We propose to use ultrahigh intensity laser pulses with wave-front rotation (WFR) to produce short, ultraintense surface plasma waves (SPW) on grating targets for electron acceleration. Combining a smart grating design with optimal WFR conditions identified through simple analytical modeling and particle-in-cell simulation allows us to decrease the SPW duration (down to a few optical cycles) and increase its peak amplitude. In the relativistic regime, for $I{\lambda }_0^2=3.4\times {10}^{19}\mathrm{W}/{\mathrm{cm}}^2\mu {\mathrm{m}}^2$, such SPW are found to accelerate high charge (few 10 s of pC), high energy (up to 70 MeV), and ultrashort (few fs) electron bunches.

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• Electromagnetic waves & oscillations
• High intensity beam dynamics
• High-energy-density plasmas
• Laser-plasma interactions
• Relativistic multiple-particle dynamics
• Surface plasmon polariton
• Surface plasmons
• Electron sources
• Laser driven electron acceleration
• Particle acceleration in plasmas
• Particle accelerators
• Particle-beam sources
• Plasma acceleration & new acceleration techniques
• Particle-in-cell methods