  In this work, we investigate the application of the plasma shutters for heavy
ion acceleration driven by a high-intensity laser pulse. We use
particle-in-cell (PIC) and hydrodynamic simulations. The laser pulse,
transmitted through the opaque shutter, gains a steep-rising front and its peak
intensity is locally increased at the cost of losing part of its energy. These
effects have a direct influence on subsequent ion acceleration from the
ultrathin target behind the shutter. In our 3D simulations of silicon nitride
plasma shutter and a silver target, the maximal energy of high-Z ions increases
significantly when the shutter is included for both linearly and circularly
polarized laser pulses. Moreover, application of the plasma shutter for
linearly polarized pulse results in focusing of ions towards the laser axis in
the plane perpendicular to the laser polarization. The generated high energy
ion beam has significantly lower divergence compared to the broad ion cloud,
generated without the shutter. The effects of prepulses are also investigated
assuming a double plasma shutter. The first shutter can withstand the assumed
sub-ns prepulse (treatment of ns and ps prepulses by other techniques is
assumed) and the pulse shaping occursvia interaction with the second shutter.
On the basis of our theoretical findings, we formulated an approach towards
designing a double plasma shutter for high-intensity and high-power laser
pulses and built a prototype.
