Particle in cell simulation of laser‐accelerated proton beams for radiation therapy

TLDR

Because of the broad energy and angular spectra of the protons, a compact particle selection and beam collimation system will be needed to generate small beams of polyenergetic protons for intensity‑modulated proton therapy. The study presents particle‑in‑cell simulation results of laser plasma interaction for proton acceleration aimed at radiation therapy. Protons are accelerated by a dragging Coulomb force from charge separation caused by high‑intensity laser ponderomotive pressure, and the resulting energy and phase‑space distributions from PIC simulations are fed into GEANT Monte Carlo to compute dose distributions. Under optimal conditions, the simulations demonstrate that a petawatt laser can accelerate protons to relativistic energies of up to 300 MeV.

Abstract

In this article we present the results of particle in cell (PIC) simulations of laser plasma interaction for proton acceleration for radiation therapy treatments. We show that under optimal interaction conditions protons can be accelerated up to relativistic energies of 300 MeV by a petawatt laser field. The proton acceleration is due to the dragging Coulomb force arising from charge separation induced by the ponderomotive pressure (light pressure) of high‐intensity laser. The proton energy and phase space distribution functions obtained from the PIC simulations are used in the calculations of dose distributions using the GEANT Monte Carlo simulation code. Because of the broad energy and angular spectra of the protons, a compact particle selection and beam collimation system will be needed to generate small beams of polyenergetic protons for intensity modulated proton therapy.