Laser wakefield electron acceleration. A novel approach employing supersonic microjets and few-cycle laser pulses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmid, Karl

2011-01-01

This thesis covers the few-cycle laser-driven acceleration of electrons in a laser-generated plasma. This process, known as laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA), relies on strongly driven plasma waves for the generation of accelerating gradients in the vicinity of several 100 GV/m, a value four orders of magnitude larger than that attainable by conventional accelerators. This thesis demonstrates that laser pulses with an ultrashort duration of 8 fs and a peak power of 6 TW allow the production of electron energies up to 50 MeV via LWFA. The special properties of laser accelerated electron pulses, namely the ultrashort pulse duration, the high brilliance, and the high charge density, open up new possibilities in many applications of these electron beams. (orig.)

Free-electron laser multiplex driven by a superconducting linear accelerator.

Science.gov (United States)

Plath, Tim; Amstutz, Philipp; Bödewadt, Jörn; Brenner, Günter; Ekanayake, Nagitha; Faatz, Bart; Hacker, Kirsten; Honkavaara, Katja; Lazzarino, Leslie Lamberto; Lechner, Christoph; Maltezopoulos, Theophilos; Scholz, Matthias; Schreiber, Siegfried; Vogt, Mathias; Zemella, Johann; Laarmann, Tim

2016-09-01

Free-electron lasers (FELs) generate femtosecond XUV and X-ray pulses at peak powers in the gigawatt range. The FEL user facility FLASH at DESY (Hamburg, Germany) is driven by a superconducting linear accelerator with up to 8000 pulses per second. Since 2014, two parallel undulator beamlines, FLASH1 and FLASH2, have been in operation. In addition to the main undulator, the FLASH1 beamline is equipped with an undulator section, sFLASH, dedicated to research and development of fully coherent extreme ultraviolet photon pulses using external seed lasers. In this contribution, the first simultaneous lasing of the three FELs at 13.4 nm, 20 nm and 38.8 nm is presented.

Laser-driven acceleration with Bessel beam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Imasaki, Kazuo; Li, Dazhi

2005-01-01

A new approach of laser-driven acceleration with Bessel beam is described. Bessel beam, in contrast to the Gaussian beam, shows diffraction-free'' characteristics in its propagation, which implies potential in laser-driven acceleration. But a normal laser, even if the Bessel beam, laser can not accelerate charged particle efficiently because the difference of velocity between the particle and photon makes cyclic acceleration and deceleration phase. We proposed a Bessel beam truncated by a set of annular slits those makes several special regions in its travelling path, where the laser field becomes very weak and the accelerated particles are possible to receive no deceleration as they undergo decelerating phase. Thus, multistage acceleration is realizable with high gradient. In a numerical computation, we have shown the potential of multistage acceleration based on a three-stage model. (author)

Control of electron injection and acceleration in laser-wakefield accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guillaume, E.

2015-01-01

Laser-plasma accelerators provide a promising compact alternative to conventional accelerators. Plasma waves with extremely strong electric fields are generated when a high intensity laser is focused into an underdense gas target. Electrons that are trapped in these laser-driven plasma waves can be accelerated up to energies of a few GeVs. Despite their great potential, laser-wakefield accelerators face some issues, regarding notably the stability and reproducibility of the beam when electrons are injected in the accelerating structure. In this manuscript, different techniques of electron injection are presented and compared, notably injection in a sharp density gradient and ionization injection. It is shown that combining these two methods allows for the generation of stable and tunable electron beams. We have also studied a way to manipulate the electron bunch in the phase-space in order to accelerate the bunch beyond the dephasing limit. Such a technique was used with quasi-monoenergetic electron beams to enhance their energy. Moreover, the origin of the evolution of the angular momentum of electrons observed experimentally was investigated. Finally, we demonstrated experimentally a new method - the laser-plasma lens - to strongly reduce the divergence of the electron beam. This laser-plasma lens consists of a second gas jet placed at the exit of the accelerator. The laser pulse drives a wakefield in this second jet whose focusing forces take advantage to reduce the divergence of the trailing electron bunch. A simple analytical model describing the principle is presented, underlining the major importance of the second jet length, density and distance from the first jet. Experimental demonstration of the laser-plasma lens shows a divergence reduction by a factor of 2.6 for electrons up to 300 MeV, in accordance with the model predictions

Advanced approaches to high intensity laser-driven ion acceleration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Henig, Andreas

2010-01-01

Since the pioneering work that was carried out 10 years ago, the generation of highly energetic ion beams from laser-plasma interactions has been investigated in much detail in the regime of target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA). Creation of ion beams with small longitudinal and transverse emittance and energies extending up to tens of MeV fueled visions of compact, laser-driven ion sources for applications such as ion beam therapy of tumors or fast ignition inertial con finement fusion. However, new pathways are of crucial importance to push the current limits of laser-generated ion beams further towards parameters necessary for those applications. The presented PhD work was intended to develop and explore advanced approaches to high intensity laser-driven ion acceleration that reach beyond TNSA. In this spirit, ion acceleration from two novel target systems was investigated, namely mass-limited microspheres and nm-thin, free-standing diamond-like carbon (DLC) foils. Using such ultrathin foils, a new regime of ion acceleration was found where the laser transfers energy to all electrons located within the focal volume. While for TNSA the accelerating electric field is stationary and ion acceleration is spatially separated from laser absorption into electrons, now a localized longitudinal field enhancement is present that co-propagates with the ions as the accompanying laser pulse pushes the electrons forward. Unprecedented maximum ion energies were obtained, reaching beyond 0.5 GeV for carbon C 6+ and thus exceeding previous TNSA results by about one order of magnitude. When changing the laser polarization to circular, electron heating and expansion were shown to be efficiently suppressed, resulting for the first time in a phase-stable acceleration that is dominated by the laser radiation pressure which led to the observation of a peaked C 6+ spectrum. Compared to quasi-monoenergetic ion beam generation within the TNSA regime, a more than 40 times increase in

Advanced approaches to high intensity laser-driven ion acceleration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Henig, Andreas

2010-04-26

Since the pioneering work that was carried out 10 years ago, the generation of highly energetic ion beams from laser-plasma interactions has been investigated in much detail in the regime of target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA). Creation of ion beams with small longitudinal and transverse emittance and energies extending up to tens of MeV fueled visions of compact, laser-driven ion sources for applications such as ion beam therapy of tumors or fast ignition inertial con finement fusion. However, new pathways are of crucial importance to push the current limits of laser-generated ion beams further towards parameters necessary for those applications. The presented PhD work was intended to develop and explore advanced approaches to high intensity laser-driven ion acceleration that reach beyond TNSA. In this spirit, ion acceleration from two novel target systems was investigated, namely mass-limited microspheres and nm-thin, free-standing diamond-like carbon (DLC) foils. Using such ultrathin foils, a new regime of ion acceleration was found where the laser transfers energy to all electrons located within the focal volume. While for TNSA the accelerating electric field is stationary and ion acceleration is spatially separated from laser absorption into electrons, now a localized longitudinal field enhancement is present that co-propagates with the ions as the accompanying laser pulse pushes the electrons forward. Unprecedented maximum ion energies were obtained, reaching beyond 0.5 GeV for carbon C{sup 6+} and thus exceeding previous TNSA results by about one order of magnitude. When changing the laser polarization to circular, electron heating and expansion were shown to be efficiently suppressed, resulting for the first time in a phase-stable acceleration that is dominated by the laser radiation pressure which led to the observation of a peaked C{sup 6+} spectrum. Compared to quasi-monoenergetic ion beam generation within the TNSA regime, a more than 40 times

Laser-driven accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1982-01-01

Several devices for using laser fields have been proposed and they can be classified in three broad categories - 'far-field' accelerators (such as the principle of inverse free electron lasers), 'media' accelerators (which, for example, use the inverse Cherenkov effect or laser-controlled plasma waves), and 'near-field' accelerators (using a loaded guiding structure such as cavities or gratings). These different approaches come from the fact that a particle cannot be accelerated by the absorption of single photons (because of momentum conservation) and thus some other element has to intervene. (orig./HSI).

Laser-driven electron beam and radiation sources for basic, medical and industrial sciences

Science.gov (United States)

NAKAJIMA, Kazuhisa

2015-01-01

To date active research on laser-driven plasma-based accelerators have achieved great progress on production of high-energy, high-quality electron and photon beams in a compact scale. Such laser plasma accelerators have been envisaged bringing a wide range of applications in basic, medical and industrial sciences. Here inheriting the groundbreaker’s review article on “Laser Acceleration and its future” [Toshiki Tajima, (2010)],1) we would like to review recent progress of producing such electron beams due to relativistic laser-plasma interactions followed by laser wakefield acceleration and lead to the scaling formulas that are useful to design laser plasma accelerators with controllability of beam energy and charge. Lastly specific examples of such laser-driven electron/photon beam sources are illustrated. PMID:26062737

Staged electron laser accelerator (STELLA) experiment at brookhaven ATF

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pogorelsky, I V; Steenbergen, A van; Gallardo, J C [Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (United States); and others

1998-03-01

The STELLA experiment is being prepared at the BNL Accelerator Test Facility (STF). The goal of the experiment is to demonstrate quasi-monochromatic inverse Cherenkov acceleration (ICA) of electrons bunched to the laser wavelength period. Microbunches on the order of 2 {mu}m in length separated by 10.6 {mu}m will be produced using an inverse free electron laser (IFEL) accelerator driven by a CO{sub 2} laser. The design and simulations for two phases of this experiment including demonstration of 10 MeV and 100 MeV acceleration are presented. (author)

Laser-driven ion acceleration with hollow laser beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brabetz, C.; Kester, O.; Busold, S.; Bagnoud, V.; Cowan, T.; Deppert, O.; Jahn, D.; Roth, M.; Schumacher, D.

2015-01-01

The laser-driven acceleration of protons from thin foils irradiated by hollow high-intensity laser beams in the regime of target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) is reported for the first time. The use of hollow beams aims at reducing the initial emission solid angle of the TNSA source, due to a flattening of the electron sheath at the target rear side. The experiments were conducted at the PHELIX laser facility at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH with laser intensities in the range from 10 18  W cm −2 to 10 20  W cm −2 . We observed an average reduction of the half opening angle by (3.07±0.42)° or (13.2±2.0)% when the targets have a thickness between 12 μm and 14 μm. In addition, the highest proton energies were achieved with the hollow laser beam in comparison to the typical Gaussian focal spot

Laser-driven ion acceleration with hollow laser beams

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brabetz, C., E-mail: c.brabetz@gsi.de; Kester, O. [Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, 60323 Frankfurt (Germany); GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, 64291 Darmstadt (Germany); Busold, S.; Bagnoud, V. [GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, 64291 Darmstadt (Germany); Helmholtz-Institut Jena, 07743 Jena (Germany); Cowan, T. [Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, 01328 Dresden (Germany); Technische Universität Dresden, 01069 Dresden (Germany); Deppert, O.; Jahn, D.; Roth, M. [Technische Universität Darmstadt, 64277 Darmstadt (Germany); Schumacher, D. [GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, 64291 Darmstadt (Germany)

2015-01-15

The laser-driven acceleration of protons from thin foils irradiated by hollow high-intensity laser beams in the regime of target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) is reported for the first time. The use of hollow beams aims at reducing the initial emission solid angle of the TNSA source, due to a flattening of the electron sheath at the target rear side. The experiments were conducted at the PHELIX laser facility at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH with laser intensities in the range from 10{sup 18} W cm{sup −2} to 10{sup 20} W cm{sup −2}. We observed an average reduction of the half opening angle by (3.07±0.42)° or (13.2±2.0)% when the targets have a thickness between 12 μm and 14 μm. In addition, the highest proton energies were achieved with the hollow laser beam in comparison to the typical Gaussian focal spot.

High quality electron beams from a plasma channel guided laser wakefield accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geddes, C.G.R.; Toth, Cs.; Tilborg, J. van; Esarey, E.; Schroeder, C.B.; Bruhwiler, D.; Nieter, C.; Cary, J.; Leemans, W.P.

2004-01-01

Laser driven accelerators, in which particles are accelerated by the electric field of a plasma wave driven by an intense laser, have demonstrated accelerating electric fields of hundreds of GV/m. These fields are thousands of times those achievable in conventional radiofrequency (RF) accelerators, spurring interest in laser accelerators as compact next generation sources of energetic electrons and radiation. To date however, acceleration distances have been severely limited by lack of a controllable method for extending the propagation distance of the focused laser pulse. The ensuing short acceleration distance results in low energy beams with 100% electron energy spread, limiting applications. Here we demonstrate that a relativistically intense laser can be guided by a preformed plasma density channel and that the longer propagation distance can result in electron beams of percent energy spread with low emittance and increased energy, containing >10 9 electrons above 80 MeV. The preformed plasma channel technique forms the basis of a new class of accelerators, combining beam quality comparable to RF accelerators with the high gradients of laser accelerators to produce compact tunable high brightness electron and radiation sources

Unlimited electron acceleration in laser-driven plasma waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katsouleas, T.; Dawson, J.M.

1983-01-01

It is shown that the limitation to the energy gain of 2(ω/ω/sub p/) 2 mc 2 of an electron in the laser-plasma beat-wave accelerator can be overcome by imposing a magnetic field of appropriate strength perpendicular to the plasma wave. This accelerates particles parallel to the phase fronts of the accelerating wave which keeps them in phase with it. Arbitrarily large energy is theoretically possible

Basic design considerations for free-electron lasers driven by electron beams from RF accelerators

Science.gov (United States)

Gover, A.; Freund, H.; Granatstein, V. L.; McAdoo, J. H.; Tang, C.-M.

A design procedure and design criteria are derived for free-electron lasers driven by electron beams from RF accelerators. The procedure and criteria permit an estimate of the oscillation-buildup time and the laser output power of various FEL schemes: with waveguide resonator or open resonator, with initial seed-radiation injection or with spontaneous-emission radiation source, with a linear wiggler or with a helical wiggler. Expressions are derived for computing the various FEL parameters, allowing for the design and optimization of the FEL operational characteristics under ideal conditions or with nonideal design parameters that may be limited by technological or practical constraints. The design procedure enables one to derive engineering curves and scaling laws for the FEL operating parameters. This can be done most conveniently with a computer program based on flowcharts given in the appendices.

Bunch decompression for laser-plasma driven free-electron laser demonstration schemes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Seggebrock

2013-07-01

Full Text Available X-ray free-electron lasers (FELs require a very high electron beam quality in terms of emittance and energy spread. Since 2004 high quality electrons produced by laser-wakefield accelerators have been demonstrated, but the electron quality up to now did not allow the operation of a compact x-ray FEL using these electrons. Maier et al. [Phys. Rev. X 2, 031019 (2012PRXHAE2160-330810.1103/PhysRevX.2.031019] suggested a concept for a proof-of-principle experiment allowing FEL operation in the vacuum ultraviolet range based on an optimized undulator and bunch decompression using electron bunches from a laser-plasma accelerator as currently available. In this paper we discuss in more detail how a chicane can be used as a bunch stretcher instead of a bunch compressor to allow the operation of a laser-wakefield accelerator driven FEL using currently available electrons. A scaling characterizing the impact of bunch decompression on the gain length is derived and the feasibility of the concept is tested numerically in a demanding scenario.

Acceleration of polyethelene foils by laser driven ablation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahlstrom, H.G.; Burginyon, G.A.; Haas, R.A.

1974-01-01

The production of thermonuclear energy, by laser driven implosion of spherical DT shells, with achievable laser technology, requires the development of an efficient and stable implosion. Certain aspects of the acceleration of the spherical shells can be studied experimentally by irradiating thin, 5 to 25 μm, polyethelene foils. The results of foil acceleration experiments performed using a Nd:YAG-Glass laser capable of producing 150 J, 1 nsec pulses will be discussed. The dynamics of the accelerated foil, the ion blow off, high energy electron spectrum (6 to 180 keV), x-ray spectrum (1 to 150 keV) the spatial distribution of the x-ray emission, the laser beam focal spot energy distribution, the laser temporal pulse shape and spectrum for reflected and transmitted radiation have all been measured simultaneously. The results of these measurements are compared with detailed numerical simulations. (U.S.)

THz cavities and injectors for compact electron acceleration using laser-driven THz sources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moein Fakhari

2017-04-01

Full Text Available We present a design methodology for developing ultrasmall electron injectors and accelerators based on cascaded cavities excited by short multicycle THz pulses obtained from laser-driven THz generation schemes. Based on the developed concept for optimal coupling of the THz pulse, a THz electron injector and two accelerating stages are designed. The designed electron gun consists of a four cell cavity operating at 300 GHz and a door-knob waveguide to coaxial coupler. Moreover, special designs are proposed to mitigate the problem of thermal heat flow and induced mechanical stress to achieve a stable device. We demonstrated a gun based on cascaded cavities that is powered by only 1.1 mJ of THz energy in 300 cycles to accelerate electron bunches up to 250 keV. An additional two linac sections can be added with five and four cell cavities both operating at 300 GHz boosting the bunch energy up to 1.2 MeV using a 4-mJ THz pulse.

Editorial: Focus on Laser- and Beam-Driven Plasma Accelerators

Science.gov (United States)

Joshi, Chan; Malka, Victor

2010-04-01

The ability of short but intense laser pulses to generate high-energy electrons and ions from gaseous and solid targets has been well known since the early days of the laser fusion program. However, during the past decade there has been an explosion of experimental and theoretical activity in this area of laser-matter interaction, driven by the prospect of realizing table-top plasma accelerators for research, medical and industrial uses, and also relatively small and inexpensive plasma accelerators for high-energy physics at the frontier of particle physics. In this focus issue on laser- and beam-driven plasma accelerators, the latest advances in this field are described. Focus on Laser- and Beam-Driven Plasma Accelerators Contents Slow wave plasma structures for direct electron acceleration B D Layer, J P Palastro, A G York, T M Antonsen and H M Milchberg Cold injection for electron wakefield acceleration X Davoine, A Beck, A Lifschitz, V Malka and E Lefebvre Enhanced proton flux in the MeV range by defocused laser irradiation J S Green, D C Carroll, C Brenner, B Dromey, P S Foster, S Kar, Y T Li, K Markey, P McKenna, D Neely, A P L Robinson, M J V Streeter, M Tolley, C-G Wahlström, M H Xu and M Zepf Dose-dependent biological damage of tumour cells by laser-accelerated proton beams S D Kraft, C Richter, K Zeil, M Baumann, E Beyreuther, S Bock, M Bussmann, T E Cowan, Y Dammene, W Enghardt, U Helbig, L Karsch, T Kluge, L Laschinsky, E Lessmann, J Metzkes, D Naumburger, R Sauerbrey, M. Scḧrer, M Sobiella, J Woithe, U Schramm and J Pawelke The optimum plasma density for plasma wakefield excitation in the blowout regime W Lu, W An, M Zhou, C Joshi, C Huang and W B Mori Plasma wakefield acceleration experiments at FACET M J Hogan, T O Raubenheimer, A Seryi, P Muggli, T Katsouleas, C Huang, W Lu, W An, K A Marsh, W B Mori, C E Clayton and C Joshi Electron trapping and acceleration on a downward density ramp: a two-stage approach R M G M Trines, R Bingham, Z Najmudin

Externally Controlled Injection of Electrons by a Laser Pulse in a Laser Wakefield Electron Accelerator

CERN Document Server

Chen Szu Yuan; Chen Wei Ting; Chien, Ting-Yei; Lee, Chau-Hwang; Lin, Jiunn-Yuan; Wang, Jyhpyng

2005-01-01

Spatially and temporally localized injection of electrons is a key element for development of plasma-wave electron accelerator. Here we report the demonstration of two different schemes for electron injection in a self-modulated laser wakefield accelerator (SM-LWFA) by using a laser pulse. In the first scheme, by implementing a copropagating laser prepulse with proper timing, we are able to control the growth of Raman forward scattering and the production of accelerated electrons. We found that the stimulated Raman backward scattering of the prepulse plays the essential role of injecting hot electrons into the fast plasma wave driven by the pump pulse. In the second scheme, by using a transient density ramp we achieve self-injection of electrons in a SM-LWFA with spatial localization. The transient density ramp is produced by a prepulse propagating transversely to drill a density depression channel via ionization and expansion. The same mechanism of injection with comparable efficiency is also demonstrated wi...

Optical modeling of induction-linac driven free-electron lasers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scharlemann, E.T.; Fawley, W.M.

1986-01-01

The free-electron laser (FEL) simulation code FRED, developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) primarily to model single-pass FEL amplifiers driven by induction linear accelerators, is described. The main emphasis is on the modeling of optical propagation in the laser and on the differences between the requirements for modeling rf-linac-driven vs. induction-linac-driven FELs. Examples of optical guiding and mode cleanup are presented for a 50 μm FEL

Ion acceleration in non-equilibrium plasmas driven by fast drifting electron

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Castro, G. [INFN- Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, via S.Sofia 62, 95123 Catania (Italy); Università degli Studi di Catania, Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, V. S.Sofia 64, 95123 Catania (Italy); Di Bartolo, F., E-mail: fdibartolo@unime.it [Università di Messina, V.le F. Stagno D’Alcontres 31, 98166, Messina (Italy); Gambino, N. [INFN- Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, via S.Sofia 62, 95123 Catania (Italy); Università degli Studi di Catania, Dipartimento di Metodologie Fisiche e Chimiche per L’ingegneria, Viale A.Doria 6, 95125 Catania (Italy); Mascali, D. [INFN- Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, via S.Sofia 62, 95123 Catania (Italy); CSFNSM, Viale A. Doria 6, 95125 Catania (Italy); Romano, F.P. [INFN- Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, via S.Sofia 62, 95123 Catania (Italy); CNR-IBAM Via Biblioteca 4, 95124 Catania (Italy); Anzalone, A.; Celona, L.; Gammino, S. [INFN- Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, via S.Sofia 62, 95123 Catania (Italy); Di Giugno, R. [INFN- Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, via S.Sofia 62, 95123 Catania (Italy); Università degli Studi di Catania, Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, V. S.Sofia 64, 95123 Catania (Italy); Lanaia, D. [INFN- Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, via S.Sofia 62, 95123 Catania (Italy); Miracoli, R. [INFN- Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, via S.Sofia 62, 95123 Catania (Italy); Università degli Studi di Catania, Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, V. S.Sofia 64, 95123 Catania (Italy); Serafino, T. [CSFNSM, Viale A. Doria 6, 95125 Catania (Italy); Tudisco, S. [INFN- Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, via S.Sofia 62, 95123 Catania (Italy); CSFNSM, Viale A. Doria 6, 95125 Catania (Italy)

2013-05-01

We hereby present results on ion acceleration mechanisms in non equilibrium plasmas generated by microwaves or high intensity laser pulses. Experiments point out that in magnetized plasmas X–B conversion takes place for under resonance values of the magnetic field, i.e. an electromagnetic mode is converted into an electrostatic wave. The strong self-generated electric field, of the order of 10{sup 7} V/m, causes a E × B drift which accelerates both ions and electrons, as it is evident by localized sputtering in the plasma chamber. These fields are similar (in magnitude) to the ones obtainable in laser generated plasmas at intensity of 10{sup 12} W/cm{sup 2}. In this latter case, we observe that the acceleration mechanism is driven by electrons drifting much faster than plasma bulk, thus generating an extremely strong electric field ∼10{sup 7} V/m. The two experiments confirm that ions acceleration at low energy is possible with table-top devices and following complementary techniques: i.e. by using microwave-driven (producing CW beams) plasmas, or non-equilibrium laser-driven plasmas (producing pulsed beams). Possible applications involve ion implantation, materials surface modifications, ion beam assisted lithography, etc.

Laser driven particle acceleration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Faure, J.

2009-06-01

This dissertation summarizes the last ten years of research at the Laboratory of Applied Optics on laser-plasma based electron acceleration. The main result consists of the development and study of a relativistic electron source with unique properties: high energy (100-300 MeV) in short distances (few millimeters), mono-energetic, ultra-short (few fs), stable and tunable. The manuscript describes the steps that led to understanding the physics, and then mastering it in order to produce this new electron source. Non linear propagation of the laser pulse in the plasma is first presented, with phenomena such as non linear wakefield excitation, relativistic and ponderomotive self-focusing in the short pulse regime, self-compression. Acceleration and injection of electrons are then reviewed from a theoretical perspective. Experimental demonstrations of self-injection in the bubble regime and then colliding pulse injection are then presented. These experiments were among the first to produce monoenergetic, high quality, stable and tunable electron beams from a laser-plasma accelerator. The last two chapters are dedicated to the characterization of the electron beam using transition radiation and to its applications to gamma radiography and radiotherapy. Finally, the perspectives of this research are presented in the conclusion. Scaling laws are used to determine the parameters that the electron beams will reach using peta-watt laser systems currently under construction. (author)

Emittance Measurements from a Laser Driven Electron Injector

CERN Document Server

Reis, D

2003-01-01

The Gun Test Facility (GTF) at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center was constructed to develop an appropriate electron beam suitable for driving a short wavelength free electron laser (FEL) such as the proposed Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS). For operation at a wavelength of 1.5 (angstrom), the LCLS requires an electron injector that can produce an electron beam with approximately 1 pi mm-mrad normalized rms emittance with at least 1 nC of charge in a 10 ps or shorter bunch. The GTF consists of a photocathode rf gun, emittance-compensation solenoid, 3 m linear accelerator (linac), drive laser, and diagnostics to measure the beam. The rf gun is a symmetrized 1.6 cell, s-band high gradient, room temperature, photocathode structure. Simulations show that this gun when driven by a temporally and spatially shaped drive laser, appropriately focused with the solenoid, and further accelerated in linac can produce a beam that meets the LCLS requirements. This thesis describes the initial characterization of the ...

On the way to stabilized laser-driven GeV electrons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chou, Shao-wei; Weineisen, Tobias; Fuchs, Matthias; Popp, Antonia; Major, Zsuzsanna; Weingartner, Raphael; Ahmad, Izhar; Schmid, Karl; Marx, Benjamin; Krausz, Ferenc; Gruener, Florian; Karsch, Stefan [Max-Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Munich (Germany); Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich (Germany); Osterhoff, Jens [LOASIS Program, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore (United States); Schroeder, Hartmut; Haas, Harald [Max-Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Munich (Germany); Rowlands-Rees, Tom; Hooker, Simon [University of Oxford, Oxford (United Kingdom)

2010-07-01

Laser-driven-wakefield electron accelerators have shown electron beams with energies of up to 1 GeV from a centimeter-scale plasma accelerator. In order to achieve higher electron energies, these acceleration distances need to be increased. This can be realized with a discharge capillary. However, a discharge typically introduces instabilities on both pointing and energy of the generated electrons. In order to improve the stability, we demonstrate a preliminary test of a modified discharge which includes a pre-pulse circuit before the firing of the main pulse. We also show gas density shaping by a laser- machined nozzle which should be able to make a more precise injection in the capillary accelerator thus reducing the energy instability.

Laser-driven ion acceleration: methods, challenges and prospects

Science.gov (United States)

Badziak, J.

2018-01-01

The recent development of laser technology has resulted in the construction of short-pulse lasers capable of generating fs light pulses with PW powers and intensities exceeding 1021 W/cm2, and has laid the basis for the multi-PW lasers, just being built in Europe, that will produce fs pulses of ultra-relativistic intensities ~ 1023 - 1024 W/cm2. The interaction of such an intense laser pulse with a dense target can result in the generation of collimated beams of ions of multi-MeV to GeV energies of sub-ps time durations and of extremely high beam intensities and ion fluencies, barely attainable with conventional RF-driven accelerators. Ion beams with such unique features have the potential for application in various fields of scientific research as well as in medical and technological developments. This paper provides a brief review of state-of-the art in laser-driven ion acceleration, with a focus on basic ion acceleration mechanisms and the production of ultra-intense ion beams. The challenges facing laser-driven ion acceleration studies, in particular those connected with potential applications of laser-accelerated ion beams, are also discussed.

Development of High-Gradient Dielectric Laser-Driven Particle Accelerator Structures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Byer, Robert L. [Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Edward L. Ginzton Lab.

2013-11-07

The thrust of Stanford's program is to conduct research on high-gradient dielectric accelerator structures driven with high repetition-rate, tabletop infrared lasers. The close collaboration between Stanford and SLAC (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center) is critical to the success of this project, because it provides a unique environment where prototype dielectric accelerator structures can be rapidly fabricated and tested with a relativistic electron beam.

Solid hydrogen target for laser driven proton acceleration

Science.gov (United States)

Perin, J. P.; Garcia, S.; Chatain, D.; Margarone, D.

2015-05-01

The development of very high power lasers opens up new horizons in various fields, such as laser plasma acceleration in Physics and innovative approaches for proton therapy in Medicine. Laser driven proton acceleration is commonly based on the so-called Target Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA) mechanisms: a high power laser is focused onto a solid target (thin metallic or plastic foil) and interact with matter at very high intensity, thus generating a plasma; as a consequence "hot" electrons are produced and move into the forward direction through the target. Protons are generated at the target rear side, electrons try to escape from the target and an ultra-strong quasi-electrostatic field (~1TV/m) is generated. Such a field can accelerate protons with a wide energy spectrum (1-200 MeV) in a few tens of micrometers. The proton beam characteristics depend on the laser parameters and on the target geometry and nature. This technique has been validated experimentally in several high power laser facilities by accelerating protons coming from hydrogenated contaminant (mainly water) at the rear of metallic target, however, several research groups are investigating the possibility to perform experiments by using "pure" hydrogen targets. In this context, the low temperature laboratory at CEA-Grenoble has developed a cryostat able to continuously produce a thin hydrogen ribbon (from 40 to 100 microns thick). A new extrusion concept, without any moving part has been carried out, using only the thermodynamic properties of the fluid. First results and perspectives are presented in this paper.

Novel target design for enhanced laser driven proton acceleration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Malay Dalui

2017-09-01

Full Text Available We demonstrate a simple method of preparing structured target for enhanced laser-driven proton acceleration under target-normal-sheath-acceleration scheme. A few layers of genetically modified, clinically grown micron sized E. Coli bacteria cell coated on a thin metal foil has resulted in an increase in the maximum proton energy by about 1.5 times and the total proton yield is enhanced by approximately 25 times compared to an unstructured reference foil at a laser intensity of 1019 W/cm2. Particle-in-cell simulations on the system shows that the structures on the target-foil facilitates anharmonic resonance, contributing to enhanced hot electron production which leads to stronger accelerating field. The effect is observed to grow as the number of structures is increased in the focal area of the laser pulse.

High quality electron beams from a laser wakefield accelerator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wiggins, S M; Issac, R C; Welsh, G H; Brunetti, E; Shanks, R P; Anania, M P; Cipiccia, S; Manahan, G G; Aniculaesei, C; Ersfeld, B; Islam, M R; Burgess, R T L; Vieux, G; Jaroszynski, D A [SUPA, Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow (United Kingdom); Gillespie, W A [SUPA, Division of Electronic Engineering and Physics, University of Dundee, Dundee (United Kingdom); MacLeod, A M [School of Computing and Creative Technologies, University of Abertay Dundee, Dundee (United Kingdom); Van der Geer, S B; De Loos, M J, E-mail: m.wiggins@phys.strath.ac.u [Pulsar Physics, Burghstraat 47, 5614 BC Eindhoven (Netherlands)

2010-12-15

High quality electron beams have been produced in a laser-plasma accelerator driven by femtosecond laser pulses with a peak power of 26 TW. Electrons are produced with an energy up to 150 MeV from the 2 mm gas jet accelerator and the measured rms relative energy spread is less than 1%. Shot-to-shot stability in the central energy is 3%. Pepper-pot measurements have shown that the normalized transverse emittance is {approx}1{pi} mm mrad while the beam charge is in the range 2-10 pC. The generation of high quality electron beams is understood from simulations accounting for beam loading of the wakefield accelerating structure. Experiments and self-consistent simulations indicate that the beam peak current is several kiloamperes. Efficient transportation of the beam through an undulator is simulated and progress is being made towards the realization of a compact, high peak brilliance free-electron laser operating in the vacuum ultraviolet and soft x-ray wavelength ranges.

High-brightness electron source driven by laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Kui; Geng Rongli; Wang Lifang

1996-01-01

A DC high-brightness laser driven by photo emissive electron gun is being developed at Beijing University, in order to produce 50∼100 ps electron bunches of high quality. The gun consists of a photocathode preparation chamber and a DC acceleration cavity. Different ways of fabricating photocathode, such as chemical vapor deposition, ion beam implantation and ion beam enhanced deposition, can be adopted. The acceleration gap is designed with the aid of simulation codes EGUN and POISSON. 100 kV DC high voltage is fed to the anode through a careful designed ceramic insulator. The laser system is a mode locked Nd-YAG oscillator proceeded by an amplifier at 10 Hz repetition rate, which can deliver three different wavelength (1064/532/266 nm). The combination of a superconducting cavity with the photocathode preparation chamber is discussed

Laser-driven injector of electrons for IOTA

Science.gov (United States)

Romanov, Aleksandr

2017-03-01

Fermilab is developing the Integrable Optics Test Accelerator (IOTA) ring for experiments on nonlinear integrable optics. The machine will operate with either electron beams of 150 MeV or proton beams of 2.5 MeV energies, respectively. The stability of integrable optics depends critically on the precision of the magnetic lattice, which demands the use of beam-based lattice measurements for optics correction. In the proton mode, the low-energy proton beam does not represent a good probe for this application; hence we consider the use of a low-intensity reverse-injected electron beam of matched momentum (70 MeV). Such an injector could be implemented with the use of laser-driven acceleration techniques. This report presents the consideration for a laser-plasma injector for IOTA and discusses the requirements determined by the ring design.

Probing plasma wakefields using electron bunches generated from a laser wakefield accelerator

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, C. J.; Wan, Y.; Guo, B.; Hua, J. F.; Pai, C.-H.; Li, F.; Zhang, J.; Ma, Y.; Wu, Y. P.; Xu, X. L.; Mori, W. B.; Chu, H.-H.; Wang, J.; Lu, W.; Joshi, C.

2018-04-01

We show experimental results of probing the electric field structure of plasma wakes by using femtosecond relativistic electron bunches generated from a laser wakefield accelerator. Snapshots of laser-driven linear wakes in plasmas with different densities and density gradients are captured. The spatiotemporal evolution of the wake in a plasma density up-ramp is recorded. Two parallel wakes driven by a laser with a main spot and sidelobes are identified in the experiment and reproduced in simulations. The capability of this new method for capturing the electron- and positron-driven wakes is also shown via 3D particle-in-cell simulations.

A “slingshot” laser-driven acceleration mechanism of plasma electrons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fiore, Gaetano, E-mail: gaetano.fiore@na.infn.it [Dip. di Matematica e Applicazioni, Università “Federico II”, Complesso Universitario M. S. Angelo, Via Cintia, 80126 Napoli (Italy); INFN, Sezione di Napoli, Complesso Universitario M. S. Angelo, Via Cintia, 80126 Napoli (Italy); De Nicola, Sergio [SPIN-CNR, Complesso Universitario M. S. Angelo, Via Cintia, 80126 Napoli (Italy); INFN, Sezione di Napoli, Complesso Universitario M. S. Angelo, Via Cintia, 80126 Napoli (Italy)

2016-09-01

We briefly report on the recently proposed Fiore et al. [1] and Fiore and De Nicola [2] electron acceleration mechanism named “slingshot effect”: under suitable conditions the impact of an ultra-short and ultra-intense laser pulse against the surface of a low-density plasma is expected to cause the expulsion of a bunch of superficial electrons with high energy in the direction opposite to that of the pulse propagation; this is due to the interplay of the huge ponderomotive force, huge longitudinal field arising from charge separation, and the finite size of the laser spot.

Energy Efficiency of an Intracavity Coupled, Laser-Driven Linear Accelerator Pumped by an External Laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neil Na, Y.C.; Siemann, R.H.; SLAC; Byer, R.L.; Stanford U., Phys. Dept.

2005-01-01

We calculate the optimum energy efficiency of a laser-driven linear accelerator by adopting a simple linear model. In the case of single bunch operation, the energy efficiency can be enhanced by incorporating the accelerator into a cavity that is pumped by an external laser. In the case of multiple bunch operation, the intracavity configuration is less advantageous because the strong wakefield generated by the electron beam is also recycled. Finally, the calculation indicates that the luminosity of a linear collider based on such a structure is comparably small if high efficiency is desired

First observations of acceleration of injected electrons in a laser plasma beatwave experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ebrahim, N.A.; Martin, F.; Bordeur, P.; Heighway, E.A.; Matte, J.P.; Pepin, H.; Lavigne, P.

