High-energy-density electron jet generation from an opening gold cone filled with near-critical-density plasma.

By using two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we propose a scheme for strong coupling of a petawatt laser with an opening gold cone filled with near-critical-density plasmas. When relevant parameters are properly chosen, most laser energy can be fully deposited inside the cone with only 10% leaving the tip opening. Due to the asymmetric ponderomotive acceleration by the strongly decayed laser pulse, high-energy-density electrons with net laser energy gain are accumulated inside the cone, which then stream out of the tip opening continuously, like a jet. The jet electrons are fully relativistic, with speeds around 0.98 - 0.998 c and densities at 1020/cm3 level. The jet can keep for a long time over 200 fs, which may have diverse applications in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]