Abstract
Recent observations of intense beams of multi-MeV ions generated by intense short-pulse lasers irradiating thin solid foils have opened perspectives for important applications like compact high-brightness ion sources as radioisotope generators, proton radiography, or high-energy density matter. There are two main mechanisms that lead to laser acceleration of high-energy ions in the forward direction. The first one is the ion acceleration by the ponderomotive pressure of the laser pulse at the target front side, and the second mechanism is the acceleration by the sheath field excited at the target rear surface by escaping fast electrons. Both mechanisms and their beam qualities are introduced in this article.
