Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 April 2016
Using two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, the properties of a proton beam generated from a thin erbium hydride target irradiated by a 25 fs laser pulse of intensity ranging from 1020 to 1021 W/cm2 are investigated and compared with the features of a proton beam produced from a hydrocarbon (CH) target. It is shown that in case of using the hydride target the mean proton energy and the number of high-energy (>10 MeV) protons as well as the peak proton pulse intensity can be higher by a factor ~10 than the ones obtained from the CH target.