Electron energy enhancement by a circularly polarized laser pulse in vacuum

Abstract

AbstractEnergy enhancement by a circularly polarized laser pulse during acceleration of the electrons by a Gaussian laser pulse has been investigated. The electrons close to the temporal peak of the laser pulse show strong initial phase dependence for a linearly polarized laser pulse. The energy gained by the electrons close to the rising edge of the pulse does not show initial phase dependence for either linearly- or circularly-polarized laser pulse. The maximum energy of the electrons gets enhanced for a circularly polarized in comparison to a linearly polarized laser pulse due to axial symmetry of the circularly polarized pulse. The variation of electron energy with laser spot size, laser intensity, initial electron energy, and initial phase has been studied.