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Energetic Electron Generation and Transport in Intense Laser-Solid Interactions

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Laser-Plasma Interactions and Applications

Part of the book series: Scottish Graduate Series ((SGS))

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Abstract

In the interaction of a power laser pulse with a dense target a significant fraction of the laser pulse energy is absorbed to produce an intense beam of energetic (MeV) electrons. The physics of the generation and transport of this large current (multi-mega-Ampere) of fast electrons within the target is of fundamental importance to many topics in high intensity laser-solid interactions, including ion and radiation source development, warm dense matter physics and advanced schemes for inertial fusion energy. A review of the underlying physics governing energetic electron generation and transport in solids is given, together with recent examples of progress in this field of research. Prospects for controlling the transport of energetic electrons are also discussed.

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Acknowledgements

Paul McKenna gratefully acknowledges the principal contributions made by past and present members of his research group to many of the example experimental results presented in this chapter, together with collaborators from the Central Laser Facility, Queen’s University Belfast, Imperial College London, the University of Lund, GSI-Darmstadt, Sandia National Laboratories and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. The ‘structured collimator’ work was led by collaborators at the Central Laser Facility (theory) and Queen’s University Belfast (experiment).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, SUPA, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, G4 0NG, UK

    Paul McKenna & Mark N. Quinn

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  1. Paul McKenna
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  2. Mark N. Quinn
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Correspondence to Paul McKenna .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, 107 Rottenrow, Glasgow, G4 0NG, United Kingdom

    Paul McKenna

  2. Science + Technology Facilities Council, Central Laser Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxfordshire, OX11 0QX, United Kingdom

    David Neely

  3. Science + Technology Facilities Council, Central Laser Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxfordshire, OX11 0QX, United Kingdom

    Robert Bingham

  4. , Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, 107 Rottenrow, Glasgow, G4 0NG, United Kingdom

    Dino Jaroszynski

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McKenna, P., Quinn, M.N. (2013). Energetic Electron Generation and Transport in Intense Laser-Solid Interactions. In: McKenna, P., Neely, D., Bingham, R., Jaroszynski, D. (eds) Laser-Plasma Interactions and Applications. Scottish Graduate Series. Springer, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00038-1_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00038-1_5

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-00037-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-00038-1

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