Mono-Energetic Proton Beam Acceleration in Laser Foil-Plasma Interactions

Acceleration of ions from ultrathin foils irradiated by intense circularly polarized laser pulses is investigated using a one-dimensional particle-in-cell code. As a circularly polarized laser wave heats the electrons much less efficiently than the wave of linear polarization, the ion can be synchronously accelerated and bunched by the electrostatic field, thus a monoenergetic and high intensity proton beam can be generated.