Strong magnetic fields generated with a simple open-ended coil irradiated by high power laser pulses

A simple scheme to produce strong magnetic fields due to cold electron flow in an open-ended coil heated by high power laser pulses is proposed. It differs from previous generation of magnetic fields driven by fast electron current in a capacitor-coil target [S. Fujioka et al., Sci. Rep. 3, 1170 (2013)]. The fields in our experiments are measured by B-dot detectors and proton radiography, respectively. A 205 T strong magnetic field at the center of the coil target is generated in the free space at Iλ2 of 6.85 × 1014 W cm−2 μm2, where I is the laser intensity, and λ is the laser wavelength. The magnetic field strength is proportional to Iλ2. Compared with the capacitor-coil target, the generation mechanism of the magnetic field is straightforward and the coil is easy to be fabricated.