1986-01-01

The first experimental observations of acceleration of injected electrons in a laser driven plasma beatwave are presented. The plasma waves were excited in an ionized gas jet, using a short pulse high intensity CO 2 laser with two collinearly propagating beams (at λ = 9.6 μm and 10.6 μm) to excite a fast wave (v/sub p/ = c). The source of electrons was a laser plasma produced on an aluminum slab target by a third, synchronized CO 2 laser beam. A double-focusing dipole magnet was used to energy select and inject electrons into the beatwave, and a second magnetic spectrograph was used to analyze the accelerated electrons. Electron acceleration was only observed when the appropriate resonant plasma density was produced (∼ 10 17 cm -3 ), the two laser lines were incident on the plasma, and electrons were injected into this plasma from an external source

Electron injection and acceleration in the plasma bubble regime driven by an ultraintense laser pulse combined with using dense-plasma wall and block

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Xue-Yan; Xie, Bai-Song; Wu, Hai-Cheng; Zhang, Shan; Hong, Xue-Ren; Aimidula, Aimierding

2012-03-01

An optimizing and alternative scheme for electron injection and acceleration in the wake bubble driven by an ultraintense laser pulse is presented. In this scheme, the dense-plasma wall with an inner diameter matching the expected bubble size is placed along laser propagation direction. Meanwhile, a dense-plasma block dense-plasma is adhered inward transversely at some certain position of the wall. Particle-in-cell simulations are performed, which demonstrate that the block plays an important role in the first electron injection and acceleration. The result shows that a collimated electron bunch with a total number of about 4.04×108μm-1 can be generated and accelerated stably to 1.61 GeV peak energy with 2.6% energy spread. The block contributes about 50% to the accelerated electron injection bunch by tracing and sorting statistically the source.

Emittance Measurements from a Laser Driven Electron Injector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reis, David A

2003-07-28

The Gun Test Facility (GTF) at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center was constructed to develop an appropriate electron beam suitable for driving a short wavelength free electron laser (FEL) such as the proposed Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS). For operation at a wavelength of 1.5 {angstrom}, the LCLS requires an electron injector that can produce an electron beam with approximately 1 {pi} mm-mrad normalized rms emittance with at least 1 nC of charge in a 10 ps or shorter bunch. The GTF consists of a photocathode rf gun, emittance-compensation solenoid, 3 m linear accelerator (linac), drive laser, and diagnostics to measure the beam. The rf gun is a symmetrized 1.6 cell, s-band high gradient, room temperature, photocathode structure. Simulations show that this gun when driven by a temporally and spatially shaped drive laser, appropriately focused with the solenoid, and further accelerated in linac can produce a beam that meets the LCLS requirements. This thesis describes the initial characterization of the laser and electron beam at the GTF. A convolved measurement of the relative timing between the laser and the rf phase in the gun shows that the jitter is less than 2.5 ps rms. Emittance measurements of the electron beam at 35 MeV are reported as a function of the (Gaussian) pulse length and transverse profile of the laser as well as the charge of the electron beam at constant phase and gradient in both the gun and linac. At 1 nC the emittance was found to be {approx} 13 {pi} mm-mrad for 5 ps and 8 ps long laser pulses. At 0.5 nC the measured emittance decreased approximately 20% in the 5 ps case and 40% in the 8 ps case. These measurements are between 40-80% higher than simulations for similar experimental conditions. In addition, the thermal emittance of the electron beam was measured to be 0.5 {pi} mm-mrad.

Small-scale laser based electron accelerators for biology and medicine: a comparative study of the biological effectiveness

Science.gov (United States)

Labate, Luca; Andreassi, Maria Grazia; Baffigi, Federica; Basta, Giuseppina; Bizzarri, Ranieri; Borghini, Andrea; Candiano, Giuliana C.; Casarino, Carlo; Cresci, Monica; Di Martino, Fabio; Fulgentini, Lorenzo; Ghetti, Francesco; Gilardi, Maria Carla; Giulietti, Antonio; Köster, Petra; Lenci, Francesco; Levato, Tadzio; Oishi, Yuji; Russo, Giorgio; Sgarbossa, Antonella; Traino, Claudio; Gizzi, Leonida A.

2013-05-01

Laser-driven electron accelerators based on the Laser Wakefield Acceleration process has entered a mature phase to be considered as alternative devices to conventional radiofrequency linear accelerators used in medical applications. Before entering the medical practice, however, deep studies of the radiobiological effects of such short bunches as the ones produced by laser-driven accelerators have to be performed. Here we report on the setup, characterization and first test of a small-scale laser accelerator for radiobiology experiments. A brief description of the experimental setup will be given at first, followed by an overview of the electron bunch characterization, in particular in terms of dose delivered to the samples. Finally, the first results from the irradiation of biological samples will be briefly discussed.

Conceptual design of a laser-plasma accelerator driven free-electron laser demonstration experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seggebrock, Thorben

2015-07-08

Up to now, short-wavelength free-electron lasers (FEL) have been systems on the scale of hundreds of meters up to multiple kilometers. Due to the advancements in laser-plasma acceleration in the recent years, these accelerators have become a promising candidate for driving a fifth-generation synchrotron light source - a lab-scale free-electron laser. So far, demonstration experiments have been hindered by the broad energy spread typical for this type of accelerator. This thesis addresses the most important challenges of the conceptual design for a first lab-scale FEL demonstration experiment using analytical considerations as well as simulations. The broad energy spread reduces the FEL performance directly by weakening the microbunching and indirectly via chromatic emittance growth, caused by the focusing system. Both issues can be mitigated by decompressing the electron bunch in a magnetic chicane, resulting in a sorting by energies. This reduces the local energy spread as well as the local chromatic emittance growth and also lowers performance degradations caused by the short bunch length. Moreover, the energy dependent focus position leads to a focus motion within the bunch, which can be synchronized with the radiation pulse, maximizing the current density in the interaction region. This concept is termed chromatic focus matching. A comparison shows the advantages of the longitudinal decompression concept compared to the alternative approach of transverse dispersion. When using typical laser-plasma based electron bunches, coherent synchrotron radiation and space-charge contribute in equal measure to the emittance growth during decompression. It is shown that a chicane for this purpose must not be as weak and long as affordable to reduce coherent synchrotron radiation, but that an intermediate length is required. Furthermore, the interplay of the individual concepts and components is assessed in a start-to-end simulation, confirming the feasibility of the

Conceptual design of a laser-plasma accelerator driven free-electron laser demonstration experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seggebrock, Thorben

2015-01-01

Up to now, short-wavelength free-electron lasers (FEL) have been systems on the scale of hundreds of meters up to multiple kilometers. Due to the advancements in laser-plasma acceleration in the recent years, these accelerators have become a promising candidate for driving a fifth-generation synchrotron light source - a lab-scale free-electron laser. So far, demonstration experiments have been hindered by the broad energy spread typical for this type of accelerator. This thesis addresses the most important challenges of the conceptual design for a first lab-scale FEL demonstration experiment using analytical considerations as well as simulations. The broad energy spread reduces the FEL performance directly by weakening the microbunching and indirectly via chromatic emittance growth, caused by the focusing system. Both issues can be mitigated by decompressing the electron bunch in a magnetic chicane, resulting in a sorting by energies. This reduces the local energy spread as well as the local chromatic emittance growth and also lowers performance degradations caused by the short bunch length. Moreover, the energy dependent focus position leads to a focus motion within the bunch, which can be synchronized with the radiation pulse, maximizing the current density in the interaction region. This concept is termed chromatic focus matching. A comparison shows the advantages of the longitudinal decompression concept compared to the alternative approach of transverse dispersion. When using typical laser-plasma based electron bunches, coherent synchrotron radiation and space-charge contribute in equal measure to the emittance growth during decompression. It is shown that a chicane for this purpose must not be as weak and long as affordable to reduce coherent synchrotron radiation, but that an intermediate length is required. Furthermore, the interplay of the individual concepts and components is assessed in a start-to-end simulation, confirming the feasibility of the

Modified two beam accelerator driven by a D.C. pelletron free electron laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larson, D.

1985-01-01

Assembling the next generation of linear particle accelerators requires progress in three areas. (1) Sources must be developed to provide the coherent electromagnetic radiation used to power the device. (2) Physical structures must be designed which efficiently transfer the power to the high energy beam. (3) Cooling techniques must be developed in order to enhance beam transport and to provide sufficient luminosity. This paper will describe a method of obtaining a highly efficient coherent radiation source by using a continuous wave Free Electron Laser (FEL). Several possibilities exist for an accelerating structure which could use this radiation as a power source. These include scaling down the size of traditional RF cavities, inverse free electron lasers, and surface grating schemes. Inverse free electron lasers have the possibility of intrinsic cooling of the high energy beam

Bremsstrahlung hard x-ray source driven by an electron beam from a self-modulated laser wakefield accelerator

Science.gov (United States)

Lemos, N.; Albert, F.; Shaw, J. L.; Papp, D.; Polanek, R.; King, P.; Milder, A. L.; Marsh, K. A.; Pak, A.; Pollock, B. B.; Hegelich, B. M.; Moody, J. D.; Park, J.; Tommasini, R.; Williams, G. J.; Chen, Hui; Joshi, C.

2018-05-01

An x-ray source generated by an electron beam produced using a Self-Modulated Laser Wakefield Accelerator (SM-LWFA) is explored for use in high energy density science facilities. By colliding the electron beam, with a maximum energy of 380 MeV, total charge of >10 nC and a divergence of 64 × 100 mrad, from a SM-LWFA driven by a 1 ps 120 J laser, into a high-Z foil, an x/gamma-ray source was generated. A broadband bremsstrahlung energy spectrum with temperatures ranging from 0.8 to 2 MeV was measured with an almost 2 orders of magnitude flux increase when compared with other schemes using LWFA. GEANT4 simulations were done to calculate the source size and divergence.

An inverse free electron laser accelerator: Experiment and theoretical interpretation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fang, Jyan-Min.

1997-01-01

Experimental and numerical studies of the Inverse Free Electron Laser using a GW-level 10.6 μm CO 2 laser have been carried out at Brookhaven's Accelerator Test Facility. An energy gain of 2.5 % (ΔE/E) on a 40 MeV electron beam has been observed E which compares well with theory. The effects on IFEL acceleration with respect to the variation of the laser electric field, the input electron beam energy, and the wiggler magnetic field strength were studied, and show the importance of matching the resonance condition in the IFEL. The numerical simulations were performed under various conditions and the importance of the electron bunching in the IFEL is shown. The numerical interpretation of our IFEL experimental results was examined. Although good numerical agreement with the experimental results was obtained, there is a discrepancy between the level of the laser power measured in the experiment and used in the simulation, possibly due to the non-Gaussian profile of the input high power laser beam. The electron energy distribution was studied numerically and a smoothing of the energy spectrum by the space charge effect at the location of the spectrometer was found, compared with the spectrum at the exit of the wiggler. The electron bunching by the IFEL and the possibility of using the IFEL as an electron prebuncher for another laser-driven accelerator were studied numerically. We found that bunching of the electrons at 1 meter downstream from the wiggler can be achieved using the existing facility. The simulation shows that there is a fundamental difference between the operating conditions for using the IFEL as a high gradient accelerator, and as a prebuncher for another accelerator

Studies on a laser driven photoemissive high-brightness electron source and novel photocathodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geng Rongli; Song Jinhu; Yu Jin

1997-01-01

A laser driven photoemissive high-brightness electron source at Beijing University is reported. Through a DC accelerating gap of 100 kV voltage, the device is capable of delivering high-brightness electron beam of 35-100 ps pulse duration when irradiated with a mode-locked YAG laser. The geometry of the gun is optimized with the aid of simulation codes EGUN and POISSON. The results of experimental studies on ion implanted photocathode and cesium telluride photocathode are given. The proposed laser driven superconducting RF gun is also discussed

Role of resistivity gradient in laser-driven ion acceleration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. A. Gizzi

2011-01-01

Full Text Available It was predicted that, when a fast electron beam with some angular spread is normally incident on a resistivity gradient, magnetic field generation can occur that can inhibit beam propagation [A. R. Bell et al., Phys. Rev. E 58, 2471 (1998PLEEE81063-651X10.1103/PhysRevE.58.2471]. This effect can have consequences on the laser-driven ion acceleration. In the experiment reported here, we compare ion emission from laser irradiated coated and uncoated metal foils and we show that the ion beam from the coated target has a much smaller angular spread. Detailed hybrid numerical simulations confirm that the inhibition of fast electron transport through the resistivity gradient may explain the observed effect.

0.56 GeV laser electron acceleration in ablative-capillary-discharge plasma channel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kameshima, Takashi; Kurokawa, Shin-ichi; Nakajima, Kazuhisa; Hong Wei; Wen Xianlun; Wu Yuchi; Tang Chuanming; Zhu Qihua; Gu Yuqiu; Zhang Baohan; Peng Hansheng; Sugiyama, Kiyohiro; Chen, Liming; Tajima, Toshiki; Kumita, Tetsuro

2008-01-01

A high-quality electron beam with a central energy of 0.56 GeV, an energy spread of 1.2% rms, and a divergence of 0.59 mrad rms was produced by means of a 4 cm ablative-capillary-discharge plasma channel driven by a 3.8 J27 fs laser pulse. This is the first demonstration of electron acceleration with an ablative capillary discharge wherein the capillary is stably operated in vacuum with a simple system triggered by a laser pulse. This result of the generation of a high-quality beam provides the prospects to realize a practical accelerator based on laser-plasma acceleration. (author)

Photonic Crystal Laser-Driven Accelerator Structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cowan, B

2004-01-01

The authors discuss simulated photonic crystal structure designs for laser-driven particle acceleration. They focus on three-dimensional planar structures based on the so-called ''woodpile'' lattice, demonstrating guiding of a speed-of-light accelerating mode by a defect in the photonic crystal lattice. They introduce a candidate geometry and discuss the properties of the accelerating mode. They also discuss the linear beam dynamics in the structure present a novelmethod for focusing the beam. In addition they describe ongoing investigations of photonic crystal fiber-based structures

ELIMAIA: A Laser-Driven Ion Accelerator for Multidisciplinary Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniele Margarone

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The main direction proposed by the community of experts in the field of laser-driven ion acceleration is to improve particle beam features (maximum energy, charge, emittance, divergence, monochromaticity, shot-to-shot stability in order to demonstrate reliable and compact approaches to be used for multidisciplinary applications, thus, in principle, reducing the overall cost of a laser-based facility compared to a conventional accelerator one and, at the same time, demonstrating innovative and more effective sample irradiation geometries. The mission of the laser-driven ion target area at ELI-Beamlines (Extreme Light Infrastructure in Dolní Břežany, Czech Republic, called ELI Multidisciplinary Applications of laser-Ion Acceleration (ELIMAIA , is to provide stable, fully characterized and tuneable beams of particles accelerated by Petawatt-class lasers and to offer them to the user community for multidisciplinary applications. The ELIMAIA beamline has been designed and developed at the Institute of Physics of the Academy of Science of the Czech Republic (IoP-ASCR in Prague and at the National Laboratories of Southern Italy of the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (LNS-INFN in Catania (Italy. An international scientific network particularly interested in future applications of laser driven ions for hadrontherapy, ELI MEDical applications (ELIMED, has been established around the implementation of the ELIMAIA experimental system. The basic technology used for ELIMAIA research and development, along with envisioned parameters of such user beamline will be described and discussed.

Laser-driven particle acceleration towards radiobiology and medicine

CERN Document Server

2016-01-01

This book deals with the new method of laser-driven acceleration for application to radiation biophysics and medicine. It provides multidisciplinary contributions from world leading scientist in order to assess the state of the art of innovative tools for radiation biology research and medical applications of ionizing radiation. The book contains insightful contributions on highly topical aspects of spatio-temporal radiation biophysics, evolving over several orders of magnitude, typically from femtosecond and sub-micrometer scales. Particular attention is devoted to the emerging technology of laser-driven particle accelerators and their applicatio to spatio-temporal radiation biology and medical physics, customization of non-conventional and selective radiotherapy and optimized radioprotection protocols.

Acceleration of on-axis and ring-shaped electron beams in wakefields driven by Laguerre-Gaussian pulses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Guo-Bo [College of Science, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073 (China); Key Laboratory for Laser Plasmas (MOE) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240 (China); Chen, Min, E-mail: minchen@sjtu.edu.cn, E-mail: yanyunma@126.com; Luo, Ji; Zeng, Ming; Yuan, Tao; Yu, Ji-Ye; Yu, Lu-Le; Weng, Su-Ming [Key Laboratory for Laser Plasmas (MOE) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240 (China); Collaborative Innovation Center of IFSA (CICIFSA), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240 (China); Ma, Yan-Yun, E-mail: minchen@sjtu.edu.cn, E-mail: yanyunma@126.com [College of Science, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073 (China); Collaborative Innovation Center of IFSA (CICIFSA), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240 (China); Yu, Tong-Pu [College of Science, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073 (China); Sheng, Zheng-Ming [Key Laboratory for Laser Plasmas (MOE) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240 (China); Collaborative Innovation Center of IFSA (CICIFSA), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240 (China); SUPA, Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG (United Kingdom)

2016-03-14

The acceleration of electron beams with multiple transverse structures in wakefields driven by Laguerre-Gaussian pulses has been studied through three-dimensional (3D) particle-in-cell simulations. Under different laser-plasma conditions, the wakefield shows different transverse structures. In general cases, the wakefield shows a donut-like structure and it accelerates the ring-shaped hollow electron beam. When a lower plasma density or a smaller laser spot size is used, besides the donut-like wakefield, a central bell-like wakefield can also be excited. The wake sets in the center of the donut-like wake. In this case, both a central on-axis electron beam and a ring-shaped electron beam are simultaneously accelerated. Further, reducing the plasma density or laser spot size leads to an on-axis electron beam acceleration only. The research is beneficial for some potential applications requiring special pulse beam structures, such as positron acceleration and collimation.

Laser vacuum acceleration of a relativistic electron bunch

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Glazyrin, I V; Karpeev, A V; Kotova, O G; Nazarov, K S [E.I. Zababakhin All-Russian Scientific-Research Institute of Technical Physics, Russian Federal Nuclear Centre, Snezhinsk, Chelyabinsk region (Russian Federation); Bychenkov, V Yu [P N Lebedev Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow (Russian Federation)

2015-06-30

With regard to the problem of laser acceleration of a relativistic electron bunch we present a scheme of its vacuum acceleration directly by a relativistic intensity laser pulse. The energy of the electron bunch injected into the laser pulse leading edge increases during its coaxial movement to a thin, pulse-reflecting target. The laser-accelerated electrons continue to move free forward, passing through the target. The study of this acceleration scheme in the three-dimensional geometry is verified in a numerical simulation by the particle-in-cell method, which showed that the energy of a part of the electrons can increase significantly compared to the initial one. Restrictions are discussed, which impose limiting values of energy and total charge of accelerated electrons. (superstrong light fields)

Comparison study of in vivo dose response to laser-driven versus conventional electron beam.

Science.gov (United States)

Oppelt, Melanie; Baumann, Michael; Bergmann, Ralf; Beyreuther, Elke; Brüchner, Kerstin; Hartmann, Josefin; Karsch, Leonhard; Krause, Mechthild; Laschinsky, Lydia; Leßmann, Elisabeth; Nicolai, Maria; Reuter, Maria; Richter, Christian; Sävert, Alexander; Schnell, Michael; Schürer, Michael; Woithe, Julia; Kaluza, Malte; Pawelke, Jörg

2015-05-01

The long-term goal to integrate laser-based particle accelerators into radiotherapy clinics not only requires technological development of high-intensity lasers and new techniques for beam detection and dose delivery, but also characterization of the biological consequences of this new particle beam quality, i.e. ultra-short, ultra-intense pulses. In the present work, we describe successful in vivo experiments with laser-driven electron pulses by utilization of a small tumour model on the mouse ear for the human squamous cell carcinoma model FaDu. The already established in vitro irradiation technology at the laser system JETI was further enhanced for 3D tumour irradiation in vivo in terms of beam transport, beam monitoring, dose delivery and dosimetry in order to precisely apply a prescribed dose to each tumour in full-scale radiobiological experiments. Tumour growth delay was determined after irradiation with doses of 3 and 6 Gy by laser-accelerated electrons. Reference irradiation was performed with continuous electron beams at a clinical linear accelerator in order to both validate the dedicated dosimetry employed for laser-accelerated JETI electrons and above all review the biological results. No significant difference in radiation-induced tumour growth delay was revealed for the two investigated electron beams. These data provide evidence that the ultra-high dose rate generated by laser acceleration does not impact the biological effectiveness of the particles.

Laser-ablation-based ion source characterization and manipulation for laser-driven ion acceleration

Science.gov (United States)

Sommer, P.; Metzkes-Ng, J.; Brack, F.-E.; Cowan, T. E.; Kraft, S. D.; Obst, L.; Rehwald, M.; Schlenvoigt, H.-P.; Schramm, U.; Zeil, K.

2018-05-01

For laser-driven ion acceleration from thin foils (∼10 μm–100 nm) in the target normal sheath acceleration regime, the hydro-carbon contaminant layer at the target surface generally serves as the ion source and hence determines the accelerated ion species, i.e. mainly protons, carbon and oxygen ions. The specific characteristics of the source layer—thickness and relevant lateral extent—as well as its manipulation have both been investigated since the first experiments on laser-driven ion acceleration using a variety of techniques from direct source imaging to knife-edge or mesh imaging. In this publication, we present an experimental study in which laser ablation in two fluence regimes (low: F ∼ 0.6 J cm‑2, high: F ∼ 4 J cm‑2) was applied to characterize and manipulate the hydro-carbon source layer. The high-fluence ablation in combination with a timed laser pulse for particle acceleration allowed for an estimation of the relevant source layer thickness for proton acceleration. Moreover, from these data and independently from the low-fluence regime, the lateral extent of the ion source layer became accessible.

Selection of high-brightness, laser-driven cathodes for electron accelerators and FELS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oettinger, P.E.

1987-01-01

Very intense, low emittance pulsed beams of electrons can be generated from laser-driven cathodes either by thermionic- or photo-emission. Several hundreds of amperes of electrons per square centimeter were observed for pulse lengths up to 50 ns. A normalized beam brightness of 10 7 A/cm 2 /rad 2 has been measured. These beams can be emission-gated at the cathode surface by modulating the laser-beam. Such beam bunching will generate picosecond-to-microsecond-long pulses at the source. A variety of cathodes are described, and a method of selection for specific applications is presented

En Route: next-generation laser-plasma-based electron accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hidding, Bernhard

2008-05-01

Accelerating electrons to relativistic energies is of fundamental interest, especially in particle physics. Today's accelerator technology, however, is limited by the maximum electric fields which can be created. This thesis presents results on various mechanisms aiming at exploiting the fields in focussed laser pulses and plasma waves for electron acceleration, which can be orders of magnitude higher than with conventional accelerators. With relativistic, underdense laser-plasma-interaction, quasimonoenergetic electron bunches with energies up to ∼50 MeV and normalized emittances of the order of 5mmmrad have been generated. This was achieved by focussing the ∼80 fs, 1 J pulses of the JETI-laser at the FSU Jena to intensities of several 10 19 W=cm 2 into gas jets. The experimental observations could be explained via ''bubble acceleration'', which is based on self-injection and acceleration of electrons in a highly nonlinear breaking plasma wave. For the rst time, this bubble acceleration was achieved explicitly in the self-modulated laser wakefield regime (SMLWFA). This quasimonoenergetic SMLWFA-regime stands out by relaxing dramatically the requirements on the driving laser pulse necessary to trigger bubble acceleration. This is due to self-modulation of the laser pulse in high-density gas jets, leading to ultrashort laser pulse fragments capable of initiating bubble acceleration. Electron bunches with durations < or similar 5 fs can thus be created, which is at least an order of magnitude shorter than with conventional accelerator technology. In addition, more than one laser pulse fragment can be powerful enough to drive a bubble. Distinct double peaks have been observed in the electron spectra, indicating that two quasimonoenergetic electron bunches separated by only few tens of fs have formed. This is backed up by PIC-Simulations (Particle-in-Cell). These results underline the feasibility of the construction of small table-top accelerators, while at the

Study of laser driven plasma based electron acceleration and Bremsstrahlung radiation emission using ultra-high intensity laser pulses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rao, B.S.

2013-01-01

High energy particle accelerators are one of the most important inventions of the twentieth century which have led to enormous advances in basic scientific understanding of world around us. Despite their grand success, the present day high energy accelerators are hitting practical limits due to their large size and cost. This is because the accelerating gradients in conventional radio-frequency (RF) accelerators are typically limited to < 50 MV/m by the field breakdown of the accelerating structure. To address this major issue, many advanced accelerator techniques have been proposed and some of them are being actively pursued. Laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) in plasma medium is one of the techniques being most actively pursued world over due to extremely large acceleration gradients of the order of 100 GV/m possible in this scheme which promises significant reduction of the size and cost of the future high energy accelerators. The present thesis work mainly deals with laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) of self-injected electrons to 10s of MeV energy in plasma medium of length of the order of 500 μm using the table-top 10 TW laser at Laser Plasma Division, Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology

Proposed Physics Experiments for Laser-Driven Electron Linear Acceleration in a Dielectric Loaded Vacuum, Final Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Byer, Robert L. [Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Applied Physics. Edward L. Ginzton Lab.

2016-07-08

This final report summarizes the last three years of research on the development of advanced linear electron accelerators that utilize dielectric wave-guide vacuum channels pumped by high energy laser fields to accelerate beams of electrons.

Pilot study of synchronization on a femtosecond scale between the electronic gun REGAE and a laser-plasma accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Titberidze, Mikheil

2017-10-01

Laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) is a novel technique to accelerate charged particles. Acceleration is achieved by a high-power laser pulse transmitting a gas target where electrons and ions form a strong wakefield with gradients up to 100 GVm -1 . Hence, the size of the laser-plasma accelerator (LPA) is significantly smaller compared to conventional radio frequency (RF) accelerators, because its accelerating gradients are 3 orders of magnitude higher. At present, electron beams generated by LWFA do not satisfy all requirements to make them directly usable for applications such as LPA driven free-electron laser (FEL). Pointing stability and relatively high energy spread are the major limiting factors. Typically, plasma electrons are self-injected in the plasma wake which is created by a high-power laser. There is a lack of control for the injection process and there is no direct access for diagnostics. In order to overcome these challenges and better understand the overall LWFA process, external injection experiments are planned at Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) in the framework of the Laboratory for Laser and beam-driven plasma Acceleration (LAOLA) collaboration. Thus, well characterized and ultrashort (< 10 fs) electron bunches from the conventional RF accelerator Relativistic Electron Gun for Atomic Exploration (REGAE) will be injected into the laser driven plasma wake. This approach allows to reconstruct and map the plasma wakefield by post diagnosing the injected electron bunches by measuring the energy spectra of it for different injection times. To conduct such a pump-probe type of experiment, synchronization with fs accuracy is required between the electron bunches from REGAE and the high-power driver laser. Two main aspects of the laser synchronization are presented in this thesis. First, a detailed experimental investigation of the conventional, fast photodiode based direct conversion laser-to-RF synchronization setup and its limitations are

Pilot study of synchronization on a femtosecond scale between the electronic gun REGAE and a laser-plasma accelerator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Titberidze, Mikheil

2017-10-15

Laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) is a novel technique to accelerate charged particles. Acceleration is achieved by a high-power laser pulse transmitting a gas target where electrons and ions form a strong wakefield with gradients up to 100 GVm{sup -1}. Hence, the size of the laser-plasma accelerator (LPA) is significantly smaller compared to conventional radio frequency (RF) accelerators, because its accelerating gradients are 3 orders of magnitude higher. At present, electron beams generated by LWFA do not satisfy all requirements to make them directly usable for applications such as LPA driven free-electron laser (FEL). Pointing stability and relatively high energy spread are the major limiting factors. Typically, plasma electrons are self-injected in the plasma wake which is created by a high-power laser. There is a lack of control for the injection process and there is no direct access for diagnostics. In order to overcome these challenges and better understand the overall LWFA process, external injection experiments are planned at Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) in the framework of the Laboratory for Laser and beam-driven plasma Acceleration (LAOLA) collaboration. Thus, well characterized and ultrashort (< 10 fs) electron bunches from the conventional RF accelerator Relativistic Electron Gun for Atomic Exploration (REGAE) will be injected into the laser driven plasma wake. This approach allows to reconstruct and map the plasma wakefield by post diagnosing the injected electron bunches by measuring the energy spectra of it for different injection times. To conduct such a pump-probe type of experiment, synchronization with fs accuracy is required between the electron bunches from REGAE and the high-power driver laser. Two main aspects of the laser synchronization are presented in this thesis. First, a detailed experimental investigation of the conventional, fast photodiode based direct conversion laser-to-RF synchronization setup and its limitations

Towards external injection in laser wakefield acceleration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stragier, X.F.D.

2011-01-01

In laser wakefield acceleration (LWA) a plasma wave is driven by a high intensity ultra short laser pulse and the longitudinal electric fields in the plasma wave are used to accelerate electron bunches. Electrons with an appropriate kinetic energy, injected on the right phase of the plasma wave, get

Recent progress on laser acceleration research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakajima, Kazuhisa; Dewa, Hideki; Hosokai, Tomonao; Kanazawa, Shuhei; Kando, Masaki; Kondoh, Shuji; Kotaki, Hideyuki

2000-01-01

Recently there has been a tremendous experimental progress in ultrahigh field particle acceleration driven by ultraintense laser pulses in plasmas. A design of the laser wakefield accelerators aiming at GeV energy gains is discussed by presenting our recent progress on the laser wakefield acceleration experiments, the developments of high quality electron beam injectors and the capillary plasma waveguide for optical guiding of ultrashort intense laser pulses. (author)

Recent advances in laser-driven neutron sources

Science.gov (United States)

Alejo, A.; Ahmed, H.; Green, A.; Mirfayzi, S. R.; Borghesi, M.; Kar, S.

2016-11-01

Due to the limited number and high cost of large-scale neutron facilities, there has been a growing interest in compact accelerator-driven sources. In this context, several potential schemes of laser-driven neutron sources are being intensively studied employing laser-accelerated electron and ion beams. In addition to the potential of delivering neutron beams with high brilliance, directionality and ultra-short burst duration, a laser-driven neutron source would offer further advantages in terms of cost-effectiveness, compactness and radiation confinement by closed-coupled experiments. Some of the recent advances in this field are discussed, showing improvements in the directionality and flux of the laser-driven neutron beams.

Lasers and new methods of particle acceleration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parsa, Z.

1998-02-01

There has been a great progress in development of high power laser technology. Harnessing their potential for particle accelerators is a challenge and of great interest for development of future high energy colliders. The author discusses some of the advances and new methods of acceleration including plasma-based accelerators. The exponential increase in sophistication and power of all aspects of accelerator development and operation that has been demonstrated has been remarkable. This success has been driven by the inherent interest to gain new and deeper understanding of the universe around us. With the limitations of the conventional technology it may not be possible to meet the requirements of the future accelerators with demands for higher and higher energies and luminosities. It is believed that using the existing technology one can build a linear collider with about 1 TeV center of mass energy. However, it would be very difficult (or impossible) to build linear colliders with energies much above one or two TeV without a new method of acceleration. Laser driven high gradient accelerators are becoming more realistic and is expected to provide an alternative, (more compact, and more economical), to conventional accelerators in the future. The author discusses some of the new methods of particle acceleration, including laser and particle beam driven plasma based accelerators, near and far field accelerators. He also discusses the enhanced IFEL (Inverse Free Electron Laser) and NAIBEA (Nonlinear Amplification of Inverse-Beamstrahlung Electron Acceleration) schemes, laser driven photo-injector and the high energy physics requirements

Inverse Free Electron Laser accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fisher, A.; Gallardo, J.; van Steenbergen, A.; Sandweiss, J.

1992-09-01

The study of the INVERSE FREE ELECTRON LASER, as a potential mode of electron acceleration, is being pursued at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Recent studies have focussed on the development of a low energy, high gradient, multi stage linear accelerator. The elementary ingredients for the IFEL interaction are the 50 MeV Linac e - beam and the 10 11 Watt CO 2 laser beam of BNL's Accelerator Test Facility (ATF), Center for Accelerator Physics (CAP) and a wiggler. The latter element is designed as a fast excitation unit making use of alternating stacks of Vanadium Permendur (VaP) ferromagnetic laminations, periodically interspersed with conductive, nonmagnetic laminations, which act as eddy current induced field reflectors. Wiggler parameters and field distribution data will be presented for a prototype wiggler in a constant period and in a ∼ 1.5 %/cm tapered period configuration. The CO 2 laser beam will be transported through the IFEL interaction region by means of a low loss, dielectric coated, rectangular waveguide. Short waveguide test sections have been constructed and have been tested using a low power cw CO 2 laser. Preliminary results of guide attenuation and mode selectivity will be given, together with a discussion of the optical issues for the IFEL accelerator. The IFEL design is supported by the development and use of 1D and 3D simulation programs. The results of simulation computations, including also wiggler errors, for a single module accelerator and for a multi-module accelerator will be presented

Inverse free-electron laser accelerator development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fisher, A.; Gallardo, J.; Steenbergen, A. van; Sandweiss, J.; Fang, J.M.

1994-06-01

The study of the Inverse Free-Electron Laser, as a potential mode of electron acceleration, has been pursued at Brookhaven National Laboratory for a number of years. More recent studies focused on the development of a low energy (few GeV), high gradient, multistage linear accelerator. The authors are presently designing a short accelerator module which will make use of the 50 MeV linac beam and high power (2 x 10 11 W) CO 2 laser beam of the Accelerator Test Facility (ATF) at the Center for Accelerator Physics (CAP), Brookhaven National Laboratory. These elements will be used in conjunction with a fast excitation (300 μsec pulse duration) variable period wiggler, to carry out an accelerator demonstration stage experiment

High energy gain electron beam acceleration by 100TW laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotaki, Hideyuki; Kando, Masaki; Kondo, Shuji; Hosokai, Tomonao; Kanazawa, Shuhei; Yokoyama, Takashi; Matoba, Toru; Nakajima, Kazuhisa

2001-01-01

A laser wakefield acceleration experiment using a 100TW laser is planed at JAERI-Kansai. High quality and short pulse electron beams are necessary to accelerate the electron beam by the laser. Electron beam - laser synchronization is also necessary. A microtron with a photocathode rf-gun was prepared as a high quality electron injector. The quantum efficiency (QE) of the photocathode of 2x10 -5 was obtained. A charge of 100pC from the microtron was measured. The emittance and pulse width of the electron beam was 6π mm-mrad and 10ps, respectively. In order to produce a short pulse electron beam, and to synchronize between the electron beam and the laser pulse, an inverse free electron laser (IFEL) is planned. One of problems of LWFA is the short acceleration length. In order to overcome the problem, a Z-pinch plasma waveguide will be prepared as a laser wakefield acceleration tube for 1 GeV acceleration. (author)

Design and construction of a DC high-brightness laser driven electron gun

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, K.; Geng, R. L.; Wang, L. F.; Zhang, B. C.; Yu, J.; Wang, T.; Wu, G. F.; Song, J. H.; Chen, J. E.

1996-02-01

A DC high-brightness laser driven photoemissive electron gun is being developed at Peking University, in order to produce 50-100 ps electron bunches of high quality. The gun consists of a photocathode preparation chamber and a DC acceleration cavity. Different ways of fabricating photocathodes, such as chemical vapor deposition, ion beam implantation and ion beam enhanced deposition, can be adopted. The acceleration gap is designed with the aid of simulation codes EGUN and POISSON. The laser system is a mode-locked Nd-YAG oscillator proceeded by an amplifier at 10 Hz repetition rate, which can deliver three different wavelengths (1064/532/266 nm). The combination of a superconducting cavity with the photocathode preparation chamber is also discussed in this paper.

Ultrashort megaelectronvolt positron beam generation based on laser-accelerated electrons

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Tongjun; Shen, Baifei; Xu, Jiancai; Li, Shun; Yu, Yong; Li, Jinfeng; Lu, Xiaoming; Wang, Cheng; Wang, Xinliang; Liang, Xiaoyan; Leng, Yuxin; Li, Ruxin; Xu, Zhizhan

2016-03-01

Experimental generation of ultrashort MeV positron beams with high intensity and high density using a compact laser-driven setup is reported. A high-density gas jet is employed experimentally to generate MeV electrons with high charge; thus, a charge-neutralized MeV positron beam with high density is obtained during laser-accelerated electrons irradiating high-Z solid targets. It is a novel electron-positron source for the study of laboratory astrophysics. Meanwhile, the MeV positron beam is pulsed with an ultrashort duration of tens of femtoseconds and has a high peak intensity of 7.8 × 1021 s-1, thus allows specific studies of fast kinetics in millimeter-thick materials with a high time resolution and exhibits potential for applications in positron annihilation spectroscopy.

