Optical generation of quasi-stationary plasma electromagnetic structures for particle collimation with PetaWatt picosecond laser

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel all-optical method using a spiral-shaped target to generate electromagnetic structures that effectively guide and focus energetic particle bunches produced by high-power picosecond lasers.

Contribution

It introduces a new electromagnetic guiding setup based on a shaped spiral target, supported by theoretical modeling and experimental validation.

Findings

Wider particle bunches can be efficiently focused using the spiral target.

The proposed setup enhances particle beam brightness and reduces divergence.

Theoretical models align with experimental results.

Abstract

Optical generation of energetic particle bunches requires high-power laser facilities operating in picosecond or femtosecond temporal domain. It is therefore preferable to use short laser pulses in all-optical platforms designed for guiding and focusing of such particle beams, increasing their brightness and decreasing their angular divergence. We propose and discuss theoretical and experimental results for a novel electromagnetic guiding setup based on a shaped spiral-like 'snail' target with a relatively large useful aperture. Due to the diameter increased to a sub-mm scale, a wider particle bunches may be efficiently focused, as we show in theoretical modelling with a model field distributions, supported by the experimental data.