Spatial profile of accelerated electrons from ponderomotive scattering in hydrogen cluster targets. (1st March 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Aurand, B; Reichwein, L; Schwind, K M; Aktan, E; Cerchez, M; Kaymak, V; Lessmann, L; Prasad, R; Thomas, J; Toncian, T; Khoukaz, A; Pukhov, A; Willi, O
• Is Part Of: New journal of physics. Volume 24:Number 3(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-03-01
• Subjects: laser–plasma acceleration of electrons and ions -- plasma production and heating by laser beams -- cluster targets; Physics -- Periodicals; Physics; Periodicals; 530.05
• DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/ac53ba
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1367-2630

Abstract

Abstract: We study the laser-driven acceleration of electrons from overdense hydrogen clusters to energies of up to 13 MeV in laser forward direction and several hundreds of keV in an outer ring-structure. The use of cryogenic hydrogen allows for high repetition-rate operation and examination of the influence of source parameters like temperature and gas flow. The outer ring-structure of accelerated electrons, originating from the interaction, that is robust against the change of laser and target parameters can be observed for low electron densities of ca 3 × 10 16 cm −3 . For higher electron densities, an additional central spot of electrons in the laser forward direction can be observed. Utilizing 3D particle-in-cell simulations, it is revealed that both electron populations mainly stem from ponderomotive scattering.