Measurements of magnetic fields generated in underdense plasmas by intense lasers

Journal Article · Fri Apr 07 04:00:00 EDT 2006 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2195197· OSTI ID:20798501

Najmudin, Z; Walton, B R; Mangles, S P. D.; Dangor, A E; Krushelnick, K ^[1]; Fritzler, S; Malka, V; Faure, J ^[2]; Tatarakis, M ^[3]

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1. Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, London SW7 2BZ (United Kingdom)
2. Laboratoire d'Optique Appliquee, Ecole Polytechnique, CNRS, 91761 Palaiseau (France)
3. Department of Electronics, Technological Education Institute of Crete, Chania, Crete (Greece)

Measurements have been made of the magnetic field generated by the passage of high intensity short laser pulses through underdense plasmas. For a 30 fs, 1 J, 800 nm linearly-polarised laser pulse, an azimuthal magnetic field is observed at a radial extent of approximately 200 {mu}m. The field is found to exceed 2.8 MG. For a 1 ps, 40 J, 1054 nm circularly-polarised laser pulse, a solenoidal field is observed that can exceed 7 MG. This solenoidal field is absent with linear polarised light, and hence can be considered as an Inverse Faraday effect. Both types of field are found to decay on the picosecond timescale. For both the azimuthal and solenoidal fields produced by such intense lasers, the production of energetic electrons by the interaction is thought to be vital for magnetic field generation.

• OSTI ID: 20798501
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Journal Name: AIP Conference Proceedings Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 827; ISSN APCPCS; ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
FARADAY EFFECT
LASER RADIATION
LASERS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
PLASMA
PLASMA HEATING
PULSES
TAIL ELECTRONS