High-energy-density electron jet generation from an opening gold cone filled with near-critical-density plasma

Journal Article · Wed Jan 14 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4904420· OSTI ID:22412803

Shao, F. Q.; Zou, D. B.; Ge, Z. Y.; Zhang, G. B.; Wang, W. Q.; Li, X. H.; Liu, J. X.; Ouyang, J. M. ^[1]; Yu, W.; Luan, S. X.; Wang, J. W. ^[2]; Wong, A. Y. ^[3]

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1. College of Science, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073 (China)
2. Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800 (China)
3. Department of Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095 (United States)

By using two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we propose a scheme for strong coupling of a petawatt laser with an opening gold cone filled with near-critical-density plasmas. When relevant parameters are properly chosen, most laser energy can be fully deposited inside the cone with only 10% leaving the tip opening. Due to the asymmetric ponderomotive acceleration by the strongly decayed laser pulse, high-energy-density electrons with net laser energy gain are accumulated inside the cone, which then stream out of the tip opening continuously, like a jet. The jet electrons are fully relativistic, with speeds around 0.98−0.998 c and densities at 10{sup 20}/cm{sup 3} level. The jet can keep for a long time over 200 fs, which may have diverse applications in practice.

• OSTI ID: 22412803
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 117, Issue 2; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CONES
ELECTRON DENSITY
ELECTRONS
ENERGY DENSITY
GAIN
GOLD
LASER RADIATION
LASERS
PETAWATT POWER RANGE
PLASMA DENSITY
PLASMA JETS
PLASMA SIMULATION
PONDEROMOTIVE FORCE
RELATIVISTIC PLASMA
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
VELOCITY