Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2009
In the study of the interaction of ultra-intense laser pulses with thin plasma targets there appears self-generated magnetic fields in the plasma target. The strong magnetic fields were directly measured in the plasma target, and were attributed to a mechanism of non-parallel electron temperature and density gradients. These magnetic fields can become strong enough to significantly affect the plasma transport. The underlying mechanism of the self-generated magnetic fields in the ultra-intense laser–plasma interactions is presented by using a two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation.