Observation of Raman forward scattering and electron accelerationin the relativistic regime |
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| Authors: | Modena A. Najmudin Z. Dangor A.E. Clayton C.E. Marsh K.A. Joshi C. Malka V. Darrow C.B. Danson C. |
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| Affiliation: | Blackett Lab., Imperial Coll. of Sci., Technol. & Med., London; |
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| Abstract: | Raman forward scattering (RFS) is observed in the interaction of a high intensity (>1018 W/cm2) short pulse (<1 ps) laser with an underdense plasma (ne~1019 cm -3). Electrons are trapped and accelerated up to 44 MeV by the high-amplitude plasma wave produced by RFS. The laser spectrum is strongly modulated by the interaction, showing sidebands at the plasma frequency. Furthermore, as the quiver velocity of the electrons in the high electric field of the laser beam becomes relativistic, various effects are observed which can be attributed to the variation of electron mass with laser intensity |
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