Energetic electrons emitted from ethanol droplets irradiated by femtosecond laser pulses

We investigate the angular distribution and the energy spectrum of hot electrons emitted from ethanol droplets irradiated by linearly polarized 150-fs laser pulses at an intensity of 10(16) W/cm(2). Two hot electron jets symmetrically with respect to the laser propagation direction are observed within the polarization plane. This is due to the spherical geometry of droplets in the intense laser field. The maximum energy of the hot electrons is found to be more than 600 keV. Particle-in-cell simulations suggest that the resonance absorption is the main mechanism for hot electron generation.