Electron acceleration by a circularly polarized laser pulse in the presence of an obliquely incident magnetic field in vacuum

Laser-induced acceleration of an electron injected initially at an angle to the direction of a circularly polarized laser pulse in the presence of an obliquely incident magnetic field has been investigated. For a suitable position of the peak of the laser pulse, the external magnetic field exists at an angle such that it can be parallel to the magnetic field of the laser pulse. The electron gains considerable energy and retains it even after passing of the laser pulse in the presence of an optimum magnetic field in vacuum. The electron attains the maximum amount of energy at a particular angle of the incident magnetic field due to the betatron resonance. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.