Improvement of proton energy in high-intensity laser-nanobrush target interactions

In order to improve the total laser-proton energy conversion efficiency, a nanobrush target is proposed for proton acceleration and investigated by two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation. The simulation results show that the nanobrush target significantly enhances the energy and number of hot electrons through the target rear side. Compared with plain target, the sheath field on the rear surface is increased near 100% and the total laser-proton energy conversion efficiency is prompted more than 70%. Furthermore, the proton divergence angle is less than 30° by using nanobrush target. The proposed target may serve as a new method to increase the energy conversion efficiency from laser to protons.