We present a study of laser-driven ion acceleration with micrometer and sub-micrometer thick targets, which focuses on the enhancement of the maximum proton energy and total amount of accelerated particles at the PHELIX facility. Using laser pulses with a nanosecond temporal contrast of up to 10<sup>-12</sup> and an intensity of the order of 10<sup>20</sup> W/cm<sup>2</sup>, proton energies up to 93 MeV are achieved. Additionally, the conversion efficiency at 45° incidence angle was increased when changing the laser polarisation to p, enabling similar proton energies and particle numbers as in the case of normal incidence and s-polarisation, but reducing the debris on the last focusing optic.
