Injection and Acceleration of Electrons by Radially Polarized Laser Pulses in a Plasma Channel

Abstract

We consider injection and subsequent acceleration of electrons in narrow plasma channels irradiated by linearly and radially polarized ultraintense laser pulses. Using three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we show that radially polarized beams significantly promote electron release from the channel walls and lead to enhanced injection. We compare an f/10 linearly polarized laser beam with two radially polarized cases: one focused more tightly (f/5) to match peak intensity, and one at equal f/10 to capture polarization effects. The radially polarized f/10 case injects approximately one-third more charge than the linearly polarized case, while the f/5 radially polarized case outperforms the linearly polarized one by about a factor of two in terms of maximum electron energy. These results highlight polarization and focusing geometry as key parameters for optimizing laser-driven electron acceleration setups.