2D electron density profile measurement in tokamak by laser-accelerated ion-beam probe.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Y H; Yang, X Y; Lin, C; Wang, L; Xu, M; Wang, X G; Xiao, C J

2014-11-01

A new concept of Heavy Ion Beam Probe (HIBP) diagnostic has been proposed, of which the key is to replace the electrostatic accelerator of traditional HIBP by a laser-driven ion accelerator. Due to the large energy spread of ions, the laser-accelerated HIBP can measure the two-dimensional (2D) electron density profile of tokamak plasma. In a preliminary simulation, a 2D density profile was reconstructed with a spatial resolution of about 2 cm, and with the error below 15% in the core region. Diagnostics of 2D density fluctuation is also discussed.

Engineering design of the interaction waveguide for high-power accelerator-driven microwave free-electron lasers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hopkins, D.B.; Clay, H.W.; Stallard, B.W.; Throop, A.L.; Listvinsky, G.; Makowski, M.A.

1989-01-01

Linear induction accelerators (LIAs) operating at beam energies of a few million electron volts and currents of a few thousand amperes are suitable drivers for free-electron lasers (FELs). Such lasers are capable of producing gigawatts of peak power and megawatts of average power at microwave frequencies. Such devices are being studied as possible power sources for future high-gradient accelerators and are being constructed for plasma heating applications. At high power levels, the engineering design of the interaction waveguide presents a challenge. This paper discusses several concerns, including electrical breakdown and metal fatigue limits, choice of material, and choice of operating propagation mode. 13 refs., 3 figs

Accelerator-driven X-ray Sources

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nguyen, Dinh Cong [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2015-11-09

After an introduction which mentions x-ray tubes and storage rings and gives a brief review of special relativity, the subject is treated under the following topics and subtopics: synchrotron radiation (bending magnet radiation, wiggler radiation, undulator radiation, brightness and brilliance definition, synchrotron radiation facilities), x-ray free-electron lasers (linac-driven X-ray FEL, FEL interactions, self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE), SASE self-seeding, fourth-generation light source facilities), and other X-ray sources (energy recovery linacs, Inverse Compton scattering, laser wakefield accelerator driven X-ray sources. In summary, accelerator-based light sources cover the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Synchrotron radiation (bending magnet, wiggler and undulator radiation) has unique properties that can be tailored to the users’ needs: bending magnet and wiggler radiation is broadband, undulator radiation has narrow spectral lines. X-ray FELs are the brightest coherent X-ray sources with high photon flux, femtosecond pulses, full transverse coherence, partial temporal coherence (SASE), and narrow spectral lines with seeding techniques. New developments in electron accelerators and radiation production can potentially lead to more compact sources of coherent X-rays.

Laser-driven acceleration of protons from hydrogenated annealed silicon targets

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Picciotto, A.; Margarone, Daniele; Krása, Josef; Velyhan, Andriy; Serra, E.; Bellutti, P.; Scarduelli, G.; Calliari, L.; Krouský, Eduard; Rus, Bedřich; Dapor, M.

2010-01-01

Roč. 92, č. 3 (2010), 34008/1-34008/5 ISSN 0295-5075 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) LC528 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10100523 Keywords : laser-driven acceleration * laser ablation * plasma-material interactions * boundary layer effects Subject RIV: BH - Optics, Masers, Lasers Impact factor: 2.753, year: 2010

MeV electron acceleration at 1kHz with <10 mJ laser pulses

Science.gov (United States)

Salehi, Fatholah; Goers, Andy; Hine, George; Feder, Linus; Kuk, Donghoon; Kim, Ki-Yong; Milchberg, Howard

2016-10-01

We demonstrate laser driven acceleration of electrons at 1 kHz repetition rate with pC charge above 1MeV per shot using required for relativistic self-focusing low enough for mJ scale laser pulses to self- focus and drive strong wakefields. Experiments and particle-in-cell simulations show that optimal drive pulse duration and chirp for maximum electron bunch charge and energy depends on the target gas species. High repetition rate, high charge, and short duration electron bunches driven by very modest pulse energies constitutes an ideal portable electron source for applications such as ultrafast electron diffraction experiments and high rep. rate γ-ray production. This work is supported by the US Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

Sapphire capillaries for laser-driven wakefield acceleration in plasma. Fs-laser micromachining and characterization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schwinkendorf, Jan-Patrick

2012-05-01

Plasma wakefields are a promising approach for the acceleration of electrons with ultrahigh (10 to 100 GV/m) electric fields. Nowadays, high-intensity laser pulses are routinely utilized to excite these large-amplitude plasma waves. However, several detrimental effects such as laser diffraction, electron-wake dephasing and laser depletion may terminate the acceleration process. Two of these phenomena can be mitigated or avoided by the application of capillary waveguides, e.g. fabricated out of sapphire for longevity. Capillaries may compensate for laser diffraction like a fiber and allow for the creation of tapered gas-density profiles working against the dephasing between the accelerating wave and the particles. Additionally, they offer the possibility of controlled particle injection. This thesis is reporting on the set up of a laser for fs-micromachining of capillaries of almost arbitrary shapes and a test stand for density-profile characterization. These devices will permit the creation of tailored gas-density profiles for controlled electron injection and acceleration inside plasma.

Sapphire capillaries for laser-driven wakefield acceleration in plasma. Fs-laser micromachining and characterization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schwinkendorf, Jan-Patrick

2012-08-15

Plasma wakefields are a promising approach for the acceleration of electrons with ultrahigh (10 to 100 GV/m) electric fields. Nowadays, high-intensity laser pulses are routinely utilized to excite these large-amplitude plasma waves. However, several detrimental effects such as laser diffraction, electron-wake dephasing and laser depletion may terminate the acceleration process. Two of these phenomena can be mitigated or avoided by the application of capillary waveguides, e.g. fabricated out of sapphire for longevity. Capillaries may compensate for laser diffraction like a fiber and allow for the creation of tapered gas-density profiles working against the dephasing between the accelerating wave and the particles. Additionally, they offer the possibility of controlled particle injection. This thesis is reporting on the set up of a laser for fs-micromachining of capillaries of almost arbitrary shapes and a test stand for density-profile characterization. These devices will permit the creation of tailored gas-density profiles for controlled electron injection and acceleration inside plasma.

The acceleration of particles by relativistic electron plasma waves driven by the optical mixing of laser light in a plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ebrahim, N.A.; Douglas, S.R.

1992-03-01

Electron acceleration by relativistic large-amplitude electron plasma waves is studied by theory and particle simulations. The maximum acceleration that can be obtained from this process depends on many different factors. This report presents a study of how these various factors impact on the acceleration mechanism. Although particular reference is made to the laser plasma beatwave concept, the study is equally relevant to the acceleration of particles in the plasma wakefield accelerator and the laser wakefield accelerator

High power radiation guiding systems for laser driven accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cutolo, A.

1985-01-01

This paper reviews the main problems encountered in the design of an optical system for transmitting high fluence radiation in a laser driven accelerator. Particular attention is devoted to the analysis of mirror and waveguide systems. (orig.)

Laser-Driven Very High Energy Electron/Photon Beam Radiation Therapy in Conjunction with a Robotic System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kazuhisa Nakajima

2014-12-01

Full Text Available We present a new external-beam radiation therapy system using very-high-energy (VHE electron/photon beams generated by a centimeter-scale laser plasma accelerator built in a robotic system. Most types of external-beam radiation therapy are delivered using a machine called a medical linear accelerator driven by radio frequency (RF power amplifiers, producing electron beams with an energy range of 6–20 MeV, in conjunction with modern radiation therapy technologies for effective shaping of three-dimensional dose distributions and spatially accurate dose delivery with imaging verification. However, the limited penetration depth and low quality of the transverse penumbra at such electron beams delivered from the present RF linear accelerators prevent the implementation of advanced modalities in current cancer treatments. These drawbacks can be overcome if the electron energy is increased to above 50 MeV. To overcome the disadvantages of the present RF-based medical accelerators, harnessing recent advancement of laser-driven plasma accelerators capable of producing 1-GeV electron beams in a 1-cm gas cell, we propose a new embodiment of the external-beam radiation therapy robotic system delivering very high-energy electron/photon beams with an energy of 50–250 MeV; it is more compact, less expensive, and has a simpler operation and higher performance in comparison with the current radiation therapy system.

High-energy inverse free-electron laser accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Courant, E.D.; Pellegrini, C.; Zakowicz, W.

1985-01-01

We study the inverse free electron laser (IFEL) accelerator and show that it can accelerate electrons to the few hundred GeV region with average acceleration rates of the order of 200 meV/m. Several possible accelerating structures are analyzed, and the effect of synchrotron radiation losses is studied. The longitudinal phase stability of accelerated particles is also analyzed. A Hamiltonian description, which takes into account the dissipative features of the IFEL accelerator, is introduced to study perturbations from the resonant acceleration. Adiabatic invariants are obtained and used to estimate the change of the electron phase space density during the acceleration process

Acceleration of electrons using an inverse free electron laser auto- accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wernick, I.K.; Marshall, T.C.

1992-07-01

We present data from our study of a device known as the inverse free electron laser. First, numerical simulations were performed to optimize the design parameters for an experiment that accelerates electrons in the presence of an undulator by stimulated absorption of radiation. The Columbia free electron laser (FEL) was configured as an auto-accelerator (IFELA) system; high power (MW's) FEL radiation at ∼1.65 mm is developed along the first section of an undulator inside a quasi-optical resonator. The electron beam then traverses a second section of undulator where a fraction of the electrons is accelerated by stimulated absorption of the 1.65 mm wavelength power developed in the first undulator section. The second undulator section has very low gain and does not generate power on its own. We have found that as much as 60% of the power generated in the first section can be absorbed in the second section, providing that the initial electron energy is chosen correctly with respect to the parameters chosen for the first and second undulators. An electron momentum spectrometer is used to monitor the distribution of electron energies as the electrons exit the IFELA. We have found; using our experimental parameters, that roughly 10% of the electrons are accelerated to energies as high as 1100 keV, in accordance with predictions from the numerical model. The appearance of high energy electrons is correlated with the abrupt absorption of millimeter power. The autoaccelerator configuration is used because there is no intense source of coherent power at the 1.65 mm design wavelength other than the FEL

Summary report : working group 5 on 'electron beam-driven plasma and structure based acceleration concepts'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conde, M. E.; Katsouleas, T.

2000-01-01

The talks presented and the work performed on electron beam-driven accelerators in plasmas and structures are summarized. Highlights of the working group include new experimental results from the E-157 Plasma Wakefield Experiment, the E-150 Plasma Lens Experiment and the Argonne Dielectric Structure Wakefield experiments. The presentations inspired discussion and analysis of three working topics: electron hose instability, ion channel lasers and the plasma afterburner

Optically controlled seeding of Raman forward scattering and injection of electrons in a self-modulated laser-wakefield accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, W.-T.; Chien, T.-Y.; Lee, C.-H.; Lin, J.-Y.; Wang, J.; Chen, S.-Y.

2004-01-01

Optical seeding of plasma waves and the injection of electrons are key issues in self-modulated laser-wakefield accelerators. By implementing a copropagating laser prepulse with proper timing, we are able to control the growth of Raman forward scattering and the production of accelerated electrons. The dependence of the Raman intensity on prepulse timing indicates that the seeding of Raman forward scattering is dominated by the ionization-induced wakefield, and the dependence of the divergence and number of accelerated electrons further reveals that the stimulated Raman backward scattering of the prepulse plays the essential role of injecting hot electrons into the fast plasma wave driven by the main pulse

Few femtosecond, few kilo-ampere electron bunch produced by a laser-plasma accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lundh, O.; Lim, J.; Rechatin, C.; Ammoura, L.; Goddet, J.P.; Malka, V.; Faure, J.; Ben-Ismail, A.; Davoine, X.; Lefebvre, E.; Gallot, G.

2011-01-01

Particle accelerators driven by the interaction of ultra-intense and ultrashort laser pulses with a plasma can generate accelerating electric fields of several hundred giga-volts per meter and deliver high-quality electron beams with low energy spread, low emittance and up to 1 GeV peak energy. Moreover, it is expected they may soon be able to produce bursts of electrons shorter than those produced by conventional particle accelerators, down to femtosecond durations and less. Here we present wide-band spectral measurements of coherent transition radiation which we use for temporal characterization. Our analysis shows that the electron beam, produced using controlled optical injection, contains a temporal feature that can be identified as a 15 pC, 1.4-1.8 fs electron bunch (root mean square) leading to a peak current of 3-4 kA depending on the bunch shape. We anticipate that these results will have a strong impact on emerging applications such as short-pulse and short-wavelength radiation sources, and will benefit the realization of laboratory-scale free-electron lasers. (authors)

High power millimeter-wave free electron laser based on recirculating electrostatic accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Byung-Cheol; Kim, Sun-Kook; Jeong, Young-Uk; Cho, Sung-Oh; Lee, Jongmin

1995-01-01

Progress in the development of a high power, millimeter-wave free electron laser driven by a recirculating electrostatic accelerator is reported. The energy and the current of electron beam are 430 keV and 2 A, respectively. The expected average output power is above 10 kW at the wavelength of 3-10 mm. Minimizing of the beam loss is a key issue for CW operation of the FEL with high efficiency. (author)

Matching sub-fs electron bunches for laser-driven plasma acceleration at SINBAD

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhu, J., E-mail: jun.zhu@desy.de [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, DESY, Hamburg (Germany); Universität Hamburg, Hamburg (Germany); Assmann, R.W.; Dorda, U.; Marchetti, B. [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, DESY, Hamburg (Germany)

2016-09-01

We present theoretical and numerical studies of matching sub-femtosecond space-charge-dominated electron bunch into the Laser-plasma Wake Field Accelerator (LWFA) foreseen at the SINBAD facility. The longitudinal space-charge (SC) effect induced growths of the energy spread and longitudinal phase-space chirp are major issues in the matching section, which will result in bunch elongation, emittance growth and spot size dilution. In addition, the transverse SC effect would lead to a mismatch of the beam optics if it were not compensated for. Start-to-end simulations and preliminary optimizations were carried out in order to understand the achievable beam parameters at the entrance of the plasma accelerator.

Quasi-monoenergetic ion beam acceleration by laser-driven shock and solitary waves in near-critical plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, W. L.; Qiao, B.; Huang, T. W.; Shen, X. F.; You, W. Y.; Yan, X. Q.; Wu, S. Z.; Zhou, C. T.; He, X. T.

2016-01-01

Ion acceleration in near-critical plasmas driven by intense laser pulses is investigated theoretically and numerically. A theoretical model has been given for clarification of the ion acceleration dynamics in relation to different laser and target parameters. Two distinct regimes have been identified, where ions are accelerated by, respectively, the laser-induced shock wave in the weakly driven regime (comparatively low laser intensity) and the nonlinear solitary wave in the strongly driven regime (comparatively high laser intensity). Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that quasi-monoenergetic proton beams with a peak energy of 94.6 MeV and an energy spread 15.8% are obtained by intense laser pulses at intensity I_0 = 3 × 10"2"0" W/cm"2 and pulse duration τ = 0.5 ps in the strongly driven regime, which is more advantageous than that got in the weakly driven regime. In addition, 233 MeV proton beams with narrow spread can be produced by extending τ to 1.0 ps in the strongly driven regime.

Quasi-monoenergetic ion beam acceleration by laser-driven shock and solitary waves in near-critical plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, W. L.; Qiao, B., E-mail: bqiao@pku.edu.cn; Huang, T. W.; Shen, X. F.; You, W. Y. [Center for Applied Physics and Technology, HEDPS, and State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Technology, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871 (China); Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030006 (China); Yan, X. Q. [Center for Applied Physics and Technology, HEDPS, and State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Technology, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871 (China); Wu, S. Z. [Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics, Beijing 100094 (China); Zhou, C. T.; He, X. T. [Center for Applied Physics and Technology, HEDPS, and State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Technology, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871 (China); Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics, Beijing 100094 (China)

2016-07-15

Ion acceleration in near-critical plasmas driven by intense laser pulses is investigated theoretically and numerically. A theoretical model has been given for clarification of the ion acceleration dynamics in relation to different laser and target parameters. Two distinct regimes have been identified, where ions are accelerated by, respectively, the laser-induced shock wave in the weakly driven regime (comparatively low laser intensity) and the nonlinear solitary wave in the strongly driven regime (comparatively high laser intensity). Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that quasi-monoenergetic proton beams with a peak energy of 94.6 MeV and an energy spread 15.8% are obtained by intense laser pulses at intensity I{sub 0} = 3 × 10{sup 20 }W/cm{sup 2} and pulse duration τ = 0.5 ps in the strongly driven regime, which is more advantageous than that got in the weakly driven regime. In addition, 233 MeV proton beams with narrow spread can be produced by extending τ to 1.0 ps in the strongly driven regime.

Observation of laser multiple filamentation process and multiple electron beams acceleration in a laser wakefield accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Wentao; Liu, Jiansheng; Wang, Wentao; Chen, Qiang; Zhang, Hui; Tian, Ye; Zhang, Zhijun; Qi, Rong; Wang, Cheng; Leng, Yuxin; Li, Ruxin; Xu, Zhizhan

2013-01-01

The multiple filaments formation process in the laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA) was observed by imaging the transmitted laser beam after propagating in the plasma of different density. During propagation, the laser first self-focused into a single filament. After that, it began to defocus with energy spreading in the transverse direction. Two filaments then formed from it and began to propagate independently, moving away from each other. We have also demonstrated that the laser multiple filamentation would lead to the multiple electron beams acceleration in the LWFA via ionization-induced injection scheme. Besides, its influences on the accelerated electron beams were also analyzed both in the single-stage LWFA and cascaded LWFA

Probing electron acceleration and x-ray emission in laser-plasma accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thaury, C.; Ta Phuoc, K.; Corde, S.; Brijesh, P.; Lambert, G.; Malka, V.; Mangles, S. P. D.; Bloom, M. S.; Kneip, S.

2013-01-01

While laser-plasma accelerators have demonstrated a strong potential in the acceleration of electrons up to giga-electronvolt energies, few experimental tools for studying the acceleration physics have been developed. In this paper, we demonstrate a method for probing the acceleration process. A second laser beam, propagating perpendicular to the main beam, is focused on the gas jet few nanosecond before the main beam creates the accelerating plasma wave. This second beam is intense enough to ionize the gas and form a density depletion, which will locally inhibit the acceleration. The position of the density depletion is scanned along the interaction length to probe the electron injection and acceleration, and the betatron X-ray emission. To illustrate the potential of the method, the variation of the injection position with the plasma density is studied

A novel approach to electron data background treatment in an online wide-angle spectrometer for laser-accelerated ion and electron bunches

Science.gov (United States)

Lindner, F. H.; Bin, J. H.; Englbrecht, F.; Haffa, D.; Bolton, P. R.; Gao, Y.; Hartmann, J.; Hilz, P.; Kreuzer, C.; Ostermayr, T. M.; Rösch, T. F.; Speicher, M.; Parodi, K.; Thirolf, P. G.; Schreiber, J.

2018-01-01

Laser-based ion acceleration is driven by electrical fields emerging when target electrons absorb laser energy and consecutively leave the target material. A direct correlation between these electrons and the accelerated ions is thus to be expected and predicted by theoretical models. We report on a modified wide-angle spectrometer, allowing the simultaneous characterization of angularly resolved energy distributions of both ions and electrons. Equipped with online pixel detectors, the RadEye1 detectors, the investigation of this correlation gets attainable on a single shot basis. In addition to first insights, we present a novel approach for reliably extracting the primary electron energy distribution from the interfering secondary radiation background. This proves vitally important for quantitative extraction of average electron energies (temperatures) and emitted total charge.

CO2 laser technology for advanced particle accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pogorelsky, I.V.

1996-06-01

Short-pulse, high-power CO 2 lasers open new prospects for development of ultra-high gradient laser-driven electron accelerators. The advantages of λ=10 μm CO 2 laser radiation over the more widely exploited solid state lasers with λ∼1 μm are based on a λ 2 -proportional ponderomotive potential, λ-proportional phase slippage, and λ-proportional scaling of the laser accelerator structures. We show how a picosecond terawatt CO 2 laser that is under construction at the Brookhaven Accelerator Test Facility may benefit the ATF's experimental program of testing far-field, near-field, and plasma accelerator schemes

Laser plasma acceleration of electrons with multi-PW laser beams in the frame of CILEX

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cros, B., E-mail: brigitte.cros@u-psud.fr [LPGP, CNRS and Université Paris Sud, Orsay (France); Paradkar, B.S. [LPGP, CNRS and Université Paris Sud, Orsay (France); Davoine, X. [CEA DAM DIF, Arpajon F-91297 (France); Chancé, A. [CEA IRFU-SACM, Gif-Sur-Yvette (France); Desforges, F.G. [LPGP, CNRS and Université Paris Sud, Orsay (France); Dobosz-Dufrénoy, S. [CEA DSM-IRAMIS-SPAM, Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Delerue, N. [LAL, CNRS and Universit Paris Sud, Orsay (France); Ju, J.; Audet, T.L.; Maynard, G. [LPGP, CNRS and Université Paris Sud, Orsay (France); Lobet, M.; Gremillet, L. [CEA DAM DIF, Arpajon F-91297 (France); Mora, P. [CPhT, CNRS and Ecole Polytechnique, Palaiseau (France); Schwindling, J.; Delferrière, O. [CEA IRFU-SACM, Gif-Sur-Yvette (France); Bruni, C.; Rimbault, C.; Vinatier, T. [LAL, CNRS and Universit Paris Sud, Orsay (France); Di Piazza, A. [Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg (Germany); Grech, M. [LULI, Ecole Polytechnique, CNRS, CEA, UPMC, Palaiseau (France); and others

2014-03-11

Laser plasma acceleration of electrons has progressed along with advances in laser technology. It is thus expected that the development in the near-future of multi-PW-class laser and facilities will enable a vast range of scientific opportunities for laser plasma acceleration research. On one hand, high peak powers can be used to explore the extremely high intensity regime of laser wakefield acceleration, producing for example large amounts of electrons in the GeV range or generating high energy photons. On the other hand, the available laser energy can be used in the quasi-linear regime to create accelerating fields in large volumes of plasma and study controlled acceleration in a plasma stage of externally injected relativistic particles, either electrons or positrons. In the frame of the Centre Interdisciplinaire de la Lumière EXtrême (CILEX), the Apollon-10P laser will deliver two beams at the 1 PW and 10 PW levels, in ultra-short (>15fs) pulses, to a target area dedicated to electron acceleration studies, such as the exploration of the non-linear regimes predicted theoretically, or multi-stage laser plasma acceleration.

Laser wakefield acceleration with high-power, few-cycle mid-IR lasers

OpenAIRE

Papp, Daniel; Wood, Jonathan C.; Gruson, Vincent; Bionta, Mina; Gruse, Jan-Niclas; Cormier, Eric; Najmudin, Zulfikar; Légaré, François; Kamperidis, Christos

2018-01-01

The study of laser wakefield electron acceleration (LWFA) using mid-IR laser drivers is a promising path for future laser driven electronaccelerators, when compared to traditional near-IR laser drivers uperating at 0.8-1 {\\mu}m central wavelength ({\\lambda}laser), as the necessary vector potential a_0 for electron injection can be achieved with smaller laser powers due to the linear dependence on {\\lambda}laser. In this work, we perform 2D PIC simulations on LWFA using few-cycle high power (5...

Calculating the radiation characteristics of accelerated electrons in laser-plasma interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, X. F.; Yu, Q.; Qu, J. F.; Kong, Q.; Gu, Y. J.; Ma, Y. Y.; Kawata, S.

2016-01-01

In this paper, we studied the characteristics of radiation emitted by electrons accelerated in a laser–plasma interaction by using the Lienard–Wiechert field. In the interaction of a laser pulse with a underdense plasma, electrons are accelerated by two mechanisms: direct laser acceleration (DLA) and laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA). At the beginning of the process, the DLA electrons emit most of the radiation, and the DLA electrons emit a much higher peak photon energy than the LWFA electrons. As the laser–plasma interaction progresses, the LWFA electrons become the major radiation emitter; however, even at this stage, the contribution from DLA electrons is significant, especially to the peak photon energy.

The effect of laser pulse parameters and initial phase on the acceleration of electrons in a vacuum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, Kunwar Pal; Gupta, Devki Nandan; Malik, Hitendra K

2008-01-01

Laser driven acceleration of electrons lying along the axis of the laser has been studied. We have considered a linearly polarized laser pulse. The quiver amplitude causes electrons to escape from the pulse. The energy gained by the electrons peaks for a suitable value of laser spot size. The value of a suitable laser spot size increases with laser intensity and initial electron energy. The energy gained by the electron depends upon its initial position with respect to the laser pulse. The electrons close to the pulse peak with initial phase π/2 are scattered least and gain higher energy. The electrons close to the leading edge of the pulse gain sufficient energy for a short laser pulse and the effect of initial phase is not important. A suitable value of laser spot size can be estimated from this study

Electron Acceleration in Wakefield and Supra-Bubble Regimes by Ultraintense Laser with Asymmetric Pulse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maimaitiaili, Bake; Sayipjamal, Dulat; Aimierding, Aimidula; Xie Baisong

2011-01-01

Electron acceleration in plasma driven by circular polarized ultraintense laser with asymmetric pulse are investigated analytically and numerically in terms of oscillation-center Hamiltonian formalism. Studies include wakefield acceleration, which dominates in blow-out or bubble regime and snow-plow acceleration which dominates in supra-bubble regime. By a comparison with each other it is found that snow-plow acceleration has lower acceleration capability. In wakefield acceleration, there exists an obvious optimum pulse asymmetry or/and pulse lengths that leads to the high net energy gain while in snow-plow acceleration it is insensitive to the pulse lengths. Power and linear scaling laws for wakefield and snow-plow acceleration respetively are observed from the net energy gain depending on laser field amplitude. Moreover, there exists also an upper and lower limit on plasma density for an effective acceleration in both of regimes. (physics of gases, plasmas, and electric discharges)

Experimental results of laser wakefield acceleration using a femtosecond terawatt laser pulse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kando, Masaki; Ahn, Hyeyoung; Dewa, Hideki

1999-01-01

Laser wakefield acceleration (LWA) experiments have been carried out in an underdense plasma driven by a 2 TW, 90 fs laser pulse synchronized with a 17 MeV RF linac electron injector at 10 Hz. Around optimum plasma densities for LWA, we have observed electrons accelerated to 35 MeV. Wakefield excitation has been confirmed by measuring the electron density oscillation with a frequency domain interferometer. At plasma densities higher than the optimum density, we have also observed high energy electrons over 100 MeV up to 200 MeV. (author)

Dielectric laser acceleration of non-relativistic electrons at a photonic structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Breuer, John

2013-08-29

This thesis reports on the observation of dielectric laser acceleration of non-relativistic electrons via the inverse Smith-Purcell effect in the optical regime. Evanescent modes in the vicinity of a periodic grating structure can travel at the same velocity as the electrons along the grating surface. A longitudinal electric field component is used to continuously impart momentum onto the electrons. This is only possible in the near-field of a suitable photonic structure, which means that the electron beam has to pass the structure within about one wavelength. In our experiment we exploit the third spatial harmonic of a single fused silica grating excited by laser pulses derived from a Titanium:sapphire oscillator and accelerate non-relativistic 28 keV electrons. We measure a maximum energy gain of 280 eV, corresponding to an acceleration gradient of 25 MeV/m, already comparable with state-of-the-art radio-frequency linear accelerators. To experience this acceleration gradient the electrons approach the grating closer than 100 nm. We present the theory behind grating-based particle acceleration and discuss simulation results of dielectric laser acceleration in the near-field of photonic grating structures, which is excited by near-infrared laser light. Our measurements show excellent agreement with our simulation results and therefore confirm the direct acceleration with the light field. We further discuss the acceleration inside double grating structures, dephasing effects of non-relativistic electrons as well as the space charge effect, which can limit the attainable peak currents of these novel accelerator structures. The photonic structures described in this work can be readily concatenated and therefore represent a scalable realization of dielectric laser acceleration. Furthermore, our structures are directly compatible with the microstructures used for the acceleration of relativistic electrons demonstrated in parallel to this work by our collaborators in

Radiation reaction effect on laser driven auto-resonant particle acceleration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sagar, Vikram; Sengupta, Sudip; Kaw, P. K.

2015-01-01

The effects of radiation reaction force on laser driven auto-resonant particle acceleration scheme are studied using Landau-Lifshitz equation of motion. These studies are carried out for both linear and circularly polarized laser fields in the presence of static axial magnetic field. From the parametric study, a radiation reaction dominated region has been identified in which the particle dynamics is greatly effected by this force. In the radiation reaction dominated region, the two significant effects on particle dynamics are seen, viz., (1) saturation in energy gain by the initially resonant particle and (2) net energy gain by an initially non-resonant particle which is caused due to resonance broadening. It has been further shown that with the relaxation of resonance condition and with optimum choice of parameters, this scheme may become competitive with the other present-day laser driven particle acceleration schemes. The quantum corrections to the Landau-Lifshitz equation of motion have also been taken into account. The difference in the energy gain estimates of the particle by the quantum corrected and classical Landau-Lifshitz equation is found to be insignificant for the present day as well as upcoming laser facilities

The chirped-pulse inverse free-electron laser: A high-gradient vacuum laser accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hartemann, F.V.; Landahl, E.C.; Troha, A.L.; Van Meter, J.R.; Baldis, H.A.; Freeman, R.R.; Luhmann, N.C. Jr.; Song, L.; Kerman, A.K.; Yu, D.U.

1999-01-01

The inverse free-electron laser (IFEL) interaction is studied theoretically and computationally in the case where the drive laser intensity approaches the relativistic regime, and the pulse duration is only a few optical cycles long. The IFEL concept has been demonstrated as a viable vacuum laser acceleration process; it is shown here that by using an ultrashort, ultrahigh-intensity drive laser pulse, the IFEL interaction bandwidth and accelerating gradient are increased considerably, thus yielding large energy gains. Using a chirped pulse and negative dispersion focusing optics allows one to take further advantage of the laser optical bandwidth and produce a chromatic line focus maximizing the gradient. The combination of these novel ideas results in a compact vacuum laser accelerator capable of accelerating picosecond electron bunches with a high gradient (GeV/m) and very low energy spread. copyright 1999 American Institute of Physics

Accelerator for medical applications and electron acceleration by laser plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hosokai, Tomonao; Uesaka, Mitsuru

2006-01-01

In this article, the current status of radiation therapies in Japan and updated medical accelerators are reviewed. For medical use, there is a strong demand of a compact and flexible accelerator. At present, however, we have only two choices of the S-band linac with one or two rotation axis combined with the multi leaf collimator, or the X-band linac with a rather flexible robotic arm. In addition, the laser plasma cathode that is the second generation of the laser wake-field accelerator (LWFA) is studied as a high-quality electron source for medical use though it is still at the stage of the basic research. The potential of LWFA as medical accelerator near future is discussed based on updated results of laser plasma cathode experiment in Univ. of Tokyo. (author)

Scaling electron acceleration in the bubble regime for upcoming lasers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jansen, O.; Tueckmantel, T.; Pukhov, A.

2014-01-01

Electron acceleration in the laser-plasma bubble appeared to be the most successful regime of laser wake field acceleration in the last decade. The laser technology became mature enough to generate short and relativistically intense pulses required to reach the bubble regime naturally delivering quasi-monoenergetic bunches of relativistic electrons. The upcoming laser technology projects are promising short pulses with many times more energy than the existing ones. The natural question is how will the bubble regime scale with the available laser energy. We present here a parametric study of laser-plasma acceleration in the bubble regime using full three dimensional particle-in-cell simulations and compare numerical results with the analytical scalings from the relativistic laser-plasma similarity theory. Our simulations and the theory match almost perfectly for spot sizes above R = 2λ and laser amplitudes above a 0 = 4. We also studied the emission of synchrotron radiation by the accelerated electrons. Both classical and a QED model were applied. We found borders, at which theory and simulations stopped matching. With small spot radii (R < 2λ) we almost never observed the formation of a bubble structure or any form of mono-energetic acceleration. Low laser amplitudes lead to higher energies than predicted by the theory

Beam manipulation for compact laser wakefield accelerator based free-electron lasers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loulergue, A; Labat, M; Benabderrahmane, C; Couprie, M E; Evain, C; Malka, V

2015-01-01

Free-electron lasers (FELs) are a unique source of light, particularly in the x-ray domain. After the success of FELs based on conventional acceleration using radio-frequency cavities, an important challenge is the development of FELs based on electron bunching accelerated by a laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA). However, the present LWFA electron bunch properties do not permit use directly for a significant FEL amplification. It is known that longitudinal decompression of electron beams delivered by state-of-the-art LWFA eases the FEL process. We propose here a second order transverse beam manipulation turning the large inherent transverse chromatic emittances of LWFA beams into direct FEL gain advantage. Numerical simulations are presented showing that this beam manipulation can further enhance by orders of magnitude the peak power of the radiation. (paper)

Linac-driven XUV free-electron laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Newnam, B.E.; Goldstein, J.C.; Fraser, J.S.; Cooper, R.K.

1983-01-01

Use of an rf linear accelerator as the electron source for a free-electron laser operating in the extreme ultraviolet wavelength range from 100 nm to at least as low as 50 nm appears feasible. Peak and average power outputs of greater than 100 kW and 50W, respectively, are predicted

An Inverse Free-Electron-Laser accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fisher, A.S.; Gallardo, J.C.; van Steenbergen, A.; Ulc, S.; Woodle, M.; Sandweiss, J.; Fang, Jyan-Min

1993-01-01

Recent work at BNL on electron acceleration using the Inverse Free-Electron Laser (IFEL) has considered a low-energy, high-gradient, multi-stage linear accelerator. Experiments are planned at BNL's Accelerator Test Facility using its 50-MeV linac and 100-GW CO 2 laser. We have built and tested a fast-excitation wiggler magnet with constant field, tapered period, and overall length of 47 cm. Vanadium-Permendur ferromagnetic laminations are stacked in alternation with copper, eddy-current-induced, field reflectors to achieve a 1.4-T peak field with a 4-mm gap and a typical period of 3 cm. The laser beam will pass through the wiggler in a low-loss, dielectric-coated stainless-steel, rectangular waveguide. The attenuation and transverse mode has been measured in waveguide sections of various lengths, with and without the dielectric. Results of 1-D and 3-D IFEL simulations, including wiggler errors, will be presented for several cases: the initial, single-module experiment with ΔE = 39 MeV, a four-module design giving ΔE = 100 MeV in a total length of 2 m, and an eight-module IFEL with ΔE = 210 MeV

CO2 laser technology for advanced particle accelerators. Revision

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pogorelsky, I.V.

1996-06-01

Short-pulse, high-power CO 2 lasers open new prospects for development of ultra-high gradient laser-driven electron accelerators. The advantages of λ=10 μm CO 2 laser radiation over the more widely exploited solid state lasers with λ∼1 μm are based on a λ 2 -proportional ponderomotive potential, λ-proportional phase slippage distance, and λ-proportional scaling of the laser accelerator structures. We show how a picosecond terawatt CO 2 laser that is under construction at the Brookhaven Accelerator Test Facility may benefit the ATF's experimental program of testing far-field, near-field, and plasma accelerator schemes

Photonic Crystal Laser-Driven Accelerator Structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cowan, Benjamin M.

2007-01-01

Laser-driven acceleration holds great promise for significantly improving accelerating gradient. However, scaling the conventional process of structure-based acceleration in vacuum down to optical wavelengths requires a substantially different kind of structure. We require an optical waveguide that (1) is constructed out of dielectric materials, (2) has transverse size on the order of a wavelength, and (3) supports a mode with speed-of-light phase velocity in vacuum. Photonic crystals---structures whose electromagnetic properties are spatially periodic---can meet these requirements. We discuss simulated photonic crystal accelerator structures and describe their properties. We begin with a class of two-dimensional structures which serves to illustrate the design considerations and trade-offs involved. We then present a three-dimensional structure, and describe its performance in terms of accelerating gradient and efficiency. We discuss particle beam dynamics in this structure, demonstrating a method for keeping a beam confined to the waveguide. We also discuss material and fabrication considerations. Since accelerating gradient is limited by optical damage to the structure, the damage threshold of the dielectric is a critical parameter. We experimentally measure the damage threshold of silicon for picosecond pulses in the infrared, and determine that our structure is capable of sustaining an accelerating gradient of 300 MV/m at 1550 nm. Finally, we discuss possibilities for manufacturing these structures using common microfabrication techniques

Injection of electrons by colliding laser pulses in a laser wakefield accelerator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hansson, M., E-mail: martin.hansson@fysik.lth.se; Aurand, B.; Ekerfelt, H.; Persson, A.; Lundh, O.

