Collisionless absorption, hot electron generation, and energy scaling in intense laser-target interaction

Abstract

Among the various attempts to understand collisionless absorption of intense ultrashort laser pulses a variety of models has been invented to describe the laser beam target interaction. In terms of basic physics collisionless absorption is understood now as the interplay of the oscillating laser field with the space charge field produced in the plasma. A first approach to this idea is realized in Brunel's model the essence of which consists in the formation of an oscillating charge cloud in the vacuum in front of the target. The investigation of statistical ensembles of orbits shows that the absorption process is localized at the ion-vacuum interface and in the skin layer: Single electrons enter into resonance with the laser field thereby undergoing a phase shift which causes orbit crossing and braking of Brunel's laminar flow. This anharmonic resonance acts like an attractor for the electrons and leads to the formation of a Maxwellian tail in the electron energy spectrum. Most remarkable results of our investigations are the Brunel-like hot electron distribution at the relativistic threshold; the minimum of absorption at $I{\lambda }^2\cong (0.3-1.2)\times 10^{21}$ W/cm${}^2\mu$m${}^2$, in the plasma target with the electron density of $n_e{\lambda }^2\sim 10^{23}$cm${}^{-3}\mu$m${}^2;$ the drastic reduction of the number of hot electrons in this domain and their reappearance in the highly relativistic domain; strong coupling of the fast electron jets with the return current through Cherenkov emission of plasmons. The hot electron energy scaling shows a strong dependence on intensity in the moderately relativistic domain $I{\lambda }^2\cong (10^{18}-10^{20})$ W/cm${}^2\mu$m${}^2$, a scaling in vague accordance with current published estimates in the range $I{\lambda }^2\cong (0.14-3.5)\times 10^{21}$ W/cm${}^2\mu$m${}^2$, and a distinct power increase beyond $I=3.5\times 10^{21}$ W/cm${}^2\mu$m${}^2$.

arXiv comment11 pages, 10 figures

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• The role of standing wave in the generation of hot electrons by femtosecond laser beams incident on dense ionized target
• Anharmonic resonance absorption of short laser pulses in clusters: A molecular dynamics simulation study
• Generation of cold magnetized relativistic plasmas at the rear of thin foils irradiated by ultra-high-intensity laser pulses
• Real time reconstruction of the fast electron spectrum from high intensity laser plasma interaction using gamma counting technique