Generation of collimated beams of relativistic ions in laser-plasma interactions

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Abstract
A method is proposed for generating collimated beams of fast ions in laser-plasma interactions. Two-dimensional and three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that the ponderomotive force expels electrons from the plasma region irradiated by a laser pulse. The ions with unneutralized electric charge that remain in this region are accelerated by Coulomb repulsive forces. The ions are focused by tailoring the target and also as a result of pinching in the magnetic field produced by the electric current of fast ions.
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