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Proton jet formation with focused symmetric spatially chirped beams

Eric C. Nelson*, Kyle J. Charbonnet, Trevor Reutershan, Haytham H. Effarah, and C. P. J. Barty

  • *Contact author: ecnelson@uci.edu
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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 043247 – Published 3 December, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/z26d-ljfc

Abstract

Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations are used to demonstrate the generation of highly collimated, dense proton jets from planar hydrogen targets using shaped, petawatt-class, laser pulses formed via simultaneous spatial and temporal focusing (SSTF). Simulations assume a 30 J, 30 fs laser pulse that is engineered with a radial spatial chirp and then focused into a conical space-time structure. An idealized conical structure that might be produced using a pair of circular diffraction gratings is first modeled and then compared to an approximate implementation using a multibeam combination of four 7.5 J pulses that are produced using conventional single-pass grating pairs. Tightly collimated, 5 µm diameter proton jets with peak energies up to 60 MeV are produced in both instances. Unlike target-shaping schemes that require precise manufacturing and alignment, this shaped-pulse approach can enable highrepetition rate, collimated proton beams using existing thin hydrogen sheet technology.

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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 043247– Published 3 December, 2025
  • Received 28 July 2025
  • Accepted 31 October 2025
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