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ABSTRACT: A method of creating plasma channels with controllable depth and transverse
profile for the guiding of short, high power laser pulses for efficient
electron acceleration is proposed. The plasma channel produced by the
hydrogen-filled capillary discharge waveguide is modified by a ns-scale laser
pulse, which heats the electrons near the capillary axis. This interaction
creates a deeper plasma channel within the capillary discharge that evolves on
a ns-time scale, allowing laser beams with smaller spot sizes than would
otherwise be possible in the unmodified capillary discharge.
03/2013;
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S. S. Bulanov,
M. Chen, C. B. Schroeder,
E. Esarey,
W. P. Leemans,
S. V. Bulanov,
T. Zh. Esirkepov,
M. Kando,
J. K. Koga,
A. G. Zhidkov,
P. Chen,
V. D. Mur,
N. B. Narozhny,
V. S. Popov,
A. G. R. Thomas,
G. Korn
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ABSTRACT: We propose experiments on the collision of high intensity electromagnetic
pulses with electron bunches and on the collision of multiple electromagnetic
pulses for studying extreme field limits in the nonlinear interaction of
electromagnetic waves. The effects of nonlinear QED will be revealed in these
laser plasma experiments.
09/2012;
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ABSTRACT: The radiation pressure acceleration regime of laser ion acceleration requires
high intensity laser pulses to function efficiently. Moreover the foil should
be opaque for incident radiation during the interaction to ensure maximum
momentum transfer from the pulse to the foil, which requires proper matching of
the target to the laser pulse. However, in the ultrarelativistic regime, this
leads to large acceleration distances, over which the high laser intensity for
a Gaussian laser pulse must be maintained. It is shown that proper tailoring of
the laser pulse profile can significantly reduce the acceleration distance,
leading to a compact laser ion accelerator, requiring less energy to operate.
08/2012;
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ABSTRACT: Transverse stability of the drive beam is critical to plasma wakefield accelerators. A long, relativistic particle beam propagating in an overdense plasma is subject to beam envelope modulation and centroid displacement (hosing) instabilities. Coupled equations for the beam centroid and envelope are derived and solved. It is shown that the hosing growth rate is comparable to self-modulation, and coupling of the self-modulation enhances beam hosing and induces harmonic content. Large amounts of hosing significantly alters the structure of the plasma wakefields.
Phys. Rev. E. 08/2012; 86(2).
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C Lin,
J van Tilborg,
K Nakamura,
A J Gonsalves,
N H Matlis,
T Sokollik,
S Shiraishi,
J Osterhoff,
C Benedetti, C B Schroeder,
Cs Tóth,
E Esarey,
W P Leemans
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ABSTRACT: Laser plasma accelerators have produced femtosecond electron bunches with a relative energy spread ranging from 100% to a few percent. Simulations indicate that the measured energy spread can be dominated by a correlated spread, with the slice spread significantly lower. Measurements of coherent optical transition radiation are presented for broad-energy-spread beams with laser-induced density and momentum modulations. The long-range (meter-scale) observation of coherent optical transition radiation indicates that the slice energy spread is below the percent level to preserve the modulations.
Physical Review Letters 03/2012; 108(9):094801. · 7.37 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Modeling of laser-plasma wakefield accelerators in an optimal frame of reference [J.-L. Vay, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 130405 (2007)] allows direct and efficient full-scale modeling of deeply depleted and beam loaded laser-plasma stages of 10 GeV-1 TeV (parameters not computationally accessible otherwise). This verifies the scaling of plasma accelerators to very high energies and accurately models the laser evolution and the accelerated electron beam transverse dynamics and energy spread. Over 4, 5, and 6 orders of magnitude speedup is achieved for the modeling of 10 GeV, 100 GeV, and 1 TeV class stages, respectively. Agreement at the percentage level is demonstrated between simulations using different frames of reference for a 0.1 GeV class stage. Obtaining these speedups and levels of accuracy was permitted by solutions for handling data input (in particular, particle and laser beams injection) and output in a relativistically boosted frame of reference, as well as mitigation of a high-frequency instability that otherwise limits effectiveness.
Physics of Plasmas 12/2011; 18(12):123103-123103-16. · 2.15 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: A long, relativistic particle beam propagating in an overdense plasma is subject to the self-modulation instability. This instability is analyzed and the growth rate is calculated, including the phase relation. The phase velocity of the wake is shown to be significantly less than the beam velocity. These results indicate that the energy gain of a plasma accelerator driven by a self-modulated beam will be severely limited by dephasing. In the long-beam, strongly coupled regime, dephasing is reached in a homogeneous plasma in less than four e foldings, independent of beam-plasma parameters.
Physical Review Letters 09/2011; 107(14):145002. · 7.37 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Laser evolution and plasma wave excitation by a relativistically intense short-pulse laser in underdense plasma are investigated in the broad pulse limit, including the effects of pulse steepening, frequency redshifting, and energy depletion. The nonlinear plasma wave phase velocity is shown to be significantly lower than the laser group velocity and further decreases as the pulse propagates owing to laser evolution. This lowers the thresholds for trapping and wave breaking and reduces the energy gain and efficiency of laser-plasma accelerators that use a uniform plasma profile.
