Laser-driven strong magnetostatic fields with applications to charged beam transport and magnetized high energy-density physics

Abstract

Powerful laser-plasma processes are explored to generate discharge currents of a few $100$kA in coil targets, yielding magnetostatic fields (B-fields) in excess of $0.5$kT. The quasi-static currents are provided from hot electron ejection from the laser-irradiated surface. According to our model, describing qualitatively the evolution of the discharge current, the major control parameter is the laser irradiance $I_{\mathrm{las}}{\lambda }_{\mathrm{las}}^2$. The space-time evolution of the B-fields is experimentally characterized by high-frequency bandwidth B-dot probes and by proton-deflectometry measurements. The magnetic pulses, of ns-scale, are long enough to magnetize secondary targets through resistive diffusion. We applied it in experiments of laser-generated relativistic electron transport into solid dielectric targets, yielding an unprecedented 5-fold enhancement of the energy-density flux at $60\mu \mathrm{m}$ depth, compared to unmagnetized transport conditions. These studies pave the ground for magnetized high-energy density physics investigations, related to laser-generated secondary sources of radiation and/or high-energy particles and their transport, to high-gain fusion energy schemes and to laboratory astrophysics.

arXiv comment11 pages, 7 figures, invited APS

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Cited by in corpus (17)

• Laser Amplification in Strongly-Magnetized Plasma
• Ion beam bunching via phase rotation in cascading laser-driven ion acceleration
• Efficient generation of axial magnetic field by multiple laser beams with twisted pointing directions
• Kilotesla plasmoid formation by a trapped relativistic laser beam
• Thermonuclear Fusion Triggered by Collapsing Standing Whistler Waves in Magnetized Overdense Plasmas
• Ultrafast Wave-Particle Energy Transfer in the Collapse of Standing Whistler Waves
• Magnetic field amplification in a laser-irradiated thin foil by return current electrons carrying orbital angular momentum
• Strong surface magnetic field generation in relativistic short pulse laser-plasma interaction with an applied seed magnetic field
• Instability in a magnetised collisional plasma driven by a heat flow or a current
• Magnetic field generation from a coil-shaped foil by a laser-triggered hot-electron current
• Low-frequency whistler waves excited by relativistic laser pulses
• Progress in relativistic laser-plasma interaction with kilotesla-level applied magnetic fields
• Plasma Concept for Generating Circularly Polarized Electromagnetic Waves with Relativistic Amplitude
• Adiabatic-radiative shock systems in YSO jets and novae outflows
• Emission of electromagnetic waves as a stopping mechanism for nonlinear collisionless ionization waves in a high-$\beta$ regime
• Magnetic Confinement of an Ultracold Neutral Plasma
• Exploring extreme magnetization phenomena in directly-driven imploding cylindrical targets