Laser Ion Acceleration of Spherical Mass Limited Solid Density Targets

We present simulation results regarding the acceleration of ions from mass limited solid density targets with short-pulse high power lasers. Taking advantage of large scale 3D3V PIC simulations (8000 GPUs each, INCITE award 2015) allows to give a detailed insight into the dynamics and unique features of truly isolated targets that were used in recent experiments.
We discuss the pre-plasma evolution, its dependence on laser contrast and its crucial influence on the dominant acceleration mechnanism and on the directionality of the laser-accelerated ion beams. Extensive 2D3V parameter scans are presented for comparison with commonly used flat, wire or mounted target designs.