Density and temperature effects on Compton scattering in plasmas

Abstract

We study the effect of the density and temperature on Compton scattering in a plasma, with particular emphasis on the quality of the scattered electron beam. We find that the longitudinal mode in the plasma plays a dominant role in producing collimated and mono-energetic electron spectrum. The beam profile is, however, sensitive to the plasma parameters such as its density and temperature. We make a careful study of this sensitivity and distinguish regions in the parameter space in which the quality of the beam profile is good from the regions in which it is poor. These findings are potentially useful in understanding the physics of laser plasma accelerators.