Effect of relativistically induced transparency on proton acceleration with grooved hydrocarbon target

Abstract The cutoff energy and the divergence of the protons generated by the target normal sheath acceleration mechanism are known to be significantly influenced by micrometer and nanometer-size structures on the target front and rear surfaces. Specifically, the cutoff energy is significantly enhanced by creating a central rectangular groove (RG) on the target front surface, as shown in a recent study (Khan and Saxena 2023 Phys. Plasmas 30 063102). Here, we report on 2D particle-in-cell simulations to thoroughly explore the effect of the depth of the central RG on the energy spectra of the accelerated protons. The proton cutoff energy is found to enhance drastically as a result of relativistically induced transparency as the thickness of the rear wall of the groove is reduced from a few micrometers to a few tens of nanometers, however, it drops sharply as the thickness of the rear wall is further reduced towards creating a complete hole through the target.