Engineering clusters for table-top acceleration of ions

Upon irradiation by ultrashort, intense laser light, inert gas clusters show an uncanny ability to absorb nearly all the incident optical energy, and to subsequently disburse this energy by producing very energetic ions and electrons. Practical realization of a table-top accelerator requires such a laser-cluster “ion source” to demonstrate sufficiency in terms of brightness, ion yield, and charge state. We show that by “engineering” the constituents of the cluster, using low ionization energy dopants, it is possible to significantly enhance the high-energy ion yield and ion charge states.