Laser-Ion Acceleration

Interactive companion notes for the LMU Munich lecture

This website contains minimal, interactive companion material for my lecture “Laser-Ion Acceleration” at LMU Munich. It is meant as a first step into the topic, with small sketches and browser-based tools that we use during the course.

Last updated: 2026-01-02.

Table of contents

  1. Lecture 1 – What accelerates particles?
  2. Lecture 2 – Electromagnetic waves for particle acceleration?
  3. Lecture 3 – Generation of short laser pulses with high peak power
  4. Lecture 4 – Gaussian (and not so Gaussian) pulses, ionization, and motion of free electrons
  5. Lecture 5 – Free electron in a Gaussian laser pulse
  6. Lecture 6 – Laser–Plasma basics
  7. Lecture 7 – Relativistic effects and the PIC approach
  8. Lecture 8 – PIC lab: laser–plasma effects with the 1D3V code
  9. Lecture 9 – Absorption mechanisms
  10. Lecture 10 – Ion acceleration: Radiation-pressure acceleration, hole boring, and target-normal sheath acceleration.