Quasi mono-energetic, relativistic electron acceleration in a femtosecond, high intensity laser excited solid magnet
The interaction of ultraintense lasers with magnetized overdense plasmas reveals a fundamentally new regime of laser-driven particle acceleration. Particle-in-cell simulations demonstrate the generation of directional, quasi-monoenergetic electrons in the MeV energy range superimposed on a broad thermal electron background with the estimated acceleration gradient of 3.6 MeV/μm, which is the highest till date. In contrast to conventional laser-plasma accelerators, which rely on underdense plasmas and are therefore constrained to relatively low plasma densities and limited beam charge, the present scheme operates in plasmas with densities orders of magnitude higher, opening new possibilities for the generation of high-flux energetic electron beams. A central result of this work is the demonstration of the excitation of electron Bernstein waves during relativistic laser interaction with magnetized overdense plasmas. The subsequent Landau damping of these electrostatic warm-plasma modes selectively transfers energy to resonant electrons, leading to the emergence of quasi-monoenergetic spectral peaks at energies that can be tuned through the applied magnetic field. To support the simulation results, we experimentally demonstrate the directional emission of energetic electrons from a simple permanent-magnet target irradiated by an ultraintense laser pulse, highlighting the practical feasibility of controlled electron-beam generation in dense plasma environments. These findings establish electron Bernstein waves as an efficient mediator of laser energy coupling in overdense plasmas and introduce a new paradigm for controlled particle acceleration and energy deposition in high-energy-density plasma systems.