Ponderomotive Laser Acceleration and Focusing in Vacuum for Generation of Attosecond Electron Bunches

Stupakov, Gennady; Zolotorev, M.

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.86.5274

Cited by 176 publications

(130 citation statements)

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“…Using PW-class lasers and intensities in excess of 10 21 W/cm 2 , electrons could be exposed to accelerating gradients approaching 100 TV/m over tens of microns, and should thus reach energies in the GeV range [7,10], making VLA a promising scheme for the production of high charge (nC) ultra-relativistic beams. In addition, spatial shaping of the laser beam, providing doughnut beam shapes, as in radially polarized laser beams [4,6,11] or Laguerre-Gauss beams [38], has the potential to further improve the beam quality and to provide more collimated electron beams. Similarly, temporal shaping of the field through the use of two-color lasers [39,40] could also be a path toward the sub-cycle control of the injection phase in the laser field.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, over the past decades, the direct acceleration of electrons by light in vacuum has also attracted considerable interest and has been extensively studied theoretically [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. These investigations have been driven by the fundamental interest of this most elementary interaction, and by its potential for extreme electron acceleration through electric fields of > 10's TV/m that ultraintense laser pulses provide.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Vacuum laser acceleration of relativistic electrons using plasma mirror injectors

et al. 2015

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Accelerating particles to relativistic energies over very short distances using lasers has been a long standing goal in physics. Among the various schemes proposed for electrons, vacuum laser acceleration has attracted considerable interest and has been extensively studied theoretically because of its appealing simplicity: electrons interact with an intense laser field in vacuum and can be continuously accelerated, provided they remain at a given phase of the field until they escape the laser beam. But demonstrating this effect experimentally has proved extremely challenging, as it imposes stringent requirements on the conditions of injection of electrons in the laser field. Here, we solve this long-standing experimental problem for the first time by using a plasma mirror to inject electrons in an ultraintense laser field, and obtain clear evidence of vacuum laser acceleration.With the advent of PetaWatt class lasers, this scheme could provide a competitive source of very high charge (nC) and ultrashort relativistic electron beams.1 arXiv:1511.05936v1 [physics.plasm-ph] 18 Nov 2015Femtosecond lasers currently achieve light intensities at focus that far exceed 10 18 W/cm 2 at near infrared wavelengths [1]. One of the great prospects of these extreme intensities is the laser-driven acceleration of electrons to relativistic energies within very short distances.At present, the most advanced scheme consists of using ultraintense laser pulses to excite large amplitude wakefields in underdense plasmas, providing extremely high accelerating gradients in the order of 100 GV/m [2]. However, over the past decades, the direct acceleration of electrons by light in vacuum has also attracted considerable interest and has been extensively studied theoretically [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. These investigations have been driven by the fundamental interest of this most elementary interaction, and by its potential for extreme electron acceleration through electric fields of > 10's TV/m that ultraintense laser pulses provide.The underlying idea is to inject free electrons into an ultraintense laser field so that they always remain within a given half optical cycle of the field, where they constantly gain energy until they leave the focal volume. 1D Analytical calculations [3] show that for relativistic electrons, the maximum energy gain from this process is ∆E ∝ mc 2 γ 0 a 2 0 , where γ 0 is the electron initial Lorentz factor, and a 0 is the normalized laser vector potential, m the electron mass, and c the vacuum light velocity. Reaching high energy gains thus requires high initial energies γ 0 1 and/or ultrahigh laser amplitudes (a 0 1).In contrast with the large body of theoretical work published on this vacuum laser acceleration (VLA) of electrons to relativistic energies, experimental observations have largely remained elusive [12][13][14][15][16][17] -sometimes even controversial [18,19]-and have so far not demonstrated significant energy gains. This is because VLA occurs efficiently only for electrons injected in t...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vacuum laser acceleration of relativistic electrons using plasma mirror injectors

et al. 2015

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“…In low-density (underdense) plasmas, a single electron bunch can be generated by laser-wakefield acceleration mechanism [5][6][7] but the length of the bunch is not shorter than 1-5 m (several femtoseconds). In a vacuum, a single ultrashort electron beam can be generated through laser compression of a longer electron beam [8,9]; however, the charge of the bunch here is considerably smaller than 1 pC. The same compression can be applied for thin (1 m and less) plasma layers of low (gas) density [10 -12], but the practical realization of such layers is under question now.…”

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confidence: 99%

Theoretical Investigation of Controlled Generation of a Dense Attosecond Relativistic Electron Bunch from the Interaction of an Ultrashort Laser Pulse with a Nanofilm

Kulagin¹,

Черепенин

Hur³

et al. 2007

Phys. Rev. Lett.

