Attosecond Relativistic Electron Beam by Using an Ultrashort Laser Pulse and a Thin Plasma Layer

Abstract

Attosecond (10−15 s) electron beams will have some important applications in physics, chemistry, material science, etc., where ultrafast phenomena play an important role. Hence, how to generate such ultrashort electron beams is an important issue. Here, we propose to use a thin plasma layer illuminated normally by an ultra-intense femtosecond laser pulse having a sharp rising edge (rising time ∼ laser oscillation period). In this process, the plasma layer is compressed nonadabatically by the laser pulse, and all electrons are synchronously accelerated to ultra-relativistic velocities by several half-cycles of the laser field. In an experiment, a solid nanofilm, a taped electron beam, or a thin gas jet can be used as possible targets. For these types of targets, we show the generation of an attosecond high-energy electron beam by using particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations.