Electron Acceleration and the Propagation of Ultrashort High-Intensity Laser Pulses in Plasmas

Wang, Xiaofang; Krishnan, M.; Saleh, N.; Wang, Haiwen; Umstadter, D.

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.84.5324

Cited by 67 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 31 publications

(38 reference statements)

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“…Accelerating gradients in the 10-100 GV/m have been measured in laser wakefield accelerator ͑LWFA͒ experiments, [2][3][4][5][6][7][8] which is three orders of magnitude higher than in conventional linacs. Acceleration of electron bunches containing several nC of charge and energy spectra characterized by a Boltzmann-type distribution with an equivalent temperature ranging from the few MeV to tens of MeV has been demonstrated in the selfmodulated regime of the LWFA.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Terahertz radiation from laser accelerated electron bunches

et al. 2004

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Coherent terahertz and millimeter wave radiation from laser accelerated electron bunches has been measured. The bunches were produced by tightly focusing (spot diameter ≈6 μm) a high peak power (up to 10 TW), ultra-short (⩾50 fs) laser pulse from a high repetition rate (10 Hz) laser system (0.8 μm), onto a high density (>1019 cm−3) pulsed gas jet of length ≈1.5 mm. As the electrons exit the plasma, coherent transition radiation is generated at the plasma-vacuum boundary for wavelengths long compared to the bunch length. Radiation in the 0.3–19 THz range and at 94 GHz has been measured and found to depend quadratically on the bunch charge. The measured radiated energy for two different collection angles is in good agreement with theory. Modeling indicates that optimization of this table-top source could provide more than 100 μJ/pulse. Together with intrinsic synchronization to the laser pulse, this will enable numerous applications requiring intense terahertz radiation. This radiation can also be used as a powerful tool for measuring the properties of laser accelerated bunches at the exit of the plasma accelerator. Preliminary spectral measurements indicates that bunches as short as 30–50 fs have been produced in these laser driven accelerators.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Terahertz radiation from laser accelerated electron bunches

et al. 2004

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“…29 Recently, the transition from whole beam focusing to strong filamentation regime has been observed. 30 More insight in the process of filamentation has been gained by three-dimensional Particle-In-Cell ͑PIC͒ simulations. 31 It is believed that the filamentation is seeded by the Weibel instability occurring in the flow of energetic electrons produced by, e.g., stimulated Raman scattering and propagating in the laser direction.…”

Section: A Self-focusing and Channel Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Generation of MeV electrons and positrons with femtosecond pulses from a table-top laser system

Gahn¹,

Tsakiris²,

Pretzler³

et al. 2002

Physics of Plasmas

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In experiments, the feasibility was demonstrated of generating multi-MeV electrons in a form of a collimated beam utilizing a table-top laser system delivering 200 fs pulses with P L ϭ1.2 TW and 10 Hz capability. The method uses the process of relativistic self-channeling in a high-density gas jet producing electron densities in the range of 3ϫ1019 -6ϫ10 20 cm Ϫ3 . In a thorough investigation, angularly resolved and absolutely calibrated electron spectra were measured and their dependence on the plasma density, laser intensity, and gas medium was studied. For the optimum electron density of n e ϭ2ϫ10 20 cm Ϫ3 the effective temperature of the electron energy distribution and the channel length exhibit a maximum of 5 MeV and 400 m respectively. The laser-energyto-MeV-electron efficiency is estimated to be 5%. In a second step, utilizing the multi-MeV electron beam anti-particles, namely positrons, were successfully generated in a 2 mm Pb converter. The average intensity of this new source of positrons is estimated to be equivalent to a radioactivity of 2ϫ10 8 Bq and it exhibits a very favorable scaling for higher laser intensities.

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“…Tabletop multi-terawatt laser systems with a pulse duration of only a few tens of femtoseconds are now available. 5,6 However, not all high-power phenomena can benefit from an increase in peak power if the pulse duration becomes too short. Here we report results of systematic experimental studies on how the laser pulse duration influences the formation of relativistic channels.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of laser pulse duration on relativistic channels

et al. 2002

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A high-power ͑10 TW͒ laser is employed to generate relativistic channels in an underdense plasma. The lengths of the channels are measured by imaging the Thomson-scattered light, and the gas densities are determined through the forward Raman scattered light. The laser-pulse parameters are varied and their impact on the channel formation is studied. It is found that increasing the laser pulse duration in many cases produces longer channels, even as this implies reducing the laser peak power. A theoretical discussion is presented, proposing an explanation of the experimental results.

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Electron Acceleration and the Propagation of Ultrashort High-Intensity Laser Pulses in Plasmas

Cited by 67 publications

References 31 publications

Terahertz radiation from laser accelerated electron bunches

Terahertz radiation from laser accelerated electron bunches

Generation of MeV electrons and positrons with femtosecond pulses from a table-top laser system

Influence of laser pulse duration on relativistic channels

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