2016-09-01

To improve the stability and reproducibility of laser wakefield accelerators and to allow for future applications, controlling the injection of electrons is of great importance. This allows us to control the amount of charge in the beams of accelerated electrons and final energy of the electrons. Results are presented from a recent experiment on controlled injection using the scheme of colliding pulses and performed using the Lund multi-terawatt laser. Each laser pulse is split into two parts close to the interaction point. The main pulse is focused on a 2 mm diameter gas jet to drive a nonlinear plasma wave below threshold for self-trapping. The second pulse, containing only a fraction of the total laser energy, is focused to collide with the main pulse in the gas jet under an angle of 150°. Beams of accelerated electrons with low divergence and small energy spread are produced using this set-up. Control over the amount of accelerated charge is achieved by rotating the plane of polarization of the second pulse in relation to the main pulse. Furthermore, the peak energy of the electrons in the beams is controlled by moving the collision point along the optical axis of the main pulse, and thereby changing the acceleration length in the plasma. - Highlights: • Compact colliding pulse injection set-up used to produce low energy spread e-beams. • Beam charge controlled by rotating the polarization of injection pulse. • Peak energy controlled by point of collision to vary the acceleration length.

Towards a novel laser-driven method of exotic nuclei extraction−acceleration for fundamental physics and technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nishiuchi, M., E-mail: sergei@jaea.go.jp; Sakaki, H.; Esirkepov, T. Zh. [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Kansai Photon Science Institute (Japan); Nishio, K. [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Advanced Science Research Center (Japan); Pikuz, T. A.; Faenov, A. Ya. [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Kansai Photon Science Institute (Japan); Skobelev, I. Yu. [Russian Academy of Sciences, Joint Institute for High Temperature (Russian Federation); Orlandi, R. [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Advanced Science Research Center (Japan); Pirozhkov, A. S.; Sagisaka, A.; Ogura, K.; Kanasaki, M.; Kiriyama, H.; Fukuda, Y. [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Kansai Photon Science Institute (Japan); Koura, H. [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Advanced Science Research Center (Japan); Kando, M. [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Kansai Photon Science Institute (Japan); Yamauchi, T. [Graduate School of Maritime Sciences (Japan); Watanabe, Y. [Kyushu University, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences (Japan); Bulanov, S. V., E-mail: svbulanov@gmail.com; Kondo, K. [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Kansai Photon Science Institute (Japan); and others

2016-04-15

A combination of a petawatt laser and nuclear physics techniques can crucially facilitate the measurement of exotic nuclei properties. With numerical simulations and laser-driven experiments we show prospects for the Laser-driven Exotic Nuclei extraction–acceleration method proposed in [M. Nishiuchi et al., Phys, Plasmas 22, 033107 (2015)]: a femtosecond petawatt laser, irradiating a target bombarded by an external ion beam, extracts from the target and accelerates to few GeV highly charged short-lived heavy exotic nuclei created in the target via nuclear reactions.

Staging laser plasma accelerators for increased beam energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Panasenko, Dmitriy; Shu, Anthony; Schroeder, Carl; Gonsalves, Anthony; Nakamura, Kei; Matlis, Nicholas; Cormier-Michel, Estelle; Plateau, Guillaume; Lin, Chen; Toth, Csaba; Geddes, Cameron; Esarey, Eric; Leemans, Wim

2008-01-01

Staging laser plasma accelerators is an efficient way of mitigating laser pump depletion in laser driven accelerators and necessary for reaching high energies with compact laser systems. The concept of staging includes coupling of additional laser energy and transporting the electron beam from one accelerating module to another. Due to laser damage threshold constraints, in-coupling laser energy with conventional optics requires distances between the accelerating modules of the order of 10m, resulting in decreased average accelerating gradient and complicated e-beam transport. In this paper we use basic scaling laws to show that the total length of future laser plasma accelerators will be determined by staging technology. We also propose using a liquid jet plasma mirror for in-coupling the laser beam and show that it has the potential to reduce distance between stages to the cm-scale.

Laser-driven relativistic electron dynamics in a cylindrical plasma channel

Science.gov (United States)

Geng, Pan-Fei; Lv, Wen-Juan; Li, Xiao-Liang; Tang, Rong-An; Xue, Ju-Kui

2018-03-01

The energy and trajectory of the electron, which is irradiated by a high-power laser pulse in a cylindrical plasma channel with a uniform positive charge and a uniform negative current, have been analyzed in terms of a single-electron model of direct laser acceleration. We find that the energy and trajectory of the electron strongly depend on the positive charge density, the negative current density, and the intensity of the laser pulse. The electron can be accelerated significantly only when the positive charge density, the negative current density, and the intensity of the laser pulse are in suitable ranges due to the dephasing rate between the wave and electron motion. Particularly, when their values satisfy a critical condition, the electron can stay in phase with the laser and gain the largest energy from the laser. With the enhancement of the electron energy, strong modulations of the relativistic factor cause a considerable enhancement of the electron transverse oscillations across the channel, which makes the electron trajectory become essentially three-dimensional, even if it is flat at the early stage of the acceleration. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11475027, 11765017, 11764039, 11305132, and 11274255), the Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province, China (Grant No. 17JR5RA076), and the Scientific Research Project of Gansu Higher Education, China (Grant No. 2016A-005).

Laser-driven particle acceleration for radiobiology and radiotherapy: where we are and where we are going

Science.gov (United States)

Giulietti, Antonio

2017-05-01

Radiation therapy of tumors progresses continuously and so do devices, sharing a global market of about $ 4 billions, growing at an annual rate exceeding 5%. Most of the progress involves tumor targeting, multi-beam irradiation, reduction of damage on healthy tissues and critical organs, dose fractioning. This fast-evolving scenario is the moving benchmark for the progress of the laser-based accelerators towards clinical uses. As for electrons, both energy and dose requested by radiotherapy are available with plasma accelerators driven by lasers in the power range of tens of TW but several issues have still to be faced before getting a prototype device for clinical tests. They include capability of varying electron energy, stability of the process, reliability for medical users. On the other side hadron therapy, presently applied to a small fraction of cases but within an exponential growth, is a primary option for the future. With such a strong motivation, research on laser-based proton/ion acceleration has been supported in the last decade in order to get performances suitable to clinical standards. None of these performances has been achieved so far with laser techniques. In the meantime a rich crop of data have been obtained in radiobiological experiments performed with beams of particles produced with laser techniques. It is quite significant however that most of the experiments have been performed moving bio samples to laser labs, rather moving laser equipment to bio labs or clinical contexts. This give us the measure that laser community cannot so far provide practical devices usable by non-laser people.

Coulomb-driven energy boost of heavy ions for laser-plasma acceleration.

Science.gov (United States)

Braenzel, J; Andreev, A A; Platonov, K; Klingsporn, M; Ehrentraut, L; Sandner, W; Schnürer, M

2015-03-27

An unprecedented increase of kinetic energy of laser accelerated heavy ions is demonstrated. Ultrathin gold foils have been irradiated by an ultrashort laser pulse at a peak intensity of 8×10^{19}  W/  cm^{2}. Highly charged gold ions with kinetic energies up to >200  MeV and a bandwidth limited energy distribution have been reached by using 1.3 J laser energy on target. 1D and 2D particle in cell simulations show how a spatial dependence on the ion's ionization leads to an enhancement of the accelerating electrical field. Our theoretical model considers a spatial distribution of the ionization inside the thin target, leading to a field enhancement for the heavy ions by Coulomb explosion. It is capable of explaining the energy boost of highly charged ions, enabling a higher efficiency for the laser-driven heavy ion acceleration.

High energy electron acceleration with PW-class laser system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakanii, N.; Kondo, K.; Yabuuchi, T.; Tsuji, K.; Kimura, K.; Fukumochi, S.; Kashihara, M.; Tanimoto, T.; Nakamura, H.; Ishikura, T.; Kodama, R.; Mima, K.; Tanaka, K. A.; Mori, Y.; Miura, E.; Suzuki, S.; Asaka, T.; Yanagida, K.; Hanaki, H.; Kobayashi, T.

2008-01-01

We performed electron acceleration experiment with PW-class laser and a plasma tube, which was created by imploding a hollow polystyrene cylinder. In this experiment, electron energies in excess of 600 MeV have been observed. Moreover, the spectra of a comparatively high-density plasma ∼10 19 cm -3 had a bump around 10 MeV. Additionally, we performed the absolute sensitivity calibration of imaging plate for 1 GeV electrons from the injector Linac of Spring-8 in order to evaluate absolute number of GeV-class electrons in the laser acceleration experiment

An inverse free electron laser accelerator experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wernick, I.; Marshall, T.C.

1992-01-01

A free electron laser was configured as an autoaccelerator to test the principle of accelerating electrons by stimulated absorption of radiation (λ = 1.65mm) by an electron beam (750kV) traversing an undulator. Radiation is produced in the first section of a constant period undulator (1 w1 = 1.43cm) and then absorbed (∼ 40%) in a second undulator, having a tapered period (1 w2 = 1.8 - 2.25cm), which results in the acceleration of a subgroup (∼ 9%) of electrons to ∼ 1MeV

Laser-driven particle and photon beams and some applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ledingham, K W D; Galster, W

2010-01-01

Outstanding progress has been made in high-power laser technology in the last 10 years with laser powers reaching petawatt (PW) values. At present, there are 15 PW lasers built or being built around the world and plans are afoot for new, even higher power, lasers reaching values of exawatt (EW) or even zetawatt (ZW) powers. Petawatt lasers generate electric fields of 10 12 V m -1 with a large fraction of the total pulse energy being converted to relativistic electrons with energies reaching in excess of 1 GeV. In turn these electrons result in the generation of beams of protons, heavy ions, neutrons and high-energy photons. These laser-driven particle beams have encouraged many to think of carrying out experiments normally associated with conventional nuclear accelerators and reactors. To this end a number of introductory articles have been written under a trial name 'Laser Nuclear Physics' (Ledingham and Norreys 1999 Contemp. Phys. 40 367, Ledingham et al 2002 Europhys. News. 33 120, Ledingham et al 2003 Science 300 1107, Takabe et al 2001 J. Plasma Fusion Res. 77 1094). However, even greater strides have been made in the last 3 or 4 years in laser technology and it is timely to reassess the potential of laser-driven particle and photon beams. It must be acknowledged right from the outset that to date laser-driven particle beams have yet to compete favourably with conventional nuclear accelerator-generated beams in any way and so this is not a paper comparing laser and conventional accelerators. However, occasionally throughout the paper as a reality check, it will be mentioned what conventional nuclear accelerators can do.

Laser-driven particle and photon beams and some applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ledingham, K W D; Galster, W, E-mail: K.Ledingham@phys.strath.ac.u [SUPA, Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG (United Kingdom)

2010-04-15

Outstanding progress has been made in high-power laser technology in the last 10 years with laser powers reaching petawatt (PW) values. At present, there are 15 PW lasers built or being built around the world and plans are afoot for new, even higher power, lasers reaching values of exawatt (EW) or even zetawatt (ZW) powers. Petawatt lasers generate electric fields of 10{sup 12} V m{sup -1} with a large fraction of the total pulse energy being converted to relativistic electrons with energies reaching in excess of 1 GeV. In turn these electrons result in the generation of beams of protons, heavy ions, neutrons and high-energy photons. These laser-driven particle beams have encouraged many to think of carrying out experiments normally associated with conventional nuclear accelerators and reactors. To this end a number of introductory articles have been written under a trial name 'Laser Nuclear Physics' (Ledingham and Norreys 1999 Contemp. Phys. 40 367, Ledingham et al 2002 Europhys. News. 33 120, Ledingham et al 2003 Science 300 1107, Takabe et al 2001 J. Plasma Fusion Res. 77 1094). However, even greater strides have been made in the last 3 or 4 years in laser technology and it is timely to reassess the potential of laser-driven particle and photon beams. It must be acknowledged right from the outset that to date laser-driven particle beams have yet to compete favourably with conventional nuclear accelerator-generated beams in any way and so this is not a paper comparing laser and conventional accelerators. However, occasionally throughout the paper as a reality check, it will be mentioned what conventional nuclear accelerators can do.

Intense laser driven collision-less shock and ion acceleration in magnetized plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Mima, K.; Jia, Q.; Cai, H. B.; Taguchi, T.; Nagatomo, H.; Sanz, J. R.; Honrubia, J.

2016-05-01

The generation of strong magnetic field with a laser driven coil has been demonstrated by many experiments. It is applicable to the magnetized fast ignition (MFI), the collision-less shock in the astrophysics and the ion shock acceleration. In this paper, the longitudinal magnetic field effect on the shock wave driven by the radiation pressure of an intense short pulse laser is investigated by theory and simulations. The transition of a laminar shock (electro static shock) to the turbulent shock (electromagnetic shock) occurs, when the external magnetic field is applied in near relativistic cut-off density plasmas. This transition leads to the enhancement of conversion of the laser energy into high energy ions. The enhancement of the conversion efficiency is important for the ion driven fast ignition and the laser driven neutron source. It is found that the total number of ions reflected by the shock increases by six time when the magnetic field is applied.

Effects of laser-polarization and wiggler magnetic fields on electron acceleration in laser-cluster interaction

Science.gov (United States)

Singh Ghotra, Harjit; Kant, Niti

2018-06-01

We examine the electron dynamics during laser-cluster interaction. In addition to the electrostatic field of an individual cluster and laser field, we consider an external transverse wiggler magnetic field, which plays a pivotal role in enhancing the electron acceleration. Single-particle simulation has been presented with a short pulse linearly polarized as well as circularly polarized laser pulses for electron acceleration in a cluster. The persisting Coulomb field allows the electron to absorb energy from the laser field. The stochastically heated electron finds a weak electric field at the edge of the cluster from where it is ejected. The wiggler magnetic field connects the regions of the stochastically heated, ejected electron from the cluster and high energy gain by the electron from the laser field outside the cluster. This increases the field strength and hence supports the electron to meet the phase of the laser field for enhanced acceleration. A long duration resonance appears with an optimized magnetic wiggler field of about 3.4 kG. Hence, the relativistic energy gain by the electron is enhanced up to a few 100 MeV with an intense short pulse laser with an intensity of about 1019 W cm‑2 in the presence of a wiggler magnetic field.

Laser - driven high - energy ions and their application to inertial confinement fusion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borghesi, M.

2007-01-01

The acceleration of high-energy ion beams (up to several tens of MeV per nucleon) following the interaction of short and intense laser pulses with solid targets has been one of the most important results of recent laser-plasma research [1]. The acceleration is driven by relativistic electrons, which acquire energy directly from the laser pulse and set up extremely large (∼TV/m) space charge fields at the target interfaces. The properties of laser-driven ion beams (high brightness and laminarity, high-energy cut-off, ultrashort burst duration) distinguish them from lower energy ions accelerated in earlier experiments at moderate laser intensities, and compare favourably with those of 'conventional' accelerator beams. In view of these properties, laser-driven ion beams can be employed in a number of innovative applications in the scientific, technological and medical areas. We will discuss in particular aspects of interest to their application in an Inertial Confinement Fusion context. Laser-driven protons are indeed being considered as a possible trigger for Fast Ignition of a precompressed fuel.[2] Recent results relating to the optimization of beam energy and focusing will be presented. These include the use of laser-driven impulsive fields for proton beam collimation and focusing [3], and the investigation of acceleration in presence of finite-scale plasma gradient. Proposed target developments enabling proton production at high repetition rate will also be discussed. Another important area of application of proton beams is diagnostic use in a particle probing arrangement for detection of density non-homogeneities [4] and electric/magnetic fields [5]. We will discuss the use of laser-driven proton beams for the diagnosis of magnetic and electric fields in planar and hohlraum targets and for the detection of fields associated to relativistic electron propagation through dense matter, an issue of high relevance for electron driven Fast Ignition. [1] M

Novel aspects of direct laser acceleration of relativistic electrons

Science.gov (United States)

Arefiev, Alexey

2015-11-01

Production of energetic electrons is a keystone aspect of ultraintense laser-plasma interactions that underpins a variety of topics and applications, including fast ignition inertial confinement fusion and compact particle and radiation sources. There is a wide range of electron acceleration regimes that depend on the duration of the laser pulse and the plasma density. This talk focuses on the regime in which the plasma is significantly underdense and the laser pulse duration is longer than the electron response time, so that, in contrast to the wakefield acceleration regime, the pulse creates a quasi-static channel in the electron density. Such a regime is of particular interest, since it can naturally arise in experiments with solid density targets where the pre-pulse of an ultraintense laser produces an extended sub-critical pre-plasma. This talk examines the impact of several key factors on electron acceleration by the laser pulse and the resulting electron energy gain. A detailed consideration is given to the role played by: (1) the static longitudinal electric field, (2) the static transverse electric field, (3) the electron injection into the laser pulse, (4) the electromagnetic dispersion, and (5) the static longitudinal magnetic field. It is shown that all of these factors lead, under conditions outlined in the talk, to a considerable electron energy gain that greatly exceeds the ponderomotive limit. The static fields do not directly transfer substantial energy to electrons. Instead, they alter the longitudinal dephasing between the electrons and the laser pulse, which then allows the electrons to gain extra energy from the pulse. The talk will also outline a time-resolution criterion that must be satisfied in order to correctly reproduce these effects in particle-in-cell simulations. Supported by AFOSR Contract No. FA9550-14-1-0045, National Nuclear Security Administration Contract No. DE-FC52-08NA28512, and US Department of Energy Contract No. DE-FG02

Laser-driven soft-X-ray undulator source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fuchs, Matthias

2010-01-01

The experimental results described in this thesis demonstrate the successful synergy between the research fields described above: the development of an undulator source driven by laser-plasma accelerated electron beams. First efforts in this new field have led to the production of radiation in the visible to infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum [Schlenvoigt et al., 2008]. In contrast to these early achievements, the experiment described here shows the successful production of laser-driven undulator radiation in the soft-X-ray range with a remarkable reproducibility. The source produced tunable, collimated beams with a wavelength of ∝17 nm from a compact setup. Undulator spectra were detected in ∝70% of consecutive driver-laser shots, which is a remarkable reproducibility for a first proof-of-concept demonstration using ultra-high intensity laser systems. This can be attributed to a stable electron acceleration scheme as well as to the first application of miniature magnetic quadrupole lenses with laseraccelerated beams. The lenses significantly reduce the electron beam divergence and its angular shot-to-shot fluctuations The setup of this experiment is the foundation of potential university-laboratory-sized, highly-brilliant hard X-ray sources. By increasing the electron energy to about 1 GeV, X-ray pulses with an expected duration of ∝10 fs and a photon energy of 1 keV could be produced in an almost identical arrangement. It can also be used as a testbed for the development of a free-electron laser of significantly smaller dimension than facilities based on conventional accelerators [Gruener et al., 2007]. Such compact sources have the potential for application in many fields of science. In addition, these developments could lead to ideal sources for ultrafast pump-probe experiments due to the perfect synchronization of the X-ray beam to the driver laser. (orig.)

Laser-driven soft-X-ray undulator source

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fuchs, Matthias

2010-08-04

The experimental results described in this thesis demonstrate the successful synergy between the research fields described above: the development of an undulator source driven by laser-plasma accelerated electron beams. First efforts in this new field have led to the production of radiation in the visible to infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum [Schlenvoigt et al., 2008]. In contrast to these early achievements, the experiment described here shows the successful production of laser-driven undulator radiation in the soft-X-ray range with a remarkable reproducibility. The source produced tunable, collimated beams with a wavelength of {proportional_to}17 nm from a compact setup. Undulator spectra were detected in {proportional_to}70% of consecutive driver-laser shots, which is a remarkable reproducibility for a first proof-of-concept demonstration using ultra-high intensity laser systems. This can be attributed to a stable electron acceleration scheme as well as to the first application of miniature magnetic quadrupole lenses with laseraccelerated beams. The lenses significantly reduce the electron beam divergence and its angular shot-to-shot fluctuations The setup of this experiment is the foundation of potential university-laboratory-sized, highly-brilliant hard X-ray sources. By increasing the electron energy to about 1 GeV, X-ray pulses with an expected duration of {proportional_to}10 fs and a photon energy of 1 keV could be produced in an almost identical arrangement. It can also be used as a testbed for the development of a free-electron laser of significantly smaller dimension than facilities based on conventional accelerators [Gruener et al., 2007]. Such compact sources have the potential for application in many fields of science. In addition, these developments could lead to ideal sources for ultrafast pump-probe experiments due to the perfect synchronization of the X-ray beam to the driver laser. (orig.)

Research on heightening quality of free electron laser using superconducting linear accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Minehara, Eisuke

1996-01-01

In this paper, the superconducting high frequency linear accelerator technology using low temperature superconductor is introduced, and its application to the heightening of quality of free electron laser is discussed. The high frequency application of superconductivity is a relatively new technology, and the first superconducting high frequency linear accelerator was made at the middle of 1960s. The invention of free electron laser and the development so far are described. In free electron laser, the variation of wavelength, high efficiency and high power output are possible as compared with conventional type lasers. The price and the size are two demerits of free electron laser that remain to the last. In Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, the adjustment experiment is carried out for the prototype free electron laser. About this prototype, injection system, superconducting accelerator, helium refrigerator, whole solid element high frequency power source, control system, electron beam transport system, undulator system and optical resonator are described. The application of high mean power output free electron laser and its future are discussed. (K.I.)

Electron acceleration by a self-diverging intense laser pulse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, K.P.; Gupta, D.N.; Tripathi, V.K.; Gupta, V.L.

2004-01-01

Electron acceleration by a laser pulse having a Gaussian radial and temporal profile of intensity has been studied. The interaction region is vacuum followed by a gas. The starting point of the gas region has been chosen around the point at which the peak of the pulse interacts with the electron. The tunnel ionization of the gas causes a defocusing of the laser pulse and the electron experiences the action of a ponderomotive deceleration at the trailing part of the pulse with a lower intensity rather than an acceleration at the rising part of the laser pulse with a high intensity, and thus gains net energy. The initial density of the neutral gas atoms should be high enough to properly defocus the pulse; otherwise the electron experiences some deceleration during the trailing part of the pulse and the net energy gain is reduced. The rate of tunnel ionization increases with the increase in the laser intensity and the initial density of neutral gas atoms, and with the decreases in the laser spot size, which causes more defocusing of the laser pulse. The required initial density of neutral gas atoms decreases with the increase in the laser intensity and also with the decrease in the laser spot size

Improving beam spectral and spatial quality by double-foil target in laser ion acceleration for ion-driven fast ignition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Chenkun; Albright, Brian J.

2010-01-01

Mid-Z ion driven fast ignition inertial fusion requires ion beams of 100s of MeV energy and < 10% energy spread. An overdense run-scale foil target driven by a high intensity laser pulse can produce an ion beam that has attractive properties for this application. The Break Out Afterburner (BOA) is one laser-ion acceleration mechanism proposed to generate such beams, however the late stages of the BOA tend to produce too large of an energy spread. The spectral and spatial qualities of the beam quickly evolve as the ion beam and co-moving electrons continue to interact with the laser. Here we show how use of a second target foil placed behind a nm-scale foil can substantially reduce the temperature of the co-moving electrons and improve the ion beam energy spread. Particle-In-Cell simulations reveal the dynamics of the ion beam under control. Optimal conditions for improving the spectral and spatial spread of the ion beam is explored for current laser and target parameters, leading to generation of ion beams of energy 100s of MeV and 6% energy spread, a vital step for realizing ion-driven fast ignition.

New method for laser driven ion acceleration with isolated, mass-limited targets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paasch-Colberg, T.; Sokollik, T.; Gorling, K.; Eichmann, U.; Steinke, S.; Schnuerer, M.; Nickles, P.V.; Andreev, A.; Sandner, W.

2011-01-01

A new technique to investigate laser driven ion acceleration with fully isolated, mass-limited glass spheres with a diameter down to 8μm is presented. A Paul trap was used to prepare a levitating glass sphere for the interaction with a laser pulse of relativistic intensity. Narrow-bandwidth energy spectra of protons and oxygen ions have been observed and were attributed to specific acceleration field dynamics in case of the spherical target geometry. A general limiting mechanism has been found that explains the experimentally observed ion energies for the mass-limited target.

Tunable Laser Plasma Accelerator based on Longitudinal Density Tailoring

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gonsalves, Anthony; Nakamura, Kei; Lin, Chen; Panasenko, Dmitriy; Shiraishi, Satomi; Sokollik, Thomas; Benedetti, Carlo; Schroeder, Carl; Geddes, Cameron; Tilborg, Jeroen van; Osterhoff, Jens; Esarey, Eric; Toth, Csaba; Leemans, Wim

2011-07-15

Laser plasma accelerators have produced high-quality electron beams with GeV energies from cm-scale devices and are being investigated as hyperspectral fs light sources producing THz to {gamma}-ray radiation and as drivers for future high-energy colliders. These applications require a high degree of stability, beam quality and tunability. Here we report on a technique to inject electrons into the accelerating field of a laser-driven plasma wave and coupling of this injector to a lower-density, separately tunable plasma for further acceleration. The technique relies on a single laser pulse powering a plasma structure with a tailored longitudinal density profile, to produce beams that can be tuned in the range of 100-400 MeV with percent-level stability, using laser pulses of less than 40 TW. The resulting device is a simple stand-alone accelerator or the front end for a multistage higher-energy accelerator.

En Route: next-generation laser-plasma-based electron accelerators; En Route: Elektronenbeschleuniger der naechsten Generation auf Laser-Plasma-Basis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hidding, Bernhard

2008-05-15

Accelerating electrons to relativistic energies is of fundamental interest, especially in particle physics. Today's accelerator technology, however, is limited by the maximum electric fields which can be created. This thesis presents results on various mechanisms aiming at exploiting the fields in focussed laser pulses and plasma waves for electron acceleration, which can be orders of magnitude higher than with conventional accelerators. With relativistic, underdense laser-plasma-interaction, quasimonoenergetic electron bunches with energies up to {approx}50 MeV and normalized emittances of the order of 5mmmrad have been generated. This was achieved by focussing the {approx}80 fs, 1 J pulses of the JETI-laser at the FSU Jena to intensities of several 10{sup 19}W=cm{sup 2} into gas jets. The experimental observations could be explained via 'bubble acceleration', which is based on self-injection and acceleration of electrons in a highly nonlinear breaking plasma wave. For the rst time, this bubble acceleration was achieved explicitly in the self-modulated laser wakefield regime (SMLWFA). This quasimonoenergetic SMLWFA-regime stands out by relaxing dramatically the requirements on the driving laser pulse necessary to trigger bubble acceleration. This is due to self-modulation of the laser pulse in high-density gas jets, leading to ultrashort laser pulse fragments capable of initiating bubble acceleration. Electron bunches with durations accelerator technology. In addition, more than one laser pulse fragment can be powerful enough to drive a bubble. Distinct double peaks have been observed in the electron spectra, indicating that two quasimonoenergetic electron bunches separated by only few tens of fs have formed. This is backed up by PIC-Simulations (Particle-in-Cell). These results underline the feasibility of the construction of small table

High-quality electron beam generation in a proton-driven hollow plasma wakefield accelerator

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Y.; Xia, G.; Lotov, K. V.; Sosedkin, A. P.; Hanahoe, K.; Mete-Apsimon, O.

2017-10-01

Simulations of proton-driven plasma wakefield accelerators have demonstrated substantially higher accelerating gradients compared to conventional accelerators and the viability of accelerating electrons to the energy frontier in a single plasma stage. However, due to the strong intrinsic transverse fields varying both radially and in time, the witness beam quality is still far from suitable for practical application in future colliders. Here we demonstrate the efficient acceleration of electrons in proton-driven wakefields in a hollow plasma channel. In this regime, the witness bunch is positioned in the region with a strong accelerating field, free from plasma electrons and ions. We show that the electron beam carrying the charge of about 10% of 1 TeV proton driver charge can be accelerated to 0.6 TeV with a preserved normalized emittance in a single channel of 700 m. This high-quality and high-charge beam may pave the way for the development of future plasma-based energy frontier colliders.

Laser-Driven Ion Acceleration from Plasma Micro-Channel Targets

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, D. B.; Pukhov, A.; Yi, L. Q.; Zhou, H. B.; Yu, T. P.; Yin, Y.; Shao, F. Q.

2017-02-01

Efficient energy boost of the laser-accelerated ions is critical for their applications in biomedical and hadron research. Achiev-able energies continue to rise, with currently highest energies, allowing access to medical therapy energy windows. Here, a new regime of simultaneous acceleration of ~100 MeV protons and multi-100 MeV carbon-ions from plasma micro-channel targets is proposed by using a ~1020 W/cm2 modest intensity laser pulse. It is found that two trains of overdense electron bunches are dragged out from the micro-channel and effectively accelerated by the longitudinal electric-field excited in the plasma channel. With the optimized channel size, these “superponderomotive” energetic electrons can be focused on the front surface of the attached plastic substrate. The much intense sheath electric-field is formed on the rear side, leading to up to ~10-fold ionic energy increase compared to the simple planar geometry. The analytical prediction of the optimal channel size and ion maximum energies is derived, which shows good agreement with the particle-in-cell simulations.

Experiments on laser driven beatwave acceleration in a ponderomotively formed plasma channel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tochitsky, S.Ya.; Narang, R.; Filip, C.V.; Clayton, C.E.; Marsh, K.A.; Joshi, C.; Musumeci, P.; Yoder, R.B.; Rosenzweig, J.B.; Pellegrini, C.

2004-01-01

A 10 ps long beam of 12 MeV electrons is externally injected into a ∼3-cm long plasma beatwave excited in a laser ionized hydrogen gas. The electrons have been accelerated to 50 MeV with a gradient of ∼1.3 GeV/m. It is shown that when the effective plasma wave amplitude-length product is limited by ionization-induced defocusing (IID), acceleration of electrons is significantly enhanced by using a laser pulse with a duration longer than the time required for ions to move across the laser spot size. Both experiments and two-dimensional simulations reveal that, in this case, self-guiding of the laser pulse in a ponderomotively formed plasma channel occurs. This compensates for IID and drives the beatwave over the longer length compared to when such a channel is not present

Inverse free electron laser accelerator for advanced light sources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. P. Duris

2012-06-01

Full Text Available We discuss the inverse free electron laser (IFEL scheme as a compact high gradient accelerator solution for driving advanced light sources such as a soft x-ray free electron laser amplifier or an inverse Compton scattering based gamma-ray source. In particular, we present a series of new developments aimed at improving the design of future IFEL accelerators. These include a new procedure to optimize the choice of the undulator tapering, a new concept for prebunching which greatly improves the fraction of trapped particles and the final energy spread, and a self-consistent study of beam loading effects which leads to an energy-efficient high laser-to-beam power conversion.

Electron acceleration by longitudinal electric field of a gaussian laser beam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takeuchi, Satoshi; Sugihara, Ryo; Shimoda, Koichi.

1991-11-01

It is shown that the longitudinal electric field of a transverse magnetic mode of a Gaussian laser beam accelerates an electron to an ultra-relativistic energy. The electron is captured and accelerated in a length of the order of the Rayleigh range. The ultimate energy increment of the electron with a single laser beam is given by the product of transverse field intensity and the beam waist, and can be of the order of 100MeV. This fact implies that a multi-stage acceleration enables TeV-order-acceleration in a length of a few kilometers with the present state of the art. (author)

Relativistic electron acceleration by net inverse bremsstrahlung in a laser-irradiated plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, S.H.; Chen, K.W.

1985-01-01

Using the quantum-kinetic method, the net acceleration of relativistic electrons in a laser-irradiated plasma is studied as a function of the relevant parameters of the incident laser wave and the plasma wave. It is suggested that, in general, the net acceleration in laser-produced turbulent plasmas is primarily due to inverse bremsstrahlung proceses, and the acceleration gradient exceeds several hundreds gigavolt per meter when the electron energy is large (TeV) and the momentum spread of the beam is properly controlled

Radiation therapy with laser-driven accelerated particle beams: physical dosimetry and spatial dose distribution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reinhardt, Sabine; Assmann, Walter [Ludwig-Maximilians Universitaet Muenchen (Germany); Kneschaurek, Peter; Wilkens, Jan [MRI, Technische Universitaet Muenchen (Germany)

2011-07-01

One of the main goals of the Munich Centre for Advanced Photonics (MAP) is the application of laser driven accelerated (LDA) particle beams for radiation therapy. Due to the unique acceleration process ultrashort particle pulses of high intensity (> 10{sup 7} particles /cm{sup 2}/ns) are generated, which makes online detection an ambitious task. So far, state of the art detection of laser accelerated ion pulses are non-electronic detectors like radiochromic films (RCF), imaging plates (IP) or nuclear track detectors (e.g. CR39). All these kind of detectors are offline detectors requiring several hours of processing time. For this reason they are not qualified for an application in radiation therapy where quantitative real time detection of the beam is an essential prerequisite. Therefore we are investigating pixel detectors for real time monitoring of LDA particle pulses. First tests of commercially available systems with 8-20 MeV protons are presented. For radiobiological experiments second generation Gafchromic films (EBT2) have been calibrated with protons of 12 and 20 MeV for a dose range of 0.3-10 Gy. Dose verification in proton irradiation of subcutaneous tumours in mice was successfully accomplished using these films.

Micron-size hydrogen cluster target for laser-driven proton acceleration

Science.gov (United States)

Jinno, S.; Kanasaki, M.; Uno, M.; Matsui, R.; Uesaka, M.; Kishimoto, Y.; Fukuda, Y.

2018-04-01

As a new laser-driven ion acceleration technique, we proposed a way to produce impurity-free, highly reproducible, and robust proton beams exceeding 100 MeV using a Coulomb explosion of micron-size hydrogen clusters. In this study, micron-size hydrogen clusters were generated by expanding the cooled high-pressure hydrogen gas into a vacuum via a conical nozzle connected to a solenoid valve cooled by a mechanical cryostat. The size distributions of the hydrogen clusters were evaluated by measuring the angular distribution of laser light scattered from the clusters. The data were analyzed mathematically based on the Mie scattering theory combined with the Tikhonov regularization method. The maximum size of the hydrogen cluster at 25 K and 6 MPa in the stagnation state was recognized to be 2.15 ± 0.10 μm. The mean cluster size decreased with increasing temperature, and was found to be much larger than that given by Hagena’s formula. This discrepancy suggests that the micron-size hydrogen clusters were formed by the atomization (spallation) of the liquid or supercritical fluid phase of hydrogen. In addition, the density profiles of the gas phase were evaluated for 25 to 80 K at 6 MPa using a Nomarski interferometer. Based on the measurement results and the equation of state for hydrogen, the cluster mass fraction was obtained. 3D particles-in-cell (PIC) simulations concerning the interaction processes of micron-size hydrogen clusters with high power laser pulses predicted the generation of protons exceeding 100 MeV and accelerating in a laser propagation direction via an anisotropic Coulomb explosion mechanism, thus demonstrating a future candidate in laser-driven proton sources for upcoming multi-petawatt lasers.

Electron acceleration by a radially polarized laser pulse during ionization of low density gases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kunwar Pal Singh

2011-03-01

Full Text Available The acceleration of electrons by a radially polarized intense laser pulse has been studied. The axial electric field of the laser is responsible for electron acceleration. The axial electric field increases with decreasing laser spot size; however, the laser pulse gets defocused sooner for smaller values and the electrons do not experience high electric field for long, reducing the energy they can reach. The electron remains confined in the electric field of the laser for longer and the electron energy peaks for the normalized laser spot size nearly equal to the normalized laser intensity parameter. Electron energy peaks for initial laser phase ϕ_{0}=π due to accelerating laser phase and decreases with transverse initial position of the electrons. The energy and angle of the emittance spectrum of the electrons generated during ionization of krypton and argon at low densities have been obtained and a right choice of laser parameters has been suggested to obtain high energy quasimonoenergetic collimated electron beams. It has been found that argon is more suitable than krypton to obtain high energy electron beams due to higher ionization potential of inner shells for the former.

Charged beam dynamics, particle accelerators and free electron lasers

CERN Document Server

Dattoli, Giuseppe; Sabia, Elio; Artioli, Marcello

2017-01-01

Charged Beam Dynamics, Particle Accelerators and Free Electron Lasers summarises different topics in the field of accelerators and of Free Electron Laser (FEL) devices. It is intended as a reference manual for the different aspects of FEL devices, explaining how to design both a FEL device and the accelerator providing the driving beam. It covers both theoretical and experimental aspects, allowing researchers to attempt a first design of a FEL device in different operating conditions. It provides an analysis of what is already available, what is needed, and what the challenges are to determine new progress in this field. All chapters contain complements and exercises that are designed in such a way that the reader will gradually acquire self-confidence with the matter treated in the book.

