Scaling laws of electron acceleration driven by an intense laser pulse

We studied the scaling laws for slow-electron acceleration driven by an intense laser pulse in a vacuum, the ponderomotive acceleration scenario (PAS) scheme. With 3D test particle simulation by numerically solving the relativistic Lorentz–Newton equation of motion, the maximum electron energy gain was found to be proportional to the laser intensity (a₀), the laser beam width (w₀), and inversely proportional to the laser pulse duration (τ). Theoretical analyses and a physical explanation based on the ponderomotive potential model (PPM) are presented. PACS 42.50.Vk; 41.75.Jv; 42.60.Jf     

Ion acceleration in a solitary wave by an intense picosecond laser pulse

Acceleration of ions in a solitary wave produced by shock-wave decay in a plasma slab irradiated by an intense picosecond laser pulse is studied via particle-in-cell simulation. Instead of exponential distribution as in known mechanisms of ion acceleration from the target surface, these ions accelerated forwardly form a bunch with relatively low energy spread. The bunch is shown to be a solitary wave moving over expanding plasma; its velocity can exceed the maximal velocity of ions accelerated forward from the rear side of the target.     

Excitation of an upper hybrid wave by two intense laser beams and particle acceleration

This Letter presents an investigation of the excitation of an upper hybrid wave (UHW) by cross focusing of two intense laser beams in a collisionless hot magnetoplasma, when relativistic and ponderomotive nonlinearities are operative. The electric vectors of the two beams are polarized along uniform static magnetic field and the beams propagate perpendicular to the static magnetic field. Analytical expressions for the beam width of the laser beams, electric vector and power of the excited UHW and energy gain have been obtained. The UHW generation at the difference frequency and particle acceleration has also been studied. The nonlinear coupling between intense laser beams and UHW is so strong that UHW gets excited and a large fraction of the laser beam energy gets transferred to UHW and this UHW accelerates electrons. It has been shown that the presence of a magnetic field affects significantly the power of the UHW and energy gain by the electron in the presence of the UHW.     

Plasmon-enhanced electron acceleration in intense laser metal-cluster interactions

We have measured the energy and angular-resolved electron emission from medium-sized silver clusters (N approximately 500-2000) exposed to dual laser pulses of moderate intensity (I approximately (10(13-14) W/cm2). When the second pulse excites the plasmon resonantly, we observe enhanced emission along the laser polarization axis. The asymmetry of the electron spectrum is strongly increasing with electron energy. Semiclassical simulations reveal the following mechanism: Electrons bound in highly excited states can leave, return to, and traverse the cluster. Those electrons that return at zero plasmon deflection and traverse the cluster during a favorable plasmon half-cycle can experience maximum acceleration by the evolving polarization field. As a result of these constraints energetic electrons are emitted in direction of the laser polarization axis in subcycle bursts.     

Forward acceleration and generation of femtosecond megaelectronvolt electron beams by an ultrafast intense laser pulse

We present a new mechanism of energy gain of electrons accelerated by a laser pulse.It is shown thatwhen the intensity of an ultrafast intense laser pulse decreases rapidly along the direction of propagation,electrons leaving the pulse experience an action of ponderomotivc deceleration at the descending part ofa lower-intensity laser field than acceleration at the ascending part of a high-intensity field, thus gain netenergy from the pulse and move directly forward. By means of such a mechanism, a megaelectronvoltelectron beam with a bunch length shorter than 100 fs could be realized with an ultrafast(≤30 fs),intense (>10~(19)W/cm~2)laser pulse.     

Direct acceleration of electrons by radially polarized laser pulse

Direct electron acceleration by highly focused ultrahigh-power laser pulses of radial polarization in the ultrarelativistic mode was studied. The mode at which the focusing spot size appears of the same order as the laser radiation wavelength was considered. Electromagnetic fields were calculated using exact Stratton-Chu diffraction integrals. Calculations showed that, as for the case of linear polarization, too sharp focusing (in the diffraction limit) is not optimum for electron acceleration, despite the strong axial field namely in the case of a submicrometer laser spot. At the same time, the case of moderate focusing is more attractive for electron acceleration.     

Plasma-wakefield acceleration of an intense positron beam

Plasma wakefields are both excited and probed by propagating an intense 28.5 GeV positron beam through a 1.4 m long lithium plasma. The main body of the beam loses energy in exciting this wakefield while positrons in the back of the same beam can be accelerated by the same wakefield as it changes sign. The scaling of energy loss with plasma density as well as the energy gain seen at the highest plasma density is in excellent agreement with simulations.     

Successive particle acceleration by use of two tightly focused ultra-short intense laser pulses

We suggest a scheme of electron acceleration by use of two tightly focused ultra-short intense laser pulses at a 100TW level. Electrons obtain a preliminary acceleration with a small angular spread by the longitudinal ponderomotive force of the first pulse. They are then injected and further accelerated to hundreds of MeV by the second laser pulse.     

Backscattering of an intense laser beam by an electron

We present a novel, simple asymptotic expansion for the spectrum of radiation that is backscattered from a laser by a counterpropagating (or copropagating) electron. The solutions are presented in such a way that they explicitly show the relative merit of using an intense laser and of an energetic electron beam in x-ray production in the single particle regime. Simple scaling laws are given.     

