2022/02/14 by K. Weichman, J. P. Palastro, Weichman, K. +5 · 1 citation
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Atomic and Molecular Physics #FOS: Physical sciences #Laser-Plasma Interactions and Diagnostics #Laser-induced spectroscopy and plasma #Plasma Physics (physics.plasm-ph)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2202.07015
openalex publication_date 2022/02/14 · openalex created_date 2022/04/03 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We introduce the first approach to volumetrically generate relativistically thermal plasma at gas-jet--accessible density. Using fully kinetic simulations and theory, we demonstrate that two stages of direct laser acceleration driven by two laser pulses in an applied magnetic field can heat a significant plasma volume to multi-MeV average energy. The highest-momentum feature is 2D-isotropic, persists after the interaction, and includes the majority of electrons, enabling experimental access to bulk-relativistic, high-energy-density plasma in an optically diagnosable regime for the first time.