Laser wakefield accelerator experiments at LBNL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leemans, W.P.; Rodgers, D.; Catravas, P.E.; Fubiani, G.; Geddes, C.G.R.; Esarey, E.; Shadwick, B.A.; Brussaard, G.J.H.; Tilborg, J. van; Chattopadhyay, S.; Wurtele, J.S.; Archambault, L.; Dickinson, M.R.; DiMaggio, S.; Short, R.; Barat, K.L.; Donahue, R.; Floyd, J.; Smith, A.; Wong, E.

2001-01-01

The status is presented of the laser wakefield acceleration research at the l'OASIS laboratory of the Center for Beam Physics at LBNL. Experiments have been performed on laser driven production of relativistic electron beams from plasmas using a high repetition rate (10 Hz), high power (10 TW) Ti:sapphire (0.8 μm) laser system. Large amplitude plasma waves have been excited in the self-modulated laser wakefield regime by tightly focusing (spot diameter 8 μm) a single high power (≤10 TW), ultra-short (≥50 fs) laser pulse onto a high density (>10 19 cm -3 ) pulsed gasjet (length 1.2 mm). Nuclear activation measurements in lead and copper targets indicate the production of electrons with energy in excess of 25 MeV. This result was confirmed by electron distribution measurements using a bending magnet spectrometer. Progress on implementing the colliding pulse laser injection method is also presented. This method is expected to produce low emittance ( 7 electrons/bunch

Parametric study of transport beam lines for electron beams accelerated by laser-plasma interaction

Science.gov (United States)

Scisciò, M.; Lancia, L.; Migliorati, M.; Mostacci, A.; Palumbo, L.; Papaphilippou, Y.; Antici, P.

2016-03-01

In the last decade, laser-plasma acceleration of high-energy electrons has attracted strong attention in different fields. Electrons with maximum energies in the GeV range can be laser-accelerated within a few cm using multi-hundreds terawatt (TW) lasers, yielding to very high beam currents at the source (electron bunches with up to tens-hundreds of pC in a few fs). While initially the challenge was to increase the maximum achievable electron energy, today strong effort is put in the control and usability of these laser-generated beams that still lack of some features in order to be used for applications where currently conventional, radio-frequency (RF) based, electron beam lines represent the most common and efficient solution. Several improvements have been suggested for this purpose, some of them acting directly on the plasma source, some using beam shaping tools located downstream. Concerning the latter, several studies have suggested the use of conventional accelerator magnetic devices (such as quadrupoles and solenoids) as an easy implementable solution when the laser-plasma accelerated beam requires optimization. In this paper, we report on a parametric study related to the transport of electron beams accelerated by laser-plasma interaction, using conventional accelerator elements and tools. We focus on both, high energy electron beams in the GeV range, as produced on petawatt (PW) class laser systems, and on lower energy electron beams in the hundreds of MeV range, as nowadays routinely obtained on commercially available multi-hundred TW laser systems. For both scenarios, our study allows understanding what are the crucial parameters that enable laser-plasma accelerators to compete with conventional ones and allow for a beam transport. We show that suitable working points require a tradeoff-combination between low beam divergence and narrow energy spread.

Dosimetry of laser-accelerated electron beams used for in vitro cell irradiation experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Richter, C.; Kaluza, M.; Karsch, L.; Schlenvoigt, H.-P.; Schürer, M.; Sobiella, M.; Woithe, J.; Pawelke, J.

2011-01-01

The dosimetric characterization of laser-accelerated electrons applied for the worldwide first systematic radiobiological in vitro cell irradiation will be presented. The laser-accelerated electron beam at the JeTi laser system has been optimized, monitored and controlled in terms of dose homogeneity, stability and absolute dose delivery. A combination of different dosimetric components were used to provide both an online beam as well as dose monitoring and a precise absolute dosimetry. In detail, the electron beam was controlled and monitored by means of an ionization chamber and an in-house produced Faraday cup for a defined delivery of the prescribed dose. Moreover, the precise absolute dose delivered to each cell sample was determined by an radiochromic EBT film positioned in front of the cell sample. Furthermore, the energy spectrum of the laser-accelerated electron beam was determined. As presented in a previous work of the authors, also for laser-accelerated protons a precise dosimetric characterization was performed that enabled initial radiobiological cell irradiation experiments with laser-accelerated protons. Therefore, a precise dosimetric characterization, optimization and control of laser-accelerated and therefore ultra-short pulsed, intense particle beams for both electrons and protons is possible, allowing radiobiological experiments and meeting all necessary requirements like homogeneity, stability and precise dose delivery. In order to fulfill the much higher dosimetric requirements for clinical application, several improvements concerning, i.e., particle energy and spectral shaping as well as patient safety are necessary.

Optimization and application of electron acceleration in relativistic laser plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koenigstein, Thomas

2013-01-01

This thesis describes experiments and simulations of the acceleration of electrons to relativistic energies (toward γ e ∼ 10 3 ) by structures in plasmas which are generated by ultrashort (pulse length < 10 -14 s) laser pulses. The first part of this work discusses experiments in a parameter space where quasimonoenergetic electron bunches are generated in subcritical (gaseous) plasmas and compares them to analytical scalings. A primary concern in this work is to optimize the stability of the energy and the pointing of the electrons. The second part deals with acceleration of electrons along the surface of solid substrates by laser-plasma interaction. The measurements show good agreement with existing analytical scalings and dedicated numerical simulations. In the third part, two new concepts for multi-stage acceleration will be presented and parameterised by analytical considerations and numerical simulations. The first method uses electron pairs, as produced in the first part, to transfer energy from the first bunch to the second by means of a plasma wave. The second method utilizes a low intensity laser pulse in order to inject electrons from a neutral gas into the accelerating phase of a plasma wave. The final chapter proposes and demonstrates a first application that has been developed in collaboration with ESA. The use of electron beams with exponential energy distribution, as in the second part of this work, offers the potential to investigate the resistance of electronic components against space radiation exposure.

Characterization and optimization of laser-driven electron and photon sources in keV and MeV energy ranges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonnet, Thomas

2013-01-01

This work takes place in the framework of the characterization and the optimization of laser-driven electron and photon sources. With the goal of using these sources for nuclear physics experiments, we focused on 2 energy ranges: one around a few MeV and the other around a few tens of keV. The first part of this work is thus dedicated to the study of detectors routinely used for the characterization of laser-driven particle sources: Imaging Plates. A model has been developed and is fitted to experimental data. Response functions to electrons, photons, protons and alpha particles are established for SR, MS and TR Fuji Imaging Plates for energies ranging from a few keV to several MeV. The second part of this work present a study of ultrashort and intense electron and photon sources produced in the interaction of a laser with a solid or liquid target. An experiment was conducted at the ELFIE facility at LULI where beams of electrons and photons were accelerated up to several MeV. Energy and angular distributions of the electron and photons beams were characterized. The sources were optimized by varying the spatial extension of the plasma at both the front and the back end of the initial target position. In the optimal configuration of the laser-plasma coupling, more than 1011 electrons were accelerated. In the case of liquid target, a photon source was produced at a high repetition rate on an energy range of tens of keV by the interaction of the AURORE Laser at CELIA (10 16 W.cm -2 ) and a melted gallium target. It was shown that both the mean energy and the photon number can be increased by creating gallium jets at the surface of the liquid target with a pre-pulse. A physical interpretation supported by numerical simulations is proposed. (author)

Electron acceleration in laser-plasma interaction: development and characterization of an optical injector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rechatin, C.

2009-09-01

In any particle accelerator, the injector plays a crucial role since it determines most of the characteristics of the accelerated beam. This is also true for laser-plasma accelerators, that are based on the interaction of an ultra short, ultra intense laser with an underdense plasma. However, due to the compactness of these accelerators, injection is a real challenge: to obtain a good beam quality, injected electron beams have to be ultra short and precisely synchronized with the laser. In this manuscript, the relevance of an optical injector, that relies on a second laser pulse, is experimentally demonstrated. With this injector, mono energetic electron beams have been produced in a stable manner. Moreover, this injector gives control over the electron beam parameters. Using the parameters of the second laser pulse, it has been proven that the energy, the charge and the energy spread of the accelerated beam can be simply tuned. Those additional controls make it possible to study in great details the physical phenomena at play during the acceleration. Beam loading effects, due to the interaction of the accelerated bunch with the plasma, have been identified and studied. With optimized injector parameters, the narrowest electron beams measured to date in the laser plasma interaction have been obtained, with a relative energy spread of 1%. (author)

Improvement of the quality of laser-wakefield accelerators: towards a compact free-electron laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lehe, R.

2014-01-01

When an intense and short laser pulse propagates through an underdense gas, it can accelerate a fraction of the electrons of the gas, and thereby generate an electron bunch with an energy of a few hundreds of MeV. This phenomenon, which is referred to as laser-wakefield acceleration, has many potential applications, including the design of ultra-bright X-ray sources known as free electron lasers (FEL). However, these applications require the electron bunch to have an excellent quality (low divergence, emittance and energy spread). In this thesis, different solutions to improve the quality of the electron bunch are developed, both analytically and through the use of Particle-In-Cell (PIC) simulations. It is first shown however that PIC simulations tend to erroneously overestimate the emittance of the bunch, due to the numerical Cherenkov effect. Thus, in order to correctly estimate the emittance, a modified PIC algorithm is proposed, which is not subject to this unphysical Cherenkov effect. Using this algorithm, we have observed and studied a new mechanism to generate the electron bunch: optical transverse injection. This mechanism can produce bunches with a high charge, a low emittance and a low energy spread. In addition, we also proposed an experimental setup - the laser-plasma lens - which can strongly reduce the final divergence of the bunch. Finally, these results are put into context by discussing the properties required for the design of a compact FEL. It is shown in particular that laser-wakefield accelerator could be advantageously combined with innovative laser-plasma undulators, in order to produce bright X-rays sources. (author)

Design of an electron injector for multi-stages laser wakefield acceleration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Audet, T.

2016-01-01

Laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) is a particle acceleration process relying on the interaction between high intensity laser pulses, of the order of 10 18 W/cm 2 and a plasma. The plasma wave generated in the laser wake sustain high amplitude electric fields (1- 100 GV/m). Those electric fields are 3 orders of magnitude higher than maximum electric fields in radio frequency cavities and represent the main benefit of LWFA, allowing more compact acceleration. However improvements of the LWFA-produced electron bunches properties, stability and repetition rate are mandatory for LWFA to be usable for applications. A scheme to improve electron bunches properties and to potentially increase the repetition rate is multi-stage LWFA. The laser plasma electron source, called the injector, has to produce relatively low energy (50 - 100 MeV), but high charge, small size and low divergence electron bunches. Produced electron bunches then have to be transported and injected into a second stage to increase electron kinetic energy. The subject of this thesis is to study and design a laser wakefield electron injector for multistage LWFA. In the frame of CILEX and the two-stages LWFA program, a prototype of the injector was built : ELISA consisting in a variable length gas cell. The plasma electronic density, which is a critical parameter for the control of the electron bunches properties, was characterized both experimentally and numerically. ELISA was used at 2 different laser facilities and physical mechanisms linked to electron bunches properties were studied in function of experimental parameters. A range of experimental parameters suitable for a laser wakefield injector was determined. A magnetic transport and diagnostic line was also built, implemented and tested at the UHI100 laser facility of the CEA Saclay. It allowed a more precise characterization of electron bunches generated with ELISA as well as an estimation of the quality of transported electron bunches for their

Electron acceleration by CO/sub 2/ laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujita, H.; Kitagawa, Y.; Daido, H.

1986-01-01

Experiments on electron acceleration have been performed by LEKKO VIII CO/sub 2/ laser system. The laser light was focused by an off-axis parabolic mirror with the F-number of 1.5 and irradiated to thin foil and pipe targets in order to obtain uniform underdense plasmas. Energy spectrum of electrons was measured by an electron spectrometer in the range of 0.3-1.1 MeV. In the single frequency case, electrons up to 1 MeV were observed in the direction of the laser axis for the laser intensity above 1.6 x 10/sup 14/ W/cm/sup 2/ which was equal to the estimated threshold for forward Raman scattering. Amount of high energy electrons depended on the interaction length and the background hot electron temperature. More electrons could resonate with the plasma wave for the higher hot electron temperature. This was confirmed by particle simulation. In most experiments, the plasma density was estimated of about 0.1 n/sub c/. When the plasma density was reduced to 0.01 n/sub c/ using pre-pulse, high energy electrons were not observed because of the low background hot electron temperature and the higher instability threshold. In the two frequency case, energetic electron beam injection is planned for efficient coupling with fast plasma wave. Pipe target seems to be hopeful because 1) the laser light is confined by the plasma fiber and 2) the phase velocity of the plasma wave is controlled by the transverse mode

Feasibility of Optical Transition Radiation Imaging for Laser-driven Plasma Accelerator Electron-Beam Diagnostics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lumpkin, A. H. [Fermilab; Rule, D. W. [Unlisted, US, MD; Downer, M. C. [Texas U.

2017-10-09

We report the initial considerations of using linearly polarized optical transition radiation (OTR) to characterize the electron beams of laser plasma accelerators (LPAs) such as at the Univ. of Texas at Austin. The two LPAs operate at 100 MeV and 2-GeV, and they currently have estimated normalized emittances at ~ 1-mm mrad regime with beam divergences less than 1/γ and beam sizes to be determined at the micron level. Analytical modeling results indicate the feasibility of using these OTR techniques for the LPA applications.

XUV/VUV free-electron laser oscillator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goldstein, J.C.; Newnam, B.E.; Cooper, R.K.; Comly, J.C. Jr.

1984-04-01

It is shown, from computations based on a detailed theoretical model, that modest improvements in electron beam and optical mirror technologies will enable a free-electron laser, driven by an rf linear accelerator, to operate in the 50 to 200-nm range of optical wavelengths. 10 references

Low energy spread 100 MeV-1 GeV electron bunches from laser wakefield acceleration at LOASIS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geddes, C.G.R.; Esarey, E.; Michel, P.; Nagler, B.; Nakamura, K.; Plateau, G.R.; Schroeder, C.B.; Shadwick, B.A.; Toth, Cs.; Van Tilborg, J.; Leemans, W.P.; Hooker, S.M.; Gonsalves, A.J.; Michel, E.; Cary, J.R.; Bruhwiler, D.

2006-01-01

Experiments at the LOASIS laboratory of LBNL recently demonstrated production of 100 MeV electron beams with low energy spread and low divergence from laser wakefield acceleration. The radiation pressure of a 10 TW laser pulse guided over 10 diffraction ranges by a plasma density channel was used to drive an intense plasma wave (wakefield), producing acceleration gradients on the order of 100 GV/m in a mm-scale channel. Beam energy has now been increased from 100 to 1000 MeV by using a cm-scale guiding channel at lower density, driven by a 40TW laser, demonstrating the anticipated scaling to higher beam energies. Particle simulations indicate that the low energy spread beams were produced from self trapped electrons through the interplay of trapping, loading, and dephasing. Other experiments and simulations are also underway to control injection of particles into the wake, and hence improve beam quality and stability further

Electron versus proton accelerator driven sub-critical system performance using TRIGA reactors at power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carta, M.; Burgio, N.; D'Angelo, A.; Santagata, A.; Petrovich, C.; Schikorr, M.; Beller, D.; Felice, L. S.; Imel, G.; Salvatores, M.

2006-01-01

This paper provides a comparison of the performance of an electron accelerator-driven experiment, under discussion within the Reactor Accelerator Coupling Experiments (RACE) Project, being conducted within the U.S. Dept. of Energy's Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI), and of the proton-driven experiment TRADE (TRIGA Accelerator Driven Experiment) originally planned at ENEA-Casaccia in Italy. Both experiments foresee the coupling to sub-critical TRIGA core configurations, and are aimed to investigate the relevant kinetic and dynamic accelerator-driven systems (ADS) core behavior characteristics in the presence of thermal reactivity feedback effects. TRADE was based on the coupling of an upgraded proton cyclotron, producing neutrons via spallation reactions on a tantalum (Ta) target, with the core driven at a maximum power around 200 kW. RACE is based on the coupling of an Electron Linac accelerator, producing neutrons via photoneutron reactions on a tungsten-copper (W-Cu) or uranium (U) target, with the core driven at a maximum power around 50 kW. The paper is focused on analysis of expected dynamic power response of the RACE core following reactivity and/or source transients. TRADE and RACE target-core power coupling coefficients are compared and discussed. (authors)

Collective acceleration of protons by the plasma waves in a counterstreaming electron beam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan, Y.T.

1987-03-01

A novel advanced accelerator is proposed. The counterstreaming electron beam accelerator relies on the same physical mechanism as that of the plasma accelerator but replaces the stationary plasma in the plasma accelerator by a magnetized relativistic electron beam, drifting antiparallel to the driving source and the driven particles, as the wave supporting medium. The plasma wave in a counterstreaming electron beam can be excited either by a density-ramped driving electron beam or by properly beating two laser beams. The fundamental advantages of the counterstreaming electron beam accelerator over the plasma accelerator are a longer and tunable plasma wavelength, a longer pump depletion length or a larger transformer ratio, and easier pulse shaping for the driving source and the driven beam. Thus the energy gain of the driven particles can be greatly enhanced whereas the trapping threshold can be dramatically reduced so as to admit the possibility for proton acceleration

Particle-in-cell simulations of plasma accelerators and electron-neutral collisions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David L. Bruhwiler

2001-10-01

Full Text Available We present 2D simulations of both beam-driven and laser-driven plasma wakefield accelerators, using the object-oriented particle-in-cell code XOOPIC, which is time explicit, fully electromagnetic, and capable of running on massively parallel supercomputers. Simulations of laser-driven wakefields with low \\(∼10^{16} W/cm^{2}\\ and high \\(∼10^{18} W/cm^{2}\\ peak intensity laser pulses are conducted in slab geometry, showing agreement with theory and fluid simulations. Simulations of the E-157 beam wakefield experiment at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, in which a 30 GeV electron beam passes through 1 m of preionized lithium plasma, are conducted in cylindrical geometry, obtaining good agreement with previous work. We briefly describe some of the more significant modifications to XOOPIC required by this work, and summarize the issues relevant to modeling relativistic electron-neutral collisions in a particle-in-cell code.

Production of a monoenergetic electron bunch in a self-injected laser-wakefield accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, C.-L.; Hsieh, C.-T.; Ho, Y.-C.; Chen, Y.-S.; Lin, J.-Y.; Wang, J.; Chen, S.-Y.

2007-01-01

Production of a monoenergetic electron bunch in a self-injected laser-wakefield accelerator is investigated with a tomographic method which resolves the electron injection and acceleration processes. It is found that all the electrons in the monoenergetic electron bunch are injected at the same location in the plasma column and then accelerated with an acceleration gradient exceeding 2 GeV/cm. The injection position shifts with the position of pump-pulse focus, and no significant deceleration is observed for the monoenergetic electron bunch after it reaches the maximum energy. The results are consistent with the model of transverse wave breaking and beam loading for the injection of monoenergetic electrons. The tomographic method adds a crucial dimension to the whole array of existing diagnostics for laser beams, plasma waves, and electron beams. With this method the details of the underlying physical processes in laser-plasma interactions can be resolved and compared directly to particle-in-cell simulations

Laser wakefield acceleration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Esarey, E.; Ting, A.; Sprangle, P.

1989-01-01

The laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA) is a novel plasma based electron acceleration scheme which utilizes a relativistic optical guiding mechanism for laser pulse propagation. In the LWFA, a short, high power, single frequency laser pulse is propagated through a plasma. As the laser pulse propagates, its radial and axial ponderomotive forces nonresonantly generate large amplitude plasma waves (wakefields) with a phase velocity equal to the group velocity of the pulse. A properly phased electron bunch may then be accelerated by the axial wakefield and focused by the transverse wakefield. Optical guiding of the laser pulse in the plasma is necessary in order to achieve high energies in a single stage of acceleration. At sufficiently high laser powers, optical guiding may be achieved through relativistic effects associated with the plasma electrons. Preliminary analysis indicates that this scheme may overcome some of the difficulties present in the plasma beat wave accelerator and in the plasma wakefield accelerator. Analytical and numerical calculations are presented which study both laser pulse propagation within a plasma as well as the subsequent generation of large amplitude plasma waves. In addition, the generation of large amplitude plasma waves in regimes where the plasma waves become highly nonlinear is examined

Improved performances of CIBER-X: a new tabletop laser-driven electron and x-ray source

Science.gov (United States)

Girardeau-Montaut, Jean-Pierre; Kiraly, Bela; Girardeau-Montaut, Claire

2000-11-01

We present the most recent data concerning the performances of the table-top laser driven electron and x-ray source developed in our laboratory. X-ray pulses are produced by a three-step process which consists of the photoelectron emission from a thin metallic photocathode illuminated by 16 ps duration laser pulse at 213 nm. The e-gun is a standard pierce diode electrode type, in which electrons are accelerated by a cw electric fields of 12 MV/m. The photoinjector produced a train of 90 - 100 keV electron pulses of approximately 1 nC and 40 A peak current at a repetition rate of 10 Hz. The electrons, transported outside the diode, are focused onto a target of thulium by magnetic fields produced by two electromagnetic coils to produce x-rays. Applications to low dose imagery of inert and living materials are also presented.

Production and applications of quasi-monoenergetic electron bunches in laser-plasma based accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glinec, Y.; Faure, J.; Ewald, F.; Lifschitz, A.; Malka, V.

2006-01-01

Plasmas are attractive media for the next generation of compact particle accelerators because they can sustain electric fields larger than those in conventional accelerators by three orders of magnitude. However, until now, plasma-based accelerators have produced relatively poor quality electron beams even though for most practical applications, high quality beams are required. In particular, beams from laser plasma-based accelerators tend to have a large divergence and very large energy spreads, meaning that different particles travel at different speeds. The combination of these two problems makes it difficult to utilize these beams. Here, we demonstrate the production of high quality and high energy electron beams from laser-plasma interaction: in a distance of 3 mm, a very collimated and quasi-monoenergetic electron beam is emitted with a 0.5 nanocoulomb charge at 170 ± 20 MeV. In this regime, we have observed very nonlinear phenomena, such as self-focusing and temporal self-shortenning down to 10 fs durations. Both phenomena increase the excitation of the wakefield. The laser pulse drives a highly nonlinear wakefield, able to trap and accelerate plasma background electrons to a single energy. We will review the different regimes of electron acceleration and we will show how enhanced performances can be reached with state-of-the-art ultrashort laser systems. Applications such as gamma radiography of such electron beams will also be discussed

Numerical modeling of laser-driven ion acceleration from near-critical gas targets

Science.gov (United States)

Tatomirescu, Dragos; Vizman, Daniel; d’Humières, Emmanuel

2018-06-01

In the past two decades, laser-accelerated ion sources and their applications have been intensely researched. Recently, it has been shown through experiments that proton beams with characteristics comparable to those obtained with solid targets can be obtained from gaseous targets. By means of particle-in-cell simulations, this paper studies in detail the effects of a near-critical density gradient on ion and electron acceleration after the interaction with ultra high intensity lasers. We can observe that the peak density of the gas jet has a significant influence on the spectrum features. As the gas jet density increases, so does the peak energy of the central quasi-monoenergetic ion bunch due to the increase in laser absorption while at the same time having a broadening effect on the electron angular distribution.

Simulations and experiments on external electron injection for laser wakefield acceleration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dijk, van W.

2010-01-01

Laser wake field acceleration is a technique that can be used to accelerate electrons using electric fields that are several orders of magnitude higher than those available in conventional accelerators. With these higher fields, it is possible to drastically reduce the length of accelerator needed

Dynamics and transport of laser-accelerated particle beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becker, Stefan

2010-01-01

The subject of this thesis is the investigation and optimization of beam transport elements in the context of the steadily growing field of laser-driven particle acceleration. The first topic is the examination of the free vacuum expansion of an electron beam at high current density. It could be shown that particle tracking codes which are commonly used for the calculation of space charge effects will generate substantial artifacts in the regime considered here. The artifacts occurring hitherto predominantly involve insufficient prerequisites for the Lorentz transformation, the application of inadequate initial conditions and non negligible retardation artifacts. A part of this thesis is dedicated to the development of a calculation approach which uses a more adequate ansatz calculating space charge effects for laser-accelerated electron beams. It can also be used to validate further approaches for the calculation of space charge effects. The next elements considered are miniature magnetic quadrupole devices for the focusing of charged particle beams. General problems involved with their miniaturization concern distorting higher order field components. If these distorting components cannot be controlled, the field of applications is very limited. In this thesis a new method for the characterization and compensation of the distorting components was developed, which might become a standard method when assembling these permanent magnet multipole devices. The newly developed characterization method has been validated at the Mainz Microtron (MAMI) electron accelerator. Now that we can ensure optimum performance, the first application of permanent magnet quadrupole devices in conjunction with laser-accelerated ion beams is presented. The experiment was carried out at the Z-Petawatt laser system at Sandia National Laboratories. A promising application for laser-accelerated electron beams is the FEL in a university-scale size. The first discussion of all relevant aspects

Dynamics and transport of laser-accelerated particle beams

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Becker, Stefan

2010-04-19

The subject of this thesis is the investigation and optimization of beam transport elements in the context of the steadily growing field of laser-driven particle acceleration. The first topic is the examination of the free vacuum expansion of an electron beam at high current density. It could be shown that particle tracking codes which are commonly used for the calculation of space charge effects will generate substantial artifacts in the regime considered here. The artifacts occurring hitherto predominantly involve insufficient prerequisites for the Lorentz transformation, the application of inadequate initial conditions and non negligible retardation artifacts. A part of this thesis is dedicated to the development of a calculation approach which uses a more adequate ansatz calculating space charge effects for laser-accelerated electron beams. It can also be used to validate further approaches for the calculation of space charge effects. The next elements considered are miniature magnetic quadrupole devices for the focusing of charged particle beams. General problems involved with their miniaturization concern distorting higher order field components. If these distorting components cannot be controlled, the field of applications is very limited. In this thesis a new method for the characterization and compensation of the distorting components was developed, which might become a standard method when assembling these permanent magnet multipole devices. The newly developed characterization method has been validated at the Mainz Microtron (MAMI) electron accelerator. Now that we can ensure optimum performance, the first application of permanent magnet quadrupole devices in conjunction with laser-accelerated ion beams is presented. The experiment was carried out at the Z-Petawatt laser system at Sandia National Laboratories. A promising application for laser-accelerated electron beams is the FEL in a university-scale size. The first discussion of all relevant aspects

Electron acceleration and generation of high-brilliance x-ray radiation in kilojoule, subpicosecond laser-plasma interactions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Ferri

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Petawatt, picosecond laser pulses offer rich opportunities in generating synchrotron x-rays. This paper concentrates on the regimes accessible with the PETAL laser, which is a part of the Laser Megajoule (LMJ facility. We explore two physically distinct scenarios through Particle-in-Cell simulations. The first one realizes in a dense plasma, such that the period of electron Langmuir oscillations is much shorter than the pulse duration. Hallmarks of this regime are longitudinal breakup (“self-modulation” of the picosecond-scale laser pulse and excitation of a rapidly evolving broken plasma wake. It is found that electron beams with a charge of several tens of nC can be obtained, with a quasi-Maxwellian energy distribution extending to a few-GeV level. In the second scenario, at lower plasma densities, the pulse is shorter than the electron plasma period. The pulse blows out plasma electrons, creating a single accelerating cavity, while injection on the density downramp creates a nC quasi-monoenergetic electron bunch within the cavity. This bunch accelerates without degradation beyond 1 GeV. The x-ray sources in the self-modulated regime offer a high number of photons (∼10^{12} with the slowly decaying energy spectra extending beyond 60 keV. In turn, quasimonoenergetic character of the electron beam in the blowout regime results in the synchrotron-like spectra with the critical energy around 10 MeV and a number of photons >10^{9}. Yet, much smaller source duration and transverse size increase the x-ray brilliance by more than an order of magnitude against the self-modulated case, also favoring high spatial and temporal resolution in x-ray imaging. In all explored cases, accelerated electrons emit synchrotron x-rays of high brilliance, B>10^{20}  photons/s/mm^{2}/mrad^{2}/0.1%BW. Synchrotron sources driven by picosecond kilojoule lasers may thus find an application in x-ray diagnostics on such facilities such as the LMJ or National

Electron acceleration in a plane laser beam

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Petržílka, Václav; Krlín, Ladislav; Tataronis, J. A.

2002-01-01

Roč. 52, supplement D (2002), s. 279-282 ISSN 0011-4626. [Symposium on Plasma Physics and Technology/20th./. Prague, 10.06.2002-13.06.2002] Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z2043910 Keywords : electron acceleration, laser beam Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 0.311, year: 2002

Electron self-injection and acceleration in the bubble regime of laser-plasma interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kostyukov, I.; Nerush, E.

2010-01-01

Complete text of publication follows. The intense laser-plasma and beam-plasma interactions are highly nonlinear-phenomena, which besides being of fundamental interest, attract a great attention due to a number of important applications. One of the key applications is particle acceleration based on excitation of the strong plasma wakefield by laser pulse. In the linear regime of interaction when the laser intensity is low the plasma wake is the linear plasma wave. Moreover, the ponderomotive force of the laser pulse pushes out the plasma electrons from high intensity region leaving behind the laser pulse the plasma cavity - bubble, which is almost free from the plasma electrons. This is the bubble the laser-plasma interaction. Although the bubble propagates with velocity, which is close to speed of light, the huge charge of unshielded ions inside the plasma cavity can trap the cold plasma electrons. Moreover, the electrons are trapped in the accelerated phase of the bubble plasma field thereby leading to efficient electron acceleration. The electron self-injection is an important advantage of the plasma-based acceleration, which allows to exclude the beam loading system requiring accurate synchronization and additional space. The recent experiments have demonstrated high efficiency of the electron self-injection. The beam quality is often of crucial importance in many applications ranging from inertial confinement fusion to the x-ray free electron lasers. Despite a great interest there is still a little theory for relativistic electron dynamics in the plasma wake in multidimensional geometry including electron self-injection. The dynamics of the self-injected electrons can be roughly divided into three stage: (i) electron scattering by the laser pulse, (ii) electron trapping by the bubble, (iii) electron acceleration in the bubble. We developed two analytical models for electron dynamics in the bubble field and verify them by direct measurements of model parameters

Propagation of a laser-driven relativistic electron beam inside a solid dielectric.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarkisov, G S; Ivanov, V V; Leblanc, P; Sentoku, Y; Yates, K; Wiewior, P; Chalyy, O; Astanovitskiy, A; Bychenkov, V Yu; Jobe, D; Spielman, R B

2012-09-01

Laser probe diagnostics: shadowgraphy, interferometry, and polarimetry were used for a comprehensive characterization of ionization wave dynamics inside a glass target induced by a laser-driven, relativistic electron beam. Experiments were done using the 50-TW Leopard laser at the University of Nevada, Reno. We show that for a laser flux of ∼2 × 10(18) W/cm2 a hemispherical ionization wave propagates at c/3 for 10 ps and has a smooth electron-density distribution. The maximum free-electron density inside the glass target is ∼2 × 10(19) cm-3, which corresponds to an ionization level of ∼0.1%. Magnetic fields and electric fields do not exceed ∼15 kG and ∼1 MV/cm, respectively. The electron temperature has a hot, ringlike structure with a maximum of ∼0.7 eV. The topology of the interference phase shift shows the signature of the "fountain effect", a narrow electron beam that fans out from the propagation axis and heads back to the target surface. Two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) computer simulations demonstrate radial spreading of fast electrons by self-consistent electrostatic fields driven by laser. The very low ionization observed after the laser heating pulse suggests a fast recombination on the sub-ps time scale.

Electron acceleration via high contrast laser interacting with submicron clusters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Lu; Chen Liming; Wang Weiming; Yan Wenchao; Yuan Dawei; Mao Jingyi; Wang Zhaohua; Liu Cheng; Shen Zhongwei; Li Yutong; Dong Quanli; Lu Xin; Ma Jinglong; Wei Zhiyi; Faenov, Anatoly; Pikuz, Tatiana; Li Dazhang; Sheng Zhengming; Zhang Jie

2012-01-01

We experimentally investigated electron acceleration from submicron size argon clusters-gas target irradiated by a 100 fs, 10 TW laser pulses having a high-contrast. Electron beams are observed in the longitudinal and transverse directions to the laser propagation. The measured energy of the longitudinal electron reaches 600 MeV and the charge of the electron beam in the transverse direction is more than 3 nC. A two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation of the interaction has been performed and it shows an enhancement of electron charge by using the cluster-gas target.

High power electron beam accelerators for gas laser excitation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kelly, J.G.; Martin, T.H.; Halbleib, J.A.

1976-06-01

A preliminary parameter investigation has been used to determine a possible design of a high-power, relativistic electron beam, transversely excited laser. Based on considerations of present and developing pulsed power technology, broad area diode physics and projected laser requirements, an exciter is proposed consisting of a Marx generator, pulse shaping transmission lines, radially converging ring diodes and a laser chamber. The accelerator should be able to deliver approximately 20 kJ of electron energy at 1 MeV to the 10 4 cm 2 cylindrical surface of a laser chamber 1 m long and 0.3 m in diameter in 24 ns with very small azimuthal asymmetry and uniform radial deposition

Relativistic electron acceleration in focused laser fields after above-threshold ionization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dodin, I.Y.; Fisch, N.J.

2003-01-01

Electrons produced as a result of above-threshold ionization of high-Z atoms can be accelerated by currently producible laser pulses up to GeV energies, as shown recently by Hu and Starace [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 245003 (2002)]. To describe electron acceleration by general focused laser fields, we employ an analytical model based on a Hamiltonian, fully relativistic, ponderomotive approach. Though the above-threshold ionization represents an abrupt process compared to laser oscillations, the ponderomotive approach can still adequately predict the resulting energy gain if the proper initial conditions are introduced for the particle drift following the ionization event. Analytical expressions for electron energy gain are derived and the applicability conditions of the ponderomotive formulation are studied both analytically and numerically. The theoretical predictions are supported by numerical computations

Plasma Density Tapering for Laser Wakefield Acceleration of Electrons and Protons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ting, A.; Gordon, D.; Kaganovich, D.; Sprangle, P.; Helle, M.; Hafizi, B.

2010-01-01

Extended acceleration in a Laser Wakefield Accelerator can be achieved by tailoring the phase velocity of the accelerating plasma wave, either through profiling of the density of the plasma or direct manipulation of the phase velocity. Laser wakefield acceleration has also reached a maturity that proton acceleration by wakefield could be entertained provided we begin with protons that are substantially relativistic, ∼1 GeV. Several plasma density tapering schemes are discussed. The first scheme is called ''bucket jumping'' where the plasma density is abruptly returned to the original density after a conventional tapering to move the accelerating particles to a neighboring wakefield period (bucket). The second scheme is designed to specifically accelerate low energy protons by generating a nonlinear wakefield in a plasma region with close to critical density. The third scheme creates a periodic variation in the phase velocity by beating two intense laser beams with laser frequency difference equal to the plasma frequency. Discussions and case examples with simulations are presented where substantial acceleration of electrons or protons could be obtained.

Development of a high repetition rate laser-plasma accelerator for ultra-fast electron diffraction experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beaurepaire, B.

2009-01-01

Electronic microscopy and electron diffraction allowed the understanding of the organization of atoms in matter. Using a temporally short source, one can measure atomic displacements or modifications of the electronic distribution in matter. To date, the best temporal resolution for time resolved diffraction experiments is of the order of a hundred femto-seconds (fs). Laser accelerators are good candidates to reach the femtosecond temporal resolution in electron diffraction experiments. Such accelerators used to work at a low repetition rate, so that it was necessary to develop a new one operating at a high repetition rate in order to accumulate a large amount of data. In this thesis, a laser-plasma accelerator operating at the kHz repetition rate was developed and built. This source generates electron bunches at 100 keV from 3 mJ and 25 fs laser pulses. The physics of the acceleration has been studied, and the effect of the laser wavefront on the electron transverse distribution has been demonstrated. (author)

The electron accelerator for FELIX [Free Electron Laser for Infrared eXperiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amersfoort, P.W. van; Geer, C.A.J. van der; Meer, A.F.G. van der; Bruinsma, P.J.T.; Hoekstra, R.; Kroes, F.B.; Luyckx, G.; Noomen, J.G.; Poole, M.W.; Saxon, G.

