Collimation of high current fast electrons in dense plasmas with a tightly focused precursor intense laser pulse

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Xu, H. and Yang, X.H. and Sheng, Z.M. and McKenna, P. and Ma, Y.Y. and Zhou, H.B. and Yin, Y. and Ren, C. and Zhang, J. (2019) Collimation of high current fast electrons in dense plasmas with a tightly focused precursor intense laser pulse. Nuclear Fusion, 59 (12). 126024. ISSN 0029-5515 (https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/ab45a2)

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Abstract

High-current fast electrons at the mega-ampere level provide a unique way to generate high-energy density states of matter, which are related to many applications. However, the large divergence angle of fast electrons typically over 50 degrees is a significant disadvantage. The guiding effect of the self-generated azimuthal magnetic fields on fast electron current is found to be very limited due to the cone-shaped spatial structure of the fields. In this work, we present a new understanding of the collimation conditions of fast electrons under such a magnetic field structure. It is shown that the transverse peak position of the magnetic field layer plays a more crucial role in collimating the fast electrons than its magnitude. Based upon this, a new two-pulse collimating scheme is proposed, where a guiding precursor pulse is adopted to form proper azimuthal magnetic fields and the main pulse is for fast electron generation as usual. The present scheme can be implemented relatively easily with the precursor lasers at the 10 TW level with a duration of 200 femtoseconds, with which the divergence angle of fast electrons driven by the main pulse can be confined within a few degrees. Practical applications of our scheme can be found in high-energy density science.

ORCID iDs

Xu, H., Yang, X.H., Sheng, Z.M. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8823-9993, McKenna, P. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8061-7091, Ma, Y.Y., Zhou, H.B., Yin, Y., Ren, C. and Zhang, J.;
  • Item type:Article
    ID code:70250
    Dates:
    Date
    Event
    11 October 2019
    Published
    18 September 2019
    Accepted
    Notes:This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article published in Nuclear Fusion. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it. The Version of Record is available online at https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/ab45a2.
    Subjects:Science > Physics
    Department:Faculty of Science > Physics
    Depositing user: Pure Administrator
    Date deposited:24 Oct 2019 09:00
    Last modified:11 Nov 2024 12:28
    Related URLs:
    URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/70250
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