Yin Shi, Alexey Arefiev, Jue Xuan Hao, and Jian Zheng, "Efficient generation of axial magnetic field by multiple laser beams with twisted pointing directions", Phys. Rev. Letters 130, 155101 (2023).
Strong laser-driven magnetic fields are crucial for high-energy-density physics and laboratory astrophysics research, but generation of axial multikilotesla fields remains a challenge. The difficulty comes from the inability of a conventional linearly polarized laser beam to induce the required azimuthal current or, equivalently, angular momentum (AM). We show that several laser beams can overcome this difficulty. Our three-dimensional kinetic simulations demonstrate that a twist in their pointing directions enables them to carry orbital AM and transfer it to the plasma, thus generating a hot electron population carrying AM needed to sustain the magnetic field. The resulting multikilotesla field occupies a volume that is tens of thousands of cubic microns and it persists on a picosecond timescale. The mechanism can be realized for a wide range of laser intensities and pulse durations. Our scheme is well suited for implementation using multikilojoule petawatt-class lasers, because, by design, they have multiple beamlets and because the scheme requires only linear polarization.
