Direct electron acceleration in multi-kilojoule, multi-picosecond laser pulses

Kemp, A. J.; Wilks, S. C.

doi:10.1063/5.0007159

Direct electron acceleration in multi-kilojoule, multi-picosecond laser pulses

Journal Article · Thu Oct 22 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0007159· OSTI ID:1788313

^[1]; Wilks, S. C. ^[1]

Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

The physics mechanism behind the acceleration of electrons to energies much higher than the laser ponderomotive potential is reported. While electrons with these energies have been observed for the last twenty years at the one percent level, it is only with the recent advent of high power lasers with extended pulse durations, large focal spots, and high intensities that significant numbers (>10%) of the so-called “superponderomotive” electrons have been observed. Evidence is provided that the dominant acceleration mechanism of superponderomotive electrons is direct acceleration by the electromagnetic (EM) wave of the laser as they co-propagate in an under-dense plasma; one-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations yield electron spectra with typically ten times the ponderomotive temperature. Direct acceleration requires tens of plasma wavelengths of under-dense plasma, as well as pulse durations of tens of plasma periods, conditions that can be found in large focal spot multi-picosecond laser pulses. It is shown that the plasma simply provides the source of accelerated electrons and a variety of methods to inject a significant population of electrons into the EM waves at relativistic energy.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-07NA27344

OSTI ID:: 1788313

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1682367

Report Number(s):: LLNL-JRNL--805885; 1009924

Journal Information:: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 27; ISSN 1070-664X

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (37)

