Surface-magnetic-field and fast-electron current-layer formation by ultraintense laser irradiation.

Multi-MeV electron generation by ultraintense laser pulses plays a major role in fast ignition laser fusion and related high energy density science. This Letter discloses a unique feature of relativistic electron motion and self-induced electromagnetic fields which depend upon laser incident angle and intensity. When the incident angle is larger than the critical value (theta> or =thetacr), despite an MeV electron being injected obliquely into the target, the high energy electron is decoupled from the bulk of the plasma and transported along the surface by the structured electron motion guided by the surface quasistatic electromagnetic field. The surface electromagnetic field and fast-electron density and current profiles are sustained as a quasisteady state by the intense laser irradiation. The analytical structures of the field and electron density agree reasonably well with 2D particle in cell simulation results.