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Updated: Sep 5, 2025
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Spatial Separation of Molecular Conformers and Clusters
Published on: January 9, 2014
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Laser cluster interaction in ambient magnetic fields for accelerating electrons in two stages without external
Kalyani Swain1,2, Sagar Sekhar Mahalik1,2, Mrityunjay Kundu3,4
1Institute for Plasma Research, Bhat, Gandhinagar, 382 428, India.
Scientific Reports
|July 5, 2022
Summary
Adding an external magnetic field near electron-cyclotron resonance significantly boosts laser absorption in clusters. This enhances electron energy coupling via anharmonic resonance and relativistic electron-cyclotron resonance, increasing absorbed energy by 15-30 fold.
Area of Science:
- Plasma Physics
- Laser-Matter Interaction
Background:
- Laser absorption in few-cycle pulse regime is collisionless, often via anharmonic resonance (AHR).
- Typically, absorbed energy per electron approaches ponderomotive energy in collisionless regimes.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate enhanced laser absorption in clusters using an external magnetic field.
- Explore the role of electron-cyclotron resonance (ECR) and relativistic ECR (RECR) in energy coupling.
Main Methods:
- Rigid sphere model (RSM) simulations.
- Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations.
- Analysis of electron phase-difference with driving electric field.
Main Results:
- External magnetic field near ECR enhances absorbed energy per electron by 30-70 times.
- Relativistic mass increase leads to time-dependent RECR, contributing to enhanced absorption.
- AHR provides initial absorption, while ECR/RECR sustains it for longer durations.
Conclusions:
- Two-stage laser-electron coupling (AHR and ECR/RECR) is crucial for enhanced absorption.
- ECR/RECR requires prior AHR to effectively increase electron energy absorption.
- External magnetic fields offer a pathway to significantly boost laser energy coupling in plasma clusters.