1989-01-01

The authors discuss the design of the electron accelerator for the Free Electron Laser for Infrared eXperiments (FELIX), which is meant to provide the Dutch science community with a rapidly tunable source of infrared radiation. The first stage of the project will (at least) cover the wavelength range between 8 and 80 μm. The accelerator consists of a triode with a grid modulated at 1 GHz, a 3.8-MeV buncher, and two travelling-wave S-band linac structures, with which 70-A, 3-ps bunches are accelerated to an energy between 15 and 4-5 MeV. The system has been designed to minimize the energy spread in the electron beam. 8 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab

Experimental signatures of direct-laser-acceleration-assisted laser wakefield acceleration

Science.gov (United States)

Shaw, J. L.; Lemos, N.; Marsh, K. A.; Froula, D. H.; Joshi, C.

2018-04-01

The direct laser acceleration (DLA) of electrons in a laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA) operating in the forced or quasi-blowout regimes has been investigated through experiment and simulation. When there is a significant overlap between the trapped electrons and the drive laser in a LWFA cavity, the resulting electrons can gain energy from both the LWFA and the DLA mechanisms. Experimental work investigates the properties of the electron beams produced in a LWFA with ionization injection by dispersing those beams in the direction perpendicular to the laser polarization. These electron beams show certain spectral features that are characteristic of DLA. These characteristic features are reproduced using particle-in-cell simulations, where particle tracking was used to elucidate the roles of LWFA and DLA to the energy gain of the electrons in this experimental regime and to demonstrate that such spectral features are definitive signatures of the presence of DLA in LWFA.

Peculiarities of laser phase behavior associated with the accelerated electron in a chirped laser pulse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Q.; Wu, X. Y.; Wang, J. X.; Kawata, S.; Wang, P. X.

2014-01-01

In this paper, we qualitatively analyzed peculiarities of laser phase behavior associated with the accelerated electron in a chirped laser pulse. We unveiled the relationship between the changes in the orientation of the electron trajectory and the cusps in magnitude of the phase velocity of the optical field along the electron trajectory in a chirped laser pulse. We also explained how the chirp effect induced the singular point of the phase velocity. Finally, we discussed the phase velocity and phase witnessed by the electron in the particle's moving instantaneous frame

Ion response to relativistic electron bunches in the blowout regime of laser-plasma accelerators.

Science.gov (United States)

Popov, K I; Rozmus, W; Bychenkov, V Yu; Naseri, N; Capjack, C E; Brantov, A V

2010-11-05

The ion response to relativistic electron bunches in the so called bubble or blowout regime of a laser-plasma accelerator is discussed. In response to the strong fields of the accelerated electrons the ions form a central filament along the laser axis that can be compressed to densities 2 orders of magnitude higher than the initial particle density. A theory of the filament formation and a model of ion self-compression are proposed. It is also shown that in the case of a sharp rear plasma-vacuum interface the ions can be accelerated by a combination of three basic mechanisms. The long time ion evolution that results from the strong electrostatic fields of an electron bunch provides a unique diagnostic of laser-plasma accelerators.

Development and characterization of plasma targets for controlled injection of electrons into laser-driven wakefields

Science.gov (United States)

Kleinwaechter, Tobias; Goldberg, Lars; Palmer, Charlotte; Schaper, Lucas; Schwinkendorf, Jan-Patrick; Osterhoff, Jens

2012-10-01

Laser-driven wakefield acceleration within capillary discharge waveguides has been used to generate high-quality electron bunches with GeV-scale energies. However, owing to fluctuations in laser and plasma conditions in combination with a difficult to control self-injection mechanism in the non-linear wakefield regime these bunches are often not reproducible and can feature large energy spreads. Specialized plasma targets with tailored density profiles offer the possibility to overcome these issues by controlling the injection and acceleration processes. This requires precise manipulation of the longitudinal density profile. Therefore our target concept is based on a capillary structure with multiple gas in- and outlets. Potential target designs are simulated using the fluid code OpenFOAM and those meeting the specified criteria are fabricated using femtosecond-laser machining of structures into sapphire plates. Density profiles are measured over a range of inlet pressures utilizing gas-density profilometry via Raman scattering and pressure calibration with longitudinal interferometry. In combination these allow absolute density mapping. Here we report the preliminary results.

Multiple quasi-monoenergetic electron beams from laser-wakefield acceleration with spatially structured laser pulse

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ma, Y.; Li, M. H.; Li, Y. F.; Wang, J. G.; Tao, M. Z.; Han, Y. J.; Zhao, J. R.; Huang, K.; Yan, W. C.; Ma, J. L.; Li, Y. T. [Beijing National Laboratory of Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, CAS, Beijing 100080 (China); Chen, L. M., E-mail: lmchen@iphy.ac.cn [Beijing National Laboratory of Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, CAS, Beijing 100080 (China); Department of Physics and Astronomy and IFSA Collaborative Innovation Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240 (China); Li, D. Z. [Institute of High Energy Physics, CAS, Beijing 100049 (China); Chen, Z. Y. [Institute of Fluid Physics, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang, Sichuan 621999 (China); Sheng, Z. M. [Department of Physics and Astronomy and IFSA Collaborative Innovation Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240 (China); Department of Physics, Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG (United Kingdom); Zhang, J. [Department of Physics and Astronomy and IFSA Collaborative Innovation Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240 (China)

2015-08-15

By adjusting the focus geometry of a spatially structured laser pulse, single, double, and treble quasi-monoenergetic electron beams were generated, respectively, in laser-wakefield acceleration. Single electron beam was produced as focusing the laser pulse to a single spot. While focusing the laser pulse to two spots that are approximately equal in energy and size and intense enough to form their own filaments, two electron beams were produced. Moreover, with a proper distance between those two focal spots, three electron beams emerged with a certain probability owing to the superposition of the diffractions of those two spots. The energy spectra of the multiple electron beams are quasi-monoenergetic, which are different from that of the large energy spread beams produced due to the longitudinal multiple-injection in the single bubble.

Development of superconducting acceleration cavity technology for free electron lasers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jong Min; Lee, Byung Cheol; Kim, Sun Kook; Jeong, Young Uk; Cho, Sung Oh

2000-10-01

As a result of the cooperative research between the KAERI and Peking University, the key technologies of superconducting acceleration cavity and photoelectron gun have been developed for the application to high power free electron lasers. A 1.5-GHz, 1-cell superconducting RF cavity has been designed and fabricated by using pure Nb sheets. The unloaded Q values of the fabricated superconducting cavity has been measured to be 2x10 9 at 2.5K, and 8x10 9 at 1.8K. The maximum acceleration gradient achieved was 12 MeV/m at 2.5K, and 20MV/m at 1.8 K. A cryostat for the 1-cell superconducting cavity has been designed. As a source of electron beam, a DC photocathode electron gun has been designed and fabricated, which is composed of a photocathode evaporation chamber and a 100-keV acceleration chamber. The efficiency of the Cs2Te photocathode is 3% nominally at room temperature, 10% at 290 deg C. The superconducting photoelectron gun system developed has been estimated to be a good source of high-brightness electron beam for high-power free electron lasers

Development of superconducting acceleration cavity technology for free electron lasers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Jong Min; Lee, Byung Cheol; Kim, Sun Kook; Jeong, Young Uk; Cho, Sung Oh

2000-10-01

As a result of the cooperative research between the KAERI and Peking University, the key technologies of superconducting acceleration cavity and photoelectron gun have been developed for the application to high power free electron lasers. A 1.5-GHz, 1-cell superconducting RF cavity has been designed and fabricated by using pure Nb sheets. The unloaded Q values of the fabricated superconducting cavity has been measured to be 2x10{sup 9} at 2.5K, and 8x10{sup 9} at 1.8K. The maximum acceleration gradient achieved was 12 MeV/m at 2.5K, and 20MV/m at 1.8 K. A cryostat for the 1-cell superconducting cavity has been designed. As a source of electron beam, a DC photocathode electron gun has been designed and fabricated, which is composed of a photocathode evaporation chamber and a 100-keV acceleration chamber. The efficiency of the Cs2Te photocathode is 3% nominally at room temperature, 10% at 290 deg C. The superconducting photoelectron gun system developed has been estimated to be a good source of high-brightness electron beam for high-power free electron lasers.

Emittance growth in laser-driven RF electron guns

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, K.J.

1989-01-01

A simple analysis for the evolution of the electron-beam phase space distribution in laser-driven rf guns is presented. In particular, formulas are derived for the transverse and longitudinal emittances at the exit of the gun. The results are compared and found to agree well with those from simulation. (Author). 9 refs.; 4 figs

Ultra-High-Contrast Laser Acceleration of Relativistic Electrons in Solid Targets

Science.gov (United States)

Higginson, Drew Pitney

The cone-guided fast ignition approach to Inertial Confinement Fusion requires laser-accelerated relativistic electrons to deposit kilojoules of energy within an imploded fuel core to initiate fusion burn. One obstacle to coupling electron energy into the core is the ablation of material, known as preplasma, by laser energy proceeding nanoseconds prior to the main pulse. This causes the laser-absorption surface to be pushed back hundreds of microns from the initial target surface; thus increasing the distance that electrons must travel to reach the imploded core. Previous experiments have shown an order of magnitude decrease in coupling into surrogate targets when intentionally increasing the amount of preplasma. Additionally, for electrons to deposit energy within the core, they should have kinetic energies on the order of a few MeV, as less energetic electrons will be stopped prior to the core and more energetic electrons will pass through the core without depositing much energy. Thus a quantitative understanding of the electron energy spectrum and how it responds to varied laser parameters is paramount for fast ignition. For the first time, this dissertation quantitatively investigates the acceleration of electrons using an ultra-high-contrast laser. Ultra-high-contrast lasers reduce the laser energy that reaches the target prior to the main pulse; drastically reducing the amount of preplasma. Experiments were performed in a cone-wire geometry relevant to fast ignition. These experiments irradiated the inner-tip of a Au cone with the laser and observed electrons that passed through a Cu wire attached to the outer-tip of the cone. The total emission of Kalpha x-rays is used as a diagnostic to infer the electron energy coupled into the wire. Imaging the x-ray emission allowed an effective path-length of electrons within the wire to be determined, which constrained the electron energy spectrum. Experiments were carried out on the ultra-high-contrast Trident laser

Laser technologies for laser accelerators. Annual report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1985-01-01

The primary result of the work reported is the determination of laser system architectures that satsify the requirements of high luminosity, high energy (about 1 TeV), electron accelerators. It has been found that high laser efficiency is a very hard driver for these accelerators as the total average laser output optical power is likely to fall above 10 MW. The luminosity requires rep rates in the kHz range, and individual pulse lengths in the 1-10 psec range are required to satisfy acceleration gradient goals. CO 2 and KrF lasers were chosen for study because of their potential to simultaneously satisfy the given requirements. Accelerator luminosity is reviewed, and requirements on laser system average power and rep rate are determined as a function of electron beam bunch parameters. Laser technologies are reviewed, including CO 2 , excimers, solid state, and free electron lasers. The proposed accelerator mechanisms are summarized briefly. Work on optical transport geometries for near and far field accelerators are presented. Possible exploitation of the CO 2 and DrF laser technology to generate the required pulse lengths, rep rates, and projected efficiencies is illustrated and needed development work is suggested. Initial efforts at developing a 50 GeV benchmark conceptual design and a 100 MeV demonstration experiment conceptual design are presented

Proton-driven plasma wakefield acceleration: a path to the future of high-energy particle physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Assmann, R; Gross, M; Bingham, R; Holloway, J; Bohl, T; Bracco, C; Butterworth, A; Feldbaumer, E; Goddard, B; Gschwendtner, E; Buttenschön, B; Caldwell, A; Chattopadhyay, S; Cipiccia, S; Jaroszynski, D; Fonseca, R A; Grulke, O; Kempkes, P; Huang, C; Jolly, S

2014-01-01

New acceleration technology is mandatory for the future elucidation of fundamental particles and their interactions. A promising approach is to exploit the properties of plasmas. Past research has focused on creating large-amplitude plasma waves by injecting an intense laser pulse or an electron bunch into the plasma. However, the maximum energy gain of electrons accelerated in a single plasma stage is limited by the energy of the driver. Proton bunches are the most promising drivers of wakefields to accelerate electrons to the TeV energy scale in a single stage. An experimental program at CERN—the AWAKE experiment—has been launched to study in detail the important physical processes and to demonstrate the power of proton-driven plasma wakefield acceleration. Here we review the physical principles and some experimental considerations for a future proton-driven plasma wakefield accelerator. (paper)

Proton-driven plasma wakefield acceleration: a path to the future of high-energy particle physics

CERN Document Server

Assmann, R.; Bohl, T.; Bracco, C.; Buttenschon, B.; Butterworth, A.; Caldwell, A.; Chattopadhyay, S.; Cipiccia, S.; Feldbaumer, E.; Fonseca, R.A.; Goddard, B.; Gross, M.; Grulke, O.; Gschwendtner, E.; Holloway, J.; Huang, C.; Jaroszynski, D.; Jolly, S.; Kempkes, P.; Lopes, N.; Lotov, K.; Machacek, J.; Mandry, S.R.; McKenzie, J.W.; Meddahi, M.; Militsyn, B.L.; Moschuering, N.; Muggli, P.; Najmudin, Z.; Noakes, T.C.Q.; Norreys, P.A.; Oz, E.; Pardons, A.; Petrenko, A.; Pukhov, A.; Rieger, K.; Reimann, O.; Ruhl, H.; Shaposhnikova, E.; Silva, L.O.; Sosedkin, A.; Tarkeshian, R.; Trines, R.M.G.N.; Tuckmantel, T.; Vieira, J.; Vincke, H.; Wing, M.; Xia, G.

2014-01-01

New acceleration technology is mandatory for the future elucidation of fundamental particles and their interactions. A promising approach is to exploit the properties of plasmas. Past research has focused on creating large-amplitude plasma waves by injecting an intense laser pulse or an electron bunch into the plasma. However, the maximum energy gain of electrons accelerated in a single plasma stage is limited by the energy of the driver. Proton bunches are the most promising drivers of wakefields to accelerate electrons to the TeV energy scale in a single stage. An experimental program at CERN -- the AWAKE experiment -- has been launched to study in detail the important physical processes and to demonstrate the power of proton-driven plasma wakefield acceleration. Here we review the physical principles and some experimental considerations for a future proton-driven plasma wakefield accelerator.

Enhanced laser-energy coupling to dense plasmas driven by recirculating electron currents

Science.gov (United States)

Gray, R. J.; Wilson, R.; King, M.; Williamson, S. D. R.; Dance, R. J.; Armstrong, C.; Brabetz, C.; Wagner, F.; Zielbauer, B.; Bagnoud, V.; Neely, D.; McKenna, P.

2018-03-01

The absorption of laser energy and dynamics of energetic electrons in dense plasma is fundamental to a range of intense laser-driven particle and radiation generation mechanisms. We measure the total reflected and scattered laser energy as a function of intensity, distinguishing between the influence of pulse energy and focal spot size on total energy absorption, in the interaction with thin foils. We confirm a previously published scaling of absorption with intensity by variation of laser pulse energy, but find a slower scaling when changing the focal spot size. 2D particle-in-cell simulations show that the measured differences arise due to energetic electrons recirculating within the target and undergoing multiple interactions with the laser pulse, which enhances absorption in the case of large focal spots. This effect is also shown to be dependent on the laser pulse duration, the target thickness and the electron beam divergence. The parameter space over which this absorption enhancement occurs is explored via an analytical model. The results impact our understanding of the fundamental physics of laser energy absorption in solids and thus the development of particle and radiation sources driven by intense laser–solid interactions.

The electron accelerator for the AWAKE experiment at CERN

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pepitone, K., E-mail: kevin.pepitone@cern.ch [CERN, Geneva (Switzerland); Doebert, S., E-mail: steffen.doebert@cern.ch [CERN, Geneva (Switzerland); Burt, G. [The University of Lancaster, Lancaster (United Kingdom); Chevallay, E.; Chritin, N.; Delory, C.; Fedosseev, V.; Hessler, Ch.; McMonagle, G. [CERN, Geneva (Switzerland); Mete, O. [The University of Manchester, Manchester (United Kingdom); Verzilov, V. [Triumf, Vancouver (Canada); Apsimon, R. [The University of Lancaster, Lancaster (United Kingdom)

2016-09-01

The AWAKE collaboration prepares a proton driven plasma wakefield acceleration experiment using the SPS beam at CERN. A long proton bunch extracted from the SPS interacts with a high power laser and a 10 m long rubidium vapour plasma cell to create strong wakefields allowing sustained electron acceleration. The electron bunch to probe these wakefields is supplied by a 20 MeV electron accelerator. The electron accelerator consists of an RF-gun and a short booster structure. This electron source should provide beams with intensities between 0.1 and 1 nC, bunch lengths between 0.3 and 3 ps and an emittance of the order of 2 mm mrad. The wide range of parameters should cope with the uncertainties and future prospects of the planned experiments. The layout of the electron accelerator, its instrumentation and beam dynamics simulations are presented.

Role of laser contrast and foil thickness in target normal sheath acceleration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gizzi, L.A. [ILIL, Istituto Nazionale di Ottica, CNR, Via G. Moruzzi 1, Pisa (Italy); INFN Sezione di Pisa, Largo Pontecorvo 3, 56127 Pisa (Italy); Altana, C. [Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università degli Studi di Catania (Italy); Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, INFN, Via S. Sofia, Catania (Italy); Brandi, F. [ILIL, Istituto Nazionale di Ottica, CNR, Via G. Moruzzi 1, Pisa (Italy); Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Morego 30, 16163 Genova (Italy); Cirrone, P. [Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, INFN, Via S. Sofia, Catania (Italy); Cristoforetti, G. [ILIL, Istituto Nazionale di Ottica, CNR, Via G. Moruzzi 1, Pisa (Italy); Fazzi, A. [Energy Department, Polytechnic of Milan, Milan (Italy); INFN, Milan (Italy); Ferrara, P.; Fulgentini, L. [ILIL, Istituto Nazionale di Ottica, CNR, Via G. Moruzzi 1, Pisa (Italy); Giove, D. [INFN-LASA, Via Fratelli Cervi 201, 20090 Segrate (Italy); Koester, P. [ILIL, Istituto Nazionale di Ottica, CNR, Via G. Moruzzi 1, Pisa (Italy); Labate, L. [ILIL, Istituto Nazionale di Ottica, CNR, Via G. Moruzzi 1, Pisa (Italy); INFN Sezione di Pisa, Largo Pontecorvo 3, 56127 Pisa (Italy); Lanzalone, G. [Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, INFN, Via S. Sofia, Catania (Italy); Università degli Studi di Enna Kore, Via delle Olimpiadi, 94100 Enna (Italy); Londrillo, P. [INAF–Osservatorio astronomico Bologna (Italy); Mascali, D.; Muoio, A. [Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, INFN, Via S. Sofia, Catania (Italy); Palla, D. [ILIL, Istituto Nazionale di Ottica, CNR, Via G. Moruzzi 1, Pisa (Italy); INFN Sezione di Pisa, Largo Pontecorvo 3, 56127 Pisa (Italy); Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Pisa (Italy); Schillaci, F. [Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, INFN, Via S. Sofia, Catania (Italy); Sinigardi, S. [Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Bologna, Bologna (Italy); INFN, Sez. di Bologna, Via Irnerio 46, 40126 Bologna (Italy); and others

2016-09-01

In this paper we present an experimental investigation of laser driven light-ion acceleration using the ILIL laser at an intensity of 2×10{sup 19} W/cm{sup 2}. In the experiment we focused our attention on the identification of the role of target thickness and resistivity in the fast electron transport and in the acceleration process. Here we describe the experimental results concerning the effect of laser contrast in the laser–target interaction regime. We also show preliminary results on ion acceleration which provide information about the role of bulk target ions and surface ions and target dielectric properties in the acceleration process.

Laser-pulsed relativistic electron gun

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sherman, N.K.

1986-01-01

A relativistic (β ≅ 0.8) electron gun with good emittance and subnanosecond pulse duration which can be synchronized to picosecond laser pulses is being developed at NRC for use in studies of particle acceleration by lasers. Bursts of electron pulses exceeding 280 keV in energy have been extracted into air form a laser-driven vacuum photodiode. Trains of 5 ps pulses of ultraviolet UV light illuminate a magnesium cathode. Photoelectrons emitted from the cathode are accelerated in a graded electrostatic potential set up by a 360 kV Marx-generator. The UV pulses are obtained by doubling the frequency of a 606 nm dye laser modelocked at 160 MHz. Electron energies were measured by residual range in an echelon of Al foils. Total charge per burst was measured by picoammeter. Time structure of the bursts has been examined with plastic scintillator and a fast photomultiplier. Tests on a low voltage photodiode achieved a current density of 180 A/cm/sup 2/ from an Mg cathode, with quantum efficiency of 2.4 x 10/sup -6/ electron per UV photon. The brevity and intensity of the laser pulses cause the electric charge collected per pulse to increase linearly with bias voltage rather than according to the Langmuir-Child law. Gun emittance is about 150 mm-msr and beam brightness is about 1A/cm/sup 2/-sr. Estimated duration of individual electron pulses of a burst is about 400 ps with instantaneous current of about 0.1 mA. Energy spread within one pulse is expected to be about 15%. This gun has the potential to be a useful source of relativistic electrons for laser acceleration studies

Synchronization of sub-picosecond electron and laser pulses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosenzweig, J.B.; Le Sage, G.P.

1999-01-01

Sub-picosecond laser-electron synchronization is required to take full advantage of the experimental possibilities arising from the marriage of modern high intensity lasers and high brightness electron beams in the same laboratory. Two particular scenarios stand out in this regard, injection of ultra-short electron pulses in short wavelength laser-driven plasma accelerators, and Compton scattering of laser photons from short electron pulses. Both of these applications demand synchronization, which is sub-picosecond, with tens of femtosecond synchronization implied for next generation experiments. The design of a microwave timing modulator system is now being investigated in more detail. (AIP) copyright 1999 American Institute of Physics

First experimental results of the BNL inverse free electron laser accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steenbergen, A. van; Gallardo, J.; Babzien, M.; Skaritka, J.; Wang, X.J.; Sandweiss, J.; Fang, J.M.; Qiu, X.

1996-10-01

A 40 MeV electron beam, using the inverse3e free-electron laser interaction, has been accelerated by ΔE/E = 2.5% over a distance of 0.47 m. The electrons interact with a 1--2 GW CO 2 laser beam bounded by a 2.8 mm ID sapphire circular waveguide in the presence of a tapered wiggler with Bmax ∼ 1 T and a period 2.89 cm ≤ λ w ≤ 3.14 cm. The experimental results of ΔE/E as a function of electron energy E, peak magnetic field Bw and laser power W 1 compare well with analytical and 1-D numerical simulations and permit scaling to higher laser power and electron energy

Analysis and comparison between electric and magnetic power couplers for accelerators in Free Electron Lasers (FEL)

Science.gov (United States)

Serpico, C.; Grudiev, A.; Vescovo, R.

2016-10-01

Free-electron lasers represent a new and exciting class of coherent optical sources possessing broad wavelength tunability and excellent optical-beam quality. The FERMI seeded free-electron laser (FEL), located at the Elettra laboratory in Trieste, is driven by a 200 m long, S-band linac: the high energy part of the linac is equipped with 6 m long backward traveling wave (BTW) structures. The structures have small iris radius and a nose cone geometry which allows for high gradient operation. Development of new high-gradient, S-band accelerating structures for the replacement of the existing BTWs is under consideration. This paper investigates two possible solutions for the RF power couplers suitable for a linac driven FEL which require reduced wakefields effects, high operating gradient and very high reliability. The first part of the manuscript focuses on the reduction of residual field asymmetries, while in the second analyzes RF performances, the peak surface fields and the expected breakdown rate. In the conclusion, two solutions are compared and pros and cons are highlighted.

Analysis and comparison between electric and magnetic power couplers for accelerators in Free Electron Lasers (FEL)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Serpico, C., E-mail: claudio.serpico@elettra.eu [Elettra - Sincrotrone Trieste, Trieste (Italy); Grudiev, A. [CERN, Geneva (Switzerland); Vescovo, R. [University of Trieste, Trieste (Italy)

2016-10-11

Free-electron lasers represent a new and exciting class of coherent optical sources possessing broad wavelength tunability and excellent optical-beam quality. The FERMI seeded free-electron laser (FEL), located at the Elettra laboratory in Trieste, is driven by a 200 m long, S-band linac: the high energy part of the linac is equipped with 6 m long backward traveling wave (BTW) structures. The structures have small iris radius and a nose cone geometry which allows for high gradient operation. Development of new high-gradient, S-band accelerating structures for the replacement of the existing BTWs is under consideration. This paper investigates two possible solutions for the RF power couplers suitable for a linac driven FEL which require reduced wakefields effects, high operating gradient and very high reliability. The first part of the manuscript focuses on the reduction of residual field asymmetries, while in the second analyzes RF performances, the peak surface fields and the expected breakdown rate. In the conclusion, two solutions are compared and pros and cons are highlighted.

Free electron laser amplifier driven by an induction linac

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neil, V.K.

1986-01-01

This paper discusses the use of a free-electron laser amplifier as a means of converting the kinetic energy of an electron beam into coherent radiation. In particular, the use of an induction linear accelerator is discussed. The motion of the elections in the tapered and untapered wiggler magnets is discussed as well as the beam emittance, and the radiation fields involved

Laser-driven x-ray and neutron source development for industrial applications of plasma accelerators

Science.gov (United States)

Brenner, C. M.; Mirfayzi, S. R.; Rusby, D. R.; Armstrong, C.; Alejo, A.; Wilson, L. A.; Clarke, R.; Ahmed, H.; Butler, N. M. H.; Haddock, D.; Higginson, A.; McClymont, A.; Murphy, C.; Notley, M.; Oliver, P.; Allott, R.; Hernandez-Gomez, C.; Kar, S.; McKenna, P.; Neely, D.

2016-01-01

Pulsed beams of energetic x-rays and neutrons from intense laser interactions with solid foils are promising for applications where bright, small emission area sources, capable of multi-modal delivery are ideal. Possible end users of laser-driven multi-modal sources are those requiring advanced non-destructive inspection techniques in industry sectors of high value commerce such as aerospace, nuclear and advanced manufacturing. We report on experimental work that demonstrates multi-modal operation of high power laser-solid interactions for neutron and x-ray beam generation. Measurements and Monte Carlo radiation transport simulations show that neutron yield is increased by a factor ~2 when a 1 mm copper foil is placed behind a 2 mm lithium foil, compared to using a 2 cm block of lithium only. We explore x-ray generation with a 10 picosecond drive pulse in order to tailor the spectral content for radiography with medium density alloy metals. The impact of using  >1 ps pulse duration on laser-accelerated electron beam generation and transport is discussed alongside the optimisation of subsequent bremsstrahlung emission in thin, high atomic number target foils. X-ray spectra are deconvolved from spectrometer measurements and simulation data generated using the GEANT4 Monte Carlo code. We also demonstrate the unique capability of laser-driven x-rays in being able to deliver single pulse high spatial resolution projection imaging of thick metallic objects. Active detector radiographic imaging of industrially relevant sample objects with a 10 ps drive pulse is presented for the first time, demonstrating that features of 200 μm size are resolved when projected at high magnification.

Laser-driven x-ray and neutron source development for industrial applications of plasma accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brenner, C M; Rusby, D R; Armstrong, C; Wilson, L A; Clarke, R; Haddock, D; McClymont, A; Notley, M; Oliver, P; Allott, R; Hernandez-Gomez, C; Neely, D; Mirfayzi, S R; Alejo, A; Ahmed, H; Kar, S; Butler, N M H; Higginson, A; McKenna, P; Murphy, C

2016-01-01

Pulsed beams of energetic x-rays and neutrons from intense laser interactions with solid foils are promising for applications where bright, small emission area sources, capable of multi-modal delivery are ideal. Possible end users of laser-driven multi-modal sources are those requiring advanced non-destructive inspection techniques in industry sectors of high value commerce such as aerospace, nuclear and advanced manufacturing. We report on experimental work that demonstrates multi-modal operation of high power laser-solid interactions for neutron and x-ray beam generation. Measurements and Monte Carlo radiation transport simulations show that neutron yield is increased by a factor ∼2 when a 1 mm copper foil is placed behind a 2 mm lithium foil, compared to using a 2 cm block of lithium only. We explore x-ray generation with a 10 picosecond drive pulse in order to tailor the spectral content for radiography with medium density alloy metals. The impact of using  >1 ps pulse duration on laser-accelerated electron beam generation and transport is discussed alongside the optimisation of subsequent bremsstrahlung emission in thin, high atomic number target foils. X-ray spectra are deconvolved from spectrometer measurements and simulation data generated using the GEANT4 Monte Carlo code. We also demonstrate the unique capability of laser-driven x-rays in being able to deliver single pulse high spatial resolution projection imaging of thick metallic objects. Active detector radiographic imaging of industrially relevant sample objects with a 10 ps drive pulse is presented for the first time, demonstrating that features of 200 μm size are resolved when projected at high magnification. (paper)

Laser-plasma accelerator-based single-cycle attosecond undulator source

Science.gov (United States)

Tibai, Z.; Tóth, Gy.; Nagyváradi, A.; Sharma, A.; Mechler, M. I.; Fülöp, J. A.; Almási, G.; Hebling, J.

2018-06-01

Laser-plasma accelerators (LPAs), producing high-quality electron beams, provide an opportunity to reduce the size of free-electron lasers (FELs) to only a few meters. A complete system is proposed here, which is based on FEL technology and consists of an LPA, two undulators, and other magnetic devices. The system is capable to generate carrier-envelope phase stable attosecond pulses with engineered waveform. Pulses with up to 60 nJ energy and 90-400 attosecond duration in the 30-120 nm wavelength range are predicted by numerical simulation. These pulses can be used to investigate ultrafast field-driven electron dynamics in matter.

Direct acceleration of electrons by a CO2 laser in a curved plasma waveguide

CERN Document Server

Yi, Longqing; Shen, Baifei

2016-01-01

Laser plasma interaction with micro-engineered targets at relativistic intensities has been greatly promoted by recent progress in the high contrast lasers and the manufacture of advanced micro- and nano-structures. This opens new possibilities for the physics of laser-matter interaction. Here we propose a novel approach that leverages the advantages of high-pressure CO 2 laser, laser-waveguide interaction, as well as micro-engineered plasma structure to accelerate electrons to peak energy greater than 1 GeV with narrow slice energy spread (~1%) and high overall efficiency. The acceleration gradient is 26 GV/m for a 1.3 TW CO2 laser system. The micro-bunching of a long electron beam leads to the generation of a chain of ultrashort electron bunches with the duration roughly equal to half-laser-cycle. These results open a way for developing a compact and economic electron source for diverse applications.

Field-reversed bubble in deep plasma channels for high quality electron acceleration

CERN Document Server

Pukhov, A; Tueckmantel, T; Thomas, J; Yu, I; Kostyukov, Yu

2014-01-01

We study hollow plasma channels with smooth boundaries for laser-driven electron acceleration in the bubble regime. Contrary to the uniform plasma case, the laser forms no optical shock and no etching at the front. This increases the effective bubble phase velocity and energy gain. The longitudinal field has a plateau that allows for mono-energetic acceleration. We observe as low as 10−3 r.m.s. relative witness beam energy uncertainty in each cross-section and 0.3% total energy spread. By varying plasma density profile inside a deep channel, the bubble fields can be adjusted to balance the laser depletion and dephasing lengths. Bubble scaling laws for the deep channel are derived. Ultra-short pancake-like laser pulses lead to the highest energies of accelerated electrons per Joule of laser pulse energy.

Ultra-High-Contrast Laser Acceleration of Relativistic Electrons in Solid Targets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Higginson, Drew Pitney [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States)

2013-01-01

The cone-guided fast ignition approach to Inertial Con nement Fusion requires laser-accelerated relativistic electrons to deposit kilojoules of energy within an imploded fuel core to initiate fusion burn. One obstacle to coupling electron energy into the core is the ablation of material, known as preplasma, by laser energy proceeding nanoseconds prior to the main pulse. This causes the laser-absorption surface to be pushed back hundreds of microns from the initial target surface; thus increasing the distance that electrons must travel to reach the imploded core. Previous experiments have shown an order of magnitude decrease in coupling into surrogate targets when intentionally increasing the amount of preplasma. Additionally, for electrons to deposit energy within the core, they should have kinetic energies on the order of a few MeV, as less energetic electrons will be stopped prior to the core and more energetic electrons will pass through the core without depositing much energy. Thus a quantitative understanding of the electron energy spectrum and how it responds to varied laser parameters is paramount for fast ignition. For the rst time, this dissertation quantitatively investigates the acceleration of electrons using an ultra-high-contrast laser. Ultra-high-contrast lasers reduce the laser energy that reaches the target prior to the main pulse; drastically reducing the amount of preplasma. Experiments were performed in a cone-wire geometry relevant to fast ignition. These experiments irradiated the inner-tip of a Au cone with the laser and observed electrons that passed through a Cu wire attached to the outer-tip of the cone. The total emission of K x-rays is used as a diagnostic to infer the electron energy coupled into the wire. Imaging the x-ray emission allowed an e ective path-length of electrons within the wire to be determined, which constrained the electron energy spectrum. Experiments were carried out on the ultra-high-contrast Trident laser at Los

Organization of lasers with particle accelerators to create new tools for frontier sciences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakajima, Kazuhisa; Kando, Masaki; Kotaki, Hideyuki; Kondo, Shuji; Kanazawa, Shuhei; Masuda, Shinichi; Honma, Takayuki

2003-01-01

Recently great advances of ultraintense ultrashort pulse lasers have brought about tremendous experimental and theoretical progress in maturity of laser-driven particle accelerator concepts. In near future creation of new tools for frontier sciences is forseen, which will be combined and organized from ultraintense lasers and particle accelerators. Here we report research activities on the laser acceleration at JAERI - APR as well as the outlook for developments of laser-driven particle injectors, accelerators and radiation sources. Recent world-wide experiments have successfully demonstrated that the self-modulated LWFA mechanism is capable of generating ultrahigh accelerating gradient of the order of 100 GeV/m, while the maximum energy gain is limited at most to 200 MeV with energy spread of 100% because of dephasing and wavebreaking effects in plasmas. The first high energy gain acceleration 300 MeV has been opened with the injection of an electron beam at an energy matched to a wakefield phase velocity in a fairly underdense plasma by our group. Our activities on laser acceleration research have focused on the laser wakefield accelerator developments for high energy electron acceleration achieving more than 1 GeV with channel-guided scheme, and on high quality beam generation with both conventional and advanced technologies. The main task has been devoted to completion of the Laser Acceleration Test Facility (LATF) consisting of the photocathode RF gun, the 150 MeV microtron accelerator and the test beam line as well as the estimation of radiation doses produced by LATF for the radiation safety clearance. With the use of LATF, we plan to demonstrate the channel-guided LWFA in which both the driving laser pulses and particle beams can be guided through the capillary discharge plasmas with a cm-scale length. The development of the plasma waveguide is underway after the first demonstration of propagating a 2 TW, 90 fs laser pulse through a stable 2 cm plasma

Stochastic acceleration of electrons from multiple uncorrelated plasma waves

Science.gov (United States)

Gee, David; Michel, Pierre; Wurtele, Jonathan

2017-10-01

One-dimensional theory puts a strict limit on the maximum energy attainable by an electron trapped and accelerated by an electron plasma wave (EPW). However, experimental measurements of hot electron distributions accelerated by stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) in ICF experiments typically show a thermal distribution with temperatures of the order of the kinetic energy of the resonant EPW's (Thot mvp2 , where vp is the phase velocity of the EPW's driven by SRS) and no clear cutoff at high energies. In this project, we are investigating conditions under which electrons can be stochastically accelerated by multiple uncorrelated EPW's, such as those generated by incoherent laser speckles in large laser spots like the ones used on NIF ( mm-size), and reproduce distributions similar to those observed in experiments. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC52-07NA27344.

LESM: a laser-driven sub-MeV electron source delivering ultra-high dose rate on thin biological samples

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Labate, L.; Andreassi, M.G.; Baffigi, F.; Bizzarri, B.M.; Borghini, A.; Bussolino, G.C.; Fulgentini, L.; Ghetti, F.; Giulietti, A.; Köster, P.; Lamia, D.; Levato, Tadzio; Oishi, Y.; Pulignani, S.; Russo, G.; Sgarbossa, A.; Gizzi, L.A.

