Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T11:39:18.719Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Energetic electron generation by magnetic reconnection in laboratory laser-plasma interactions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2012

Q.-L. DONG
Affiliation:
School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Ludong University, Yantai 260405, China (qldong@aphy.iphy.ac.cn) Beijing National Laboratory of Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China
D.-W. YUAN
Affiliation:
Beijing National Laboratory of Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China
S.-J. WANG
Affiliation:
Beijing National Laboratory of Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China
Y. T. LI
Affiliation:
Beijing National Laboratory of Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China
X. LIU
Affiliation:
Beijing National Laboratory of Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China
S. E. JIANG
Affiliation:
Research Center for Laser Fusion, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621900, China
Y. K. DING
Affiliation:
Research Center for Laser Fusion, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621900, China
K. DU
Affiliation:
Research Center for Laser Fusion, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621900, China
M.-Y. YU
Affiliation:
Institute for Fusion Theory and Simulation, Physics Department, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China (mmyu@zju.edu.cn) Institute for Theoretical Physics I, Ruhr University, D-44780 Bochum, Germany
X.-T. HE
Affiliation:
Institute for Fusion Theory and Simulation, Physics Department, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China (mmyu@zju.edu.cn) Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics, Beijing 100094, China
Y. J. TANG
Affiliation:
Research Center for Laser Fusion, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621900, China
J. Q. ZHU
Affiliation:
National Laboratory on High Power Lasers and Physics, Shanghai 201800, China
G. ZHAO
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Optical Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012, China
Z.-M. SHENG
Affiliation:
Beijing National Laboratory of Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China Key Laboratory for Laser Plasmas (MoE) and Department of Physics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China (zmsheng@sjtu.edu.cn and jzhang1@sjtu.edu.cn)
J. ZHANG
Affiliation:
Beijing National Laboratory of Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China Key Laboratory for Laser Plasmas (MoE) and Department of Physics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China (zmsheng@sjtu.edu.cn and jzhang1@sjtu.edu.cn)

