Main > High Power Laser Science and Engineering >  Volume 8 >  Issue 2 >  Page 02000e15 > Article
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Accepted: Mar. 16, 2020

Posted: Apr. 30, 2020

Published Online: Apr. 30, 2020

The Author Email: M. Cerchez (mirela.cerchez@hhu.de)

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X. M. Zhu, R. Prasad, M. Swantusch, B. Aurand, A. A. Andreev, O. Willi, M. Cerchez. Relativistic electron acceleration by surface plasma waves excited with high intensity laser pulses[J]. High Power Laser Science and Engineering, 2020, 8(2): 02000e15

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Abstract

The process of high energy electron acceleration along the surface of grating targets (GTs) that were irradiated by a relativistic, high-contrast laser pulse at an intensity $I=2.5\times 10^{20}~\text{W}/\text{cm}^{2}$ was studied. Our experimental results demonstrate that for a GT with a periodicity twice the laser wavelength, the surface electron flux is more intense for a laser incidence angle that is larger compared to the resonance angle predicted by the linear model. An electron beam with a peak charge of ${\sim}2.7~\text{nC}/\text{sr}$, for electrons with energies ${>}1.5~\text{MeV}$, was measured. Numerical simulations carried out with parameters similar to the experimental conditions also show an enhanced electron flux at higher incidence angles depending on the preplasma scale length. A theoretical model that includes ponderomotive effects with more realistic initial preplasma conditions suggests that the laser-driven intensity and preformed plasma scale length are important for the acceleration process. The predictions closely match the experimental and computational results.