Characterization of High-Intensity Laser Propagation in the Relativistic Transparent Regime through Measurements of Energetic Proton Beams

Willingale, L.; Nagel, S. R.; Thomas, Alexander; Bellei, C.; Clarke, R. J.; Dangor, A. E.; Heathcote, R.; Kaluza, Malte C.; Kamperidis, C.; Kneip, S.; Krushelnick, K.; Lopes, Nelson; Mangles, S. P. D.; Nazarov, W.; Nilson, P. M.; Najmudin, Z.

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.102.125002

Cited by 110 publications

(92 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(11 reference statements)

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“…At the peak laser intensities achievable at present, plasma electrons oscillate at relativistic velocities such that an ultrathin foil undergoing expansion becomes relativistically transparent to the laser pulse [9][10][11][12][13][14]. The physics underpinning relativistic induced transparency (RIT) in thin foils is discussed by Vshivkov et al [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optically controlled dense current structures driven by relativistic plasma aperture-induced diffraction

et al. 2016

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(2016). Optically controlled dense current structures driven by relativistic plasma aperture-induced diffraction. Nature Physics, 12, 505-512. DOI: 10.1038/nphys3613 General rights Copyright for the publications made accessible via the Queen's University Belfast Research Portal is retained by the author(s) and / or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing these publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.Take down policy The Research Portal is Queen's institutional repository that provides access to Queen's research output. Every effort has been made to ensure that content in the Research Portal does not infringe any person's rights, or applicable UK laws. If you discover content in the Research Portal that you believe breaches copyright or violates any law, please contact openaccess@qub.ac.uk. AbstractThe collective response of charged particles to intense fields is intrinsic to plasma accelerators and radiation sources, relativistic optics and many astrophysical phenomena. Here we show that the fundamental optical process of diffraction of intense laser light occurs via the self-generation of a relativistic plasma aperture in thin foils undergoing relativistic induced transparency. The plasma electrons collectively respond to the resulting near-field diffraction pattern, producing a beam of energetic electrons with spatial structure which can be controlled by variation of the laser pulse parameters. It is shown that static electron beam, and induced magnetic field, structures can be made to rotate at fixed or variable angular frequencies depending on the degree of ellipticity in the laser polarization. The concept is demonstrated numerically and verified experimentally. It is a viable step towards optical control of charged particle dynamics in laser-driven sources. * Electronic address: paul.mckenna@strath.ac.uk 1 The formation of current structures due to the collective response of charged particles to a perturbation is one of the most fundamental properties of plasma. This is manifest in plasma dynamics ranging from flares and X-ray jets on the sun to disruptive instabilities in fusion plasmas. This feature is also exploited to great effect in the development of compact laser-based particle accelerators and radiation sources, which have wide-ranging potential applications in science, medicine and industry. Controlling the collective motion of plasma electrons in response to perturbation produced by intense laser light is key to the development of these novel sources. Pertinent examples in plasma with density low enough for laser light to propagate (underdense plasma) include the self-generated plasma cavity or 'bubble' produced in laser-driven wakefield acceleration [1] and plasma channels [2]. These structures are formed principally by the ponderomotive force induced by the propagating laser pulse, which expels electrons from the regions of high laser intensity, and by self-generated fields induced by the current displacement [3]. Sh...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optically controlled dense current structures driven by relativistic plasma aperture-induced diffraction

et al. 2016

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“…Earlier experiments in TOR have measured time-integrated light transmission 20,21 as well as ion [22][23][24] and electron spectra 25 . In those measurements the dynamics of relativistic transparency could only be inferred from corresponding simulations [7][8][9][10] .…”

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Dynamics of relativistic transparency and optical shuttering in expanding overdense plasmas

et al. 2012

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Overdense plasmas are usually opaque to laser light. However, when the light is of sufficient intensity to drive electrons in the plasma to near light speeds, the plasma becomes transparent. This process-known as relativistic transparency-takes just a tenth of a picosecond. Yet all studies of relativistic transparency so far have been restricted to measurements collected over timescales much longer than this, limiting our understanding of the dynamics of this process. Here we present time-resolved electric field measurements (with a temporal resolution of ∼50 fs) of the light, initially reflected from, and subsequently transmitted through, an expanding overdense plasma. Our result provides insight into the dynamics of the transparent-overdense regime of relativistic plasmas, which should be useful in the development of laser-driven particle accelerators, X-ray sources and techniques for controlling the shape and contrast of intense laser pulses.

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“…The requirements to contrast of laser pulse could be less rigorous if gas jet is used as targets in experiments on laser particle acceleration. The effective electron temperature is higher in experiments on the irradiation of gas jets [5,6] and low density foams [7] by picosecond laser pulses than in experiment with solid state target, therefore it was possible to expect an increase in the maximum energy of ions using lowdensity targets. 2D PIC code simulations of ion acceleration at the irradiation of a low-density target by relativistic laser pulses were already published [5][6][7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The simulations of charged particle acceleration from gas target at 20 TW SOKOL-P laser with intensity of 5⋅10¹⁹W/cm²

Лыков

Baidin

Торшин

2013

EPJ Web of Conferences

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Abstract. 2D PIC code simulations have been performed for the optimization of gas jet target parameters to achieve a maximal energy and efficiency of charged particle acceleration in planned experiments at the 20 TW picosecond SOKOL-P laser. These calculations specify an opportunity to obtain energy up to E e ∼ 200 MeV and efficiency e ∼ 10% for accelerated electrons and E p ∼ 30 − 50 MeV and p ∼ 5% for accelerated protons in these experiments at laser intensity I ∼ 5 · 10 19 W/cm 2 . They show the necessity of providing a formation of hydrogen jets with diameter ∼ 1 mm, a gas molecule concentration ∼ 2 · 10 19 cm −3 and steep density gradients ∼ 200 m at the edge of the gas jet target for achieving these parameters of laser accelerated particle beams.

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Characterization of High-Intensity Laser Propagation in the Relativistic Transparent Regime through Measurements of Energetic Proton Beams

Cited by 110 publications

References 25 publications

Optically controlled dense current structures driven by relativistic plasma aperture-induced diffraction

Optically controlled dense current structures driven by relativistic plasma aperture-induced diffraction

Dynamics of relativistic transparency and optical shuttering in expanding overdense plasmas

The simulations of charged particle acceleration from gas target at 20 TW SOKOL-P laser with intensity of 5⋅10¹⁹W/cm²

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Characterization of High-Intensity Laser Propagation in the Relativistic Transparent Regime through Measurements of Energetic Proton Beams

Cited by 110 publications

References 25 publications

Optically controlled dense current structures driven by relativistic plasma aperture-induced diffraction

Optically controlled dense current structures driven by relativistic plasma aperture-induced diffraction

Dynamics of relativistic transparency and optical shuttering in expanding overdense plasmas

The simulations of charged particle acceleration from gas target at 20 TW SOKOL-P laser with intensity of 5⋅1019W/cm2

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The simulations of charged particle acceleration from gas target at 20 TW SOKOL-P laser with intensity of 5⋅10¹⁹W/cm²