Probing the peripheral self-generated magnetic field distribution in laser-plasma magnetic reconnection with Martin–Puplett interferometer polarimeter

Abstract

Magnetic reconnection of the self-generated magnetic fields in laser-plasma interaction is an important laboratory method for modeling high-energy density astronomical and astrophysical phenomena. We use the Martin–Puplett interferometer (MPI) polarimeter to probe the peripheral magnetic fields generated in the common magnetic reconnection configuration, two separated coplanar plane targets, in laser-target interaction. We introduce a new method that can obtain polarization information from the interference pattern instead of the sinusoidal function fitting of the intensity. A bidirectional magnetic field is observed from the side view, which is consistent with the magneto-hydro-dynamical (MHD) simulation results of self-generated magnetic field reconnection. We find that the cancellation of reverse magnetic fields after averaging and integration along the observing direction could reduce the magnetic field strength by one to two orders of magnitude. It indicates that imaging resolution can significantly affect the accuracy of measured magnetic field strength.