Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T05:34:05.799Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Reflection of an electron beam by a photon mirror

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2007

J. T. MENDONÇA
Affiliation:
GoLP, Instituto Superior Técnico, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal ([email protected])
L. O. SILVA
Affiliation:
GoLP, Instituto Superior Técnico, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal ([email protected])
R. BINGHAM
Affiliation:
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 OQX, UK Physics Department, University of Strathclyde, 107 Rottenrow East, Glasgow G4 0NG, Scotland, UK

Abstract

A new configuration for the laser accelerator is proposed, which is inspired by the relativistic photon mirror effect. The material mirror is replaced here by an intense laser pulse, acting as a photon mirror for the incoming charged particles. A sufficient condition for particle reflection at such a photon mirror is established and three types of particle trajectories are described. A snow-plow acceleration regime is identified and quantitatively defined. Production of intense radiation bursts by the charged particle beam during the reflection process is also demonstrated.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

[1]Bingham, R., Mendonça, J. T. and Shukla, P. K. 2004 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 46, R-1.Google Scholar
[2]Tajima, T. and Dawson, J. M. 1979 Phys. Rev. Lett. 42, 267.Google Scholar
[3]Modena, A. et al. 1995 Nature 377, 606.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[4]Malka, V. et al. 2002 Science 298, 1596.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[5]Mendonça, J. T. 2001 Theory of Photon Acceleration. Bristol: Institute of Physics Publishing.Google Scholar
[6]McKinstrie, C. and Startsev, E. 1997 Phys. Rev. E 56, 2130.Google Scholar
[7]Startsev, E. A. and McKinstrie, C. J. 2003 Phys. Plasmas 10, 2552.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[8]Mora, P. and Antonsen, T. M. Jr., 1997 Phys. Plasmas 4, 271.Google Scholar
[9]Schwinger, J. et al. 1998 Classical Electrodynamics. Reading, MA: Perseus Books.Google Scholar