Nanoscale Electrostatic Modulation of Mega-Ampere Electron Current in Solid-Density Plasmas.
Phys Rev Lett
; 127(24): 245002, 2021 Dec 10.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34951809
ABSTRACT
Transport of high-current relativistic electron beams in dense plasmas is of interest in many areas of research. However, so far the mechanism of such beam-plasma interaction is still not well understood due to the appearance of small time- and space-scale effects. Here we identify a new regime of electron beam transport in solid-density plasma, where kinetic effects that develop on small time and space scales play a dominant role. Our three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that in this regime the electron beam can evolve into layered short microelectron bunches when collisions are relatively weak. The phenomenon is attributed to a secondary instability, on the space- and timescales of the electron skin depth (tens of nanometers) and few femtoseconds of strong electrostatic modulation of the microelectron current filaments formed by Weibel-like instability of the original electron beam. Analytical analysis on the amplitude, scale length, and excitation condition of the self-generated electrostatic fields is clearly validated by the simulations.
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01-internacional
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MEDLINE
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En
Revista:
Phys Rev Lett
Año:
2021
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Article