Dense relativistic electron mirrors from a Laguerre-Gaussian laser-irradiated micro-droplet

We investigate dense relativistic electron mirror generation from a micro-droplet driven by circularly- polarized Laguerre-Gaussian lasers. The surface electrons are expelled from the droplet by the laser radial electric field and evolve into dense sheets after leaving the droplet. These electrons are trapped in the potential well of the laser transverse ponderomotive force and are steadily accelerated to about 100 MeV by the inherent longitudinal electric field. Particle-in-cell simulations indicate that the relativistic electron mirrors are characterized by high beam charge, narrow energy spread and large angular-momentum, which can be utilized for bright compact X/ γ -ray pulse generation and photon vortex formation.