Ion Acceleration by High Intensity Short Pulse Lasers

Lasers can now deliver short and very intense pulses capable of producing hot and dense plasmas. The diffusion of such lasers has allowed studying the behaviour of ionized media in novel ways. Ion acceleration through laser plasma interaction is a recent research subject and its fast-paced progresses highlight the mastering of high power laser systems and the better understanding of the physics of high intensity laser plasma interaction. Short and intense laser pulses have also permitted the development of areas of research like harmonic generation, hard X-ray radiation sources, energetic particles sources and inertial confinement fusion. These researches have lead to numerous applications in transdisciplinary domains: material science, development of X-UV lasers, surface treatments, chemistry and biology are just a few examples. Large national programs are focused on these topics like the National Ignition Facility in California, the Laser Megajoule and the Apollon laser in France.