Measurements of the Growth and Saturation of Electron Weibel Instability in Optical-Field Ionized Plasmas

The temporal evolution of the magnetic field associated with electron thermal Weibel instability in optical-field ionized plasmas is measured using ultrashort (1.8 ps), relativistic (45 MeV) electron bunches from a linear accelerator. The self-generated magnetic fields are found to self-organize int...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2020-12, Vol.125 (25), p.255001-255001, Article 255001
Main Authors: Zhang, Chaojie, Hua, Jianfei, Wu, Yipeng, Fang, Yu, Ma, Yue, Zhang, Tianliang, Liu, Shuang, Peng, Bo, He, Yunxiao, Huang, Chen-Kang, Marsh, Ken A, Mori, Warren B, Lu, Wei, Joshi, Chan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
Electric & magnetic plasma measurements
Electrons
Kinetic theory
Laboratory plasma
Laser-induced magnetic fields in plasmas
Magnetic fields
Particle plasma measurements
Plasmas
Saturation
Topology
Weibel instability
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Summary:The temporal evolution of the magnetic field associated with electron thermal Weibel instability in optical-field ionized plasmas is measured using ultrashort (1.8 ps), relativistic (45 MeV) electron bunches from a linear accelerator. The self-generated magnetic fields are found to self-organize into a quasistatic structure consistent with a helicoid topology within a few picoseconds and such a structure lasts for tens of picoseconds in underdense plasmas. The measured growth rate agrees well with that predicted by the kinetic theory of plasmas taking into account collisions. Magnetic trapping is identified as the dominant saturation mechanism.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.125.255001