Enhanced proton acceleration using spiral-phase plasma mirrors

We present a method for generating intense vortex laser beams using spiral-phase plasma mirrors. These single-use micro-metric formations imprint a set amount of orbital angular momentum (OAM) to an arbitrary high power focusing beam. Using these beams, we irradiated ultrathin foils and measured the emission of ions from their back side. Utilizing a PW class laser, 5 J@45fs@2w resulting in an Intensity of 2×10²⁰ W cm − 2 at spot focus, we observed an increase in the energy and numbers of these ions, compared to shots taken with reflection off flat plasma mirrors. A 45% increase in the proton numbers and a 35% increase in cutoff energy was observed. This is a major advance since the area of interaction and intensity are reduced due to the planar shape of the generated OAM laser. We review the available data-sets on laser ion acceleration using vortex beams, and conclude with a comparison to our findings.