Theory and simulations of radiation friction induced enhancement of laser-driven longitudinal fields

Abstract

We consider the generation of a quasistatic longitudinal electric field by intense laser pulses propagating in a transparent plasma with radiation friction taken into account. For both circular and linear polarization of the driving pulse we develop a 1D analytical model of the process, which is valid in a wide range of laser and plasma parameters. We define the parameter region where radiation friction results in an essential enhancement of the longitudinal field. The amplitude and the period of the generated longitudinal wave are estimated and optimized. Our theoretical predictions are confirmed by 1D and 2D PIC simulations. We also demonstrate numerically that radiation friction should substantially enhance the longitudinal field generated in a plasma by a 10 PW laser such as ELI Beamlines.

20 pages, 6 figures

References in corpus (5)

• Radiation Pressure Dominate Regime of Relativistic Ion Acceleration
• Radiation Reaction Effects on Radiation Pressure Acceleration
• Hole boring in a DT pellet and fast ion ignition with ultra-intense laser pulses
• Effect of electron heating on self-induced transparency in relativistic intensity laser-plasma interaction
• Unusual face of radiation friction: enhancing production of longitudinal plasma waves

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Asymptotic electron motion in strong radiation-dominated regime
• Absorption and opacity threshold for a thin foil in a strong circularly polarized laser field
• High-order corrections to the radiation-free dynamics of an electron in the strongly radiation-dominated regime
• Analytical theory of coherent radiation and radiation friction in laser-plasma collisions
• Coherently enhanced radiation friction in laser-plasma collisions
• Radiation induced acceleration of ions