DOI

  • Peter V. Nickles
  • Matthias Schnürer
  • Thomas Sokollik
  • Sargis Ter-Avestisyan
  • Wolfgang Sandner
  • Munib Amin
  • Toma Toncian
  • Oswald Willi
  • Alexander Andreev

Ion bursts, accelerated by an ultrafast (40 fs) laser-assisted target normal sheath acceleration mechanism, can be adjusted so as to deliver a nearly pure proton beam. Such laser-driven proton bursts have predominantly a low transverse emittance and a broad kinetic spectrum suitable for continuous probing of the temporal evolution of spatially extended electric fields that arise after laser irradiation of thin foils. Fields with a strength of up to 1010 V/m were measured with a new streaklike proton deflectometry setup. The data show the temporal and spatial evolution of electric fields that are due to target charge-up and ion-front expansion following intense laser-target interaction at intensities of 1017-1018 W/cm2. Measurement of the field evolution is important to gain further insight into lateral electron-transport processes and the influence of field dynamics on ion beam properties.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)B155-B160
JournalJournal of the Optical Society of America B: Optical Physics
Volume25
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2008

    Scopus subject areas

  • Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
  • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

ID: 85664739