Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

First observation of quasi-monoenergetic electron bunches driven out of ultra-thin diamond-like carbon (DLC) foils

  • Topical issue: Fundamental Physics and Ultra-High Laser Fields
  • Published:
The European Physical Journal D Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Electrons have been accelerated from ultra-thin diamond-like carbon (DLC) foils by an ultrahigh-intensity laser pulse. A distinct quasi-monoenergetic electron spectrum peaked at 30 MeV is observed at a target thickness as thin as 5 nm which is in contrast to the observations of wide spectral distributions for thicker targets. At the same time, a substantial drop in laser-accelerated ion energies is found. The experimental findings give first indication that relativistic electron sheets can be generated from ultra-thin foils which in future may be used to generate brilliant X-ray beams by the coherent reflection of a second laser.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. J. Faure, Y. Glinec, A. Pukhov, S. Kiselev, S. Gordienko, E. Lefebvre, J.-P. Rousseau, F. Burgy, V. Malka, Nature 431, 541 (2004)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. S.P.D. Mangles, C.D. Murphy, Z. Najmudin, A.G.R. Thomas, J.L. Collier, A.E. Dangor, E.J. Divall, P.S. Foster, J.G. Gallacher, C.J. Hooker, D.A. Jaroszynski, A.J. Langley, W.B. Mori, P.A. Norreys, F.S. Tsung, R. Viskup, B.R. Walton, K. Krushelnick, Nature 431, 535 (2004)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. C.G.R. Geddes, C. Toth, J. van Tilborg, E. Esarey, C.B. Schroeder, D. Bruhwiler, C. Nieter, J. Cary, W.P. Leemans, Nature 431, 538 (2004)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. S. Kneip, S.R. Nagel, C. Bellei, N. Bourgeois, A.E. Dangor, A. Gopal, R. Heathcote, S.P.D. Mangles, J.R. Marques, A. Maksimchuk, P.M. Nilson, K.T. Phuoc, S. Reed, M. Tzoufras, F.S. Tsung, L. Willingale, W.B. Mori, A. Rousse, K. Krushelnick, Z. Najmudin, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 105006 (2008)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. A. Einstein, Ann. Phys. 17, 891 (1905)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. D. Habs, M. Hegelich, J. Schreiber, M. Gross, A. Henig, D. Kiefer, D. Jung, Appl. Phys. B 93, 349 (2008)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. A.V. Panchenko, T.Z. Esirkepov, A.S. Pirozhkov, M. Kando, F.F. Kamenets, S.V. Bulanov, Phys. Rev. E 78, 056402 (2008)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. M. Kando, Y. Fukuda, A.S. Pirozhkov, J. Ma, I. Daito, L.-M. Chen, T.Z. Esirkepov, K. Ogura, T. Homma, Y. Hayashi, H. Kotaki, A. Sagisaka, M. Mori, J.K. Koga, H. Daido, S.V. Bulanov, T. Kimura, Y. Kato, T. Tajima, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 135001 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. A.S. Pirozhkov, J. Ma, M. Kando, T.Z. Esirkepov, Y. Fukuda, L.-M. Chen, I. Daito, K. Ogura, T. Homma, Y. Hayashi, H. Kotaki, A. Sagisaka, M. Mori, J.K. Koga, T. Kawachi, H. Daido, S.V. Bulanov, T. Kimura, Y. Kato, T. Tajima, Phys. Plasmas 14, 123106 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. B. Dromey, S. Kar, C. Bellei, D.C. Carroll, R.J. Clarke, J.S. Green, S. Kneip, K.Markey, S.R. Nagel, P.T. Simpson, L. Willingale, P. McKenna, D. Neely, Z. Najmudin, K. Krushelnick, P.A. Norreys, M. Zepf, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 085001 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. T. Baeva, S. Gordienko, A. Pukhov, Phys. Rev. E 74, 046404 (2006)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  12. T. Baeva, High harmonic generation from relativistic plasma, Ph.D. thesis, 2008

  13. A. Pukhov, T. Baeva, D. an der Brügge, S. Münster, Eur. Phys. J. D 55, 407 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. V.V. Kulagin, V.A. Cherepenin, M.S. Hur, H. Suk, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 124801 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  15. B. Rau, T. Tajima, H. Hojo, Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 3310 (1997)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  16. O. Klimo, J. Psikal, J. Limpouch, V.T. Tikhonchuk, Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams 11, 031301 (2008)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. D. Habs, F. Grüner, U. Schramm, P. Thirolf, M. Sewtz, S. Becker, AIP Conf. Proc. 802, 6 (2005)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  18. F. Grüner, S. Becker, U. Schramm, T. Eichner, M. Fuchs, R. Weingartner, D. Habs, J. Meyer-ter-Vehn, M. Geissler, M. Ferrario, L. Serafini, B. Van der Geer, H. Backe, W. Lauth, S. Reiche, Appl. Phys. B 86, 431 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  19. K.A. Flippo, J. Workman, D.C. Gautier, S. Letzring, R.P. Johnson, T. Shimada, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 79, 10E534 (2008)

