Efficient acceleration of electrons with counterpropagating intense laser pulses in vacuum and underdense plasma

We propose that efficient acceleration of electrons in vacuum and underdense plasmas by an intense laser pulse can be triggered in the presence of another counterpropagating or intersecting laser pulse. This mechanism works when the laser fields exceed some threshold amplitudes for stochastic motion of electrons, as found in single-electron dynamics. Particle-in-cell simulations confirm that electron heating and acceleration in the case with two counterpropagating laser pulses can be much more efficient than with one laser pulse only. Two different diagnoses show that the increased heating and acceleration are caused mainly by direct laser acceleration rather than by plasma waves. In plasma at moderate densities such as a few percent of the critical density and when the underdense plasma region is large enough, the Raman backscattered and side-scattered waves can grow to a sufficiently high level to serve as the second counterpropagating or intersecting pulse and trigger the electron stochastic motion. As a result, even with a single intense laser pulse only in plasma, electrons can be accelerated to an energy level much higher than the corresponding laser ponderomotive potential.