Scaling of proton energies in ultrashort pulse laser plasma acceleration

We present a systematic investigation of ultra-short pulse laser acceleration of protons yielding unprecedented maximum proton energies of 17 MeV using the Ti:Sa lased high power laser of 100 TW Draco at the Research Centre Dresden-Rossendorf. For plain few micron thick foil targets a linear scaling of the maximum proton energy with laser power is observed and attributed to the short acceleration period close to the target rear surface. Although excellent laser pulse contrast was available slight deformations of the target rear were found to lead to a predictable shift of the direction of the energetic proton emission away from target normal towards the laser direction. The change of the emission characteristics are compared to analytical modelling and 2D PIC simulations.