Abstract

The generation of quasimonoenergetic electron beams, with energies greater than 500 MeV, in a laser-plasma accelerator driven by 2.5 J, 80 fs laser pulses guided in a low density plasma channel, is investigated. The laser energy required to achieve electron injection is found to depend strongly on the quality of the input laser focal spot. Simulations show that, although the matched spot size of the plasma channel is greater than the self-focused spot size, the channel assists relativistic self-focusing and enables electron injection to occur at lower plasma densities and laser powers than would be possible without a waveguide.

Details

Title
Laser-wakefield acceleration of electron beams in a low density plasma channel
Author
Ibbotson, T P A; Bourgeois, N; Rowlands-Rees, T P; Caballero, L S; Bajlekov, S I; Walker, P A; Kneip, S; Mangles, S P D; Nagel, S R; Palmer, C A J; Delerue, N; Doucas, G; Urner, D; Chekhlov, O; Clarke, R J; Divall, E; Ertel, K; Foster, P S; Hawkes, S J; Hooker, C J; Parry, B; Rajeev, P P; Streeter, M J V; Hooker, S M
Section
ARTICLES
Publication year
2010
Publication date
Mar 2010
Publisher
American Physical Society
e-ISSN
10984402
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2551227358
Copyright
© 2010. This work is licensed under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.