The Inverse Faraday Effect Induced by Radiation Friction during Irradiation of Dense Plasma with Crossed Multipetawatt Laser Beams

We discuss the possibility of an experimental realization of the inverse Faraday effect induced by radiation friction upon irradiation of a dense plasma target with two crossed linearly polarized multipetawatt laser beams. The dependence of the maximum value of the excited longitudinal magnetic field and of the size of the region occupied by this field at the angle 2θ between laser beams is studied. It is shown that the use of a two-beam setup significantly increases the amplitude of the excited magnetic field that can be as high as 2 or 3 GG at intensities of ∼3 × 10 23 W/cm 2 for beam convergence angles of 2θ ≤ 10°.