Numerical simulation of foil acceleration by intense pulsed ion beam

When we irradiate an intense pulsed ion beam to a foil, ablation plasma is created, and the foil is accelerated. In this paper, we developed a numerical model of this phenomenon. We analyze temperature and pressure of the ablation plasma, and velocity of the accelerated foil by the numerical simulation. It was possible for us to analyze a behavior and detailed results of the ablation plasma expansion and acceleration of the foil. We could also observe the processes of the ablation plasma expansion and acceleration of the foil by the back lighting high-speed photography. The calculated results of foil velocity agree well with experimental ones over the wide range of energy density of an ion beam. We analyzed time trend of the foil velocity. And we could see that the foil is rapidly accelerated just after delay.