2016-01-01

Roč. 49, č. 27 (2016), s. 1-9, č. článku 275401. ISSN 0022-3727 R&D Projects: GA MŠk EF15_008/0000162; GA MŠk LQ1606 Grant - others:ELI Beamlines(XE) CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/15_008/0000162 Institutional support: RVO:68378271 Keywords : laser-driven electron accelerators * sub-MeV electron sources * ultrahigh dose rate * radiobiology * cell radiation damage Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics OBOR OECD: Fluids and plasma physics (including surface physics ) Impact factor: 2.588, year: 2016

An Electron Bunch Compression Scheme for a Superconducting Radio Frequency Linear Accelerator Driven Light Source

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

C. Tennant, S.V. Benson, D. Douglas, P. Evtushenko, R.A. Legg

2011-09-01

We describe an electron bunch compression scheme suitable for use in a light source driven by a superconducting radio frequency (SRF) linac. The key feature is the use of a recirculating linac to perform the initial bunch compression. Phasing of the second pass beam through the linac is chosen to de-chirp the electron bunch prior to acceleration to the final energy in an SRF linac ('afterburner'). The final bunch compression is then done at maximum energy. This scheme has the potential to circumvent some of the most technically challenging aspects of current longitudinal matches; namely transporting a fully compressed, high peak current electron bunch through an extended SRF environment, the need for a RF harmonic linearizer and the need for a laser heater. Additional benefits include a substantial savings in capital and operational costs by efficiently using the available SRF gradient.

Pump depletion limited evolution of the relativistic plasma wave-front in a forced laser-wakefield accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fang, F; Clayton, C E; Marsh, K A; Pak, A E; Ralph, J E; Joshi, C; Lopes, N C

2009-01-01

In a forced laser-wakefield accelerator experiment (Malka et al 2002 Science 298 1596) where the length of the pump laser pulse is a few plasma periods long, the leading edge of the laser pulse undergoes frequency downshifting and head erosion as the laser energy is transferred to the wake. Therefore, after some propagation distance, the group velocity of the leading edge of the pump pulse-and thus of the driven electron plasma wave-will slow down. This can have implications for the dephasing length of the accelerated electrons and therefore needs to be understood experimentally. We have carried out an experimental investigation where we have measured the velocity v f of the 'wave-front' of the plasma wave driven by a nominally 50 fs (full width half maximum), intense (a 0 ≅ 1), 0.815 μm laser pulse. To determine the speed of the wave front, time- and space-resolved refractometry, interferometry and Thomson scattering were used. Although a laser pulse propagating through a relatively low-density plasma (n e = 1.3 x 10 19 cm -3 ) showed no measurable changes in v f over 1.3 mm (and no accelerated electrons), a high-density plasma (n e = 5 x 10 19 cm -3 ) generated accelerated electrons and showed a continuous change in v f as the laser pulse propagated through the plasma. Possible causes and consequences of the observed v f evolution are discussed.

A Low-Energy-Spread Rf Accelerator for a Far-Infrared Free-Electron Laser

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Geer, C. A. J.; Bakker, R. J.; van der Meer, A. F. G.; van Amersfoort, P. W.; Gillespie, W. A.; Saxon, G.; Poole, M. W.

1993-01-01

A high electron current and a small energy spread are essential for the operation of a free electron laser (FEL). In this paper we discuss the design and performance of the accelerator for FELIX, the free electron laser for infrared experiments. The system consists of a thermionic gun, a prebuncher,

Localization of ionization-induced trapping in a laser wakefield accelerator using a density down-ramp

CERN Document Server

Hansson, M.; Ekerfelt, H.; Aurand, B.; Gallardo Ganzalez, I.; Desforges, F. G.; Davoine, X.; Maitrallain, A.; Reymond, S.; Monot, P.; Persson, A.; Dobosz Dufrénoy S.; Wahlström C-G.; Cros, B.; Lundh, O.

2016-01-01

We report on a study on controlled trapping of electrons, by field ionization of nitrogen ions, in laser wakefield accelerators in variable length gas cells. In addition to ionization-induced trapping in the density plateau inside the cells, which results in wide, but stable, electron energy spectra, a regime of ionization-induced trapping localized in the density down-ramp at the exit of the gas cells, is found. The resulting electron energy spectra are peaked, with 10% shot-to-shot fluctuations in peak energy. Ionization-induced trapping of electrons in the density down-ramp is a way to trap and accelerate a large number of electrons, thus improving the efficiency of the laser-driven wakefield acceleration.

Transverse emittance growth in staged laser-wakefield acceleration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Mehrling

2012-11-01

Full Text Available We present a study on the emittance evolution of electron bunches, externally injected into laser-driven plasma waves using the three-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC code OSIRIS. Results show order-of-magnitude transverse emittance growth during the injection process, if the electron bunch is not matched to its intrinsic betatron motion inside the wakefield. This behavior is supported by analytic theory reproducing the simulation data to a percent level. The length over which the full emittance growth develops is found to be less than or comparable to the typical dimension of a single plasma module in current multistage designs. In addition, the analytic theory enables the quantitative prediction of emittance degradation in two consecutive accelerators coupled by free-drift sections, excluding this as a scheme for effective emittance-growth suppression, and thus suggests the necessity of beam-matching sections between acceleration stages with fundamental implications on the overall design of staged laser-wakefield accelerators.

Optically controlled laser-plasma electron accelerator for compact gamma-ray sources

Science.gov (United States)

Kalmykov, S. Y.; Davoine, X.; Ghebregziabher, I.; Shadwick, B. A.

2018-02-01

Generating quasi-monochromatic, femtosecond γ-ray pulses via Thomson scattering (TS) demands exceptional electron beam (e-beam) quality, such as percent-scale energy spread and five-dimensional brightness over 1016 A m-2. We show that near-GeV e-beams with these metrics can be accelerated in a cavity of electron density, driven with an incoherent stack of Joule-scale laser pulses through a mm-size, dense plasma (n 0 ˜ 1019 cm-3). Changing the time delay, frequency difference, and energy ratio of the stack components controls the e-beam phase space on the femtosecond scale, while the modest energy of the optical driver helps afford kHz-scale repetition rate at manageable average power. Blue-shifting one stack component by a considerable fraction of the carrier frequency makes the stack immune to self-compression. This, in turn, minimizes uncontrolled variation in the cavity shape, suppressing continuous injection of ambient plasma electrons, preserving a single, ultra-bright electron bunch. In addition, weak focusing of the trailing component of the stack induces periodic injection, generating, in a single shot, a train of bunches with controllable energy spacing and femtosecond synchronization. These designer e-beams, inaccessible to conventional acceleration methods, generate, via TS, gigawatt γ-ray pulses (or multi-color pulse trains) with the mean energy in the range of interest for nuclear photonics (4-16 MeV), containing over 106 photons within a microsteradian-scale observation cone.

Photon acceleration in laser wakefield accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trines, R. M. G. M.

2007-01-01

If the index of a refraction of a dispersive medium, such as a plasma, changes in time, it can be used to change the frequency of light propagating through the medium. This effect is called photon acceleration. It has been predicted in both theory and simulations, and also been demonstrated experimentally for the case of moving ionization fronts in gases (the so-called ionization blueshift) as well as for laser-driven wakefields.Here, we present studies of photon acceleration in laser-driven plasma wakefields. The unique spectral characteristics of this process will be discussed, to distinguish it from e.g. photon acceleration by ionization fronts, frequency domain interferometry or self-phase modulation. The dynamics of the photons in laser-wakefield interaction are studied through both regular particle-in-cell and wave-kinetic simulations. The latter approach provides a powerful, versatile, and easy-to-use method to track the propagation of individual spectral components, providing new insight into the physics of laser-plasma interaction. Theory, simulations and experimental results will be brought together to provide a full understanding of the dynamics of a laser pulse in its own wakefield.Even though the wave-kinetic approach mentioned above has mainly been developed for the description of laser-plasma interaction, it can be applied to a much wider range of fast wave-slow wave interaction processes: Langmuir waves-ion acoustic waves, drift waves-zonal flow, Rossby waves-zonal flow, or even photons-gravitational waves. Several recent results in these areas will be shown, often with surprising results

submitter Parametric study of transport beam lines for electron beams accelerated by laser-plasma interaction

CERN Document Server

Scisciò, M; Migliorati, M; Mostacci, A; Palumbo, L; Papaphilippou, Y; Antici, P

2016-01-01

In the last decade, laser-plasma acceleration of high-energy electrons has attracted strong attention in different fields. Electrons with maximum energies in the GeV range can be laser-accelerated within a few cm using multi-hundreds terawatt (TW) lasers, yielding to very high beam currents at the source (electron bunches with up to tens-hundreds of pC in a few fs). While initially the challenge was to increase the maximum achievable electron energy, today strong effort is put in the control and usability of these laser-generated beams that still lack of some features in order to be used for applications where currently conventional, radio-frequency (RF) based, electron beam lines represent the most common and efficient solution. Several improvements have been suggested for this purpose, some of them acting directly on the plasma source, some using beam shaping tools located downstream. Concerning the latter, several studies have suggested the use of conventional accelerator magnetic devices (such as quadrupo...

Two-dimensional angular energy spectrum of electrons accelerated by the ultra-short relativistic laser pulse

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Borovskiy, A. V. [Department of Computer Science and Cybernetics, Baikal State University of Economics and Law, 11 Lenin Street, Irkutsk 664003 (Russian Federation); Galkin, A. L. [Coherent and Nonlinear Optics Department, A.M. Prokhorov General Physics Institute of the RAS, 38 Vavilov Street, Moscow 119991 (Russian Federation); Department of Physics of MBF, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, 1 Ostrovitianov Street, Moscow 117997 (Russian Federation); Kalashnikov, M. P., E-mail: galkin@kapella.gpi.ru [Max-Born-Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short-Time Spectroscopy, 2a Max-Born-Strasse, Berlin 12489 (Germany)

2015-04-15

The new method of calculating energy spectra of accelerated electrons, based on the parameterization by their initial coordinates, is proposed. The energy spectra of electrons accelerated by Gaussian ultra-short relativistic laser pulse at a selected angle to the axis of the optical system focusing the laser pulse in a low density gas are theoretically calculated. The two-peak structure of the electron energy spectrum is obtained. Discussed are the reasons for its appearance as well as an applicability of other models of the laser field.

Laser power sources and laser technology for accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lowenthal, D.

1986-01-01

The requirements on laser power sources for advanced accelerator concepts are formidable. These requirements are driven by the need to deliver 5 TeV particles at luminosities of 10/sup 33/ - 10/sup 34/ cm/sup -2/ sec/sup -1/. Given that optical power can be transferred efficiently to the particles these accelerator parameters translate into single pulse laser output energies of several kilojoules and rep rates of 1-10 kHz. The average laser output power is then 10-20 MW. Larger average powers will be needed if efficient transfer proves not to be possible. A laser plant of this magnitude underscores the importance of high wall plug efficiency and reasonable cost in $/Watt. The interface between the laser output pulse format and the accelerator structure is another area that drives the laser requirements. Laser accelerators break up into two general architectures depending on the strength of the laser coupling. For strong coupling mechanisms, the architecture requires many ''small'' lasers powering the accelerator in a staged arrangement. For the weak coupling mechanisms, the architecture must feature a single large laser system whose power must be transported along the entire accelerator length. Both of these arrangements have demanding optical constraints in terms of phase matching sequential stages, beam combining arrays of laser outputs and optimizing coupling of laser power in a single accelerating stage

Temporal dynamics of the longitudinal bunch profile in a laser wakefield accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heigoldt, Matthias

2017-01-01

This thesis deals with the temporal characterisation of electron bunches produced by a laser plasma accelerator. In the so-called laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) scheme, an ultra-short high-intensity laser pulse excites a plasma wave, which can sustain accelerating electric fields of several hundred GV/m, thus exceeding the fields attainable by current state-of-the-art radio frequency (RF) accelerators by four orders of magnitude, offering the prospect of downsizing both the size and cost of such machines. Furthermore, by intrinsically confining the accelerated electron beam to the μm-scale size of the plasma wave, LWFAs provide ultra-short and highly brilliant beams, sparking great scientific interest for their application as a driver for compact sources of ultra-short X-ray pulses, e.g. Thomson-scattering, betatron sources or table-top free-electron lasers (FELs). The bunch profile is an important quantity for the application of these sources. With particular regard to the envisioned table-top FELs, it also determines the available peak current, an import input parameter for an appropriate undulator design that is optimized to support the self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) process. The experiments presented in this thesis comprise the measurement of the temporal profile of electron bunches produced by LWFA and further investigation of the evolution of the temporal profile in dependence of the acceleration distance and the plasma density. By measuring the intensity spectrum of coherent transition radiation (CTR) emitted by LWFA-driven electron bunches in the frequency domain, the experiments allow a reconstruction of the longitudinal bunch profiles with unprecedented resolution. Compared to earlier work, a key improvement is the single-shot coverage of a broadband spectral range of more than four octaves, which yields a time resolution of the reconstructed bunch profile in the sub-femtosecond region. This work further inspired the development of a new

Temporal dynamics of the longitudinal bunch profile in a laser wakefield accelerator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Heigoldt, Matthias

2017-05-19

This thesis deals with the temporal characterisation of electron bunches produced by a laser plasma accelerator. In the so-called laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) scheme, an ultra-short high-intensity laser pulse excites a plasma wave, which can sustain accelerating electric fields of several hundred GV/m, thus exceeding the fields attainable by current state-of-the-art radio frequency (RF) accelerators by four orders of magnitude, offering the prospect of downsizing both the size and cost of such machines. Furthermore, by intrinsically confining the accelerated electron beam to the μm-scale size of the plasma wave, LWFAs provide ultra-short and highly brilliant beams, sparking great scientific interest for their application as a driver for compact sources of ultra-short X-ray pulses, e.g. Thomson-scattering, betatron sources or table-top free-electron lasers (FELs). The bunch profile is an important quantity for the application of these sources. With particular regard to the envisioned table-top FELs, it also determines the available peak current, an import input parameter for an appropriate undulator design that is optimized to support the self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) process. The experiments presented in this thesis comprise the measurement of the temporal profile of electron bunches produced by LWFA and further investigation of the evolution of the temporal profile in dependence of the acceleration distance and the plasma density. By measuring the intensity spectrum of coherent transition radiation (CTR) emitted by LWFA-driven electron bunches in the frequency domain, the experiments allow a reconstruction of the longitudinal bunch profiles with unprecedented resolution. Compared to earlier work, a key improvement is the single-shot coverage of a broadband spectral range of more than four octaves, which yields a time resolution of the reconstructed bunch profile in the sub-femtosecond region. This work further inspired the development of a new

Multiple purpose research complex on the basis of electron accelerators and terahertz free electron laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kulipanov, G.N.

2009-01-01

In this report the basic positioning parameters of multiple purpose research complex are presented, the list of potential experiments and technological uses on the example of results received in the multiuser center of G.I. Budker Institut of nuclear physics Siberian department of the Russian Academy of Sciences is discussed. This research complex is directed on work in the big universities and nano technology centers. Electron accelerators is intended for development of electron-beam technologies different material modification, for production of nano powder, nano materials and solution of ecological tasks. In this work the project of multiple purpose research complex on the basis of new generation electron accelerator Il-14 and workable terahertz free electron laser is suggested. Terahertz free electron laser will be used for researches in the sphere of physics and chemistry, biology and medicine, nanotechnology engineering and different methods of nanodiagnostics.

Electron Beam Charge Diagnostics for Laser Plasma Accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakamura, Kei; Gonsalves, Anthony; Lin, Chen; Smith, Alan; Rodgers, David; Donahue, Rich; Byrne, Warren; Leemans, Wim

2011-01-01

A comprehensive study of charge diagnostics is conducted to verify their validity for measuring electron beams produced by laser plasma accelerators (LPAs). First, a scintillating screen (Lanex) was extensively studied using subnanosecond electron beams from the Advanced Light Source booster synchrotron, at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The Lanex was cross calibrated with an integrating current transformer (ICT) for up to the electron energy of 1.5 GeV, and the linear response of the screen was confirmed for charge density and intensity up to 160 pC/mm 2 and 0.4 pC/(ps mm 2 ), respectively. After the radio-frequency accelerator based cross calibration, a series of measurements was conducted using electron beams from an LPA. Cross calibrations were carried out using an activation-based measurement that is immune to electromagnetic pulse noise, ICT, and Lanex. The diagnostics agreed within ±8%, showing that they all can provide accurate charge measurements for LPAs.

Electron beam charge diagnostics for laser plasma accelerators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Nakamura

2011-06-01

Full Text Available A comprehensive study of charge diagnostics is conducted to verify their validity for measuring electron beams produced by laser plasma accelerators (LPAs. First, a scintillating screen (Lanex was extensively studied using subnanosecond electron beams from the Advanced Light Source booster synchrotron, at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The Lanex was cross calibrated with an integrating current transformer (ICT for up to the electron energy of 1.5 GeV, and the linear response of the screen was confirmed for charge density and intensity up to 160  pC/mm^{2} and 0.4  pC/(ps  mm^{2}, respectively. After the radio-frequency accelerator based cross calibration, a series of measurements was conducted using electron beams from an LPA. Cross calibrations were carried out using an activation-based measurement that is immune to electromagnetic pulse noise, ICT, and Lanex. The diagnostics agreed within ±8%, showing that they all can provide accurate charge measurements for LPAs.

Enhancement of electron energy during vacuum laser acceleration in an inhomogeneous magnetic field

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saberi, H.; Maraghechi, B., E-mail: behrouz@aut.ac.ir [Department of Physics, Amirkabir University of Technology, 15875-4413 Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2015-03-15

In this paper, the effect of a stationary inhomogeneous magnetic field on the electron acceleration by a high intensity Gaussian laser pulse is investigated. A focused TEM (0,0) laser mode with linear polarization in the transverse x-direction that propagates along the z-axis is considered. The magnetic field is assumed to be stationary in time, but varies longitudinally in space. A linear spatial profile for the magnetic field is adopted. In other words, the axial magnetic field increases linearly in the z-direction up to an optimum point z{sub m} and then becomes constant with magnitude equal to that at z{sub m}. Three-dimensional single-particle simulations are performed to find the energy and trajectory of the electron. The electron rotates around and stays near the z-axis. It is shown that with a proper choice of the magnetic field parameters, the electron will be trapped at the focus of the laser pulse. Because of the cyclotron resonance, the electron receives enough energy from the laser fields to be accelerated to relativistic energies. Using numerical simulations, the criteria for optimum regime of the acceleration mechanism is found. With the optimized parameters, an electron initially at rest located at the origin achieves final energy of γ=802. The dynamics of a distribution of off-axis electrons are also investigated in which shows that high energy electrons with small energy and spatial spread can be obtained.

Acceleration of charged particles by lasers in vacuum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cicchitelli, L.; Hora, H.; Scheid, W.

1989-01-01

For laser acceleration of electrons (and other charged particles) by lasers to the TeV energy range in vacuum, the scheme of trapping electrons in spatially moving and accelerated intensity gradients or minima of laser fields, the single electron motion in standing wave fields is evaluated in details numerically. Acceleration of the minima results in the acceleration of the electrons as expected from global results of the nonlinear forces. If half-wave length laser pulses propagating in vacuum are used the relativistic exact solutions are derived and evaluated. A disadvantage is the lateral motion requiring a large laser focus. For TeV electron energy, MJ KrF-laser pulses are necessary and the acceleration length is about 10 cm. copyright 1989 American Institute of Physics

On the quasi-monoenergetic electron beam generation in the laser wakefield acceleration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bulanov, S.V.; Tajima, Toshiki

2005-01-01

A new phase of laser acceleration research has entered, as signified by the recent reports in Nature 9/30/05 of the generation of quasi-monoenergetic electron beam by laser wakefield acceleration in three experiments. We survey the current status of experiments and offer their theoretical interpretation. We understand why the choice of parameters is of such importance and why the earlier experiments showed energy spectra far from monoenergy. (author)

Summary Report of Working Group 5: Electron Beam Driven Plasma Accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hogan, Mark J.; Conde, Manoel E.

2009-01-01

Electron beam driven plasma accelerators have seen rapid progress over the last decade. Recent efforts have built on this success by constructing a concept for a plasma wakefield accelerator based linear collider. The needs for any future collider to deliver both energy and luminosity have substantial implications for interpreting current experiments and setting priorities for the future. This working group reviewed current experiments and ideas in the context of the demands of a future collider. The many discussions and presentations are summarized here.

Monoenergetic laser wakefield acceleration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. E. Andreev

2000-02-01

Full Text Available Three dimensional test particle simulations are applied to optimization of the plasma-channeled laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA operating in a weakly nonlinear regime. Electron beam energy spread, emittance, and luminosity depend upon the proportion of the electron bunch size to the plasma wavelength. This proportion tends to improve with the laser wavelength increase. We simulate a prospective two-stage ∼1GeV LWFA with controlled energy spread and emittance. The input parameters correspond to realistic capabilities of the BNL Accelerator Test Facility that features a picosecond-terawatt CO_{2} laser and a high-brightness electron gun.

Pump depletion limited evolution of the relativistic plasma wave-front in a forced laser-wakefield accelerator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fang, F; Clayton, C E; Marsh, K A; Pak, A E; Ralph, J E; Joshi, C [Department of Electrical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States); Lopes, N C [Grupo de Lasers e Plasmas, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisbon (Portugal)], E-mail: cclayton@ucla.edu

2009-02-15

In a forced laser-wakefield accelerator experiment (Malka et al 2002 Science 298 1596) where the length of the pump laser pulse is a few plasma periods long, the leading edge of the laser pulse undergoes frequency downshifting and head erosion as the laser energy is transferred to the wake. Therefore, after some propagation distance, the group velocity of the leading edge of the pump pulse-and thus of the driven electron plasma wave-will slow down. This can have implications for the dephasing length of the accelerated electrons and therefore needs to be understood experimentally. We have carried out an experimental investigation where we have measured the velocity v{sub f} of the 'wave-front' of the plasma wave driven by a nominally 50 fs (full width half maximum), intense (a{sub 0} {approx_equal} 1), 0.815 {mu}m laser pulse. To determine the speed of the wave front, time- and space-resolved refractometry, interferometry and Thomson scattering were used. Although a laser pulse propagating through a relatively low-density plasma (n{sub e} = 1.3 x 10{sup 19} cm{sup -3}) showed no measurable changes in v{sub f} over 1.3 mm (and no accelerated electrons), a high-density plasma (n{sub e} = 5 x 10{sup 19} cm{sup -3}) generated accelerated electrons and showed a continuous change in v{sub f} as the laser pulse propagated through the plasma. Possible causes and consequences of the observed v{sub f} evolution are discussed.

A cyclotron resonance laser accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sprangle, P.; Tang, C.M.; Vlahos, L.

1983-01-01

A laser acceleration mechanism which utilizes a strong static, almost uniform, magnetic field together with an intense laser pulse is analyzed. The interaction and acceleration mechanism relies on a self resonance effect. Since the laser field is assumed to be diffraction limited, the magnetic field must be spatially varied to maintain resonance. The effective accelerating gradient is shown to scale like 1/√E /SUB b/ , where E /SUB b/ is the electron energy. For a numerical illustration the authors consider a 1 x 10 13 W/cm 2 , CO 2 laser and show that electrons can be accelerated to more than 500 MeV in a distance of 15 m (approximately two Rayleigh lengths)

Near-field enhanced electron acceleration from dielectric nanospheres in intense few-cycle laser fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zherebtsov, S.; Znakovskaya, I.; Wirth, A.; Herrwerth, O.; Suessmann, F.; Ahmad, I.; Trushin, S.; Fennel, Th.; Plenge, J.; Antonsson, E.

2010-01-01

Complete text of publication follows. The interaction of nanostructured materials with few-cycle laser light has attracted significant attention lately. This interest is driven by both the quest for fundamental insight into the real-time dynamics of many-electron systems and a wide range of far-reaching applications, such as, e.g. ultrafast computation and information storage on the nanoscale and the generation of XUV frequency combs. We investigated the above-threshold electron emission from isolated SiO 2 nanoparticles in waveform controlled few-cycle laser fields at intensities close to the tunneling regime. The enhancement of the electron acceleration from the silica nanoparticles was explored as a function of the particle size (ranging from 50 to 147 nm) and the laser peak intensity (1 - 4x10 13 W/cm 2 ). Obtained cut-off values in the kinetic energy spectra are displayed in Fig. 1. The cut-off values show a linear dependence with intensity within the studied intensity range, with the average cut-off energy being 53 U P , indicated by the black line. Quasi-classical simulations of the emission process reveal that electron rescattering in the locally enhanced near-field of the particle is responsible for the large energy gain. The observed near-field enhancement offers promising new routes for pushing the limits of strong-field phenomena relying on electron rescattering, such as, high-harmonic generation and molecular imaging.

Laser pulse guiding and electron acceleration in the ablative capillary discharge plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kameshima, T.; Kotaki, H.; Kando, M.; Daito, I.; Kawase, K.; Fukuda, Y.; Homma, T.; Esirkepov, T. Zh.; Chen, L. M.; Kondo, S.; Bobrova, N. A.; Sasorov, P. V.; Bulanov, S. V.

2009-01-01

The results of experiments are presented for the laser electron acceleration in the ablative capillary discharge plasma. The plasma channel is formed by the discharge inside the ablative capillary. The intense short laser pulse is guided over a 4 cm length. The generated relativistic electrons show both the quasimonoenergetic and quasi-Maxwellian energy spectra, depending on laser and plasma parameters. The analysis of the inner walls of the capillaries that underwent several tens of shots shows that the wall deformation and blistering resulted from the discharge and laser pulse effects.

Design study of high gradient, low impedance accelerating structures for the FERMI free electron laser linac upgrade

Science.gov (United States)

Shafqat, N.; Di Mitri, S.; Serpico, C.; Nicastro, S.

2017-09-01

The FERMI free-electron laser (FEL) of Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste, Italy, is a user facility driven by a 1.5 GeV 10-50 Hz S-band radiofrequency linear accelerator (linac), and it is based on an external laser seeding scheme that allows lasing at the shortest fundamental wavelength of 4 nm. An increase of the beam energy to 1.8 GeV at a tolerable breakdown rate, and an improvement of the final beam quality is desired in order to allow either lasing at 4 nm with a higher flux, or lasing at shorter wavelengths. This article presents the impedance analysis of newly designed S-band accelerating structures, for replacement of the existing backward travelling wave structures (BTWS) in the last portion of the FERMI linac. The new structure design promises higher accelerating gradient and lower impedance than those of the existing BTWS. Particle tracking simulations show that, with the linac upgrade, the beam relative energy spread, its linear and nonlinear z-correlation internal to the bunch, and the beam transverse emittances can be made smaller than the ones in the present configuration, with expected advantage to the FEL performance. The repercussion of the upgrade on the linac quadrupole magnets setting, for a pre-determined electron beam optics, is also considered.

Laser acceleration

Science.gov (United States)

Tajima, T.; Nakajima, K.; Mourou, G.

2017-02-01

The fundamental idea of Laser Wakefield Acceleration (LWFA) is reviewed. An ultrafast intense laser pulse drives coherent wakefield with a relativistic amplitude robustly supported by the plasma. While the large amplitude of wakefields involves collective resonant oscillations of the eigenmode of the entire plasma electrons, the wake phase velocity ˜ c and ultrafastness of the laser pulse introduce the wake stability and rigidity. A large number of worldwide experiments show a rapid progress of this concept realization toward both the high-energy accelerator prospect and broad applications. The strong interest in this has been spurring and stimulating novel laser technologies, including the Chirped Pulse Amplification, the Thin Film Compression, the Coherent Amplification Network, and the Relativistic Mirror Compression. These in turn have created a conglomerate of novel science and technology with LWFA to form a new genre of high field science with many parameters of merit in this field increasing exponentially lately. This science has triggered a number of worldwide research centers and initiatives. Associated physics of ion acceleration, X-ray generation, and astrophysical processes of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays are reviewed. Applications such as X-ray free electron laser, cancer therapy, and radioisotope production etc. are considered. A new avenue of LWFA using nanomaterials is also emerging.

Laser acceleration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tajima, T.; Nakajima, K.; Mourou, G.

2017-01-01

The fundamental idea of LaserWakefield Acceleration (LWFA) is reviewed. An ultrafast intense laser pulse drives coherent wakefield with a relativistic amplitude robustly supported by the plasma. While the large amplitude of wake fields involves collective resonant oscillations of the eigenmode of the entire plasma electrons, the wake phase velocity ∼ c and ultra fastness of the laser pulse introduce the wake stability and rigidity. A large number of worldwide experiments show a rapid progress of this concept realization toward both the high-energy accelerator prospect and broad applications. The strong interest in this has been spurring and stimulating novel laser technologies, including the Chirped Pulse Amplification, the Thin Film Compression, the Coherent Amplification Network, and the Relativistic Mirror Compression. These in turn have created a conglomerate of novel science and technology with LWFA to form a new genre of high field science with many parameters of merit in this field increasing exponentially lately. This science has triggered a number of worldwide research centers and initiatives. Associated physics of ion acceleration, X-ray generation, and astrophysical processes of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays are reviewed. Applications such as X-ray free electron laser, cancer therapy, and radioisotope production etc. are considered. A new avenue of LWFA using nano materials is also emerging.

Operation regimes of a dielectric laser accelerator

Science.gov (United States)

Hanuka, Adi; Schächter, Levi

2018-04-01

We investigate three operation regimes in dielectric laser driven accelerators: maximum efficiency, maximum charge, and maximum loaded gradient. We demonstrate, using a self-consistent approach, that loaded gradients of the order of 1 to 6 [GV/m], efficiencies of 20% to 80%, and electrons flux of 1014 [el/s] are feasible, without significant concerns regarding damage threshold fluence. The latter imposes that the total charge per squared wavelength is constant (a total of 106 per μm2). We conceive this configuration as a zero-order design that should be considered for the road map of future accelerators.

Laser-plasma accelerators, acceleration of particles through laser-matter interaction at ultra-high intensity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lefebvre, E.

2010-01-01

This series of slides overviews the development of powerful lasers for inertial confinement fusion (Icf) at NIF (National Ignition Facility, Usa) and LMJ (Laser Megajoule, France) facilities. Then the principle of laser wakefield acceleration is presented and the possibility of designing compact accelerators delivering 200 GeV/m while conventional RF accelerators reach only 50 MeV/m, is considered. This technical breakthrough will bring important gains in terms of size, cost and new uses for accelerators. While Icf will use nanosecond (10 -9 s) laser pulses, wakefield accelerators will use femtosecond (10 -15 s) laser pulses which means more power but less energy. The electrons accelerated by laser can produce a multi-MeV X radiation useful for industrial radiography or cancer treatment. (A.C.)

Laser sources for polarized electron beams in cw and pulsed accelerators

CERN Document Server

Hatziefremidis, A; Fraser, D; Avramopoulos, H

1999-01-01

We report the characterization of a high power, high repetition rate, mode-locked laser system to be used in continuous wave and pulsed electron accelerators for the generation of polarized electron beams. The system comprises of an external cavity diode laser and a harmonically mode-locked Ti:Sapphire oscillator and it can provide up to 3.4 W average power, with a corresponding pulse energy exceeding 1 nJ at 2856 MHz repetition rate. The system is tunable between 770-785 and 815-835 nm with two sets of diodes for the external cavity diode laser. (author)

Katherine E. Weimer Award: X-ray light sources from laser-plasma and laser-electron interaction: development and applications

Science.gov (United States)

Albert, Felicie

2017-10-01

Bright sources of x-rays, such as synchrotrons and x-ray free electron lasers (XFEL) are transformational tools for many fields of science. They are used for biology, material science, medicine, or industry. Such sources rely on conventional particle accelerators, where electrons are accelerated to gigaelectronvolts (GeV) energies. The accelerated particles are wiggled in magnetic structures to emit x-ray radiation that is commonly used for molecular crystallography, fluorescence studies, chemical analysis, medical imaging, and many other applications. One of the drawbacks of these machines is their size and cost, because electric field gradients are limited to about 100 V/M in conventional accelerators. Particle acceleration in laser-driven plasmas is an alternative to generate x-rays via betatron emission, Compton scattering, or bremsstrahlung. A plasma can sustain electrical fields many orders of magnitude higher than that in conventional radiofrequency accelerator structures. When short, intense laser pulses are focused into a gas, it produces electron plasma waves in which electrons can be trapped and accelerated to GeV energies. X-ray sources, driven by electrons from laser-wakefield acceleration, have unique properties that are analogous to synchrotron radiation, with a 1000-fold shorter pulse. An important use of x-rays from laser plasma accelerators is in High Energy Density (HED) science, which requires laser and XFEL facilities to create in the laboratory extreme conditions of temperatures and pressures that are usually found in the interiors of stars and planets. To diagnose such extreme states of matter, the development of efficient, versatile and fast (sub-picosecond scale) x-ray probes has become essential. In these experiments, x-ray photons can pass through dense material, and absorption of the x-rays can be directly measured, via spectroscopy or imaging, to inform scientists about the temperature and density of the targets being studied. Performed

A two-dimensional laser-wire scanner for electron accelerators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bosco, A. [Physics Department John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science at Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX (United Kingdom)], E-mail: alessio.bosco@rhul.ac.uk; Price, M.T.; Blair, G.A.; Boogert, S.T.; Boorman, G.; Malton, S.; Driouichi, C. [Physics Department John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science at Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX (United Kingdom); Kamps, T. [Berliner Elektronenspeicherring, Gesellschaft fur Synchrotronstrahlung, Albert Einstein-Str. 15, 12489 Berlin (Germany); Poirier, F.; Balewski, K.; Elsen, E.; Gharibyan, V.; Lewin, H.-C.; Schreiber, S.; Walker, N.; Wittenburg, K. [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg (Germany)

2008-07-21

A two-dimensional laser-wire scanner capable of measuring the transverse charge profiles of an electron (or positron) bunch has been constructed at the PETRA accelerator in DESY. The development of the system is explained in this paper, along with descriptions of its photon detector and laser system. Results of transverse profile scans are presented for both horizontal and vertical directions. The measurement error is 1.3% from a multi-scan measurement in the vertical direction, where single scans can be performed in less than 50 s.

Monoenergetic and GeV ion acceleration from the laser breakout afterburner using ultrathin targets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yin, L.; Albright, B. J.; Hegelich, B. M.; Bowers, K. J.; Flippo, K. A.; Kwan, T. J. T.; Fernandez, J. C.

2007-01-01

A new laser-driven ion acceleration mechanism using ultrathin targets has been identified from particle-in-cell simulations. After a brief period of target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) [S. P. Hatchett et al., Phys. Plasmas 7, 2076 (2000)], two distinct stages follow: first, a period of enhanced TNSA during which the cold electron background converts entirely to hot electrons, and second, the ''laser breakout afterburner'' (BOA) when the laser penetrates to the rear of the target where a localized longitudinal electric field is generated with the location of the peak field co-moving with the ions. During this process, a relativistic electron beam is produced by the ponderomotive drive of the laser. This beam is unstable to a relativistic Buneman instability, which rapidly converts the electron energy into ion energy. This mechanism accelerates ions to much higher energies using laser intensities comparable to earlier TNSA experiments. At a laser intensity of 10 21 W/cm 2 , the carbon ions accelerate as a quasimonoenergetic bunch to 100 s of MeV in the early stages of the BOA with conversion efficiency of order a few percent. Both are an order of magnitude higher than those realized from TNSA in recent experiments [Hegelich et al., Nature 441, 439 (2006)]. The laser-plasma interaction then evolves to produce a quasithermal energy distribution with maximum energy of ∼2 GeV

Treatment planning for laser-accelerated very-high energy electrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fuchs, T; Szymanowski, H; Oelfke, U; Glinec, Y; Rechatin, C; Faure, J; Malka, V

2009-01-01

In recent experiments, quasi-monoenergetic and well-collimated very-high energy electron (VHEE) beams were obtained by laser-plasma accelerators. We investigate their potential use for radiation therapy. Monte Carlo simulations are used to study the influence of the experimental characteristics such as beam energy, energy spread and initial angular distribution on the dose distributions. It is found that magnetic focusing of the electron beam improves the lateral penumbra. The dosimetric properties of the laser-accelerated VHEE beams are implemented in our inverse treatment planning system for intensity-modulated treatments. The influence of the beam characteristics on the quality of a prostate treatment plan is evaluated. In comparison to a clinically approved 6 MV IMRT photon plan, a better target coverage is achieved. The quality of the sparing of organs at risk is found to be dependent on the depth. The bladder and rectum are better protected due to the sharp lateral penumbra at low depths, whereas the femoral heads receive a larger dose because of the large scattering amplitude at larger depths.

