Meta-Analysis of Laser-Proton Acceleration Experiments

We present the most comprehensive dataset of laser-proton acceleration experiments comprised of more than 1,000 datapoints from over sixty scientific papers. We report on the scaling of maximum proton energy with laser parameters including intensity, energy, and power and perform a statistical analysis to identify subtle trends among more than ten experimental parameters. We evaluate existing theoretical models in the Target Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA) regime by Fuchs et al. [Nature Phys 2, 48–54 (2006)], Schreiber et al. [PRL 97, 045005 (2006)], and Passoni et al. [PRL 101, 115001 (2008)], and compare their predictions to machine learning models trained on the dataset. This project will allow researchers to better understand and control laser-accelerated proton beams for future applications and to plan experimental campaigns more efficiently. We welcome contributions and corrections to this soon to be openly available dataset.