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 Bei**g. The ‘structured collimator’ work was led by collaborators at the Central Laser Facility (theory) and Queen’s University Belfast (experiment).
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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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