Bringing protons up to speed with strong laser pulses—this still young concept promises many advantages over conventional accelerators. For instance, it seems possible to build much more compact facilities. Prototypes to date, however, in which laser pulses are fired at ultra-thin metal foils, show weaknesses—especially in the frequency with which they can accelerate protons.
Click here for original story, New method improves proton acceleration with high power laser using frozen hydrogen as target
Source: Phys.org