A simple model for cavity-enhanced laser-driven ion acceleration from thin foil targets

Abstract

A scenario for the enhanced laser-driven ion acceleration from a thin solid target at high laser intensity is considered, where the target is enclosed in a reflecting cavity. The laser pulse reflected from the target is redirected towards the target by reflection at the inner cavity wall. This scenario is discussed in the context of sub-wavelength foil acceleration in the radiation pressure regime, when plasma dynamics is known to be reasonably well described by the light-sail model. A semi-analytic formula is presented that describes the effect of cavity reflections in one-dimensional geometry. The effect of cavity reflections on sub-wavelength foil acceleration is then evaluated for two concrete examples of ultra-intense laser pulses of picosecond and femtosecond duration.