNSA

@Booklet{EasyChair:5195,
  author = {Djemai Bara and El-Hadj Dahi and Djamila Bennaceur-Doumaz},
  title = {Suprathermal LPIC++ Model for Laser Plasma Acceleration},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint no. 5195},

  year = {EasyChair, 2021}}