Extreme high field plasmonics : Electron acceleration and XUV harmonic generation from ultrashort surface plasmons
Experiments on the excitation of propagating surface plasmons (SPs) by an ultrashort, high intensity laser interaction with grating targets are reviewed. At intensities exceeding 10 19 W cm -2 on target, i.e., in the strongly relativistic regime of electron dynamics, multi-megaelectronvolt electrons are accelerated by the SP field as dense bunches collimated in a near-tangent direction. By the
