Kimura WD, Andreev NE, Babzien M, Ben-Zvi I, Cline DB, Dilley CE, Gottschalk SC, Hooker SM, Kusche KP, Kuznetsov SV, Pavlishin IV, Pogorelsky IV, Pogosova AA, Steinhauer LC, Ting A, Yakimenko V, Zigler A, Zhou F. Inverse free electron lasers and laser wakefield acceleration driven by CO2 lasers.
Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci 2006;
364:611-22. [PMID:
16483952 DOI:
10.1098/rsta.2005.1726]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
The staged electron laser acceleration (STELLA) experiment demonstrated staging between two laser-driven devices, high trapping efficiency of microbunches within the accelerating field and narrow energy spread during laser acceleration. These are important for practical laser-driven accelerators. STELLA used inverse free electron lasers, which were chosen primarily for convenience. Nevertheless, the STELLA approach can be applied to other laser acceleration methods, in particular, laser-driven plasma accelerators. STELLA is now conducting experiments on laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA). Two novel LWFA approaches are being investigated. In the first one, called pseudo-resonant LWFA, a laser pulse enters a low-density plasma where nonlinear laser/plasma interactions cause the laser pulse shape to steepen, thereby creating strong wakefields. A witness e-beam pulse probes the wakefields. The second one, called seeded self-modulated LWFA, involves sending a seed e-beam pulse into the plasma to initiate wakefield formation. These wakefields are amplified by a laser pulse following shortly after the seed pulse. A second e-beam pulse (witness) follows the seed pulse to probe the wakefields. These LWFA experiments will also be the first ones driven by a CO(2) laser beam.
Collapse