Propagation instabilities of high-intensity laser-produced electron beams

M. Tatarakis, F.N. Beg, E.L. Clark, A.E. Dangor, R.D. Edwards, R.G. Evans, T.J. Goldsack, K.W.D. Ledingham, P.A. Norreys, M.A. Sinclair, M.S. Wei, M. Zepf, K. Krushelnick

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

125 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Measurements of energetic electron beams generated from ultrahigh intensity laser interactions (I>1019 W/cm2) with dense plasmas are discussed. These interactions have been shown to produce very directional beams, although with a broad energy spectrum. In the regime where the beam density approaches the density of the background plasma, we show that these beams are unstable to filamentation and 'hosing' instabilities. Particle-in-cell simulations also indicate the development of such instabilities. This is a regime of particular interest for inertial confinement fusion applications of these beams (i.e., "fast ignition").
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)175001-1
Number of pages175000
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume90
Issue number17
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2003

Keywords

  • electron beams
  • lasers
  • plasma
  • fusion

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