Chatterjee, Gourab, Singh, Prashant Kumar, Robinson, A. P.L. et al. (15 more authors) (2017) Micron-scale mapping of megagauss magnetic fields using optical polarimetry to probe hot electron transport in petawatt-class laser-solid interactions. Scientific Reports. 8347. ISSN 2045-2322
Abstract
The transport of hot, relativistic electrons produced by the interaction of an intense petawatt laser pulse with a solid has garnered interest due to its potential application in the development of innovative x-ray sources and ion-acceleration schemes. We report on spatially and temporally resolved measurements of megagauss magnetic fields at the rear of a 50-μm thick plastic target, irradiated by a multi-picosecond petawatt laser pulse at an incident intensity of ~1020 W/cm2. The pump-probe polarimetric measurements with micron-scale spatial resolution reveal the dynamics of the magnetic fields generated by the hot electron distribution at the target rear. An annular magnetic field profile was observed ~5 ps after the interaction, indicating a relatively smooth hot electron distribution at the rear-side of the plastic target. This is contrary to previous time-integrated measurements, which infer that such targets will produce highly structured hot electron transport. We measured large-scale filamentation of the hot electron distribution at the target rear only at later time-scales of ~10 ps, resulting in a commensurate large-scale filamentation of the magnetic field profile. Three-dimensional hybrid simulations corroborate our experimental observations and demonstrate a beam-like hot electron transport at initial time-scales that may be attributed to the local resistivity profile at the target rear.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2017 |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Physics (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 01 Sep 2017 08:15 |
Last Modified: | 28 Nov 2024 00:25 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-08619-1 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/s41598-017-08619-1 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:120739 |
Download
Filename: s41598_017_08619_1.pdf
Description: Micron-scale mapping of megagauss magnetic fields using optical polarimetry to probe hot electron transport in petawatt-class laser-solid interactions
Licence: CC-BY 2.5