Guiding of high-intensity laser pulses in 100-mm-long hydrodynamic optical-field-ionized plasma channels

Picksley, A.; Alejo, A.; Cowley, J.; Bourgeois, Nicolas; Corner, L.; Feder, Linus; Holloway, J.; Jones, Harry; Jonnerby, Jakob; Milchberg, H. M.; Reid, Lewis R.; Ross, A. J.; Walczak, R.; Hooker, S. M.

doi:10.1103/physrevaccelbeams.23.081303

Cited by 23 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…The experimental and simulation results above demonstrate that the leading edge of a conditioning laser pulse can ionize the neutral gas surrounding HOFI plasma channels to form a conditioned HOFI channel which can guide the bulk of the conditioning pulse, and any subsequently injected laser pulse, with very low losses. This mechanism is likely to have played a role in our recent experimental demonstration of guiding of high-intensity laser pulses in 100-mm-long channels [28]. The simulations shown in Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…The lowest-order modes for each electron density profile shown in Fig. 2 were calculated using the method outlined by Clark et al [35], and the power attenuation lengths L att of these modes were calculated by solving the paraxial Helmholtz equation [28]. Figure 3(c) shows the evolution of the matched spot size w m .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Here channel depth is defined as the difference between the peak electron density, which occurs at the shock front and the axial electron density, n e = n e (r shock ) − n e0 . As a consequence, the power attenuation lengths achieved to date in HOFI channels [28] are of order L att 100 mm, which is too short for many applications.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We recently proposed [26] that optical field ionization could generate much lower density channels since the temperature to which it heats the ionized electrons is independent of plasma density. In previous work [27,28], we have generated these hydrodynamic optical-field-ionized (HOFI) plasma channels with lengths as long as 100mm, with axial densities as low as n e0 1×10 17 cm −3 and at repetition rates of up to 5 Hz.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Meter-scale conditioned hydrodynamic optical-field-ionized plasma channels

et al. 2020

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We demonstrate through experiments and numerical simulations that low-density, low-loss, meter-scale plasma channels can be generated by employing a conditioning laser pulse to ionize the neutral gas collar surrounding a hydrodynamic optical-field-ionized (HOFI) plasma channel. We use particle-in-cell simulations to show that the leading edge of the conditioning pulse ionizes the neutral gas collar to generate a deep, low-loss plasma channel which guides the bulk of the conditioning pulse itself as well as any subsequently injected pulses. In proof-of-principle experiments, we generate conditioned HOFI (CHOFI) waveguides with axial electron densities of n e0 ≈ 1×10 17 cm −3 and a matched spot size of 26 μm. The power attenuation length of these CHOFI channels was calculated to be L att = (21 ± 3) m, more than two orders of magnitude longer than achieved by HOFI channels. Hydrodynamic and particle-in-cell simulations demonstrate that meter-scale CHOFI waveguides with attenuation lengths exceeding 1 m could be generated with a total laser pulse energy of only 1.2 J per meter of channel. The properties of CHOFI channels are ideally suited to many applications in high-intensity light-matter interactions, including multi-GeV plasma accelerator stages operating at high pulse repetition rates.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Meter-scale conditioned hydrodynamic optical-field-ionized plasma channels

et al. 2020

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“…We note that the key components required to realize this new approach have all recently been demonstrated, and in principle all are capable of multi-kilohertz operation. These include: metre-scale, low-loss, all-optical plasma waveguides [64][65][66][67][68][69][70]; 100 mJ-scale, sub-50 fs seed laser pulses [71]; and joule-level, few-picosecond, 1030 nm drive laser pulses [43,45]. The proposed scheme requires tight temporal and spatial overlap of multiple laser beams, the most challenging of which are: (i) control of the delay between the electron bunch and the seed pulse (∼ 10 fs); and (ii) control of the pointing of the seed and drive pulses relative to the waveguide axes (< 10 µrad).…”

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confidence: 99%

Gev-Scale Accelerators Driven by Plasma-Modulated Pulses from Kilohertz Lasers

2021

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We describe a new approach for driving GeV-scale plasma accelerators with long laser pulses. We show that the temporal phase of a long, high-energy driving laser pulse can be modulated periodically by co-propagating it with a low-amplitude plasma wave driven by a short, low-energy seed pulse. Compression of the modulated driver by a dispersive optic generates a train of short pulses suitable for resonantly driving a plasma accelerator. Modulation of the driver occurs via well-controlled linear processes, as confirmed by good agreement between particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations and an analytic model. PIC simulations demonstrate that a 1.7 J, 1 ps driver and a 140 mJ, 40 fs seed pulse can accelerate electrons to energies of 0.65 GeV in a plasma channel with an axial density of 2.5 × 10 17 cm −3 . This work opens a route to high-repetition-rate, GeV-scale plasma accelerators driven by thin-disk lasers, which can provide joule-scale, picosecond-duration laser pulses at multikilohertz repetition rates and high wall-plug efficiencies.

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Laser-accelerated electron beams at 1 GeV using optically-induced shock injection

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Haberstroh

et al. 2023

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In recent years, significant progress has been made in laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA), both regarding the increase in electron energy, charge and stability as well as the reduction of bandwidth of electron bunches. Simultaneous optimization of these parameters is, however, still the subject of an ongoing effort in the community to reach sufficient beam quality for next generation’s compact accelerators. In this report, we show the design of slit-shaped gas nozzles providing centimeter-long supersonic gas jets that can be used as targets for the acceleration of electrons to the GeV regime. In LWFA experiments at the Centre for Advanced Laser Applications, we show that electron bunches are accelerated to $${1}\text {GeV}$$ 1 GeV using these nozzles. The electron bunches were injected into the laser wakefield via a laser-machined density down-ramp using hydrodynamic optical-field-ionization and subsequent plasma expansion on a ns-timescale. This injection method provides highly controllable quasi-monoenergetic electron beams with high charge around $${100}\text {pC}$$ 100 pC , low divergence of $${0.5}\text {mrad}$$ 0.5 mrad , and a relatively small energy spread of around $${10}\%$$ 10 % at $${1}\text {GeV}$$ 1 GeV . In contrast to capillaries and gas cells, the scheme allows full plasma access for injection, probing or guiding in order to further improve the energy and quality of LWFA beams.

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Guiding of high-intensity laser pulses in 100-mm-long hydrodynamic optical-field-ionized plasma channels

Cited by 23 publications

References 45 publications

Meter-scale conditioned hydrodynamic optical-field-ionized plasma channels

Meter-scale conditioned hydrodynamic optical-field-ionized plasma channels

Gev-Scale Accelerators Driven by Plasma-Modulated Pulses from Kilohertz Lasers

Laser-accelerated electron beams at 1 GeV using optically-induced shock injection

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