Dynamic focusing of a 3.8 MeV, 25 ps long, full width at half-maximum (FWHM), electron bunch by an overdense (n,+nb, where np and nb are the plasma and bunch densities, respectively) plasma lens has been studied experimentally. The plasma focused the bunch from an initial transverse size of approximately 2.4 mm (PWHM) to about 0.5 mm, 21 cm downstream of the plasma. The sharp rise time (7 ps lo...

2014 Electromagnetic plane wave momentum transfer to an inhomogeneous plasma slab has been evaluated for an arbitrary reflecting and absorbing plasma density profile based on Euler’s equation of motion but including a ponderomotive term. In the limit where the plasma density follows a step function, the Fresnel formulae for the coefficient of reflectivity have been obtained for both normal and ...

An electron cyclotron resonance plasma produced in a cylindrical waveguide with external permanent magnets was investigated as a possible plasma cathode electron source. The configuration is desirable in that it eliminates the need for a physical antenna inserted into the plasma, the erosion of which limits operating lifetime. Plasma bulk density was found to be overdense in the source. Extract...

Stability of one dimensional relativistic laser plasma envelope solitons formed by the nonlinear coupling of relativistically intense electromagnetic waves with plasma waves in a cold plasma to has been examined using fluid simulations. It is observed that the solutions for which scalar potential is weaker than the vector potential are stable whereas solutions with comparatively much higher sca...

High power lasers when focused onto matter lead to extremely rapid ionization by direct photoeffect or, depending on wavelength and material, by multiphoton processes. When a sufficient number of free electrons is created the formation of a dense, highly ionized plasma is more efficiently continued by electron–neutrals and electron–ion impact ionization. In view of many important applications t...

The high-β operating regime of spherical tokamaks (ST), such as in NSTX and MAST, make them attractive fusion devices. For access to such high β regimes, it is necessary to heat and to drive currents in ST plasmas. While such plasmas are overdense to conventional electron cyclotron waves, electron Bernstein waves (EBW) offer an attractive means toward this purpose. The applications of EBWs in S...