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

The 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 a relativistic plasma aperture is generated in thin foils by intense laser light, resulting in the fundame...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature physics 2016-05, Vol.12 (5), p.505-512
Main Authors: Gonzalez-Izquierdo, Bruno, Gray, Ross J., King, Martin, Dance, Rachel J., Wilson, Robbie, McCreadie, John, Butler, Nicholas M. H., Capdessus, Remi, Hawkes, Steve, Green, James S., Borghesi, Marco, Neely, David, McKenna, Paul
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
639/766/1960/1135
639/766/1960/1137
Atomic
Beams (radiation)
Charged particles
Classical and Continuum Physics
Complex Systems
Condensed Matter Physics
Diffraction
Laser beams
Lasers
Mathematical and Computational Physics
Mathematical models
Molecular
Optical and Plasma Physics
Optical data processing
Optics
Physics
Plasma physics
Relativistic plasmas
Theoretical
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Summary:The 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 a relativistic plasma aperture is generated in thin foils by intense laser light, resulting in the fundamental optical process of diffraction. The plasma electrons collectively respond to the resulting laser near-field diffraction pattern, producing a beam of energetic electrons with a spatial structure that 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, and is an important step towards optical control of charged particle dynamics in laser-driven dense plasma sources. Shining intense laser light onto a thin aluminium foil creates a relativistic plasma aperture—and diffraction. As a result, an electron beam is generated with a spatial structure that can be changed by varying the characteristics of the laser pulse.
ISSN:1745-2473
1745-2481
DOI:10.1038/nphys3613