Related papers: Electron acceleration by relativistic surface plas…
The excitation of surface plasmons with ultra-intense ($I\sim 5\times 10^{19}$ W/cm$^2$), high contrast ($\sim 10^{12}$) laser pulses on periodically-modulated solid targets has been recently demonstrated to produce collimated bunches of…
Surface plasmon (SP) excitation in intense laser interaction with solid target can be exploited for enhancing secondary emissions, in particular efficient acceleration of high charge electron bunches. Previous studies have mostly used…
Experiments on the excitation of propagating surface plasmons (SPs) by ultrashort, high intensity laser interaction with "grating" targets are reviewed. At intensities exceeding $10^{19}~\mbox{W cm}^{-2}$ on target, i.e. in the strongly…
When a relativistically intense p-polarized laser pulse is grazingly incident onto a planar solid-state target, a slightly superluminal field structure is formed near the target surface due to the incident and reflected waves superposition.…
We propose to use ultra-high intensity laser pulses with wavefront rotation (WFR) to produce short, ultra-intense surface plasma waves (SPW) on grating targets for electron acceleration. Combining a smart grating design with optimal WFR…
The interaction of laser pulses with thin grating targets, having a periodic groove at the irradiated surface, has been experimentally investigated. Ultrahigh contrast ($\sim 10^{12}$) pulses allowed to demonstrate an enhanced laser-target…
A new electron acceleration mechanism is identified that develops when a relativistically intense laser irradiates the wedge of an over-dense plasma. This induces a diffracted electromagnetic wave with a significant longitudinal electric…
This dissertation explores the interaction between high-intensity lasers and plasmas to accelerate electrons and produce radiation via experimental and computational efforts. The laser pulses used in this dissertation have ultrashort…
We investigate the production of hot electrons from the interaction of relativistically intense ($I> 10^{18} W/cm^{2}$) ultra-short (25 fs) laser pulses with sub-wavelength grating target. We measure the hot electron angular distribution…
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…
The basis of low-temperature superconductivity has been set to be the pair formation of electrons, due to their effective attraction. The appearance of an effective attraction potential has also been predicted for electron-electron…
We review studies of superintense laser interaction with solid targets where the generation of propagating surface plasmons (or surface waves) plays a key role. These studies include the onset of plasma instabilities at the irradiated…
In laser-solid interactions, electrons may be generated and subsequently accelerated to energies of the order-of-magnitude of the ponderomotive limit, with the underlying process dominated by direct laser acceleration. Breaking this limit,…
Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that the periodic solid-state structures irradiated by intense ($\sim 10^{19}$ W/cm${}^2$) laser pulses can generate collimated electron bunches with energies up to 30 MeV (and…
Laser plasma interaction with micro-engineered targets at relativistic intensities has been greatly promoted by recent progress in the high contrast lasers and the manufacture of advanced micro- and nano-structures. This opens new…
The radiation pressure of next generation ultra-high intensity ($>10^{23}$ W/cm$^{2}$) lasers could efficiently accelerate ions to GeV energies. However, nonlinear quantum-electrodynamic effects play an important role in the interaction of…
The role of relativistic surface plasmons (SPs) in high order harmonic emission from laser-irradiated grating targets has been investigated by means of particle-in-cell simulations. SP excitation drives a strong enhancement of the intensity…
Laser-accelerated electron beams have been created at a kHz repetition rate from the {\it reflection} of intense ($\sim10^{18}$ W/cm$^2$), $\sim$40 fs laser pulses focused on a continuous water-jet in an experiment at the Air Force Research…
Relativistic electrons generated by the interaction of petawatt-class short laser pulses with solid targets can be used to generate bright X-rays via bremsstrahlung. The efficiency of laser energy transfer into these electrons depends on…
Compact acceleration of a tightly collimated relativistic electron beam with high charge from a laser-plasma interaction has many unique applications. However, currently the well-known schemes, including laser wakefield acceleration from…