title: Measuring fast electron spectra and laser absorption in relativistic laser-solid interactions using differential bremsstrahlung photon detectors.
abstract: A photon detector suitable for the measurement of bremsstrahlung spectra generated in relativistically intense laser-solid interactions is described. The Monte Carlo techniques used to extract the fast electron spectrum and laser energy absorbed into forward-going fast electrons are detailed. A relativistically intense laser-solid experiment using frequency doubled laser light is used to demonstrate the effective operation of the detector. The experimental data were interpreted using the 3-spatial-dimension Monte Carlo code MCNPX [D. Pelowitz, MCNPX User's Manual Version 2.6.0, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 2008], and the fast electron temperature found to be 125 keV.
authors.affiliation: Central Laser Facility, STFC, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Oxford, Didcot OX11 0QX, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: R H H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pérez
authors.forename: M J V
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Streeter
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: H-P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Schlenvoigt
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hulin
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Lancaster
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Baton
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Norreys