Projects per year
Abstract
Laser energy absorption to fast electrons during the interaction of an ultra-intense (1020 W/cm2), picosecond laser pulse with a solid is investigated, experimentally and numerically, as a function of the plasma density scale length at the irradiated surface. It is shown that there is an optimum density gradient for efficient energy coupling to electrons and that this arises due to strong self-focusing and channeling driving energy absorption over an extended length in the preformed plasma. At longer density gradients the laser laments, resulting in significantly lower overall energy coupling. As the scale length is further increased, a transition to a second laser energy absorption process is observed experimentally via multiple diagnostics. The results demonstrate that it is possible to significantly enhance laser energy absorption and coupling to fast electrons by dynamically controlling the plasma density gradient.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 113075 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | New Journal of Physics |
Volume | 16 |
Issue number | 11 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 28 Nov 2014 |
Keywords
- laser pulse
- energy coupling
- fast electrons
- plasma gradients
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Dive into the research topics of 'Laser pulse propagation and enhanced energy coupling to fast electrons in dense plasma gradients'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 2 Finished
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Focusing Plasma Optics: Towards Extreme Laser Intensities
McKenna, P. (Principal Investigator)
EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council)
1/07/13 → 30/06/15
Project: Research
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Multi-PetaWatt Laser-Plasma Interactions: A New Frontier in Physics
McKenna, P. (Fellow)
EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council)
1/03/12 → 28/02/17
Project: Research Fellowship
Datasets
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Laser pulse propagation and enhanced energy coupling to fast electrons in dense plasma gradients
Gray, R. (Creator) & McKenna, P. (Creator), University of Strathclyde, 16 Nov 2014
DOI: 10.15129/cff346ec-054a-4ce7-b98b-79683758b4a1
Dataset