Generation of intense quasi-electrostatic fields due to deposition of particles accelerated by petawatt-range laser-matter interactions

F Consoli,T S Robinson,M Notley,R De Angelis,O C Ettlinger,Z Najmudin,E J Ditter,G S Hicks,R A Smith,S Giltrap

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-44937-2

F Consoli, T S Robinson + Show 8 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44937-2

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Abstract

We demonstrate here for the first time that charge emitted by laser-target interactions at petawatt peak-powers can be efficiently deposited on a capacitor-collector structure far away from the target and lead to the rapid (tens of nanoseconds) generation of large quasi-static electric fields over wide (tens-of-centimeters scale-length) regions, with intensities much higher than common ElectroMagnetic Pulses (EMPs) generated by the same experiment in the same position. A good agreement was obtained between measurements from a classical field-probe and calculations based on particle-flux measurements from a Thomson spectrometer. Proof-of-principle particle-in-cell simulations reproduced the measurements of field evolution in time, giving a useful insight into the charging process, generation and distribution of fields. The understanding of this charging phenomenon and of the related intense fields, which can reach the MV/m order and in specific configurations might also exceed it, is very important for present and future facilities studying laser-plasma-acceleration and inertial-confinement-fusion, but also for application to the conditioning of accelerated charged-particles, the generation of intense electric and magnetic fields and many other multidisciplinary high-power laser-driven processes.

Highlights

The generation of particle beams due to the interaction of energetic, high-intensity, short-pulse lasers with a target is currently an important topic of research[1] with the potential to underpin future table-top and high-peak current particle accelerators
The transient fields generated by such charge-waves can be very effective for collimation and post-acceleration of laser-driven ion beams, for example in coil-shaped targets[9]. These transient currents are known to be one of the main sources of intense ElectroMagnetic Pulse (EMP) generation in the radiofrequency-microwave range[28,29,32], whose field is capable of degrading data capture or damaging electronic equipment close to the experimental chamber
More accurate simulations can be performed in future from more detailed modeling of the physical structure, but this lies outside the scope of the work presented here

Summary

Introduction

The generation of particle beams due to the interaction of energetic, high-intensity, short-pulse lasers with a target is currently an important topic of research[1] with the potential to underpin future table-top and high-peak current particle accelerators. In this work we show for the first time that the charge emitted by an intense laser-target interaction can be efficiently deposited onto one plate of an open capacitor-collector structure (see the basic scheme of Fig. 1) and can be used for the fast generation of very large quasi-static electric fields.

Results

Conclusion