• T.P. Yu, M. Chen, A.M. Pukhov
  HHUD, Dusseldorf
• T.P. Yu
  National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, Hunan

By using multi-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we investigate the stability of proton beam acceleration in a two-specie ultra-thin foil. In this two-specie regime, the lighter protons are initially separated from the heavier carbon ions due to their higher charge-to-mass ratio Z/m. The laser pulse is well-defined so that it doesn't penetrate the carbon ion layer. The Rayleigh-Taylor-like (RT) instability seeded at the very early stage then only degrades the acceleration of the carbon ions which act as a "cushion" for the lighter protons. Due to the absence of proton-RT instability, the produced high quality mono-energetic proton beams can be well collimated even after the laser-foil interaction concludes.

• A. Caldwell, G.X. Xia
  MPI-P, München
• R.W. Assmann, F. Zimmermann
  CERN, Geneva
• K.V. Lotov
  BINP SB RAS, Novosibirsk
• A.M. Pukhov
  HHUD, Dusseldorf

Proton driven plasma wakefield acceleration holds promise to accelerate a bunch of electrons to the energy frontier in a single acceleration channel. To verify this novel idea, a demonstration experiment is now being planned. The idea is to use the high energy proton bunches from the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) at CERN, to shoot them into a plasma cell and drive large amplitude of plasma wake. The interactions between the plasma and protons are simulated and the results are presented in this paper.