Dimensionality Effects on Laser-Accelerated Ions in 1D, 2D, and 3D Particle-in-Cell Simulations

Due to the high computational cost of 3D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations, lower dimensional 2D or 1D simulations are commonly used instead to model ultra-intense laser-matter interactions. However, lower dimensional simulations do alter interactions in non-trivial ways due to various simplifications. This work studies the effects of dimensionality in PIC simulations on laser-accelerated ions with a series of 1D, 2D, and 3D simulations over a wide range of laser intensities (10¹⁸ – 10²¹ W/cm²). We compare multiple observables from the interaction, including maximum proton energy, laser-proton energy conversion efficiency, and accelerating field strength for these simulations. This work aims to isolate patterns across these variables and intensities between different dimensionalities.