Ultra-short pulse laser acceleration of protons to 80 MeV from cryogenic hydrogen jets tailored to near-critical density

Laser plasma-based particle accelerators attract great interest in fields where conventional accelerators reach limits based on size, cost or beam parameters. Despite the fact that particle in cell simulations have predicted several advantageous ion acceleration schemes, laser accelerators have not yet reached their full potential in producing simultaneous high-radiation doses at high particle energies. The most stringent limitation is the lack of a suitable high-repetition rate target that also provides a high degree of control of the plasma conditions required to access these advanced regimes. Here, we demonstrate that the interaction of petawatt-class laser pulses with a pre-formed micrometer-sized cryogenic hydrogen jet plasma overcomes these limitations enabling tailored density scans from the solid to the underdense regime. Our proof-of-concept experiment demonstrates that the near-critical plasma density profile produces proton energies of up to 80 MeV. Based on hydrodynamic and three-dimensional particle in cell simulations, transition between different acceleration schemes are shown, suggesting enhanced proton acceleration at the relativistic transparency front for the optimal case.