Color center production by femtosecond-pulse laser irradiation in fluoride crystals

Color centers are lattice vacancy defects trapping electrons or holes. They are easily created in single crystals by irradiation with ionizing radiation. We report the production of color centers in LiF and LiYF₄ single crystals by ultrashort high-intensity laser pulses (60 fs, 12.5 GW). An intensity threshold for color center creation of 1.9 and 2 TW/cm² was determined in YLF and LiF, respectively, which is slightly smaller than the continuum generation threshold. Due to the high energy density of the coherent radiation of the focused laser beam, we were able to identify a large amount of F centers, which gave rise to aggregates such as F₂, F ₂ ⁺ , and F ₃ ⁺ . The proposed mechanism of formation is based on multiphoton excitation, which also produces short-lived F ₂ ⁺ centers. It is also shown that it is possible to write tracks in the LiF crystals with dimensional control.     

强激光锥型靶真空电子加速数值模拟研究

真空激光加速机制具有加速场梯度大、加速电子电量高的优点,目前制约真空加速机制研究发展的主要问题是如何产生具有一定初速度的电子并将其注入加速场。提出了一种利用强激光与锥型靶相互作用产生高能电子并实现真空加速的新方法,利用二维PIC(Particle-in-cell)粒子模拟程序对这一方法进行了研究。模拟结果显示,对于光强为10²¹ W/cm²量级的高斯激光脉冲,产生了能量为GeV量级、发散角约为1°的强流快电子束。此外还通过理论解析和参数模拟研究了靶半径对这种超热电子加速机制的影响。     

用拉盖尔-高斯激光对真空中电子直接加速

对用拉盖尔-高斯(LG)光束加速电子作了研究.结果表明，仅模指数为p和l=1的LG光束的纵向电场可用于加速电子.模指数为p和l=1的线偏振和圆偏振LG光束都对电子有加速效果.对轴上光场的相速度和群速度以及电子能量增益等物理特征作了讨论.给出了轴上光场的相速度和群速度、加速电位及电子能量增益等的解析表达式，并作了数值计算和分析. 关键词： 激光电子加速 拉盖尔-高斯光束 线偏振和圆偏振 能量增益     

On the theory of the acceleration of plasma electrons during stimulated scattering of an intense laser wave

The mechanism of electron acceleration in the stimulated Raman forward scattering of a monochromatic laser wave in a cold plasma is investigated theoretically. It is shown that as a result of the stochastic interaction of the electrons with the ponderomotive wave and with plasma waves excited in the scattering process, some of the electrons are accelerated to relativistic energies. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 69, 3–8 (January 1999)     

Ponderomotive acceleration of electrons by an ultrashort laser pulse

By using the corrected solutions for an ultrashort laser pulse, we study the laser-driven electron violent acceleration in vacuum. Our simulations demonstrate that an ultrashort laser pulse with an intensity a₀≡eE₀/m_eωc=3 can accelerate electrons to an energy more than 0.5 GeV. The scaling laws for the net energy gain in different pulse length and laser radius at focus are also studied. Its acceleration mechanism is found to be ponderomotive acceleration.     

Direct high-power laser acceleration of ions for medical applications

Theoretical investigations show that linearly and radially polarized multiterawatt and petawatt laser beams, focused to subwavelength waist radii, can directly accelerate protons and carbon nuclei, over micron-size distances, to the energies required for hadron cancer therapy. Ions accelerated by radially polarized lasers have generally a more favorable energy spread than those accelerated by linearly polarized lasers of the same intensity.     

Electron self-injection and acceleration in a hollow plasma channel driven by ultrashort intense laser pulses

The self-injection and acceleration of electrons in a hollow plasma channel driven by ultrashort intense laser pulses is investigated by Particle-in-Cell(PIC) simulations. It is shown that electrons from the bubble sheath will be self-injected into the hollow plasma channel and move radially towards the channel border due to the lack of focusing force in the hollow plasma channel. After several reflections near the channel wall by the strong focusing force, a self-injected electron bunch can be confined in the hollow plasma channel and quasi-phase-stably accelerated forward for the whole laser–plasma interaction process. These electrons using optical and plasma-related self-injection method can be self-organized to remain in the rear of the bubble, where the accelerating electric field is transversely uniform and nearly plateau along the propagation axis. Therefore, the self-injected electron bunch can be accelerated in a steady state without obvious oscillation and has a high quality with narrow energy spread and low divergence.     

分子的飞秒强光电离

文章以一个实验者的角度，介绍了分子的飞秒强光电离的研究现状。文章从对比飞秒激光电离质谱与纳秒激光电离质谱开始，接着介绍分子在激光场作用下的可能电离机理，着重描述了几个处理分子场致电离的理论模型和实验验证，最后对飞秒激光导致的分子在激光脉冲作用后取向研究进行了简单介绍。     

分子的飞秒强光电离

文章以一个实验者的角度,介绍了分子的飞秒强光电离的研究现状.文章从对比飞秒激光电离质谱与纳秒激光电离质谱开始,接着介绍分子在激光场作用下的可能电离机理,着重描述了几个处理分子场致电离的理论模型和实验验证,最后对飞秒激光导致的分子在激光脉冲作用后取向研究进行了简单介绍.