Influence of laser polarization on collective electron dynamics in ultraintense laser-foil interactions

Bruno Gonzalez-Izquierdo, Ross J. Gray, Martin King, Robbie Wilson, Rachel J. Dance, Haydn Powell, David A. MacLellan, John McCreadie, Nicholas M H Butler, Steve Hawkes, James S. Green, Chris D. Murphy, Luca C. Stockhausen, David C. Carroll, Nicola Booth, Graeme G. Scott, Marco Borghesi, David Neely, Paul McKenna*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)
206 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The collective response of electrons in an ultrathin foil target irradiated by an ultraintense laser pulse is investigated experimentally and via 3D particle-in-cell simulations. It is shown that if the target is sufficiently thin that the laser induces significant radiation pressure, but not thin enough to become relativistically transparent to the laser light, the resulting relativistic electron beam is elliptical, with the major axis of the ellipse directed along the laser polarization axis. When the target thickness is decreased such that it becomes relativistically transparent early in the interaction with the laser pulse, diffraction of the transmitted laser light occurs through a so called 'relativistic plasma aperture', inducing structure in the spatial-intensity profile of the beam of energetic electrons. It is shown that the electron beam profile can be modified by variation of the target thickness and degree of ellipticity in the laser polarization.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere33
Number of pages7
JournalHigh Power Laser Science and Engineering
Volume4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 27 Sept 2016

Keywords

  • laser-plasmas interaction
  • ultraintense
  • ultrashort pulse laser interaction with matters

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Nuclear Energy and Engineering
  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Nuclear and High Energy Physics
  • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

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