Physical Review Letters 04/2011; 106(13):135002. · 7.37 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Tightly focused laser pulses as they diverge or converge in underdense plasma
can generate wake waves, having local structures that are spherical waves. Here
we report on theoretical study of relativistic spherical wake waves and their
properties, including wave breaking. These waves may be suitable as particle
injectors or as flying mirrors that both reflect and focus radiation, enabling
unique X-ray sources and nonlinear QED phenomena.
01/2011;
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ABSTRACT: Higher-order laser modes are analyzed as a method to control focusing forces and improve the electron bunch quality in laser-plasma accelerators. In the linear wake regime, the focusing force is proportional to the transverse gradient of the laser intensity, which can be shaped by a superposition of modes. In particular, the transverse wakefield can be arbitrarily small in a region about the axis by adjusting the laser modes. Plasma channel effects, which prohibit the formation of the controlled-focusing region, can be mitigating by introducing a delay between the modes. Modes with parallel polarization produce a beat interference in the laser intensity, which lead to deflecting forces. This can be avoided by using modes with orthogonal polarization, different frequencies, or short pulses that do not overlap. Particle-in-cell simulations are performed of a laser-plasma accelerator in the quasilinear regime driven by high-order modes. Simulations show that, by including the first-order mode, the matched radius of the electron bunch is substantially increased, which for fixed bunch density and emittance implies an increase in the beam charge.
Physical Review Special Topics - Accelerators and Beams 01/2011; 14(3):031303. · 1.52 Impact Factor
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D B Thorn,
C G R Geddes,
N H Matlis,
G R Plateau,
E H Esarey,
M Battaglia, C B Schroeder,
S Shiraishi,
Th Stöhlker,
C Tóth,
W P Leemans
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ABSTRACT: X-ray betatron radiation is produced by oscillations of electrons in the intense focusing field of a laser-plasma accelerator. These hard x-rays show promise for use in femtosecond-scale time-resolved radiography of ultrafast processes. However, the spectral characteristics of betatron radiation have only been inferred from filter pack measurements. In order to achieve higher resolution spectral information about the betatron emission, we used an x-ray charge-coupled device to record the spectrum of betatron radiation, with a full width at half maximum resolution of 225 eV. In addition, we have recorded simultaneous electron and x-ray spectra along with x-ray images that allow for a determination of the betatron emission source size, as well as differences in the x-ray spectra as a function of the energy spectrum of accelerated electrons.
The Review of scientific instruments 10/2010; 81(10):10E325. · 1.52 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: A relativistic, warm fluid model of a nonequilibrium, collisionless plasma is developed and applied to examine nonlinear Langmuir waves excited by relativistically intense, short-pulse lasers. Closure of the covariant fluid theory is obtained via an asymptotic expansion assuming a nonrelativistic plasma temperature. The momentum spread is calculated in the presence of an intense laser field and shown to be intrinsically anisotropic. Coupling between the transverse and longitudinal momentum variances is enabled by the laser field. A generalized dispersion relation is derived for Langmuir waves in a thermal plasma in the presence of an intense laser field. Including thermal fluctuations in three-velocity-space dimensions, the properties of the nonlinear electron plasma wave, such as the plasma temperature evolution and nonlinear wavelength, are examined and the maximum amplitude of the nonlinear oscillation is derived. The presence of a relativistically intense laser pulse is shown to strongly influence the maximum plasma wave amplitude for nonrelativistic phase velocities owing to the coupling between the longitudinal and transverse momentum variances.
Physical Review E 05/2010; 81(5 Pt 2):056403. · 2.26 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: A technique has been developed for measuring the properties of discharge-based plasma channels by monitoring the centroid location of a laser beam exiting the channel as a function of input alignment offset between the laser and the channel. Experiments were performed using low-intensity (<1014 W cm−2) laser pulses focused onto the entrance of a hydrogen-filled capillary discharge waveguide. Scanning the laser centroid position at the input of the channel and recording the exit position allow determination of the channel depth with an accuracy of a few percent, measurement of the transverse channel shape, and inference of the matched spot size. In addition, accurate alignment of the laser beam through the plasma channel is provided by minimizing laser centroid motion at the channel exit as the channel depth is scanned either by scanning the plasma density or the discharge timing. The improvement in alignment accuracy provided by this technique will be crucial for minimizing electron beam pointing errors in laser plasma accelerators.
Physics of Plasmas 04/2010; 17(5):056706-056706-8. · 2.15 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Laser wakefield acceleration experiments were carried out by using a hydrogen-filled capillary discharge waveguide. For a 15 mm long, 200 micrometer diameter capillary, quasi-monoenergetic e-beams up to 300 MeV were observed. By de-tuning discharge delay from optimum guiding performance, self-trapping was found to be stabilized. For a 33 mm long, 300 micrometer capillary, a parameter regime with high energy electron beams, up to 1 GeV, was found. In this regime, the electron beam peak energy was correlated with the amount of trapped electrons.
