Measurement and application of electron stripping of ultrarelativistic Pb-208(81+)
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment Elsevier 988 (2020) 164902
Abstract:
An electron beam derived from stripping of ultrarelativistic lead ions has been used to perform calibration measurements on the electron spectrometer of the Advanced Wakefield experiment at CERN. As part of this study, new measurements of the stripping cross-section for ultrarelativistic hydrogen-like lead ions passing through aluminium and silicon have been obtained which demonstrate good agreement with existing measurements and theory. Improvements in terms of electron beam quality and ion beam diagnostic capability, as well as further applications of such an electron beam, are discussed.Electron trapping and reinjection in prepulse-shaped gas targets for laser-plasma accelerators
Physical Review Accelerators and Beams American Physical Society (APS) 23:11 (2020) 111301
Electron trapping and reinjection in prepulse-shaped gas targets for laser-plasma accelerators
Physical Review Accelerators and Beams American Physical Society 23:11 (2020) 111301
Abstract:
A novel mechanism for injection, emittance selection, and postacceleration for laser wakefield electron acceleration is identified and described. It is shown that a laser prepulse can create an ionized plasma filament through multiphoton ionization and this heats the electrons and ions, driving an ellipsoidal blast-wave aligned with the laser-axis. The subsequent high-intensity laser-pulse generates a plasma wakefield which, on entering the leading edge of the blast-wave structure, encounters a sharp reduction in electron density, causing density down-ramp electron injection. The injected electrons are accelerated to ∼2 MeV within the blast-wave. After the main laser-pulse has propagated past the blast-wave, it drives a secondary wakefield within the homogenous background plasma. On exiting the blast-wave structure, the preaccelerated electrons encounter these secondary wakefields, are retrapped, and accelerated to higher energies. Due to the longitudinal extent of the blast-wave, only those electrons with small transverse velocity are retrapped, leading to the potential for the generation of electron bunches with reduced transverse size and emittance.Self-waveguiding of relativistic laser pulses in neutral gas channels
Physical Review Research American Physical Society 2:4 (2020) 43173
Abstract:
We demonstrate that an ultrashort high intensity laser pulse can propagate for hundreds of Rayleigh ranges in a prepared neutral hydrogen channel by generating its own plasma waveguide as it propagates; the front of the pulse generates a waveguide that confines the rest of the pulse. A wide range of suitable initial index structures and gas densities will support this “self-waveguiding” process; the necessary feature is that the gas density on axis is a minimum. Here, we demonstrate self-waveguiding of pulses of at least 1.5 × 1017 W/cm2 (normalized vector potential a0 ∼ 0.3) over 10 cm, or ∼100 Rayleigh ranges, limited only by our laser energy and length of our gas jet. We predict and observe characteristic oscillations corresponding to mode-beating during self-waveguiding. The self-waveguiding pulse leaves in its wake a fully ionized low-density plasma waveguide which can guide another pulse injected immediately following; we demonstrate optical guiding of such a follow-on probe pulse. The method is well suited to laser wakefield acceleration and other applications requiring a long laser-matter interaction length.Meter-scale conditioned hydrodynamic optical-field-ionized plasma channels
Physical Review E American Physical Society 102:5 (2020) 53201