High-repetition-rate laser-proton acceleration from a condensed hydrogen jet

Applications of laser-accelerated protons demand a stable source of energetic particles at high repetition rates. We present the results of our experimental campaign in cooperation with MEC/SLAC at the 10Hz Ti:Sa laser Draco of Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), employing a pure condensed hydrogen jet as a renewable target. Draco delivers pulses of 30fs and 5J at 800nm, focused to a 3µm spot by an F/2.5 off-axis parabolic mirror. The jet's nominal electron density is approximately 30 times the critical density and its thickness is 2µm, 5µm or 10µm, depending on the applied aperture on the source. Ion diagnostics reveal mono-species proton acceleration in a solid angle of at least +/-45 ° with respect to the incoming laser beam, with maximum energies of around 5 MeV. The expanding jet could be monitored on-shot with a temporally synchronized probe beam perpendicular to the pump laser axis. Recorded probe images resemble those of z-pinch experiments with metal wires and indicate an m=0 instability in the plasma.