Enhancing laser–plasma coupling in picosecond petawatt laser–solid interactions is important for generating intense particle and radiation sources. Here, we report experiments and particle-in-cell simulations of dual petawatt-class picosecond laser pulses interacting with planar metal foils at the SG-II Upgrade facility. In the most directly matched comparison, dual-pulse irradiation increases the electron cutoff energy from 9.3 to 33.8 MeV, enhances the total electron yield per steradian by a factor of 8.64 and raises the charge of electrons above 5 MeV by a factor of 30.22. The effective electron temperature is correspondingly increased. The peak electromagnetic pulse amplitude and neutron yield also increase. Simulations show that the first pulse reshapes the front-side plasma conditions, leading to stronger coupling of the delayed second pulse and enhanced electron acceleration via direct laser acceleration. These results suggest that dual-pulse driving provides an effective route to tailoring laser–foil coupling through temporal control and enhancing multiple secondary sources.
