Optically controlled dense current structures driven by relativistic plasma aperture-induced diffraction

This dataset contains experimental data as well as simulation input files used in the publication "Optically controlled dense current structures driven by relativistic plasma aperture-induced diffraction" Gonzalez et al. Nat. Phys. (2015) currently at press. The article, supported by the data enclosed, describes the simulation and measurement of the self-induced diffraction of an intense laser pulse by the relativistically transparent aperture it creates in a dense plasma. This diffraction is shown to be mapped into the accelerated electron beam. It is then shown that by changing laser parameters such as polarisation the spatial profile of the electron beam can be controlled. This has important consequences for fundamental laser-plasma physics and for areas such as laboratory astrophysics. The experiment was conducted using the Gemini laser facility at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. Simulations were conducted using the ARCHER supercomputer based at Edinburgh university.