Prof Peter Norreys FInstP;

Abstract:

Channel formation during the propagation of a high-energy (120 J) and long duration (30 ps) laser pulse through an underdense deuterium plasma has been spatially and temporally resolved via means of a proton imaging technique, with intrinsic resolutions of a few μm and a few ps, respectively. Conclusive proof is provided that strong azimuthally symmetric magnetic fields with a strength of around 0.5 MG are created inside the channel, consistent with the generation of a collimated beam of relativistic electrons. The inferred electron beam characteristics may have implications for the cone-free fast-ignition scheme of inertial confinement fusion.

Abstract:

Betatron radiation from direct-laser-accelerated electrons is characterized analytically and numerically. It is shown here that the electron dynamics is strongly dependent on a self-similar parameter S ( ≡ n e n c a 0 ). Both the electron transverse momentum and energy are proportional to the normalized amplitude of laser field ( a 0 )fora fixed value of S . As a result, the total number of radiated photons scales as a 2 0 / √ S and the energy conversion efficiency of photons from the accelerated electrons scales as a 3 0 /S . The particle-in-cell simulations agree well with the analytical scalings. It is suggested that a tunable high-energy and high-flux radiation source can be achieved by exploiting this regime.