High intensity laser-solid interactions produce huge, transient charge separation fields which accelerate ions and also generate giant electromagnetic (EM) pulses with picosecond duration, in the THz region. These effects have been combined to obtain a compact all-optical post-acceleration device. By redirecting along an helical conductor an unipolar EM pulse, the latter is synchronized with the proton beam leading to dynamic focusing and enhanced acceleration. The concept, which opens new opportunities for the development and application of laser-driven ion acceleration, has been demonstrated experimentally at the Institut fuer Laser-und Plasmaphysik of the Heinrich Heine University of Duesseldorf (Germany) by an international team leaded by S. Kar from the Queen’s University of Belfast (UK) and involving the CNR/INO scientists A. Macchi and G. Cantono. Results have been published on Nature Communications.

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