MeV temperature electrons are typically generated at laser intensities of 10¹⁸ W cm⁻². Their generation at non-relativistic intensities (~10¹⁶ W cm⁻²) with high repetition rate lasers is cardinal for the realization of compact, ultra-fast electron sources. Here we report a technique of dynamic target structuring of micro-droplets using a 1 kHz, 25 fs, millijoule class laser, that uses two collinear laser pulses; the first to create a concave surface in the liquid drop and the second, to dynamically-drive electrostatic plasma waves that accelerate electrons to MeV energies. The acceleration mechanism, identified as two plasmon decay instability, is shown to generate two beams of electrons with hot electron temperature components of 200 keV and 1 MeV, respectively, at an intensity of 4 × 10¹⁶ W cm⁻², only. The electron beams are demonstrated to be ideal for single shot high resolution (tens of µm) electron radiography.

Angana Mondal, Ratul Sabui, Sheroy Tata, R. M. G. M. Trines, S. V. Rahul, Feiyu Li, Soubhik Sarkar, William Trickey, Rakesh Y. Kumar, Debobrata Rajak, John Pasley, Zhengming Sheng, Jagannath Jha, M. Anand, Ram Gopal, A. P. L. Robinson, M. Krishnamurthy