Radiation Reaction Effects on Electron Nonlinear Dynamics and Ion Acceleration in Laser-Solid Interaction

Radiation Reaction (RR) effects in the interaction of an ultra-intense laser pulse with a thin plasma foil are investigated analytically and by two-dimensional (2D3P) Particle-In-Cell (PIC) simulations. It is found that the radiation reaction force leads to a significant electron cooling and to an increased spatial bunching of both electrons and ions. A fully relativistic kinetic equation including RR effects is discussed and it is shown that RR leads to a contraction of the available phase space volume. The results of our PIG simulations are in qualitative agreement with the predictions of the kinetic theory. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V.