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Generation of hemispherical fast electron waves in the presence of preplasma in ultraintense laser-matter interaction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2013

X. H. Yang
Affiliation:
College of Science, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, China
Y. Y. Ma*
Affiliation:
College of Science, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, China
H. Xu
Affiliation:
State Key Lab of High Performance Computing, School of Computer Science, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, China
F. Q. Shao
Affiliation:
College of Science, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, China
M.Y. Yu
Affiliation:
Institute for Fusion Theory and Simulation, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China Institut für Theoretische Physik I, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany
Y. Yin
Affiliation:
College of Science, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, China
H. B. Zhuo
Affiliation:
College of Science, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, China
M. Borghesi
Affiliation:
Centre for Plasma Physics, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom Institute of Physics of the ASCR, ELI-Beamlines project, Prague, Czech Republic
*
*Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Y. Y. Ma, College of Science, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Hemispherical electron plasma waves generated from ultraintense laser interacting with a solid target having a subcritical preplasma is studied using particle-in-cell simulation. As the laser pulse propagates inside the preplasma, it becomes self-focused due to the response of the plasma electrons to the ponderomotive force. The electrons are mainly heated via betatron resonance absorption and their thermal energy can become higher than the ponderomotive energy. The hot electrons easily penetrate through the thin solid target and appear behind it as periodic hemispherical shell-like layers separated by the laser wavelength.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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