Quasi-Monoenergetic Dense and Uniform Electron Bunch Generation from Laser Driven Double-Layer Thin Films

We demonstrate that dense, uniform quasi-monoenergetic relativistic electron bunches can be generated from the interaction of a high-intensity laser pulse with a double-layer thin film target. The first layer of the target is a freestanding, nanometer-scale, diamond-like carbon production layer. The second layer is a thin plastic reflection layer which reflects the drive-laser pulse, but allows electrons to pass through. Although no electron bunch is generated from the second layer alone, by adding it behind the first layer we obtained a quasi-monoenergetic bunch along the laser axis, 35 times denser than a bunch from the single layer target. Comparing the angular distribution of the electron spectra from a double-layer target with that of a single-layer target, we observed an increase of the electron cutoff energy at larger angles, which improves the uniformity of created electron bunches.