Enhanced surface acceleration of fast electrons by using sub-wavelength grating targets

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that using sub-wavelength grating targets significantly enhances surface acceleration of fast electrons in laser-plasma interactions, increasing electron emission and potentially benefiting various high-energy physics applications.

Contribution

The study introduces a method employing sub-wavelength structured targets to substantially improve surface acceleration of fast electrons, showing broad applicability.

Findings

Fast electron emission increased by over three times with grating targets.

Total number of ejected electrons doubled using structured targets.

Method effective across various target types with sub-wavelength features.

Abstract

Surface acceleration of fast electrons in intense laser-plasma interaction is improved by using sub-wavelength grating targets. The fast electron beam emitted along the target surface was enhanced by more than three times relative to that by using planar target. The total number of the fast electrons ejected from the front side of target was also increased by about one time. The method to enhance the surface acceleration of fast electron is effective for various targets with sub-wavelength structured surface, and can be applied widely in the cone-guided fast ignition, energetic ion acceleration, plasma device, and other high energy density physics experiments.