Speaker
Dr
Martin King
(University of Strathclyde)
Description
The ability to control the collective plasma behaviour during the interaction of intense laser light is fundamental to the development of relativistic optics as well as laser-driven particle and radiation sources. Here we show that for an ultra-thin (nanometre-scale) foil target interacting with an intense laser pulse, the resultant accelerated electron and proton beam structures can be changed by varying the polarisation of the incoming laser. We demonstrate, that due to a combination of plasma expansion and heating, a finite ‘relativistic plasma aperture’ can be formed within the previously overdense plasma, allowing the laser to propagate and diffract [1]. The produced near-field diffraction pattern at the rear of the target, defined by the laser polarisation, can induce transverse electron current structures which, through strong charge-separation-induced electrostatic fields, can be mapped into the resultant proton beam [2].
[1] B. Gonzalez-Izquierdo, et al., Nat. Phys. 12, 505–512 (2016)
[2] B. Gonzalez-Izquierdo, et al., Nat. Comms. 7, 12891 (2016)
Primary author
Dr
Martin King
(University of Strathclyde)
