Effect of a laser prepulse on fast ion generation in the interaction of ultra-short intense laser pulses with a limited-mass foil target

Fast electrons generated in ultra-intense laser interaction with a solid target can produce multi-MeV ions from laser-induced plasmas. These fast ions can have different applications ranging from ion implantation to nuclear reactions. The most important parameter is the efficiency of fast ion production. An analytical model and particle-in-cell simulations were employed to examine acceleration mechanisms that can provide an optimal plasma density distribution due to a laser prepulse. We considered the acceleration of ions leaving a plasma layer with different density gradients, from a step-like overdense plasma to an underdense plasma with a smooth density gradient. The effects of the plasma initial scale length and density on the ion acceleration were analysed, and we found that the optimal case should have some plasma parameters. It is shown that overdense plasmas provide a higher density of accelerated ion energy than underdense plasmas at intensities below 10¹⁹ W cm⁻².