Strong ionisation in carbon nanowires

Surfaces covered with nanostructures, such as nanowire arrays, are shown to facilitate a significantly higher absorption of laser energy as compared to flat surfaces. Due to the efficient coupling of the laser energy, highly energetic electrons are produced, which in turn can emit intense ultrafast X-ray pulses. Full three dimensional PIC simulations are used to analyse the behaviour of arrays of carbon nanowires 400 nm in diameter, irradiated by a 400-nm laser pulse of 60-fs duration at FWHM and a vector potential of α₀ = 18. We analyse the ionisation dynamics of the nanowires. The difference of the ionisation strength and structure between linearly and circularly polarised laser beam is investigated. The nanowires are found to be fully ionised after about 30 laser cycles. Circularly polarised light reveals a slightly stronger ionisation effect. (extreme laser radiation: physics and fundamental applications)