Laser focusing equivalence behavior of mass-limited targets in laser particle acceleration

The generation of 200 MeV class protons by irradiating a 25 J laser pulse onto a water target using three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation is shown. Two types of targets – foil and disk – are evaluated and compared. Disks, which are mass-limited targets, produce ions with higher energy than those produced by foils. This enhancement is attributed to laser focusing equivalent effects in mass-limited targets during the acceleration process. In addition, the disk diameter that generates the maximum energy protons is theoretically derived, which shows good agreement with the simulation result.