Proton Acceleration in Co2 Laser-plasma Interactions at Critical Density∗

Over the last several years, the Target Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA) mechanism in solid density plasmas produced by a laser pulse has achieved proton energies up to 10’s of MeV and quasi-monoenergetic beams at lower energies. Although solid-target experiments have demonstrated high-charge and low-emittance proton beams, little work has been done with gaseous targets which in principle can be operated at a very high repetition frequency. At the Neptune Laboratory, there is an ongoing experiment on CO2 laser driven proton acceleration using a rectangular (0.5x1.2mm) H2 gas jet as a target. The main goal is to study the coupling of the laser pulse into a plasma with a well defined density in the range of 0.5 to 2 times critical density and characterize the corresponding spectra of accelerated protons. Towards this end, the Neptune TW CO2 laser system is being upgraded to produce shorter 1-3ps pulses. These high-power pulses will allow us to investigate acceleration of protons via the TNSA and Radiation Pressure Acceleration mechanisms as well as their combination. The current status of the proton source experiment will be presented.