  20. V.K. Liechtenstein, T.M. Ivkova, E.D. Olshanski, I. Feigenbaum, R. DiNardo, M. Dbeli, Nucl. Instrum. Meth. A 397, 140 (1997)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  21. T. Esirkepov, M. Borghesi, S.V. Bulanov, G. Mourou, T. Tajima, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 175003 (2004)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  22. R.C. Shah, R.P. Johnson, T. Shimada, K.A. Flippo, J.C. Fernandez, B.M. Hegelich, Opt. Lett., in press

  23. C. Thaury, F. Quéré, J.-P. Geindre, A. Levy, T. Ceccotti, P. Monot, M. Bougeard, F. Réau, P. d’Oliveira, P. Audebert, R. Marjoribanks, P. Martin, Nat. Phys. 3, 424 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. A. Henig, D. Kiefer, K. Markey, D.C. Gautier, K.A. Flippo, S. Letzring, R.P. Johnson, T. Shimada, L. Yin, B.J. Albright, K.J. Bowers, J.C. Fernandez, S.G. Rykovanov, M. Zepf H.-C. Wu, D. Jung, V.K. Liechtenstein, Phys. Rev. Lett., in press

  25. T.E. Cowan, M.D. Perry, M.H. Key, T.R. Ditmire, S.P. Hatchett, E.A. Henry, J.D. Moody, M.J. Moran, D.M. Pennington, T.W. Phillips, T.C. Sangster, J.A. Sefcik, M.S. Singh, R.A. Snavely, M.A. Stoyer, S.C. Wilks, P.E. Young, Y. Takahashi, B. Dong, W. Fountain, T. Parnell, J. Johnson, A.W. Hunt, T. Kühl, Laser Part. Beams 17, 773 (1999)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  26. http://www.fujifilm.com/products

  27. B. Hidding, G. Pretzler, M. Clever, F. Brandl, F. Zamponi, A. Lubcke, T. Kampfer, I. Uschmann, E. Forster, U. Schramm, R. Sauerbrey, E. Kroupp, L. Veisz, K. Schmid, S. Benavides, S. Karsch, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 78, 083301 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  28. K.A. Tanaka, T. Yabuuchi, T. Sato, R. Kodama, Y. Kitagawa, T. Takahashi, T. Ikeda, Y. Honda, S. Okuda, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 76, 013507 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  29. Y. Tian, W. Yu, P. Lu, H. Xu, V. Senecha, A. Lei, B. Shen, X. Wang, Phys. Plasmas 15, 053105 (2008)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  30. K.I. Popov, V.Y. Bychenkov, W. Ruzmus, R.D. Sydora, Phys. Plasmas 15, 013108 (2008)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  31. S.G. Bochkarev, V.Y. Bychenkov, Quantum Elec. 37, 273 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. B. Quesnel, P. Mora, Phys. Rev. E 58, 3719 (1998)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  33. Classical Electrodynamics, edited by J.H. Jackson (Wiley, New York, 1972)

    Google Scholar 

  34. J. Meyer-ter-Vehn, H.C. Wu, Eur. Phys. J. D 55, 433 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. G. Pretzler, A. Kasper, K.J. Witte, Appl. Phys. B 70, 1 (2000)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  36. K.S. Novoselov A.K. Geim, Nature Mater. 6, 183 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  37. S.G. Rykovanov, J. Schreiber, J. Meyer-ter-Vehn, C. Bellei, A. Henig, H.C. Wu, M. Geissler, New J. Phys. 10, 113005 (2008)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Str. 1, 85748, Garching, Germany

    D. Kiefer, A. Henig, D. Jung, J. Schreiber & D. Habs

  2. Fakultät für Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Coulombwall 1, 85748, Garching, Germany

    D. Kiefer, A. Henig, D. Jung, V. Kh. Liechtenstein, J. Schreiber, B. M. Hegelich & D. Habs

  3. Los Alamos National Laboratory, 87545, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA

    D. C. Gautier, K. A. Flippo, S. A. Gaillard, S. Letzring, R. P. Johnson, R. C. Shah, T. Shimada, J. C. Fernández & B. M. Hegelich

  4. Department of Physics, MS-220, University of Nevada, 89557, Reno, Nevada, USA

    S. A. Gaillard

  5. Forschungszentrum Dresden Rossendorf, Bautzner Landstrasse 128, 01328, Dresden, Germany

    S. A. Gaillard

  6. RRC Kurchatov Institute, 123182, Moscow, Russia

    V. Kh. Liechtenstein

  7. Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK

    J. Schreiber

Authors
  1. D. Kiefer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. Henig
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. D. Jung
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. D. C. Gautier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. K. A. Flippo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. S. A. Gaillard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. S. Letzring
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. R. P. Johnson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. R. C. Shah
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. T. Shimada
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. J. C. Fernández
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. V. Kh. Liechtenstein
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. J. Schreiber
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. B. M. Hegelich
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  15. D. Habs
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to D. Kiefer.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kiefer, D., Henig, A., Jung, D. et al. First observation of quasi-monoenergetic electron bunches driven out of ultra-thin diamond-like carbon (DLC) foils. Eur. Phys. J. D 55, 427–432 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2009-00199-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2009-00199-0

PACS

Search

Navigation