Control of strong-laser-field coupling to electrons in solid targets with wavelength-scale spheres.
Irradiation of a planar solid by an intense laser pulse leads to fast electron acceleration and hard x-ray production. We have investigated whether this high field production of fast electrons can be controlled by introducing dielectric spheres of well-defined size on the target surface. We find that the presence of spheres with a diameter slightly larger than half the laser wavelength leads to Mie enhancements of the laser field which, accompanied by multipass stochastic heating of the electrons, leads to significantly enhanced hard x-ray yield and temperature.
Sumeruk
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Texas Center for High Intensity Laser Science, Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA.
Kneip
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Symes
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Churina
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Belolipetski
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Donnelly
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Ditmire
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