Magnetic collimation of fast electrons produced by ultraintense laser irradiation by structuring the target composition

Abstract

A scheme for collimating fast electrons in a specially engineered solid target is proposed. Unlike previous approaches, the collimation is achieved by generating an azimuthal magnetic field as opposed to a radial electric field. The target is engineered such that it consists of a fiber surrounded by material of a lower resistivity than that of the fiber. The fast electrons are collimated along the fiber. Hybrid Vlasov-Fokker-Planck simulations supported by analytic calculations show that this concept is viable.