08/2009;
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ABSTRACT: Energy depletion of intense, short-pulse lasers via excitation of plasma waves is investigated numerically and analytically. The evolution of a resonant laser pulse proceeds in two phases. In the first phase, the pulse steepens, compresses, and frequency redshifts as energy is deposited in the plasma. The second phase of evolution occurs after the pulse reaches a minimum length at which point the pulse rapidly lengthens, losing resonance with the plasma. Expressions for the rate of laser energy loss and rate of laser redshifting are derived and are found to be in excellent agreement with the direct numerical solution of the laser field evolution coupled to the plasma response. Both processes are shown to have the same characteristic length scale. In the high intensity limit, for nearly resonant Gaussian laser pulses, this scale length is shown to be independent of laser intensity.
Physics of Plasmas 05/2009; 16(5):056704-056704-8. · 2.15 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Unphysical heating and macroparticle trapping that arise in the numerical modeling of laser wakefield accelerators using particle-in-cell codes are investigated. A dark current free laser wakefield accelerator stage, in which no trapping of background plasma electrons into the plasma wave should occur, and a highly nonlinear cavitated wake with self-trapping, are modeled. Numerical errors can lead to errors in the macroparticle orbits in both phase and momentum. These errors grow as a function of distance behind the drive laser and can be large enough to result in unphysical trapping in the plasma wake. The resulting numerical heating in intense short-pulse laser-plasma interactions grows much faster and to a higher level than the known numerical grid heating of an initially warm plasma in an undriven system. The amount of heating, at least in the region immediately behind the laser pulse, can, in general, be decreased by decreasing the grid size, increasing the number of particles per cell, or using smoother interpolation methods. The effect of numerical heating on macroparticle trapping is less severe in a highly nonlinear cavitated wake, since trapping occurs in the first plasma wave period immediately behind the laser pulse.
Physical Review E 08/2008; 78(1 Pt 2):016404. · 2.26 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: GeV-class electron beams generated from laser wakefield accelerator with 40 TW laser pulses using a 33 mm hydrogen-based capillary discharge waveguide. Stable 0.5 GeV e-beams can produce bright radiation from THz to X-rays.
Lasers and Electro-Optics, 2008 and 2008 Conference on Quantum Electronics and Laser Science. CLEO/QELS 2008. Conference on; 06/2008
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ABSTRACT: Plasma density gradients in a gas jet were used to control the wake phase velocity and trapping threshold in a laser wakefield accelerator, producing stable electron bunches with longitudinal and transverse momentum spreads more than 10 times lower than in previous experiments (0.17 and 0.02 MeV/c FWHM, respectively) and with central momenta of 0.76+/-0.02 MeV/c. Transition radiation measurements combined with simulations indicated that the bunches can be used as a wakefield accelerator injector to produce stable beams with 0.2 MeV/c-class momentum spread at high energies.
Physical Review Letters 05/2008; 100(21):215004. · 7.37 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: A method is proposed for producing coherent x-rays via high-harmonic generation using ultraintense lasers interacting with highly stripped ions in cavitated plasmas. This method relies on plasma cavitation by the wake of an intense drive beam (laser or electron beam) to produce an ion cavity. An ultrashort pulse laser propagating in the plasma-electron-free ion cavity generates laser harmonics. The longitudinal electron motion, which inhibits high-harmonic generation at high laser intensities, can be suppressed by the space-charge field in the ion cavity or by using a counterpropagating laser pulse. Periodic suppression of the longitudinal electron motion may also be used to quasi-phase-match. This method enables harmonic generation to be extended to the sub-Å regime.
Physics of Plasmas 03/2008; 15(5):056704-056704-7. · 2.15 Impact Factor
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S M Hooker,
E Brunetti,
E Esarey,
J G Gallacher,
C G R Geddes,
A J Gonsalves,
D A Jaroszynski,
C Kamperidis,
S Kneip,
K Krushelnick, [......],
C D Murphy,
B Nagler,
Z Najmudin,
K Nakamura,
P A Norreys,
D Panasenko,
T P Rowlands-Rees, C B Schroeder,
C s Tóth,
R Trines
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ABSTRACT: During the last few years laser-driven plasma accelerators have been shown to generate quasi-monoenergetic electron beams with energies up to several hundred MeV. Extending the output energy of laser-driven plasma accelerators to the GeV range requires operation at plasma densities an order of magnitude lower, i.e. 1018 cm−3, and increasing the distance over which acceleration is maintained from a few millimetres to a few tens of millimetres. One approach for achieving this is to guide the driving laser pulse in the plasma channel formed in a gas-filled capillary discharge waveguide. We present transverse interferometric measurements of the evolution of the plasma channel formed and compare these measurements with models of the capillary discharge. We describe in detail experiments performed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in which plasma accelerators were driven within this type of waveguide to generate quasi-monoenergetic electron beams with energies up to 1 GeV.
Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion 11/2007; 49(12B):B403. · 2.42 Impact Factor
