Guiding of relativistic electron beams in dense matter by laser-driven magnetostatic fields.

ABSTRACT: Intense lasers interacting with dense targets accelerate relativistic electron beams, which transport part of the laser energy into the target depth. However, the overall laser-to-target energy coupling efficiency is impaired by the large divergence of the electron beam, intrinsic to the laser-plasma interaction. Here we demonstrate that an efficient guiding of MeV electrons with about 30 MA current in solid matter is obtained by imposing a laser-driven longitudinal magnetostatic field of 600 T. In the magnetized conditions the transported energy density and the peak background electron temperature at the 60-μm-thick target's rear surface rise by about a factor of five, as unfolded from benchmarked simulations. Such an improvement of energy-density flux through dense matter paves the groun

SUBMITTER: Bailly-Grandvaux M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5760627 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature