The electron cyclotron maser instability in laser-ionized plasmas

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that circularly polarized lasers can generate plasmas with specific momentum distributions that, when combined with magnetic fields, can induce the electron cyclotron maser instability, enabling controlled laboratory studies of astrophysical radiation processes.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental and theoretical analysis of laser-induced electron cyclotron maser instability in plasmas with tailored distributions.

Findings

Laser-created plasmas have ring-shaped momentum distributions.

The instability can be triggered and studied with current laser technology.

Results have implications for understanding astrophysical coherent radiation.

Abstract

We show that circularly polarized lasers create plasmas with long-lasting ring-shaped weakly relativistic momentum distributions which, in the presence of an ambient magnetic field, are prone to the electron cyclotron maser instability. Theoretical results and particle-in-cell simulations show that current laser technology can effectively induce field ionized tailored distribution functions and probe the electron cyclotron maser in controlled conditions, providing direct experimental evidence to coherent radiation processes driven by ring-shaped or Landau inverted momentum distributions of relevance in extreme astrophysical conditions.