High-energy ion generation in interaction. of short laser pulse with high-density plasma Sentoku, Y.; Bychenkov, V. Y.; Flippo, K. Applied Physics B, Vol. 74, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s003400200796	journal	March 2002
Stochasticity in plasmas with electromagnetic waves Mendonça, J. T.; Doveil, F. Journal of Plasma Physics, Vol. 28, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1017/S002237780000043X	journal	December 1982
Laser-driven proton scaling laws and new paths towards energy increase Fuchs, J.; Antici, P.; d’Humières, E. Nature Physics, Vol. 2, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys199	journal	December 2005
Laser-Induced Linear-Field Particle Acceleration in Free Space Wong, Liang Jie; Hong, Kyung-Han; Carbajo, Sergio Scientific Reports, Vol. 7, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-11547-9	journal	September 2017
Linear wave dispersion laws in unmagnetized relativistic plasma: Analytical and numerical results Bergman, Jan; Eliasson, Bengt Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 8, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1358313	journal	May 2001
Stochastic acceleration by intense laser fields Nakamura, Tatsufumi; Kato, Susumu; Tamimoto, Mitsumori Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 9, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1468231	journal	May 2002
Review of progress in Fast Ignition Tabak, M.; Clark, D. S.; Hatchett, S. P. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 12, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1871246	journal	May 2005
High-resolution multi-MeV x-ray radiography using relativistic laser-solid interaction Courtois, C.; Edwards, R.; Compant La Fontaine, A. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 18, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3551738	journal	February 2011
Rapid filamentation of high power lasers at the quarter critical surface Brady, C. S.; Lawrence-Douglas, A.; Arber, T. D. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 19, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4729333	journal	June 2012
On the origin of super-hot electrons from intense laser interactions with solid targets having moderate scale length preformed plasmas Krygier, A. G.; Schumacher, D. W.; Freeman, R. R. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 21, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4866587	journal	February 2014
The scaling of electron and positron generation in intense laser-solid interactionsa) Chen, Hui; Link, A.; Sentoku, Y. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 22, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4921147	journal	May 2015
Stochastic regimes in the driven oscillator with a step-like nonlinearity Bulanov, S. V.; Yogo, A.; Esirkepov, T. Zh. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 22, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4922679	journal	June 2015
The effect of superluminal phase velocity on electron acceleration in a powerful electromagnetic wave Robinson, A. P. L.; Arefiev, A. V.; Khudik, V. N. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 22, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4928893	journal	August 2015
What is the surface temperature of a solid irradiated by a Petawatt laser? Kemp, A. J.; Divol, L. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 23, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4963334	journal	September 2016
Intense, directed neutron beams from a laser-driven neutron source at PHELIX Kleinschmidt, A.; Bagnoud, V.; Deppert, O. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 25, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5006613	journal	May 2018
Computational modeling of proton acceleration with multi-picosecond and high energy, kilojoule, lasers Kim, J.; Kemp, A. J.; Wilks, S. C. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 25, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5040410	journal	August 2018
First demonstration of ARC-accelerated proton beams at the National Ignition Facility Mariscal, D.; Ma, T.; Wilks, S. C. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 26, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5085787	journal	April 2019
Laser reflection as a catalyst for direct laser acceleration in multipicosecond laser-plasma interaction Weichman, K.; Robinson, A. P. L.; Beg, F. N. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 27, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5129054	journal	January 2020
Theory and simulation of stimulated Raman scatter at near‐forward angles Wilks, S. C.; Kruer, W. L.; Estabrook, K. Physics of Fluids B: Plasma Physics, Vol. 4, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.860152	journal	September 1992
A study of picosecond laser–solid interactions up to 10 ¹⁹ W cm ⁻² Beg, F. N.; Bell, A. R.; Dangor, A. E. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 4, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.872103	journal	February 1997
Particle acceleration in relativistic laser channels Pukhov, A.; Sheng, Z. -M.; Meyer-ter-Vehn, J. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 6, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.873242	journal	July 1999
Identifying the source of super-high energetic electrons in the presence of pre-plasma in laser–matter interaction at relativistic intensities Wu, D.; Krasheninnikov, S. I.; Luan, S. X. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 57, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1088/0029-5515/57/1/016007	journal	October 2016
The unexpected role of evolving longitudinal electric fields in generating energetic electrons in relativistically transparent plasmas Willingale, L.; Arefiev, A. V.; Williams, G. J. New Journal of Physics, Vol. 20, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/aae034	journal	September 2018
Electron acceleration in dense plasmas heated by a picosecond relativistic laser Iwata, N.; Sentoku, Y.; Sano, T. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 59, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/ab1ff9	journal	July 2019
Production of relativistic electrons at subrelativistic laser intensities Williams, G. J.; Link, A.; Sherlock, M. Physical Review E, Vol. 101, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.101.031201	journal	March 2020
Hot-electron energy coupling in ultraintense laser-matter interaction Kemp, A. J.; Sentoku, Y.; Tabak, M. Physical Review E, Vol. 79, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.79.066406	journal	June 2009
Numerical modeling of fast electron generation in the presence of preformed plasma in laser-matter interaction at relativistic intensities Paradkar, B. S.; Wei, M. S.; Yabuuchi, T. Physical Review E, Vol. 83, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.83.046401	journal	April 2011
Dynamics of Relativistic Laser-Plasma Interaction on Solid Targets Ping, Y.; Kemp, A. J.; Divol, L. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 109, Issue 14 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.145006	journal	October 2012
Generating “Superponderomotive” Electrons due to a Non-Wake-Field Interaction between a Laser Pulse and a Longitudinal Electric Field Robinson, A. P. L.; Arefiev, A. V.; Neely, D. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 111, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.065002	journal	August 2013
Deflection of MeV Electrons by Self-Generated Magnetic Fields in Intense Laser-Solid Interactions Pérez, F.; Kemp, A. J.; Divol, L. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 111, Issue 24 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.245001	journal	December 2013
Generation of Superponderomotive Electrons in Multipicosecond Interactions of Kilojoule Laser Beams with Solid-Density Plasmas Sorokovikova, A.; Arefiev, A. V.; McGuffey, C. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 116, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.155001	journal	April 2016
Absorption of ultra-intense laser pulses Wilks, S. C.; Kruer, W. L.; Tabak, M. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 69, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.69.1383	journal	August 1992
Multi-MeV Electron Beam Generation by Direct Laser Acceleration in High-Density Plasma Channels Gahn, C.; Tsakiris, G. D.; Pukhov, A. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 83, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.83.4772	journal	December 1999
Stochastic Heating and Acceleration of Electrons in Colliding Laser Fields in Plasma Sheng, Z. -M.; Mima, K.; Sentoku, Y. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 88, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.055004	journal	January 2002
Physics of laser-driven plasma-based electron accelerators Esarey, E.; Schroeder, C. B.; Leemans, W. P. Reviews of Modern Physics, Vol. 81, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.81.1229	journal	August 2009
Ion acceleration by superintense laser-plasma interaction Macchi, Andrea; Borghesi, Marco; Passoni, Matteo Reviews of Modern Physics, Vol. 85, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.85.751	journal	May 2013
Plasma Physics via Computer Simulation Birdsall, C. K.; Langdon, A. B. https://doi.org/10.1887/0750301171	book	January 1991

Similar Records

Computational modeling of proton acceleration with multi-picosecond and high energy, kilojoule, lasers

Journal Article · Thu Aug 09 20:00:00 EDT 2018 · Physics of Plasmas · OSTI ID:1718995

The effects of resonantly enhanced fields in picosecond laser produced plasmas

Thesis/Dissertation · Tue Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1991 · OSTI ID:5636742

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY

Direct electron acceleration in multi-kilojoule, multi-picosecond laser pulses

Citation Formats

References (37)

Similar Records

Related Subjects