Erlangen 2018 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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P: Fachverband Plasmaphysik
P 21: Laser Plasmas - Poster
P 21.2: Poster
Mittwoch, 7. März 2018, 16:15–18:15, Zelt West
Studying filament instabilities in laser irradiated hydrogen targets by preplasma scanning: a PIC code approach — •João Branco1,2, Karl Zeil1, Lieselotte Obst1,2, Ulrich Schramm1,2, Thomas Kluge1, and Michael Bussmann1 — 1HZDR, Dresden, Deutschland — 2TU Dresden, Dresden, Deutschland
We present simulation results on laser ion acceleration using hydrogen targets irradiated by ultra-intense, ultra-short laser pulses. These targets promise to produce pure proton beams that could be used for cancer therapy at high repetition rates. We address critical issues concerning the acceleration process that potentially hinders the application of these beams in clinical scenarios.
For achieving proton energies suitable for the treatment of deep seated tumors it is important to increase the laser intensity. At high intensities, plasma instabilities both at the target surfaces and bulk can create electron filaments that in turn result in non-uniform proton beams, detrimental for delivering spatially uniform dose distributions.
By varying the laser contrast it becomes possible to change the preplasma scale length to influence the formation of instabilities. Other means of controlling proton beam properties are, for example, variations in terms of target geometry or laser polarization. We present results of 2D3V particle-in-cell simulations at realistic density conditions that study the influence of these effects on the plasma dynamics and final beam properties and discuss their relevance regarding future applications of solid hydrogen targets for laser-driven proton tumor therapy.