Laser-driven generation of high-current ion beams using skin-layer ponderomotive acceleration

Basic properties of generation of high-current ion beams using the skin-layer ponderomotive acceleration (S-LPA) mechanism, induced by a short laser pulse interacting with a solid target are studied. Simplified scaling laws for the ion energies, the ion current densities, the ion beam intensities, and the efficiency of ions' production are derived for the cases of subrelativistic and relativistic laser-plasma interactions. The results of the time-of-flight measurements performed for both backward-accelerated ion beams from a massive target and forward-accelerated beams from a thin foil target irradiated by 1-ps laser pulse of intensity up to similar to 10(17) W/cm(2) are resented. The ion current densities and the ion beam intensities at the source obtained from these measurements are compared to the ones achieved in recent short-pulse experiments using the target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) mechanism at relativistic (> 10(19) W/cm(2)) laser intensities. The possibility of application of high-current ion beams produced by S-LPA at relativistic intensities for fast ignition of fusion target is considered. Using the derived scaling laws for the ion beam parameters, the achievement conditions for ignition of compressed DT fuel with ion beams driven by ps laser pulses of total energy <= 100 kJ is shown.