Observations of the filamentation of high-intensity laser-produced electron beams.
Filamented electron beams have been observed to be emitted from the rear of thin solid targets irradiated by a high-intensity short-pulse laser when there is low-density plasma present at the back of the target. These observations are consistent with a laser-generated beam of relativistic electrons propagating through the target, which is subsequently fragmented by a Weibel-like instability in the low-density plasma at the rear. These measurements are in agreement with particle-in-cell simulations and theory, since the filamentation instability is predicted to be dramatically enhanced when the electron beam density approaches that of the background plasma.
Wei
M S
MS
The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London SW7 2BZ, United Kingdom.
Beg
F N
FN
Clark
E L
EL
Dangor
A E
AE
Evans
R G
RG
Gopal
A
A
Ledingham
K W D
KW
McKenna
P
P
Norreys
P A
PA
Tatarakis
M
M
Zepf
M
M
Krushelnick
K
K