Dynamic evolution of ionization and recombination processes and ion front acceleration in the presence of nonthermal and trapped electrons

Abstract

Abstract The dynamic evolution of ionization, three-body and radiative recombination processes in high intensity laser ion acceleration mechanisms, has been studied. For that, the expansion of a collisional thin plasma slab in vacuum is modeled using mixture hydrodynamic fluids equations for ions and neutral atoms, in the presence of fast nonthermal and slow trapped electrons, obeying a Cairns-Gurevich distribution. In addition, the characteristics of ion front acceleration and ion gained energy profiles are obtained, for three types of accelerated ions (H +, C + and Al +). It is proved that, ionization and recombination processes are responsible for the energy transfer between plasma particles. These processes are also strongly influenced by the impact of electron nonthermal phenomena, generated by the interaction of an intense laser pulse with the target. On the other hand, parametric studies have proved that ion energy profiles, maximum electric fields and ion energies at the ion front acceleration are also significantly affected by these phenomena. This study is useful in applications involving the creation of energetic ion beams, such as protontherapy.