Abstract

The magnetic reconnection (MR) configuration was constructed by using two approaching laser-produced plasma bubbles. The characteristics of the MR current sheet were investigated. The driving energy of the laser pulse affects the type of the current sheet. The experiments present “Y-type” and “X-type” current sheets for larger and smaller driving energy, respectively. The energetic electrons were found to be well-collimated. The formation and ejection of plasmoid from the “Y-type” current sheet was expected to enhance the number of accelerated electrons.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brown, M. R., Cothran, C. D., Landreman, M., Schlossberg, D., Matthaeus, W. H., Qin, G., Lukin, V. S. and Gray, T. 2002 Energetic particles from three-dimensional magnetic reconnection events in the Swarthmore Spheromak Experiment. Phys. Plasmas 9, 20772084.Google Scholar
Chen, L. J., Bhattacharjee, A., Puhl-Quinn, P. A., Yang, H., Bessho, N., Imada, S., Muehlbachler, S., Daly, P. W., Lefebvre, B., Khotyaintsev, Y. et al. 2008 Observation of energetic electrons within magnetic islands. Nat Phys. 4, 1923.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dong, Q. L., Wang, S. J., Lu, Q. M., Huang., C., Yuan, D. W., Liu, X., Lin, X. X., Li, Y. T., Wei, H. G., Zhong, J. Y. et al. 2012 Plasmoid ejection and secondary current sheet generation from magnetic reconnection in laser-plasma interaction. Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 215001.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Drake, J. F., Shay, M. A., Thongthai, W. and Swisdak, M. 2005 Production of energetic electrons during magnetic reconnection. Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 095001.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Drake, J. F., Swisdak, M., Che, H. and Shay, M. A. 2006 Electron acceleration from contracting magnetic islands during reconnection. Nature 443, 553556.Google Scholar
Fox, W., Bhattacharjee, A. and Germaschewski, K. 2011 Fast magnetic reconnection in laser-produced plasma bubbles. Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 215003.Google Scholar
Fu, X. R., Lu, Q. M. and Wang, S. 2006 The process of electron acceleration during collisionless magnetic reconnection. Phys. Plasmas 13, 012309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huang, C., Lu, Q. and Wang, S. 2010 The mechanisms of electron acceleration in antiparallel and guide field magnetic reconnection. Phys. Plasmas 17, 072306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karimabadi, H., Daughton, W. and Scudder, J. 2007 Multi-scale structure of the electron diffusion region. J. Geophys. Res. Lett. 34, L13104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, C. K., Seguin, F. H., Frenje, J. A., Rygg, J. R., Petrasso, R. D., Town, R. P. J., Landen, O. L., Knauer, J. P. and Smalyuk, V. A. 2007 Observation of megagauss-field topology changes due to magnetic reconnection in laser-produced plasmas. Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 055001.Google Scholar
Lin, R. P. and Hudson, H. S. 1970 10-100 keV electron acceleration and emission from solar flares. Solar Physics 17, 412435.Google Scholar
Magee, R. M., Den Hartog, D. J., Kumar, S. T. A., Almagri, A. F., Chapman, B. E., Fiksel, G., Mirnov, V. V., Mezonlin, E. D. and Titus, J. B. 2011 Anisotropic ion heating and tail generation during tearing mode magnetic reconnection in a high-temperature plasma. Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 065005.Google Scholar
Nilson, P. M., Willingale, L., Kaluza, M. C., Kamperidis, C., Minardi, S., Wei, M. S., Fernandes, P., Notley, M., Bandyopadhyay, S., Sherlock, M. et al. 2006 Magnetic reconnection and plasma dynamics in two-beam laser-solid interactions. Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 255001.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Øieroset, M., Lin, R. P., Phan, T. D., Larson, D. E. and Bale, S. D. 2002 Evidence for electron acceleration up to ~300 keV in the magnetic reconnection diffusion region of earth's magnetotail. Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 195001.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pritchett, P. L. and Coroniti, F. V. 2004 Three-dimensional collisionless magnetic reconnection in the presence of a guide field. J. Geophys. Res. 109, A01220.Google Scholar
Sakai, J., Saito, S., Mae, H., Farina, D., Lontano, M., Califano, F., Pegoraro, F. and Bulanov, S. V. 2002 Ion acceleration, magnetic field line reconnection, and multiple current filament coalescence of a relativistic electron beam in a plasma. Phys. Plasmas 9, 29592970.Google Scholar
Savrukhin, P. V. 2001 Generation of suprathermal electrons during magnetic reconnection at the sawtooth crash and disruption instability in the T-10 Tokamak. Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 3036.Google Scholar
Shay, M. A., Drake, J. F. and Swisdak, M. 2007 Two-scale structure of the electron dissipation region during collisionless magnetic reconnection. Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 155002.Google Scholar
Wang, R. S., Lu, Q. M., Huang, C. and Wang, S. 2010 Multispacecraft observation of electron pitch angle distributions in magnetotail reconnection. J. Geophys. Res. 115, A01209.Google Scholar
Yamada, M., Kulsrud, R. and Ji, H. T. 2010 Magnetic reconnection. Rev. Modern Phy. 82, 603.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, T. L., Lu, Q. M., Baumjohann, W., Russell, C. T., Fedorov, A., Barabash, S., Coates, A. J., Du, A. M., Cao, J. B.Nakamura, R. et al. , 2012 Magnetic reconnection in the near Venusian magnetotail. Sciences 336, 567.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zhong, J., Li, Y. T., Wang, X. G., Wang, J. Q., Dong, Q. L., Xiao, C. J., Wang, S. J., Liu, X., Zhang, L., An, L. et al. 2010 Modelling loop-top X-ray source and reconnection outflows in solar flares with intense lasers. Nat. Phys. 6, 984987.Google Scholar