Magnetic field generation in a laser-irradiated thin collisionless plasma target by return current electrons carrying orbital angular momentum
Magnetized high energy density physics offers new opportunities for observing magnetic field-related physics for the first time in the laser–plasma context. We focus on one such phenomenon, which is the ability of a laser-irradiated magnetized plasma to amplify a seed magnetic field. We performed a...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2020-01-01
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| Series: | New Journal of Physics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ab9ce8 |
| _version_ | 1797750435280322560 |
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| author | Y Shi K Weichman R J Kingham A V Arefiev |
| author_facet | Y Shi K Weichman R J Kingham A V Arefiev |
| author_sort | Y Shi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Magnetized high energy density physics offers new opportunities for observing magnetic field-related physics for the first time in the laser–plasma context. We focus on one such phenomenon, which is the ability of a laser-irradiated magnetized plasma to amplify a seed magnetic field. We performed a series of fully kinetic 3D simulations of magnetic field amplification by a picosecond-scale relativistic laser pulse of intensity 4.2 × 10 ^18 W cm ^−2 incident on a thin overdense target. We observe axial magnetic field amplification from an initial 0.1 kT seed to 1.5 kT over a volume of several cubic microns, persisting hundreds of femtoseconds longer than the laser pulse duration. The magnetic field amplification is driven by electrons in the return current gaining favorable orbital angular momentum from the seed magnetic field. This mechanism is robust to laser polarization and delivers order-of-magnitude amplification over a range of simulation parameters. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:32:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9f3cebd1944b4ad093aebf0e50d723e9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1367-2630 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:32:38Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | New Journal of Physics |
| spelling | doaj.art-9f3cebd1944b4ad093aebf0e50d723e92023-08-08T15:24:35ZengIOP PublishingNew Journal of Physics1367-26302020-01-0122707306710.1088/1367-2630/ab9ce8Magnetic field generation in a laser-irradiated thin collisionless plasma target by return current electrons carrying orbital angular momentumY Shi0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9902-873XK Weichman1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3487-7922R J Kingham2A V Arefiev3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0597-0976Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California at San Diego , La Jolla, CA 92093, United States of AmericaDepartment of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California at San Diego , La Jolla, CA 92093, United States of AmericaBlackett Laboratory, Imperial College London , London SW7 2AZ, United KingdomDepartment of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California at San Diego , La Jolla, CA 92093, United States of AmericaMagnetized high energy density physics offers new opportunities for observing magnetic field-related physics for the first time in the laser–plasma context. We focus on one such phenomenon, which is the ability of a laser-irradiated magnetized plasma to amplify a seed magnetic field. We performed a series of fully kinetic 3D simulations of magnetic field amplification by a picosecond-scale relativistic laser pulse of intensity 4.2 × 10 ^18 W cm ^−2 incident on a thin overdense target. We observe axial magnetic field amplification from an initial 0.1 kT seed to 1.5 kT over a volume of several cubic microns, persisting hundreds of femtoseconds longer than the laser pulse duration. The magnetic field amplification is driven by electrons in the return current gaining favorable orbital angular momentum from the seed magnetic field. This mechanism is robust to laser polarization and delivers order-of-magnitude amplification over a range of simulation parameters.https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ab9ce8laser–plasma interactionmagnetic field amplificationparticle-in-cell simulationshigh-energy-density physicsmagnetic field generation |
| spellingShingle | Y Shi K Weichman R J Kingham A V Arefiev Magnetic field generation in a laser-irradiated thin collisionless plasma target by return current electrons carrying orbital angular momentum New Journal of Physics laser–plasma interaction magnetic field amplification particle-in-cell simulations high-energy-density physics magnetic field generation |
| title | Magnetic field generation in a laser-irradiated thin collisionless plasma target by return current electrons carrying orbital angular momentum |
| title_full | Magnetic field generation in a laser-irradiated thin collisionless plasma target by return current electrons carrying orbital angular momentum |
| title_fullStr | Magnetic field generation in a laser-irradiated thin collisionless plasma target by return current electrons carrying orbital angular momentum |
| title_full_unstemmed | Magnetic field generation in a laser-irradiated thin collisionless plasma target by return current electrons carrying orbital angular momentum |
| title_short | Magnetic field generation in a laser-irradiated thin collisionless plasma target by return current electrons carrying orbital angular momentum |
| title_sort | magnetic field generation in a laser irradiated thin collisionless plasma target by return current electrons carrying orbital angular momentum |
| topic | laser–plasma interaction magnetic field amplification particle-in-cell simulations high-energy-density physics magnetic field generation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ab9ce8 |
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