Published April 28, 2006 | Version v1
Journal article

Observation of a Fast Electron Beam Emitted along the Surface of a Target Irradiated by Intense Femtosecond Laser Pulses

  • 1. Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080 (China)
  • 2. State Key Laboratory of Transient Optics Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an 710068 (China)

Description

A novel fast electron beam emitting along the surface of a target irradiated by intense laser pulses is observed. The beam is found to appear only when the plasma density scale length is small. Numerical simulations reveal that the electron beam is formed due to the confinement of the surface quasistatic electromagnetic fields. The results are of interest for potential applications of fast electron beams and deep understanding of the cone-target physics in the fast ignition related experiments

Additional details

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Physical Review Letters
Journal Volume
96
Journal Issue
16
Journal Page Range
p. 165003-165003.4
ISSN
0031-9007
CODEN
PRLTAO

Optional Information

Notes
(c) 2006 The American Physical Society