Optical control of hard X-ray polarization by electron injection in a laser wakefield accelerator

Schnell, M.; Sävert, Alexander; Uschmann, I.; Reuter, Maria; Nicolaï, M.; Kämpfer, T.; Landgraf, B.; Jäckel, O.; Jansen, Oliver; Pukhov, A.; Kaluza, Malte C.

doi:10.1038/ncomms3421

Cited by 64 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…The algorithm has been verified by several experiments and simulations. [41][42][43][44][45] Especially, it has been employed to characterize the betatron x-ray in the bubble regime and the results agree well with the experiment observations. 46 Here, we make use of the modified code to investigate the dynamics of the laser-MLT interaction at ultra-high laser intensities.…”

Section: Synchrotron Radiation and The Damping Forcesupporting

confidence: 74%

Dynamics of laser mass-limited foil interaction at ultra-high laser intensities

Sheng

Yin

et al. 2014

Physics of Plasmas

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By using three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations with synchrotron radiation damping incorporated, dynamics of ultra-intense laser driven mass-limited foils is presented. When a circularly polarized laser pulse with a peak intensity of ∼1022 W/cm2 irradiates a mass-limited nanofoil, electrons are pushed forward collectively and a strong charge separation field forms which acts as a “light sail” and accelerates the protons. When the laser wing parts overtake the foil from the foil boundaries, electrons do a betatron-like oscillation around the center proton bunch. Under some conditions, betatron-like resonance takes place, resulting in energetic circulating electrons. Finally, bright femto-second x rays are emitted in a small cone. It is also shown that the radiation damping does not alter the foil dynamics radically at considered laser intensities. The effects of the transverse foil size and laser polarization on x-ray emission and foil dynamics are also discussed.

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Section: Synchrotron Radiation and The Damping Forcesupporting

confidence: 74%

Dynamics of laser mass-limited foil interaction at ultra-high laser intensities

Sheng

Yin

et al. 2014

Physics of Plasmas

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“…We can only see oscillations of the bubble in the plane of polarization of the laser (here along y) and nothing can be seen in the z-plan, which clearly indicates that this is the oscillation of the leading bunch in the laser which creates these large oscillations of the entire cavity. These oscillations of the accelerating cavity lead to acceleration of electrons off-axis, resulting in betatron oscillations inside the bubble of these accelerated electrons [49][50][51][52][53][54] .…”

Section: Pwfa Regimementioning

confidence: 99%

Giga-electronvolt electrons due to a transition from laser wakefield acceleration to plasma wakefield acceleration

Masson-Laborde

Ali

et al. 2014

Physics of Plasmas

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We show through experiments that a transition from laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) regime to a plasma wakefield acceleration (PWFA) regime can drive electrons up to energies close to the GeV level. Initially, the acceleration mechanism is dominated by the bubble created by the laser in the nonlinear regime of LWFA, leading to an injection of a large number of electrons. After propagation beyond the depletion length, leading to a depletion of the laser pulse, whose transverse ponderomotive force is not able to sustain the bubble anymore, the high energy dense bunch of electrons propagating inside bubble will drive its own wakefield by a PWFA regime. This wakefield will be able to trap and accelerate a population of electrons up to the GeV level during this second stage. Three dimensional (3D) particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations support this analysis, and confirm the scenario.

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“…The stability and response of the wakefield to laser conditions, such as phase front errors, is not well understood, but is crucial for the success of laser wakefield acceleration as a source of relativistic electrons and secondary radiation. For example, the presence of an asymmetric laser pulse was shown to affect the betatron oscillations and properties of X-rays produced in laser wakefield accelerators [33][34][35][36] . Implementing the methods of this study should enable a significantly improved understanding and control of the wakefield acceleration process with regard to stability, dark current reduction and beam emittance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coherent control of plasma dynamics

Hou

Lebailly

et al. 2015

Nat Commun

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Coherent control of a system involves steering an interaction to a final coherent state by controlling the phase of an applied field. Plasmas support coherent wave structures that can be generated by intense laser fields. Here, we demonstrate the coherent control of plasma dynamics in a laser wakefield electron acceleration experiment. A genetic algorithm is implemented using a deformable mirror with the electron beam signal as feedback, which allows a heuristic search for the optimal wavefront under laser-plasma conditions that is not known a priori. We are able to improve both the electron beam charge and angular distribution by an order of magnitude. These improvements do not simply correlate with having the 'best' focal spot, as the highest quality vacuum focal spot produces a greatly inferior electron beam, but instead correspond to the particular laser phase front that steers the plasma wave to a final state with optimal accelerating fields.

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Optical control of hard X-ray polarization by electron injection in a laser wakefield accelerator

Cited by 64 publications

References 34 publications

Dynamics of laser mass-limited foil interaction at ultra-high laser intensities

Dynamics of laser mass-limited foil interaction at ultra-high laser intensities

Giga-electronvolt electrons due to a transition from laser wakefield acceleration to plasma wakefield acceleration

Coherent control of plasma dynamics

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