CONFINEMENT OF ELECTRONS TO THE CENTER OF A LASER FOCUS VIA THE PONDEROMOTIVE POTENTIAL

The use of the ponderomotive potential to focus electrons into the centre of a laser focus, as discussed by Phillips and Sanderson in 1966, is examined for modern laser conditions. For a laser focus with a minimum along the beam axis, an electron is confined to the centre of the focus. Electron trajectories are obtained by solving the classical equations of motion in the presence of the ponderomotive potential. A method of creating a focus with a minimum at the centre is also discussed.