Study of electron acceleration induced by ultrashort and ultraintense x-ray free electron laser pulse in the presence of uniform axial magnetic field

Abstract

Abstract There is a great interest in the application of ultraintense and ultrashort lasers in the area of accelerator physics. Recent advances in attosecond pulsed lasers have generated a new possibility in the production of high quality and high energy electron beams. The present work investigates the attosecond laser induced electron acceleration in the presence of an external magnetic field. The electron dynamics is studied with the help of linearly and circularly polarized light in vacuum medium. A similar trend in electron trajectory is observed in both polarizations with relatively more energetic electrons in circular polarization. It is found that the external magnetic field plays an important role to confine the electron motion in the laser field and increase the energy of accelerating electrons considerably.