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Jiang K, Huang TW, Li R, Yu MY, Zhuo HB, Wu SZ, Zhou CT, Ruan SC. Branching of High-Current Relativistic Electron Beam in Porous Materials. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2023; 130:185001. [PMID: 37204906 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.130.185001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2022] [Revised: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 04/13/2023] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Propagation of high-current relativistic electron beam (REB) in plasma is relevant to many high-energy astrophysical phenomena as well as applications based on high-intensity lasers and charged-particle beams. Here, we report a new regime of beam-plasma interaction arising from REB propagation in medium with fine structures. In this regime, the REB cascades into thin branches with local density a hundred times the initial value and deposits its energy 2 orders of magnitude more efficiently than that in homogeneous plasma, where REB branching does not occur, of similar average density. Such beam branching can be attributed to successive weak scatterings of the beam electrons by the unevenly distributed magnetic fields induced by the local return currents in the skeletons of the porous medium. Results from a model for the excitation conditions and location of the first branching point with respect to the medium and beam parameters agree well with that from pore-resolved particle-in-cell simulations.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Jiang
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Ultraintense Laser and Advanced Material Technology, Center for Advanced Material Diagnostic Technology, and College of Engineering Physics, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen 518118, People's Republic of China
- College of Applied Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, People's Republic of China
| | - T W Huang
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Ultraintense Laser and Advanced Material Technology, Center for Advanced Material Diagnostic Technology, and College of Engineering Physics, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen 518118, People's Republic of China
| | - R Li
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Ultraintense Laser and Advanced Material Technology, Center for Advanced Material Diagnostic Technology, and College of Engineering Physics, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen 518118, People's Republic of China
| | - M Y Yu
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Ultraintense Laser and Advanced Material Technology, Center for Advanced Material Diagnostic Technology, and College of Engineering Physics, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen 518118, People's Republic of China
| | - H B Zhuo
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Ultraintense Laser and Advanced Material Technology, Center for Advanced Material Diagnostic Technology, and College of Engineering Physics, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen 518118, People's Republic of China
| | - S Z Wu
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Ultraintense Laser and Advanced Material Technology, Center for Advanced Material Diagnostic Technology, and College of Engineering Physics, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen 518118, People's Republic of China
| | - C T Zhou
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Ultraintense Laser and Advanced Material Technology, Center for Advanced Material Diagnostic Technology, and College of Engineering Physics, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen 518118, People's Republic of China
- College of Applied Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, People's Republic of China
| | - S C Ruan
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Ultraintense Laser and Advanced Material Technology, Center for Advanced Material Diagnostic Technology, and College of Engineering Physics, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen 518118, People's Republic of China
- College of Applied Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, People's Republic of China
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Li R, Huang TW, Ju LB, Yu MY, Zhang H, Wu SZ, Zhuo HB, Zhou CT, Ruan SC. Nanoscale Electrostatic Modulation of Mega-Ampere Electron Current in Solid-Density Plasmas. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2021; 127:245002. [PMID: 34951809 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.127.245002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2020] [Revised: 06/07/2021] [Accepted: 11/02/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
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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Affiliation(s)
- R Li
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Ultraintense Laser and Advanced Material Technology, Center for Advanced Material Diagnostic Technology, and College of Engineering Physics, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen 518118, People's Republic of China
- College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, People's Republic of China
| | - T W Huang
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Ultraintense Laser and Advanced Material Technology, Center for Advanced Material Diagnostic Technology, and College of Engineering Physics, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen 518118, People's Republic of China
| | - L B Ju
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Ultraintense Laser and Advanced Material Technology, Center for Advanced Material Diagnostic Technology, and College of Engineering Physics, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen 518118, People's Republic of China
| | - M Y Yu
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Ultraintense Laser and Advanced Material Technology, Center for Advanced Material Diagnostic Technology, and College of Engineering Physics, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen 518118, People's Republic of China
| | - H Zhang
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Ultraintense Laser and Advanced Material Technology, Center for Advanced Material Diagnostic Technology, and College of Engineering Physics, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen 518118, People's Republic of China
| | - S Z Wu
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Ultraintense Laser and Advanced Material Technology, Center for Advanced Material Diagnostic Technology, and College of Engineering Physics, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen 518118, People's Republic of China
| | - H B Zhuo
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Ultraintense Laser and Advanced Material Technology, Center for Advanced Material Diagnostic Technology, and College of Engineering Physics, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen 518118, People's Republic of China
| | - C T Zhou
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Ultraintense Laser and Advanced Material Technology, Center for Advanced Material Diagnostic Technology, and College of Engineering Physics, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen 518118, People's Republic of China
| | - S C Ruan
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Ultraintense Laser and Advanced Material Technology, Center for Advanced Material Diagnostic Technology, and College of Engineering Physics, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen 518118, People's Republic of China
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