Target designs for energetic ions

Target designs using low-energy monoenergetic ion beams with a range of up to several × 10 −3 g⋅cm −2 delivering energies of tens of kilojoules to a megajoule have been developed. Minimal pulse shaping produces yield ratios of 10–100. Applications to laser-produced ions show that if the ions are produced from an isothermal expansion, there is a high degree of inefficiency in converting laser energy to useful ion energy in driving an implosion.