Nanostructured targets have a bigger surface area compared to flat targets, which are the usually employed materials in high intensity, high power laser-matter interaction experiments. This allows to improve the interaction by enabling a stronger coupling of the laser with the targets, leading to a volumetric heating and an enhanced particle acceleration. Nickel nanowires and nanotubes were...
Laser-accelerated ions typically feature an exponential energy spectrum with a characteristic cut-off energy, a signature of target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) [1]. However, the broad energy distribution inherent to TNSA poses a significant limitation for applications demanding well-defined ion energies, such as proton therapy [2] and the fast ignition concept in inertial confinement...
