General solution of the excitation problem of a symmetric flat dielectric structure by plane electromagnetic waves

General solution of the excitation problem of a symmetric flat dielectric structure by two laser pulses is obtained. The symmetrical geometry consists of two dielectric prisms separated by a vacuum channel for electron acceleration (so called “sandwich”). Each prism can be illuminated with a separate laser pulse; electric filed amplitudes of pulses can differ. The general solution consist from a symmetric distribution and asymmetric one of a longitudinal electric field across the vacuum channel. In the case of a general solution, the effect of the asymmetric part on the total amplitude of the accelerating and defocusing fields is also analyzed. We determined also conditions when a symmetric or asymmetric solution only is realized. For these cases, the obtained analytical solutions are compared with results of full time-domain numerical simulations of bilateral excitation of dielectric prisms with laser pulses.