105

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For controllable generation of an isolated attosecond relativistic electron bunch [relativistic electron mirror (REM)] with nearly solid-state density, we propose using a solid nanofilm illuminated normally by an ultraintense femtosecond laser pulse having a sharp rising edge. With two-dimensional (2D) particlein-cell (PIC) simulations, we show that, in spite of Coulomb forces, all of the electrons in the laser spot can be accelerated synchronously, and the REM keeps its surface charge density during evolution. We also developed a self-consistent 1D theory, which takes into account Coulomb forces, radiation of the electrons, and laser amplitude depletion. This theory allows us to predict the REM parameters and shows a good agreement with the 2D PIC simulations. Generation of attosecond relativistic electron beams is of great importance for modern physics. These beams can be used in modern laser-wakefield accelerators and freeelectron lasers for injection, in attosecond electron diffraction and microscopy, in generation of ultrashort coherent xray radiation via Thomson scattering, and in many other applications, providing time-resolved studies in physics, biology, chemistry, etc., with the attosecond time-scale resolution. The main requirement for attosecond electron bunches is the controllability of their parameters, including length, charge, and energy.In high-density (overcritical) plasmas, two mechanisms for generation of ultrashort electron beams -the v B heating and the vacuum heating -were investigated recently [1][2][3][4]. The length of the electron beam is about the laser pulse length here with a wide energy spread for electrons; in addition, the beam parameters are difficult to control. In low-density (underdense) plasmas, a single electron bunch can be generated by laser-wakefield acceleration mechanism [5][6][7] but the length of the bunch is not shorter than 1-5 m (several femtoseconds). In a vacuum, a single ultrashort electron beam can be generated through laser compression of a longer electron beam [8,9]; however, the charge of the bunch here is considerably smaller than 1 pC. The same compression can be applied for thin (1 m and less) plasma layers of low (gas) density [10 -12], but the practical realization of such layers is under question now.In this Letter, we propose using a nanofilm (film with a thickness of 10 nm or less) as a solid-state density target for generation of an attosecond relativistic electron bunch. It is shown that, when this target is irradiated normally by a superhigh intensity laser pulse with a sharp rising edge (nonadiabatic laser pulse), all electrons of the plasma layer can achieve relativistic longitudinal velocities synchronously when the dimensionless field amplitude becomes large enough, a 0 [a 0 jejE 0 = mc! ,, where e and m are the charge and the mass of an electron, c is the speed of light, E 0 , !, and are the amplitude, the frequency, and the wavelength of the laser field in a vacuum, ! p 4 n 0 e 2 =m p is the characteristic plasma frequency, n 0 and l are th...

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“…The intense short pulse laser opened new areas in interaction between the intense laser and matter, such as high-energy ion production from a plasma (2) (3) , electron acceleration in vacuum (4) (11) or by the plasma (12) and so on. In electron acceleration by the intense laser in vacuum, it may be simple to control of the systems compared with the plasma-based acceleration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In electron acceleration by the intense laser in vacuum, it may be simple to control of the systems compared with the plasma-based acceleration. A ponderomotive acceleration (9) (11) is one of the typical mechanisms of the electron acceleration in vacuum. When a laser irradiates electrons, the electrons oscillate in the polarized direction by the laser electric field and receive the nonlinear force of light pressure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Micro Electron Bunch Acceleration and Trapping by Intense Short Laser Pulse in Vacuum

et al. 2004

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We propose an electron bunch acceleration and trapping mechanism by an intense short laser pulse in vacuum. By using a short laser pulse obtained by the linear combination of a TEM 10 mode and a TEM 01 mode with the same amplitude and the relative phase shift of π/2, the electrons are accelerated in the longitudinal direction by a longitudinal ponderomotive force, and the electrons divergence in the transverse direction can be suppressed by a transverse ponderomotive force. In order to analyze the electron motion, the relativistic equation of motion including a relativistic radiation damping effect is solved. In our calculations, the electron is accelerated to 179 [MeV] with an acceleration gradient of 5.12 [GeV/m]

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Ponderomotive Laser Acceleration and Focusing in Vacuum for Generation of Attosecond Electron Bunches

Cited by 176 publications

References 10 publications

Vacuum laser acceleration of relativistic electrons using plasma mirror injectors

Vacuum laser acceleration of relativistic electrons using plasma mirror injectors

Theoretical Investigation of Controlled Generation of a Dense Attosecond Relativistic Electron Bunch from the Interaction of an Ultrashort Laser Pulse with a Nanofilm

Micro Electron Bunch Acceleration and Trapping by Intense Short Laser Pulse in Vacuum

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