title: Quasimonoenergetic electron beams with relativistic energies and ultrashort duration from laser-solid interactions at 0.5 kHz.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Center for Ultrafast Optical Science, University of Michigan, 2200 Bonisteel, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA. aghapi@gmail.com
authors.forename: Aghapi G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Mordovanakis
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Easter
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Naumova
authors.forename: Konstantin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Popov
authors.forename: Paul-Edouard
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Masson-Laborde
authors.forename: Bixue
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sokolov
authors.forename: Gérard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mourou
authors.forename: Igor V
authors.initials: IV
authors.lastname: Glazyrin
authors.forename: Wojciech
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Rozmus
authors.forename: Valery
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bychenkov
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nees
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Krushelnick