Proton Surfing Acceleration via Propagating Electrostatic Waves Induced by Intense Laser Irradiation on Large-Area Suspended Graphene
Abstract
Generating 100-MeV protons is pivotal to developing laser-driven ion sources for many applications that range from medicine to laboratory astrophysics. An ultra-thin target is a way to increase the ion energy; however, such a target is easily destroyed by the interaction with laser prepulses. We have developed a large-area suspended graphene (LSG) target and demonstrated its durability by generating energetic protons and carbons by irradiating the thinnest target ever (2 nm) with an ultra-intense laser without a plasma mirror. Here, we show the experimental results of proton energies reaching 132 MeV by optimizing the laser conditions for the ultra-thin LSG targets. Ion diagnostics were primarily performed using a CR-39 stack detector combined with machine-learning-assisted analysis. Numerical simulations support the experimental results, where the radiation pressure of a relatively long-duration, low-intensity laser pulse slowly pushes the plasma, leading to the formation of a propagating electrostatic wave that efficiently accelerates protons, as in surfing acceleration.
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BibTeX
@article{minami2026proton,
title = {{Proton Surfing Acceleration via Propagating Electrostatic Waves Induced by Intense Laser Irradiation on Large-Area Suspended Graphene}},
author = {Takumi Minami and Che-Men Chu and Kentaro Sakai and Tomoya Taguchi and Takamasa Hihara and Naoya Tamaki and Soichiro Suzuki and Fuka Nikaido and Yuki Abe and Hideaki Habara and Yu-Tzu Liao and Leonard Döhl and Nigel Woolsey and Yasunobu Arikawa and Akifumi Yogo and Alessio Morace and Youichi Sakawa and Yao-Li Liu and Chun-Sung Jao and Tatiana Pikuz and Hideki Kohri and Atsushi Tokiyasu and Satoshi Kodaira and Shogo Isayama and Harihara Sudhan Kumar and Naofumi Ohnishi and Nathaniel Saura and Sadruddin Benkadda and Satoshi Hamaguchi and Naoki Watamura and Hideyuki Suzuki and Masato Kanasaki and Yuji Fukuda and Wei-Yen Woon and Yasuhiro Kuramitsu},
journal = {Progress of Theoretical and Experimental Physics [PTEP]},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1093/ptep/ptag130},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05780324v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Proton Surfing Acceleration via Propagating Electrostatic Waves Induced by Intense Laser Irradiation on Large-Area Suspended Graphene
AU - Takumi Minami
AU - Che-Men Chu
AU - Kentaro Sakai
AU - Tomoya Taguchi
AU - Takamasa Hihara
AU - Naoya Tamaki
AU - Soichiro Suzuki
AU - Fuka Nikaido
AU - Yuki Abe
AU - Hideaki Habara
AU - Yu-Tzu Liao
AU - Leonard Döhl
AU - Nigel Woolsey
AU - Yasunobu Arikawa
AU - Akifumi Yogo
AU - Alessio Morace
AU - Youichi Sakawa
AU - Yao-Li Liu
AU - Chun-Sung Jao
AU - Tatiana Pikuz
AU - Hideki Kohri
AU - Atsushi Tokiyasu
AU - Satoshi Kodaira
AU - Shogo Isayama
AU - Harihara Sudhan Kumar
AU - Naofumi Ohnishi
AU - Nathaniel Saura
AU - Sadruddin Benkadda
AU - Satoshi Hamaguchi
AU - Naoki Watamura
AU - Hideyuki Suzuki
AU - Masato Kanasaki
AU - Yuji Fukuda
AU - Wei-Yen Woon
AU - Yasuhiro Kuramitsu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Progress of Theoretical and Experimental Physics [PTEP]
DO - 10.1093/ptep/ptag130
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05780324v1
AB - Generating 100-MeV protons is pivotal to developing laser-driven ion sources for many applications that range from medicine to laboratory astrophysics. An ultra-thin target is a way to increase the ion energy; however, such a target is easily destroyed by the interaction with laser prepulses. We have developed a large-area suspended graphene (LSG) target and demonstrated its durability by generating energetic protons and carbons by irradiating the thinnest target ever (2 nm) with an ultra-intense laser without a plasma mirror. Here, we show the experimental results of proton energies reaching 132 MeV by optimizing the laser conditions for the ultra-thin LSG targets. Ion diagnostics were primarily performed using a CR-39 stack detector combined with machine-learning-assisted analysis. Numerical simulations support the experimental results, where the radiation pressure of a relatively long-duration, low-intensity laser pulse slowly pushes the plasma, leading to the formation of a propagating electrostatic wave that efficiently accelerates protons, as in surfing acceleration.
SN - 2050-3911
ER -