Thomson backscattering from laser generated, relativistically moving high-density electron layers

Autor: Paz, Athena E., Kuschel, Stephan, Rödel, Christian, Schnell, Michael, Jäckel, Oliver, Kaluza, Malte C., Paulus, Gerhard G.
Rok vydání: 2012
Předmět:
Druh dokumentu: Working Paper
DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/14/9/093018
Popis: We show experimentally that XUV radiation is produced when a laser pulse is Thomson backscattered from sheets of relativistic electrons which are formed at the rear-surface of a foil irradiated on its front side by a high-intensity laser. An all-optical setup is realized using the Jena Titanium:Sapphire TW laser system (JETI). The main pulse is split into two pulses: one to accelerate electrons from thin aluminum foil targets to energies of the order of some MeV and the other, counterpropagating probe pulse is Thomson-backscattered off these electrons when they exit the target rear side. The process produced photons within a wide spectral range of some tens of eV as a result of the broad electron energy distribution. The highest scattering intensity is observed when the probe pulse arrives at the target rear surface 100 fs after the irradiation of the target front side by the pump pulse, corresponding to the maximum flux of hot electrons at the interaction region. These results can provide time-resolved information about the evolution of the rear-surface electron sheath and hence about the dynamics of the electric fields responsible for the acceleration of ions from the rear surface of thin, laser-irradiated foils.
Comment: resubmitted to New Journal of Physics
Databáze: arXiv