Quasimonoenergetic electron beams with relativistic energies and ultrashort duration from laser-solid interactions at 0.5 kHz.
We investigate the production of electron beams from the interaction of relativistically-intense laser pulses with a solid-density SiO(2) target in a regime where the laser pulse energy is approximately mJ and the repetition rate approximately kHz. The electron beam spatial distribution and spectrum were investigated as a function of the plasma scale length, which was varied by deliberately introducing a moderate-intensity prepulse. At the optimum scale length of lambda/2, the electrons are emitted in a collimated beam having a quasimonoenergetic distribution that peaked at approximately 0.8 MeV. A highly reproducible structure in the spatial distribution exhibits an evacuation of electrons along the laser specular direction and suggests that the electron beam duration is comparable to that of the laser pulse. Particle-in-cell simulations which are in good agreement with the experimental results offer insights on the acceleration mechanism by the laser field.
Mordovanakis
Aghapi G
AG
Center for Ultrafast Optical Science, University of Michigan, 2200 Bonisteel, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA. aghapi@gmail.com
Easter
James
J
Naumova
Natalia
N
Popov
Konstantin
K
Masson-Laborde
Paul-Edouard
PE
Hou
Bixue
B
Sokolov
Igor
I
Mourou
Gérard
G
Glazyrin
Igor V
IV
Rozmus
Wojciech
W
Bychenkov
Valery
V
Nees
John
J
Krushelnick
Karl
K