Summary form only given. Fundamental processes in atoms, molecules, as well as condensed matter are triggered or mediated by the motion of electrons inside or between atoms. Electronic dynamics on atomic length scales tends to unfold within tens to thousands of attoseconds (1 attosecond [as] = 10-18 s). Recent breakthroughs in laser science are now opening the door to watching and controlling these hitherto inaccessible microscopic dynamics. The key to accessing the attosecond time domain is the control of the electric field of (visible) light, which varies its strength and direction within less than a femtosecond (1 femtosecond = 1000 attoseconds). Atoms exposed to a few oscillations cycles of intense laser light are able to emit a single extreme ultraviolet (XUV) burst lasting less than one femtosecond. Full control of the evolution of the electromagnetic field in laser pulses comprising a few wave cycles have recently allowed the reproducible generation and measurement of isolated sub-femtosecond XUV pulses, demonstrating the control of microscopic processes (electron motion and photon emission) on an attosecond time scale. These tools have enabled us to visualize the oscillating electric field of visible light with an attosecond "oscilloscope", to control single-electron and probe multi-electron dynamics in atoms, molecules and solids. Recent experiments hold promise for the development of an attosecond X-ray source, which may pave the way towards 4D electron imaging with sub-atomic resolution in space and time.

Attosecond Physics

Relativistic high-power laser–matter interactions

By focusing petawatt peak power laser light to intensities up to 10 21 Wc m −2 , highly relativistic plasmas can now be studied. The force exerted by light pulses with this extreme intensity has been used to accelerate beams of electrons and protons to energies of a million volts in distances of only microns. This acceleration gradient is a thousand times greater than in radio-frequency-based accelerators. Such novel compact laser-based radiation sources have been demonstrated to have parameters that are useful for research in medicine, physics and engineering. They might also someday be used to ignite controlled thermonuclear fusion. Ultrashort pulse duration particles and x-rays that are produced can resolve chemical, biological or physical reactions on ultrafast (femtosecond) timescales and on atomic spatial scales. These energetic beams have produced an array of nuclear reactions, resulting in neutrons, positrons and radioactive isotopes. As laser intensities increase further and laser-accelerated protons become relativistic, exotic plasmas, such as dense electron–positron plasmas, which are of astrophysical interest, can be created in the laboratory. This paper reviews many of the recent advances in relativistic laser–plasma interactions.

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Relativistic laser-plasma interactions

A self-modulated laser wakefield accelerator (SM-LWFA) experiment was performed at the Naval Research Laboratory. Large amplitude plasma wakefields produced by a sub-picosecond, high intensity laser pulse (7×1018 W/cm2) in an underdense plasma (ne≈1019 cm−3) were measured with a pump–probe coherent Thomson scattering (CTS) technique to last for less than 5 ps, consistent with the decay of large amplitude plasma waves due to the modulational instability. A plasma channel was observed to form in the wake of the pump laser pulse, and its evolution was measured with the pump–probe CTS diagnostic. The trailing probe laser pulse was observed to be guided by this channel for about 20 Rayleigh lengths. High energy electrons (up to 30 MeV) have been measured using an electro-magnetic spectrometer, with the energy spectra and divergence of lower energy (up to 4 MeV) electrons obtained using photographic films. Highly nonlinear plasma waves were also detected using forward Raman scattering diagnostics and were obser...

Wakefield Generation and Electron Acceleration in a Self-Modulated Laser Wakefield Accelerator Experiment

We employ the lowest-order radially polarized axicon fields of a Gaussian laser beam to demonstrate that electrons may be accelerated from rest in vacuum to a few GeV. Petawatt power laser beams focused onto micron-size focal spots result in multi-TeV/m electron energy gradients.

Electron acceleration from rest in vacuum by an axicon Gaussian laser beam

Using 3D test particle simulations, the characteristics and essential conditions under which an electron, in a vacuum laser beam, can undergo a capture and acceleration scenario (CAS). When a{sub 0} {approx}> 100 the electron can be captured and violently accelerated to energies {approx}> 1 GeV, with an acceleration gradient {approx}> 10 GeV/cm, where a{sub 0} = eE{sub 0}/m{sub e}{omega}c is the normalized laser field amplitude. The physical mechanism behind the CAS is that diffraction of the focused laser beam leads to a slowing down of the effective wave phase velocity along the captured electron trajectory, such that the electron can be trapped in the acceleration phase of the wave for a longer time and thus gain significant energy from the field.

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Vacuum electron acceleration by an intense laser

The interaction of free electrons with intense laser beams in vacuum is studied using a three-dimensional test particle simulation model that solves the relativistic Newton–Lorentz equations of motion in analytically specified laser fields. Recently, a group of solutions was found for very intense laser fields that show interesting and unusual characteristics. In particular, it was found that an electron can be captured within the high-intensity laser region, rather than expelled from it, and the captured electron can be accelerated to GeV energies with acceleration gradients on the order of tens of GeV/cm. This phenomenon is termed the capture and acceleration scenario (CAS) and is studied in detail in this article. The accelerated GeV electron bunch is a macropulse, with duration equal to or less than that of the laser pulse, which is composed of many micropulses that are periodic at the laser frequency. The energy spectrum of the CAS electron bunch is presented. The dependence of the energy exchange in...

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Characteristics of laser-driven electron acceleration in vacuum

Simulations of the movement of the excited neutral atoms were performed with random sampling and the ponderomotive model. The modeling parameters were setup according to the experiment of laser acceleration of neutral helium [Nature 431(7268), 1261 (2009)]. A comparison between the simulation results and the experiment measurements is made in detail, and the characteristics of the final distribution of the Rydberg neutral atoms are analyzed. Two important factors that determine the final distribution of Rydberg neutral atoms, namely, the ponderomotive force and the original distribution of the Rydberg atoms corresponding to the distribution of the laser intensity, are discussed.

X. Q. Yuan

Papers

Vacuum electron acceleration by an intense laser

Characteristics of laser-driven electron acceleration in vacuum

Distribution of Rydberg atoms acceleration by a laser pulse

Erratum: “Distribution of Rydberg atoms acceleration by a laser pulse” [J. Appl. Phys. 121, 103105 (2017)]