Electron diffraction using ultrafast electron bunches from a laser-wakefield accelerator at kHz repetition rate

He, Zhaohan; Thomas, Alexander; Beaurepaire, Benoit; Nees, J.; Hou, Bixue; Malka, Victor; Krushelnick, K.; Faure, Jérôme

doi:10.1063/1.4792057

Cited by 68 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Recently, a first proof-of-principle experiment has shown that a few millijoule kHz system could be used to drive a laser wakefield accelerator and produce 100 keV electron beams [14]. After filtering and transport, this electron beam was used to produce clear diffraction patterns on an aluminum thin film [15]. In [15], the electron kinetic energy was limited to 100 keV because the experiment did not operate in the blowout regime.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…After filtering and transport, this electron beam was used to produce clear diffraction patterns on an aluminum thin film [15]. In [15], the electron kinetic energy was limited to 100 keV because the experiment did not operate in the blowout regime. In recent years, the first attempts to reach the blowout regime with mJ laser systems have been performed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Electron acceleration in sub-relativistic wakefields driven by few-cycle laser pulses

2014

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Using particle-in-cell simulations, we study the interaction of few-mJ-fewcycle laser pulses with an underdense plasma at resonant density. In this previously unexplored regime, it is found that group velocity dispersion is a key ingredient of the interaction. The concomitant effects of dispersion and plasma nonlinearities cause a deceleration of the wakefield phase velocity, which becomes sub-relativistic. Electron injection in this sub-relativistic wakefield is enhanced and leads to the production of a femtosecond electron bunch with a picocoulomb of charge in the 5-10 MeV energy range. Such an electron bunch is of great interest for application to ultrafast electron diffraction. In addition, in this dispersion dominated regime, it is shown that positively chirped laser pulses can be used as a tuning knob for compensating for plasma dispersion, increasing the laser amplitude during self-focusing and optimizing the trapped charge.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electron acceleration in sub-relativistic wakefields driven by few-cycle laser pulses

2014

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“…The energy of the electrons in the beams depends strongly on the laser system in use, but also on other experimental parameters, such as length and density of the interaction medium, with energies ranging from a few tens of keV [5] up to a few GeV [6]. Much effort is now focused on controlling the properties of the generated beams [7], such as the energy and number of accelerated electrons as well as the divergence and pointing, and on reducing the shot-to-shot fluctuations of these beams [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Localization of ionization-induced trapping in a laser wakefield accelerator using a density down-ramp

Hansson

Audet

Ekerfelt

et al. 2016

Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion

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We report on a study on controlled trapping of electrons, by field ionization of nitrogen ions, in laser wakefield accelerators in variable length gas cells. In addition to ionization-induced trapping in the density plateau inside the cells, which results in wide, but stable, electron energy spectra, a regime of ionization-induced trapping localized in the density down-ramp at the exit of the gas cells, is found. The resulting electron energy spectra are peaked, with 10% shot-to-shot fluctuations in peak energy. Ionization-induced trapping of electrons in the density down-ramp is a way to trap and accelerate a large number of electrons, thus improving the efficiency of the laser-driven wakefield acceleration.

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“…As shown by K. Krushelnick (U. Michigan), high repetition rate (0.5 kHz) LPAs are already being used for demonstrations of ultrafast electron diffraction applications [28]. Laser pulses with only 8 mJ, wavelength 800 nm, and pulse length 30 fs were focused in an f/2 geometry onto the gas flow from a tube of diameter 100 micron, producing stable electron beams with quasi-monoenergetic spectra up to 150 keV and charge ≈10 fC.…”

Section: Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Summary report of working group 1: Laser-plasma wakefield acceleration

Gonsalves¹,

Pollock²,

Lü³

2017

AIP Conference Proceedings

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Abstract. The work presented in the laser-plasma acceleration working group at the 2016 Advanced Accelerator Concepts (AAC) Workshop is summarized. Some of the highlights include: direct visualization of the electric and magnetic fields using a LPA (laser plasma accelerator) electron probe, offering transverse snapshots of the wakefield even for very low density; first demonstration of multi-pulse LPA and wakefield cancellation with a trailing pulse (first step to energy recovery); and control over the shock front angle to optimize density transition injection, which provides stable and low-energy-spread beams that are critical for increasing the efficiency of the recently presented staged LPA. Interesting ongoing and future work discussed included LPAs driven by CO 2 lasers and scaling to 10 GeV with and without optical guiding. Further details on each of these topics can be found in the respective papers in these Proceedings.

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Electron diffraction using ultrafast electron bunches from a laser-wakefield accelerator at kHz repetition rate

Cited by 68 publications

References 30 publications

Electron acceleration in sub-relativistic wakefields driven by few-cycle laser pulses

Electron acceleration in sub-relativistic wakefields driven by few-cycle laser pulses

Localization of ionization-induced trapping in a laser wakefield accelerator using a density down-ramp

Summary report of working group 1: Laser-plasma wakefield acceleration

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