  In this paper, we apply an analytical model [V.V. Kulagin et al., Phys.
Plasmas 14,113101 (2007)] to describe the acceleration of an ultra-thin
electron layer by a schematic single-cycle laser pulse and compare with
one-dimensional particle-in-cell (1D-PIC) simulations. This is in the context
of creating a relativistic mirror for coherent backscattering and supplements
two related papers in this EPJD volume. The model is shown to reproduce the
1D-PIC results almost quantitatively for the short time of a few laser periods
sufficient for the backscattering of ultra-short probe pulses.
