Guiding of relativistic electron beams in dense matter by laser-driven magnetostatic fields

Abstract

Intense lasers interacting with dense targets accelerate relativistic electron beams, whichtransport part of the laser energy into the target depth. However, the overall laser-to-targetenergy coupling efficiency is impaired by the large divergence of the electron beam, intrinsicto the laser-plasma interaction. Here we demonstrate that an efficient guiding ofMeV electrons with about 30MA current in solid matter is obtained by imposing a laserdrivenlongitudinal magnetostatic field of 600 T. In the magnetized conditions the transportedenergy density and the peak background electron temperature at the 60-μm-thicktarget's rear surface rise by about a factor of five, as unfolded from benchmarked simulations.Such an improvement of energy-density flux through dense matter paves the ground foradvances in laser-driven intense sources of energetic particles and radiation, driving matter toextreme temperatures, reaching states relevant for planetary or stellar science as yet inaccessibleat the laboratory scale and achieving high-gain laser-driven thermonuclear fusion.