Plasma devices to guide and collimate a high density of MeV electrons

The development of ultra-intense lasers has facilitated new studies in laboratory astrophysics and high-density nuclear science, including laser fusion. Such research relies on the efficient generation of enormous numbers of high-energy charged particles. For example, laser-matter interactions at pe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature 2004-12, Vol.432 (7020), p.1005-1008
Main Authors: Kodama, R, Sentoku, Y, Chen, Z. L, Kumar, G. R, Hatchett, S. P, Toyama, Y, Cowan, T. E, Freeman, R. R, Fuchs, J, Izawa, Y, Key, M. H, Kitagawa, Y, Kondo, K, Matsuoka, T, Nakamura, H, Nakatsutsumi, M, Norreys, P. A, Norimatsu, T, Snavely, R. A, Stephens, R. B, Tampo, M, Tanaka, K. A, Yabuuchi, T
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Electrons
Exact sciences and technology
Humanities and Social Sciences
Lasers
letter
multidisciplinary
Optics
Particle-in-cell method
Physics
Physics of gases, plasmas and electric discharges
Physics of plasmas and electric discharges
Plasma
Plasma devices
Plasma simulation
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
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Summary:The development of ultra-intense lasers has facilitated new studies in laboratory astrophysics and high-density nuclear science, including laser fusion. Such research relies on the efficient generation of enormous numbers of high-energy charged particles. For example, laser-matter interactions at petawatt (1015 W) power levels can create pulses of MeV electrons with current densities as large as 1012 A cm-2. However, the divergence of these particle beams usually reduces the current density to a few times 106 A cm-2 at distances of the order of centimetres from the source. The invention of devices that can direct such intense, pulsed energetic beams will revolutionize their applications. Here we report high-conductivity devices consisting of transient plasmas that increase the energy density of MeV electrons generated in laser-matter interactions by more than one order of magnitude. A plasma fibre created on a hollow-cone target guides and collimates electrons in a manner akin to the control of light by an optical fibre and collimator. Such plasma devices hold promise for applications using high energy-density particles and should trigger growth in charged particle optics.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/nature03133