Efficient ion acceleration by irradiating large-area suspended graphene with an intense laser pulse

Yasuhiro Kuramitsu^1*

¹Electrical Engineering, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan

* Presenter:Yasuhiro Kuramitsu, email:kuramitsu@eei.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp

We have developed an atomic thin target, large-area suspended graphene (LSG) for laser ion acceleration experiments. Graphene is the thinnest and strongest 2D material with extremely high thermal and electrical conductivities and extremely low optical reflectivity. We can control the LSG thickness by transferring graphene layer by layer. Using LSG, we have conducted a series of experiments on the laser driven ion acceleration from sub-relativistic to relativistic laser intensities, from femtoseconds to pico seconds laser pulse durations, and a few J to kJ laser energies. We report our recent experimental results on energetic ion acceleration with LSG and introduce novel applications on laboratory astrophysics and nuclear physics.

Keywords: ion acceleration, intense laser, graphene, laboratory astrophysics