Plasma density profile measurements for ultra-short high power laser beam guiding experiments at SPARC _LAB

Costa, G.; Anania, M. P.; Biagioni, A.; Bisesto, F.; Brentegani, E.; Ferrario, M.; Pompili, R.; Romeo, S.; Rossi, A. R.; Zigler, A.; Cianchi, A.

doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1596/1/012044

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…With regard to the experiments already carried out with the high-power FLAME laser [8,[29][30][31][32][33] in the SPARC_LAB laboratories [34] and in the EuPRAXIA project context [15,35], the nozzles usually have a length of about few tens of mm, and a tube diameter and aperture in the order of few mm. The gas used is usually helium, sometimes with a low percentage of nitrogen (1-10%), with a pressure inside the mixing chamber typically around 20 bar.…”

Section: Theoretical and Experimental Initial Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterisation of supersonic gas jets for different nozzle geometries for laser-plasma acceleration experiments at SPARC_LAB

et al. 2022

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Plasma-based technology promises a tremendous reduction in size of accelerators used for research, medical, and industrial applications, making it possible to develop tabletop machines accessible for a broader scientific community. The use of high-power laser pulses on gaseous targets is a promising method for the generation of accelerated electron beams at energies on the GeV scale, in extremely small sizes, typically millimetres. The gaseous target in question can be a collimated supersonic gasjet from a nozzle. In this work, a technique for optimising the so generated plasma channel is presented. In detail, a study on the influence of the nozzle throat shape in relation to the uniformity and density of the generated plasma profile is reported. These considerations are discussed first of all from a theoretical point of view, by means of a stationary one-dimensional mathematical model of the neutral gas, thus exploiting the possibility of comparing the properties of the output flow for different nozzle geometries. This is combined with an experimental approach using interferometric longitudinal density measurements of the plasma channel. The latter is generated by a high-power laser pulse focused on a helium gasjet, in the SPARC_LAB laboratories.

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Section: Theoretical and Experimental Initial Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterisation of supersonic gas jets for different nozzle geometries for laser-plasma acceleration experiments at SPARC_LAB

et al. 2022

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“…of the order of several kV. The capillary is designed to obtain a homogeneous gas flow, and consequently a homogeneous plasma, and it is made of transparent plastic to allow the implementation of plasma density diagnostics [36,37]. In this case, a Stark broadening diagnostic was used.…”

Section: Plasma Capillary Discharge For Sparc_lab Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterisation and optimisation of targets for plasma wakefield acceleration at SPARC_LAB

Costa¹,

Anania²,

Arjmand³

et al. 2022

Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion

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One of the most important features of plasma-based accelerators is their compactness because plasma modules can have dimensions of the order of mm/cm, providing very high accelerating fields up to hundreds of GV/m. The main challenge regarding this type of acceleration lies in controlling and characterising the plasma itself, which then determines its synchronisation with the particle beam to be accelerated in an external injection stage in the Laser WakeField Acceleration (LWFA) scheme. This issue has a major influence on the quality of the accelerated bunches. In this work, a complete characterisation and optimisation of plasma targets available at the SPARC\_LAB laboratories is presented. Two plasma-based devices are considered: supersonic nozzles for experiments adopting the self-injection scheme of laser wakefield acceleration, and plasma capillary discharge for both particle and laser-driven experiments. In the second case, a wide range of plasma channels, gas injection geometries and discharge voltages were extensively investigated, as well as studies of the plasma plumes exiting the channels, to control the plasma density ramps. Plasma density measurements were carried out for all the different designed plasma channels: using interferometric methods in the case of gas jets, spectroscopic methods in the case of capillaries. In this work, a full characterisation and optimisation has been carried on in the SPARC_LAB (LNF-INFN) laboratories on different plasma targets is presented. Two devices are considered: supersonic nozzles for experiments adopting the self-injection scheme of laser wakefield acceleration, and plasma capillary discharge for both particle and laser-driven experiments. In the first case, a study regarding the variation of the generated plasma channel as a function of the supersonic nozzle geometry will be reported, from a theoretical and experimental point of view. In the second case, various channel and gas injection geometries and discharge voltages were considered. In detail, matching conditions for guiding laser pulses will be shown, in order to increase the particles acceleration length, as well as studies of the plasma plumes exiting the channels, to control the plasma density ramps. Plasma density measurements were carried out for all the different plasma channels generated: using interferometric methods in the case of gas jets, spectroscopic methods in the case of capillaries. Specifically, for capillaries aimed at laser pulse guiding, a spectroscopic analysis of the channel transverse profile will be shown, together with the longitudinal one.

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“…Plasma-based electron beam acceleration experiments are performed at SPARC LAB test facility, in the framework of EuPRAXIA project, by using gas-filled discharge capillaries to create and confine plasmas [1,2,3,4]. Capillaries are designed and characterized at Plasma Lab facility both experimentally and by fluid simulations [5,6,7,8]. Different geometrical configurations and experimental settings are tested to enhance the reproducibility, uniformity and shot-to-shot stability of the plasma, necessary to improve the accelerated beams quality [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of plasma-discharge Capillaries for Plasma-based Particle Acceleration

Crincoli,

Anania,

Biagioni

et al. 2024

J. Phys.: Conf. Ser.

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Novel particle accelerators based on plasma technology allow a drastic reduction in size, due to the high accelerating field established inside plasmas, which are created and confined by specific devices. Plasma Wakefield Acceleration experiments are performed at the SPARC_LAB test facility (Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati - INFN) by using gas-filled capillaries, in which the plasma formation is achieved by ionizing hydrogen gas through high voltage pulses. In this work, the characterization of gas-filled plasma-discharge capillaries is presented. Several geometrical configurations are tested, including capillaries with different channel shapes and arrangement of inlets positions for the gas injection. Such configurations are designed in order to enhance the uniformity of the plasma density distribution along the plasma channel, which is necessary to improve particle beam acceleration. Plasma sources are characterized by means of the spectroscopic technique based on the Stark broadening method, which allows to measure the evolution of the plasma density profile along the channel. In addition, the CFD software OpenFoam is used to simulate the dynamics of the neutral gas during the filling of the capillary.

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Plasma density profile measurements for ultra-short high power laser beam guiding experiments at SPARC _LAB

Cited by 3 publications

References 25 publications

Characterisation of supersonic gas jets for different nozzle geometries for laser-plasma acceleration experiments at SPARC_LAB

Characterisation of supersonic gas jets for different nozzle geometries for laser-plasma acceleration experiments at SPARC_LAB

Characterisation and optimisation of targets for plasma wakefield acceleration at SPARC_LAB

Characterization of plasma-discharge Capillaries for Plasma-based Particle Acceleration

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