Abstract
A photon detector suitable for the measurement of bremsstrahlung spectra generated in relativistically intense laser-solid interactions is described. The Monte Carlo techniques used to extract the fast electron spectrum and laser energy absorbed into forward-going fast electrons are detailed. A relativistically intense laser-solid experiment using frequency doubled laser light is used to demonstrate the effective operation of the detector. The experimental data were interpreted using the 3-spatial-dimension Monte Carlo code MCNPX [D. Pelowitz, MCNPX User's Manual Version 2.6.0, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 2008], and the fast electron temperature found to be 125 keV.
Highlights
When an intense laser pulse irradiates a solid target, large numbers of fast electrons are generated
If the picosecond-duration laser pulse is associated with a much longer duration, lower intensity pedestal, a coronal plasma is formed around the interaction point some time before the relativistic pulse arrives
The spectrum of the fast electrons which do exit the target can be measured relatively using magnetic spectrometers, as the bulk of the electrons remain within the target, it is likely that the fast electron spectrum measured from this initial electron population is not representative of the bulk fast electron spectrum
Summary
When an intense laser pulse irradiates a solid target, large numbers of fast electrons are generated The kinetic energy these fast electrons acquire during the interaction has been found to be close to that of electrons oscillating in the transverse field of the incident light wave.. If the picosecond-duration laser pulse is associated with a much longer duration, lower intensity pedestal (caused by amplified spontaneous emission), a coronal plasma is formed around the interaction point some time before the relativistic pulse arrives In these circumstances, it is possible for the fast electrons to acquire substantially higher energies via collective acceleration processes in the finite density gradient plasma.
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