Laser acceleration of electrons in a thin metal film

A mechanism acceleration of electrons to relativistic velocities in a thin metal film irradiated with ultrashort (τ L ≤1 ps) high-power (I>16 W/cm2) laser pulses is proposed. The acceleration is due to a resonance action of the nonuniform field on a portion of the electrons, viz., those which oscillate in the direction transverse to the film with a frequency close to the frequency of the field.