Enhancement of axial magnetic field generation during relativistic self-channeling of laser radiation propagating along thin films

Abstract

Within the framework of a stationary model of relativistic self-focusing, it is shown that the addition of a thin layer of denser plasma on the propagation axis of a circularly polarized beam increases the axial magnetic field generated by it via the inverse Faraday effect by more than a factor of 10 compared to the case of a homogeneous plasma. The magnitude of the axial field in this case can exceed the magnetic field of the laser wave, which makes it possible, at radiation intensities $\sim 10^{26}$~W/cm$^2$ potentially achievable in the near future, to approach the level of teragauss quasi-stationary fields.