SUSTAINED COMOVING ACCELERATION OF OVERDENSE PLASMAS BY COLLIDING LASER PULSES

Sustained Acceleration of Over-dense Plasmas by Colliding Laser Pulses

We review recent PIC simulation results which show that double-sided irradiaton of a thin overdense plasma slab by ultra-intense laser pulses from both sides can lead to sustained comoving acceleration of surface electrons to energies much higher than the conventional ponderomotive limit. The acceleration stops only when the electrons drift transversely out of the laser beam. We show results of...

Quasi-monoenergetic electron beams produced by colliding cross-polarized laser pulses in underdense plasmas

The interaction of two laser pulses in an underdense plasma has been proven to be able to inject electrons into plasma waves, thus providing a stable and tunable source of electrons. Whereas previous works focused on the ‘beatwave’ injection scheme in which two lasers with the same polarization collide in a plasma, this present paper studies the effect of polarization and more specifically the ...

Intense laser-driven electrostatic shocks and its acceleration of ions in overdense plasmas

We investigated numerically the formation and propagation of the electrostatic shocks in overdense plasmas irradiated by intense ultrashort laser pulses. The dependence of the initial shock speeds on the parameters of the plasma and the laser is explained by invoking the modified momentum conservation model. The acceleration of ions by the shocks is also discussed.

Interpenetration and stagnation in colliding laser plasmas

K. F. Al-Shboul, S. S. Harilal, S. M. Hassan, A. Hassanein, J. T. Costello, T. Yabuuchi, K. A. Tanaka, and Y. Hirooka Center for Materials Under eXtreme Environment, School of Nuclear Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA Department of Nuclear Engineering, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid 22110, Jordan School of Physical Sciences and NCPST, Dublin ...

Study of Laser-Hole Boring into Overdense Plasmas.