The possibility of studying non-thermal electron energization in laser-drivenplasma experiments of magnetic reconnection is studied using two- andthree-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. It is demonstrated thatnon-thermal electrons with energies more than an order of magnitude larger thanthe initial thermal energy can be produced in plasma conditions currentlyaccessible in the laboratory. Electrons are accelerated by the reconnectionelectric field, being injected at varied distances from the X-points, and insome cases trapped in plasmoids, before escaping the finite-sized system.Trapped electrons can be further energized by the electric field arising fromthe motion of the plasmoid. This acceleration gives rise to a non-thermalelectron component that resembles a power-law spectrum, containing up to ~ 8%of the initial energy of the interacting electrons and ~ 24 % of the initialmagnetic energy. Estimates of the maximum electron energy and of the plasmaconditions required to observe suprathermal electron acceleration are provided,paving the way for a new platform for the experimental study of particleacceleration induced by reconnection.
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