Femtosecond laser micromachining of sapphire capillaries for laser-wakefield acceleration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Messner, Philipp; Delbos, Niels Matthias; Maier, Andreas R. [CFEL, Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, 22607 Hamburg (Germany); University of Hamburg, Institute of Experimental Physics, 22761 Hamburg (Germany); Calmano, Thomas [University of Hamburg, Institute of Experimental Physics, 22761 Hamburg (Germany)

2015-07-01

Laser-plasma accelerator are promising candidates to provide ultra-relativistic electron beams for compact light sources. One factor that limits the achievable electron beam energy in a laser plasma accelerator is the Rayleigh length of the driver laser, which dictates the length over which the electron beams can effectively be accelerated. To overcome this limitation lasers can be guided in a capillary waveguide to extend the acceleration length beyond the Rayleigh length. The production of waveguide structures on scales, that are suitable for plasma acceleration is very challenging. Here, we present experimental results from waveguide machining in sapphire crystals using a Clark MXR CPA 2010 laser with a wavelength of 775nm, 1KHZ repetition rate and a pulse duration of 160 fs. We discuss the effects of different parameters like energy, lens types, writing speed and polarisation on the size and shape of the capillaries, and compare the performance of different parameter sets.

Formation and acceleration of uniformly filled ellipsoidal electron bunches obtained via space-charge-driven expansion from a cesium-telluride photocathode

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Piot

2013-01-01

Full Text Available We report the experimental generation, acceleration, and characterization of a uniformly filled electron bunch obtained via space-charge-driven expansion (often referred to as “blow-out regime” in an L-band (1.3-GHz radiofrequency photoinjector. The beam is photoemitted from a cesium-telluride semiconductor photocathode using a short (<200  fs ultraviolet laser pulse. The produced electron bunches are characterized with conventional diagnostics and the signatures of their ellipsoidal character are observed. We especially demonstrate the production of ellipsoidal bunches with charges up to ∼0.5  nC corresponding to a ∼20-fold increase compared to previous experiments with metallic photocathodes.

Table-top laser-driven ultrashort electron and X-ray source: the CIBER-X source project

Science.gov (United States)

Girardeau-Montaut, Jean-Pierre; Kiraly, Bélà; Girardeau-Montaut, Claire; Leboutet, Hubert

2000-09-01

We report on the development of a new laser-driven table-top ultrashort electron and X-ray source, also called the CIBER-X source . X-ray pulses are produced by a three-step process which consists of the photoelectron emission from a thin metallic photocathode illuminated by 16 ps duration laser pulses at 213 nm. The e-gun is a standard Pierce diode electrode type, in which electrons are accelerated by a cw electric field of ˜11 MV/m up to a hole made in the anode. The photoinjector produces a train of 70-80 keV electron pulses of ˜0.5 nC and 20 A peak current at a repetition rate of 10 Hz. The electrons are then transported outside the diode along a path of 20 cm length, and are focused onto a target of thullium by magnetic fields produced by two electromagnetic coils. X-rays are then produced by the impact of electrons on the target. Simulations of geometrical, electromagnetic fields and energetic characteristics of the complete source were performed previously with the assistance of the code PIXEL1 also developed at the laboratory. Finally, experimental electron and X-ray performances of the CIBER-X source as well as its application to very low dose imagery are presented and discussed. source Compacte d' Impulsions Brèves d' Electrons et de Rayons X

Ultra-low emittance beam generation using two-color ionization injection in a CO2 laser-driven plasma accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schroeder, Carl; Benedetti, Carlo; Bulanov, Stepan; Chen, Min; Esarey, Eric; Geddes, Cameron; Vay, J.; Yu, Lule; Leemans, Wim

2015-01-01

Ultra-low emittance (tens of nm) beams can be generated in a plasma accelerator using ionization injection of electrons into a wakefield. An all-optical method of beam generation uses two laser pulses of different colors. A long-wavelength drive laser pulse (with a large ponderomotive force and small peak electric field) is used to excite a large wakefield without fully ionizing a gas, and a short-wavelength injection laser pulse (with a small ponderomotive force and large peak electric field), co-propagating and delayed with respect to the pump laser, to ionize a fraction of the remaining bound electrons at a trapped wake phase, generating an electron beam that is accelerated in the wake. The trapping condition, the ionized electron distribution, and the trapped bunch dynamics are discussed. Expressions for the beam transverse emittance, parallel and orthogonal to the ionization laser polarization, are presented. An example is shown using a 10-micron CO 2 laser to drive the wake and a frequency-doubled Ti:Al 2 O 3 laser for ionization injection.

Femtosecond planar electron beam source for micron-scale dielectric wake field accelerator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. C. Marshall

2001-12-01

Full Text Available A new accelerator, LACARA (laser-driven cyclotron autoresonance accelerator, under construction at the Accelerator Test Facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory, is to be powered by a 1 TW CO_{2} laser beam and a 50 MeV injected electron pulse. LACARA will produce inside a 2 m, 6 T solenoid a 100 MeV gyrating electron bunch, with ∼3% energy spread, approximately 1 psec in length with particles advancing in phase at the laser frequency, executing one cycle each 35 fsec. A beamstop with a small off axis channel will transmit a short beam pulse every optical cycle, thereby producing a train of about 30, 3.5 fsec long, 1–3 pC microbunches for each laser pulse. We describe here a novel accelerator, a micron-scale dielectric wake field accelerator driven by a 500 MeV LACARA-type injector that takes the output train of microbunches and transforms them into a near-rectangular cross section having a narrow dimension of ∼10 μm and height of ∼150 μm using a magnetic quadrupole; these bunches may be injected into a planar dielectric-lined waveguide (slightly larger than the bunch where cumulative buildup of wake fields can lead to an accelerating gradient >1 GV/m. This proposed vacuum-based wake field structure is physically rigid and capable of microfabrication accuracy, factors important in staging a large number of accelerator modules. Furthermore, the accelerating gradients it promises are comparable with those for plasma accelerators. A LACARA unit for preparing suitable bunches at 500 MeV is described. Physics issues are discussed, including bunch spreading and transport, bunch shaping, coherent diffraction radiation from the aperture, dielectric breakdown, and bunch stability in the rectangular wake field structure.

Table-top laser-driven ultrashort electron and X-ray source: the CIBER-X source project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Girardeau-Montaut, J.-P. E-mail: jean-pierre.girardeau@univ-lyonl.fr; Kiraly, Bela; Girardeau-Montaut, Claire; Leboutet, Hubert

2000-09-21

We report on the development of a new laser-driven table-top ultrashort electron and X-ray source, also called the CIBER-X source . X-ray pulses are produced by a three-step process which consists of the photoelectron emission from a thin metallic photocathode illuminated by 16 ps duration laser pulses at 213 nm. The e-gun is a standard Pierce diode electrode type, in which electrons are accelerated by a cw electric field of {approx}11 MV/m up to a hole made in the anode. The photoinjector produces a train of 70-80 keV electron pulses of {approx}0.5 nC and 20 A peak current at a repetition rate of 10 Hz. The electrons are then transported outside the diode along a path of 20 cm length, and are focused onto a target of thulium by magnetic fields produced by two electromagnetic coils. X-rays are then produced by the impact of electrons on the target. Simulations of geometrical, electromagnetic fields and energetic characteristics of the complete source were performed previously with the assistance of the code PIXEL1 also developed at the laboratory. Finally, experimental electron and X-ray performances of the CIBER-X source as well as its application to very low dose imagery are presented and discussed.

Proposal for a study of laser acceleration of electrons using micrograting structures at ATF (Phase 1)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, W.; Claus, J.; Fernow, R.C.

1989-01-01

We propose to investigate new methods of particle acceleration using a short-pulse CO 2 laser as the power source and grating-like structures as accelerator ''cavities''. Phase I of this program is intended to demonstrate the principle of the method. We will focus the laser light to a 3 mm line on the surface of the microstructure. The structure is used to transform the electric field pattern of the incoming transversely polarized laser beam to a mode which has a component along the electron beam direction in the vicinity of the surface. With 6 mJ of laser energy and a 6 ps pulse length, the electric field in the spot will be around 1 GV/m. The electron beam from the Brookhaven Accelerator Test Facility (ATF) will be focused transversely within the few micron transverse dimension of the microstructure. The maximum expected acceleration for a 1 GV/m field and a 3 mm acceleration length is 3 MeV. 17 refs., 11 figs., 2 tabs

Non-Maxwellian electron distributions resulting from direct laser acceleration in near-critical plasmas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Toncian

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The irradiation of few-nm-thick targets by a finite-contrast high-intensity short-pulse laser results in a strong pre-expansion of these targets at the arrival time of the main pulse. The targets decompress to near and lower than critical densities with plasmas extending over few micrometers, i.e. multiple wavelengths. The interaction of the main pulse with such a highly localized but inhomogeneous target leads to the generation of a short channel and further self-focusing of the laser beam. Experiments at the Glass Hybrid OPCPA Scaled Test-bed (GHOST laser system at University of Texas, Austin using such targets measured non-Maxwellian, peaked electron distribution with large bunch charge and high electron density in the laser propagation direction. These results are reproduced in 2D PIC simulations using the EPOCH code, identifying direct laser acceleration (DLA [1] as the responsible mechanism. This is the first time that DLA has been observed to produce peaked spectra as opposed to broad, Maxwellian spectra observed in earlier experiments [2]. This high-density electrons have potential applications as injector beams for a further wakefield acceleration stage as well as for pump-probe applications.

Directed Acceleration of Electrons from a Solid Surface by Sub-10-fs Laser Pulses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brandl, F.; Hidding, B.; Osterholz, J.; Hemmers, D.; Pretzler, G.; Karmakar, A.; Pukhov, A.

2009-01-01

Electrons have been accelerated from solid target surfaces by sub-10-fs laser pulses of 120 μJ energy which were focused to an intensity of 2x10 16 W/cm 2 . The electrons have a narrow angular distribution, and their observed energies exceed 150 keV. We show that these energies are not to be attributed to collective plasma effects but are mainly gained directly via repeated acceleration in the transient field pattern created by incident and reflected laser, alternating with phase-shift-generating scattering events in the solid.

Inverse Cerenkov laser acceleration experiment at ATF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, X.J.; Pogorelsky, I.; Fernow, R.; Kusche, K.P.; Liu, Y.; Kimura, W.D.; Kim, G.H.; Romea, R.D.; Steinhauer, L.C.

1994-01-01

Inverse Cerenkov laser acceleration was demonstrated using an axicon optical system at the Brookhaven Accelerator Test Facility (ATF). The ATF S-band linac and a high power 10.6 μm CO 2 laser were used for the experiment. Experimental arrangement and the laser and the electron beams synchronization are discussed. The electrons were accelerated more than 0.7 MeV for a 34 MW CO 2 laser power. More than 3.7 MeV acceleration was measured with 0.7 GW CO 2 laser power, which is more than 20 times of the previous ICA experiment. The experimental results are compared with computer program TRANSPORT simulations

Standing-wave free-electron laser two-beam accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sessler, A.M.; Whittum, D.H.; Wurtele, J.S.

1991-01-01

A free-electron laser (FEL) two-beam accelerator (TBA) is proposed, in which the FEL interaction takes place in a series of drive cavities, rather than in a waveguide. Each drive cavity is 'beat-coupled' to a section of the accelerating structure. This standing-wave TBA is investigated theoretically and numerically, with analyses included of microwave extraction, growth of the FEL signal through saturation, equilibrium longitudinal beam dynamics following saturation, and sensitivity of the microwave amplitude and phase to errors in current and energy. It is found that phase errors due to current jitter are substantially reduced from previous versions of the TBA. Analytic scalings and numerical simulations are used to obtain an illustrative TBA parameter set. (orig.)

High power laser exciter accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, T.H.

1975-01-01

Recent developments in untriggered oil and water switching now permit the construction of compact, high energy density pulsed power sources for laser excitation. These accelerators, developed principally for electron beam fusion studies, appear adaptable to laser excitation and will provide electron beams of 10 13 to 10 14 W in the next several years. The accelerators proposed for e-beam fusion essentially concentrate the available power from the outside edge of a disk into the central region where the electron beam is formed. One of the main problem areas, that of power flow at the vacuum diode insulator, is greatly alleviated by the multiplicity of electron beams that are allowable for laser excitation. A proposal is made whereby the disk-shaped pulsed power sections are stacked vertically to form a series of radially flowing electron beams to excite the laser gas volume. (auth)

Laser Wakefield Acceleration Driven by a CO2 Laser (STELLA-LW) - Final Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kimura, Wayne D

2008-06-27

The original goals of the Staged Electron Laser Acceleration – Laser Wakefield (STELLA-LW) program were to investigate two new methods for laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA). In pseudo-resonant LWFA (PR-LWFA), a laser pulse experiences nonlinear pulse steepening while traveling through the plasma. This steepening allows the laser pulse to generate wakefields even though the laser pulse length is too long for resonant LWFA to occur. For the conditions of this program, PR-LWFA requires a minimum laser peak power of 3 TW and a low plasma density (10^16 cm^-3). Seeded self-modulated LWFA (seeded SM-LWFA) combines LWFA with plasma wakefield acceleration (PWFA). An ultrashort (~100 fs) electron beam bunch acts as a seed in a plasma to form a wakefield via PWFA. This wakefield is subsequently amplified by the laser pulse through a self-modulated LWFA process. At least 1 TW laser power and, for a ~100-fs bunch, a plasma density ~10^17 cm^-3 are required. STELLA-LW was located on Beamline #1 at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) Accelerator Test Facility (ATF). The ATF TW CO2 laser served as the driving laser beam for both methods. For PR-LWFA, a single bunch was to probe the wakefield produced by the laser beam. For seeded SM-LWFA, the ATF linac would produce two bunches, where the first would be the seed and the second would be the witness. A chicane would compress the first bunch to enable it to generate wakefields via PWFA. The plasma source was a short-length, gas-filled capillary discharge with the laser beam tightly focused in the center of the capillary, i.e., no laser guiding was used, in order to obtain the needed laser intensity. During the course of the program, several major changes had to be made. First, the ATF could not complete the upgrade of the CO2 laser to the 3 TW peak power needed for the PR-LWFA experiment. Therefore, the PR-LWFA experiment had to be abandoned leaving only the seeded SM-LWFA experiment. Second, the ATF discovered that the

Compact disposal of high-energy electron beams using passive or laser-driven plasma decelerating stage

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bonatto, A.; Schroeder, C. B.; Vay, J. -L.; Geddes, C. R.; Benedetti, C.; Esarey and, E.; Leemans, W. P.

2014-07-13

A plasma decelerating stage is investigated as a compact alternative for the disposal of high-energy beams (beam dumps). This could benefit the design of laser-driven plasma accelerator (LPA) applications that require transportability and or high-repetition-rate operation regimes. Passive and laser-driven (active) plasma-based beam dumps are studied analytically and with particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations in a 1D geometry. Analytical estimates for the beam energy loss are compared to and extended by the PIC simulations, showing that with the proposed schemes a beam can be efficiently decelerated in a centimeter-scale distance.

Laser-driven Ion Acceleration using Nanodiamonds

Science.gov (United States)

D'Hauthuille, Luc; Nguyen, Tam; Dollar, Franklin

2016-10-01

Interactions of high-intensity lasers with mass-limited nanoparticles enable the generation of extremely high electric fields. These fields accelerate ions, which has applications in nuclear medicine, high brightness radiography, as well as fast ignition for inertial confinement fusion. Previous studies have been performed with ensembles of nanoparticles, but this obscures the physics of the interaction due to the wide array of variables in the interaction. The work presented here looks instead at the interactions of a high intensity short pulse laser with an isolated nanodiamond. Specifically, we studied the effect of nanoparticle size and intensity of the laser on the interaction. A novel target scheme was developed to isolate the nanodiamond. Particle-in-cell simulations were performed using the EPOCH framework to show the sheath fields and resulting energetic ion beams.

Summary Report of Working Group 6: Laser-Plasma Acceleration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leemans, Wim P.; Downer, Michael; Siders, Craig

2006-01-01

A summary is given of presentations and discussions in the Laser-Plasma Acceleration Working Group at the 2006 Advanced Accelerator Concepts Workshop. Presentation highlights include: widespread observation of quasi-monoenergetic electrons; good agreement between measured and simulated beam properties; the first demonstration of laser-plasma acceleration up to 1 GeV; single-shot visualization of laser wakefield structure; new methods for measuring <100 fs electron bunches; and new methods for 'machining' laser-plasma accelerator structures. Discussion of future direction includes: developing a roadmap for laser-plasma acceleration beyond 1 GeV; a debate over injection and guiding; benchmarking simulations with improved wake diagnostics; petawatt laser technology for future laser-plasma accelerators

High-energy coherent terahertz radiation emitted by wide-angle electron beams from a laser-wakefield accelerator

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Xue; Brunetti, Enrico; Jaroszynski, Dino A.

2018-04-01

High-charge electron beams produced by laser-wakefield accelerators are potentially novel, scalable sources of high-power terahertz radiation suitable for applications requiring high-intensity fields. When an intense laser pulse propagates in underdense plasma, it can generate femtosecond duration, self-injected picocoulomb electron bunches that accelerate on-axis to energies from 10s of MeV to several GeV, depending on laser intensity and plasma density. The process leading to the formation of the accelerating structure also generates non-injected, sub-picosecond duration, 1–2 MeV nanocoulomb electron beams emitted obliquely into a hollow cone around the laser propagation axis. These wide-angle beams are stable and depend weakly on laser and plasma parameters. Here we perform simulations to characterise the coherent transition radiation emitted by these beams if passed through a thin metal foil, or directly at the plasma–vacuum interface, showing that coherent terahertz radiation with 10s μJ to mJ-level energy can be produced with an optical to terahertz conversion efficiency up to 10‑4–10‑3.

Ultrafast Diagnostics for Electron Beams from Laser Plasma Accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matlis, N.H.; Bakeman, M.; Geddes, C.G.R.; Gonsalves, T.; Lin, C.; Nakamura, K.; Osterhoff, J.; Plateau, G.R.; Schroeder, C.B.; Shiraishi, S.; Sokollik, T.; van Tilborg, J.; Toth, Cs.; Leemans, W.P.

2010-01-01

We present an overview of diagnostic techniques for measuring key parameters of electron bunches from Laser Plasma Accelerators (LPAs). The diagnostics presented here were chosen because they highlight the unique advantages (e.g., diverse forms of electromagnetic emission) and difficulties (e.g., shot-to-shot variability) associated with LPAs. Non destructiveness and high resolution (in space and time and energy) are key attributes that enable the formation of a comprehensive suite of simultaneous diagnostics which are necessary for the full characterization of the ultrashort, but highly-variable electron bunches from LPAs.

Ultrafast Diagnostics for Electron Beams from Laser Plasma Accelerators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Matlis, N. H.; Bakeman, M.; Geddes, C. G. R.; Gonsalves, T.; Lin, C.; Nakamura, K.; Osterhoff, J.; Plateau, G. R.; Schroeder, C. B.; Shiraishi, S.; Sokollik, T.; van Tilborg, J.; Toth, Cs.; Leemans, W. P.

2010-06-01

We present an overview of diagnostic techniques for measuring key parameters of electron bunches from Laser Plasma Accelerators (LPAs). The diagnostics presented here were chosen because they highlight the unique advantages (e.g., diverse forms of electromagnetic emission) and difficulties (e.g., shot-to-shot variability) associated with LPAs. Non destructiveness and high resolution (in space and time and energy) are key attributes that enable the formation of a comprehensive suite of simultaneous diagnostics which are necessary for the full characterization of the ultrashort, but highly-variable electron bunches from LPAs.

A tunable electron beam source using trapping of electrons in a density down-ramp in laser wakefield acceleration.

Science.gov (United States)

Ekerfelt, Henrik; Hansson, Martin; Gallardo González, Isabel; Davoine, Xavier; Lundh, Olle

2017-09-25

One challenge in the development of laser wakefield accelerators is to demonstrate sufficient control and reproducibility of the parameters of the generated bunches of accelerated electrons. Here we report on a numerical study, where we demonstrate that trapping using density down-ramps allows for tuning of several electron bunch parameters by varying the properties of the density down-ramp. We show that the electron bunch length is determined by the difference in density before and after the ramp. Furthermore, the transverse emittance of the bunch is controlled by the steepness of the ramp. Finally, the amount of trapped charge depends both on the density difference and on the steepness of the ramp. We emphasize that both parameters of the density ramp are feasible to vary experimentally. We therefore conclude that this tunable electron accelerator makes it suitable for a wide range of applications, from those requiring short pulse length and low emittance, such as the free-electron lasers, to those requiring high-charge, large-emittance bunches to maximize betatron X-ray generation.

On the properties of synchrotron-like X-ray emission from laser wakefield accelerated electron beams

Science.gov (United States)

McGuffey, C.; Schumaker, W.; Matsuoka, T.; Chvykov, V.; Dollar, F.; Kalintchenko, G.; Kneip, S.; Najmudin, Z.; Mangles, S. P. D.; Vargas, M.; Yanovsky, V.; Maksimchuk, A.; Thomas, A. G. R.; Krushelnick, K.

2018-04-01

The electric and magnetic fields responsible for electron acceleration in a Laser Wakefield Accelerator (LWFA) also cause electrons to radiate x-ray photons. Such x-ray pulses have several desirable properties including short duration and being well collimated with tunable high energy. We measure the scaling of this x-ray source experimentally up to laser powers greater than 100 TW. An increase in laser power allows electron trapping at a lower density as well as with an increased trapped charge. These effects resulted in an x-ray fluence that was measured to increase non-linearly with laser power. The fluence of x-rays was also compared with that produced from K-α emission resulting from a solid target interaction for the same energy laser pulse. The flux was shown to be comparable, but the LWFA x-rays had a significantly smaller source size. This indicates that such a source may be useful as a backlighter for probing high energy density plasmas with ultrafast temporal resolution.

Electron diffraction using ultrafast electron bunches from a laser-wakefield accelerator at kHz repetition rate

Science.gov (United States)

He, Z.-H.; Thomas, A. G. R.; Beaurepaire, B.; Nees, J. A.; Hou, B.; Malka, V.; Krushelnick, K.; Faure, J.

2013-02-01

We show that electron bunches in the 50-100 keV range can be produced from a laser wakefield accelerator using 10 mJ, 35 fs laser pulses operating at 0.5 kHz. It is shown that using a solenoid magnetic lens, the electron bunch distribution can be shaped. The resulting transverse and longitudinal coherence is suitable for producing diffraction images from a polycrystalline 10 nm aluminum foil. The high repetition rate, the stability of the electron source, and the fact that its uncorrelated bunch duration is below 100 fs make this approach promising for the development of sub-100 fs ultrafast electron diffraction experiments.

Electron diffraction using ultrafast electron bunches from a laser-wakefield accelerator at kHz repetition rate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

He, Z.-H.; Thomas, A. G. R.; Nees, J. A.; Hou, B.; Krushelnick, K. [Center for Ultrafast Optical Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106-2099 (United States); Beaurepaire, B.; Malka, V.; Faure, J. [Laboratoire d' Optique Appliquee, ENSTA-CNRS-Ecole Polytechnique, UMR 7639, 91761 Palaiseau (France)

2013-02-11

We show that electron bunches in the 50-100 keV range can be produced from a laser wakefield accelerator using 10 mJ, 35 fs laser pulses operating at 0.5 kHz. It is shown that using a solenoid magnetic lens, the electron bunch distribution can be shaped. The resulting transverse and longitudinal coherence is suitable for producing diffraction images from a polycrystalline 10 nm aluminum foil. The high repetition rate, the stability of the electron source, and the fact that its uncorrelated bunch duration is below 100 fs make this approach promising for the development of sub-100 fs ultrafast electron diffraction experiments.

Comparison of measured with calculated dose distribution from a 120-MeV electron beam from a laser-plasma accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lundh, O.; Rechatin, C.; Faure, J.; Ben-Ismaïl, A.; Lim, J.; De Wagter, C.; De Neve, W.; Malka, V.

2012-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate the dose distribution of a 120-MeV laser-plasma accelerated electron beam which may be of potential interest for high-energy electron radiation therapy. Methods: In the interaction between an intense laser pulse and a helium gas jet, a well collimated electron beam with very high energy is produced. A secondary laser beam is used to optically control and to tune the electron beam energy and charge. The potential use of this beam for radiation treatment is evaluated experimentally by measurements of dose deposition in a polystyrene phantom. The results are compared to Monte Carlo simulations using the geant4 code. Results: It has been shown that the laser-plasma accelerated electron beam can deliver a peak dose of more than 1 Gy at the entrance of the phantom in a single laser shot by direct irradiation, without the use of intermediate magnetic transport or focusing. The dose distribution is peaked on axis, with narrow lateral penumbra. Monte Carlo simulations of electron beam propagation and dose deposition indicate that the propagation of the intense electron beam (with large self-fields) can be described by standard models that exclude collective effects in the response of the material. Conclusions: The measurements show that the high-energy electron beams produced by an optically injected laser-plasma accelerator can deliver high enough dose at penetration depths of interest for electron beam radiotherapy of deep-seated tumors. Many engineering issues must be resolved before laser-accelerated electrons can be used for cancer therapy, but they also represent exciting challenges for future research.

A multi-frequency approach to free electron lasers driven by short electron bunches

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Piovella, Nicola

1997-01-01

A multi-frequency model for free electron lasers (FELs), based on the Fourier decomposition of the radiation field coupled with the beam electrons, is discussed. We show that the multi-frequency approach allows for an accurate description of the evolution of the radiation spectrum, also when the FEL is driven by short electron bunches, of arbitrary longitudinal profile. We derive from the multi-frequency model, by averaging over one radiation period, the usual FEL equations modelling the slippage between radiation and particles and describing the super-radiant regime in high-gain FELs. As an example of application of the multi-frequency model, we discuss the coherent spontaneous emission (CSE) from short electron bunches

Time-dependent quantum chemistry of laser driven many-electron molecules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nguyen-Dang, Thanh-Tung; Couture-Bienvenue, Étienne; Viau-Trudel, Jérémy; Sainjon, Amaury

2014-01-01

A Time-Dependent Configuration Interaction approach using multiple Feshbach partitionings, corresponding to multiple ionization stages of a laser-driven molecule, has recently been proposed [T.-T. Nguyen-Dang and J. Viau-Trudel, J. Chem. Phys. 139, 244102 (2013)]. To complete this development toward a fully ab-initio method for the calculation of time-dependent electronic wavefunctions of an N-electron molecule, we describe how tools of multiconfiguration quantum chemistry such as the management of the configuration expansion space using Graphical Unitary Group Approach concepts can be profitably adapted to the new context, that of time-resolved electronic dynamics, as opposed to stationary electronic structure. The method is applied to calculate the detailed, sub-cycle electronic dynamics of BeH 2 , treated in a 3–21G bound-orbital basis augmented by a set of orthogonalized plane-waves representing continuum-type orbitals, including its ionization under an intense λ = 800 nm or λ = 80 nm continuous-wave laser field. The dynamics is strongly non-linear at the field-intensity considered (I ≃ 10 15 W/cm 2 ), featuring important ionization of an inner-shell electron and strong post-ionization bound-electron dynamics

Transverse particle acceleration techniques using lasers and masers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schoen, N.C.

1983-01-01

The concept discussed herein uses an intense traveling electromagnetic wave, produced by a laser or maser source, to accelerate electrons in the Rayleigh region of a focused beam. Although the possibility of non-synchronous acceleration has been considered, very little analysis of potential device configurations has been reported. Computer simulations of the acceleration process indicate practical figure of merit values in the range of 100 MeV/m for achievable electric field strengths with current technology. The development of compact, high energy electron accelerators will provide an essential component for many new technologies. Such as high power free electron lasers, X-ray and VUV sources, and high power millimeter and microwave devices. Considerable effort has been directed toward studies of new concepts for electron acceleration, including inverse free electron lasers, GYRACS, and modified betatrons

Ultraintense laser interaction with nanoscale target: a simple model for layer expansion and ion acceleration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Albright, Brian J.; Yin, Lin; Hegelich, Bjoorn M.; Bowers, Kevin J.; Huang, Chengkun; Fernandez, Juan C.; Flippo, Kirk A.; Gaillard, Sandrine; Kwan, Thomas J.T.; Henig, Andreas; Habs, Dieter

2009-01-01

A simple model has been derived for the expansion of a thin (up to 100s of nm thickness), solid-density target driven by an u.ltraintense laser. In this regime, new ion acceleration mechanisms, such as the Break-Out Afterburner (BOA) (1), emerge with the potential to dramatically improve energy, efficiency, and energy spread of laser-driven ion beams. Such beams have been proposed (2) as drivers for fast ignition inertial confinement fusion (3). Analysis of kinetic simulations of the BOA shows two dislinct times that bound the period of enhanced acceleration: t 1 , when the target becomes relativistically transparent to the laser, and t 2 , when the target becomes classically underdense and the enhanced acceleration terminates. A silllple dynamical model for target expansion has been derived that contains both the early, one-dimensional (lD) expansion of the target as well as three-dimensional (3D) expansion of the plasma at late times, The model assumes that expansion is slab-like at the instantaneous ion sound speed and requires as input target composition, laser intensity, laser spot area, and the efficiency of laser absorption into electron thermal energy.

Near-GeV-energy laser-wakefield acceleration of self-injected electrons in a centimeter-scale plasma channel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsung, F.S.; Narang, Ritesh; Joshi, C.; Mori, W. B.; Fonseca, R. A.; Silva, L.O.

2004-01-01

The first three-dimensional, particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of laser-wakefield acceleration of self-injected electrons in a 0.84 cm long plasma channel are reported. The frequency evolution of the initially 50 fs (FWHM) long laser pulse by photon interaction with the wake followed by plasma dispersion enhances the wake which eventually leads to self-injection of electrons from the channel wall. This first bunch of electrons remains spatially highly localized. Its phase space rotation due to slippage with respect to the wake leads to a monoenergetic bunch of electrons with a central energy of 0.26 GeV after 0.55 cm propagation. At later times, spatial bunching of the laser enhances the acceleration of a second bunch of electrons to energies up to 0.84 GeV before the laser pulse intensity is significantly reduced

High brightness electron accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sheffield, R.L.; Carlsten, B.E.; Young, L.M.

1994-01-01

A compact high brightness linear accelerator is provided for use, e.g., in a free electron laser. The accelerator has a first plurality of accelerating cavities having end walls with four coupling slots for accelerating electrons to high velocities in the absence of quadrupole fields. A second plurality of cavities receives the high velocity electrons for further acceleration, where each of the second cavities has end walls with two coupling slots for acceleration in the absence of dipole fields. The accelerator also includes a first cavity with an extended length to provide for phase matching the electron beam along the accelerating cavities. A solenoid is provided about the photocathode that emits the electrons, where the solenoid is configured to provide a substantially uniform magnetic field over the photocathode surface to minimize emittance of the electrons as the electrons enter the first cavity. 5 figs

Evaluation of laser-driven ion energies for fusion fast-ignition research

Science.gov (United States)

Tosaki, S.; Yogo, A.; Koga, K.; Okamoto, K.; Shokita, S.; Morace, A.; Arikawa, Y.; Fujioka, S.; Nakai, M.; Shiraga, H.; Azechi, H.; Nishimura, H.

2017-10-01

We investigate laser-driven ion acceleration using kJ-class picosecond (ps) laser pulses as a fundamental study for ion-assisted fusion fast ignition, using a newly developed Thomson-parabola ion spectrometer (TPIS). The TPIS has a space- and weight-saving design, considering its use in an laser-irradiation chamber in which 12 beams of fuel implosion laser are incident, and, at the same time, demonstrates sufficient performance with its detectable range and resolution of the ion energy required for fast-ignition research. As a fundamental study on laser-ion acceleration using a ps pulse laser, we show proton acceleration up to 40 MeV at 1 × 10^{19} W cm^{-2}. The energy conversion efficiency from the incident laser into protons higher than 6 MeV is 4.6%, which encourages the realization of fusion fast ignition by laser-driven ions.

The Energy Selection System for the laser-accelerated proton beams at ELI-Beamlines

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Tramontana, A.; Candiano, G.; Carpinelli, M.; Cirrone, G.A.P.; Cuttone, G.; Bijan Jia, S.; Korn, Georg; Licciardello, T.; Maggiore, Mario; Manti, L.; Margarone, Daniele; Pisciotta, P.; Romano, F.; Stancampiano, C.; Schillaci, Francesco; Scuderi, Valentina

2014-01-01

Roč. 9, May (2014), s. 1-11 ISSN 1748-0221 R&D Projects: GA MŠk ED1.1.00/02.0061; GA MŠk EE2.3.20.0279; GA MŠk EE.2.3.20.0087 Grant - others:ELI Beamlines(XE) CZ.1.05/1.1.00/02.0061; LaserZdroj (OP VK 3)(XE) CZ.1.07/2.3.00/20.0279; OP VK 2 LaserGen(XE) CZ.1.07/2.3.00/20.0087 Institutional support: RVO:68378271 Keywords : instrumentation for hadron therapy * wake-field acceleration (laser-driven, electron-driven) * plasma diagnostics * charged-particle spectroscopy Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 1.399, year: 2014

Simulation study of the sub-terawatt laser wakefield acceleration operated in self-modulated regime

Science.gov (United States)

Hsieh, C.-Y.; Lin, M.-W.; Chen, S.-H.

2018-02-01

Laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) can be accomplished by introducing a sub-terawatt (TW) laser pulse into a thin, high-density gas target. In this way, the self-focusing effect and the self-modulation that happened on the laser pulse produce a greatly enhanced laser peak intensity that can drive a nonlinear plasma wave to accelerate electrons. A particle-in-cell model is developed to study sub-TW LWFA when a 0.6-TW laser pulse interacts with a dense hydrogen plasma. Gas targets having a Gaussian density profile or a flat-top distribution are defined for investigating the properties of sub-TW LWFA when conducting with a gas jet or a gas cell. In addition to using 800-nm laser pulses, simulations are performed with 1030-nm laser pulses, as they represent a viable approach to realize the sub-TW LWFA driven by high-frequency, diode-pumped laser systems. The peak density which allows the laser peak power PL˜2 Pc r of self-focusing critical power is favourable for conducting sub-TW LWFA. Otherwise, an excessively high peak density can induce an undesired filament effect which rapidly disintegrates the laser field envelope and violates the process of plasma wave excitation. The plateau region of a flat-top density distribution allows the self-focusing and the self-modulation of the laser pulse to develop, from which well-established plasma bubbles can be produced to accelerate electrons. The process of electron injection is complicated in such high-density plasma conditions; however, increasing the length of the plateau region represents a straightforward method to realize the injection and acceleration of electrons within the first bubble, such that an improved LWFA performance can be accomplished.

Comparison of measured with calculated dose distribution from a 120-MeV electron beam from a laser-plasma accelerator.

Science.gov (United States)

Lundh, O; Rechatin, C; Faure, J; Ben-Ismaïl, A; Lim, J; De Wagter, C; De Neve, W; Malka, V

2012-06-01

To evaluate the dose distribution of a 120-MeV laser-plasma accelerated electron beam which may be of potential interest for high-energy electron radiation therapy. In the interaction between an intense laser pulse and a helium gas jet, a well collimated electron beam with very high energy is produced. A secondary laser beam is used to optically control and to tune the electron beam energy and charge. The potential use of this beam for radiation treatment is evaluated experimentally by measurements of dose deposition in a polystyrene phantom. The results are compared to Monte Carlo simulations using the geant4 code. It has been shown that the laser-plasma accelerated electron beam can deliver a peak dose of more than 1 Gy at the entrance of the phantom in a single laser shot by direct irradiation, without the use of intermediate magnetic transport or focusing. The dose distribution is peaked on axis, with narrow lateral penumbra. Monte Carlo simulations of electron beam propagation and dose deposition indicate that the propagation of the intense electron beam (with large self-fields) can be described by standard models that exclude collective effects in the response of the material. The measurements show that the high-energy electron beams produced by an optically injected laser-plasma accelerator can deliver high enough dose at penetration depths of interest for electron beam radiotherapy of deep-seated tumors. Many engineering issues must be resolved before laser-accelerated electrons can be used for cancer therapy, but they also represent exciting challenges for future research. © 2012 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

High frequency free-electron laser results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boyer, K.; Brau, C.A.; Newman, B.E.; Stein, W.E.; Warren, R.W.; Winston, J.G.; Young, L.M.

1983-01-01

By looking at the free-electron laser as a particle accelerator working backwards, Morton realized that the techniques used to accelerate particles could be used to improve the performance of free-electron lasers. In particular, he predicted the capture of electrons in ''stable-phase'' regions, or ''buckets'' in the electron phase space, and proposed that by decelerating the buckets, the trapped electrons could be decelerated to extract significant amounts of their energy as optical radiation. In fact, since electrons not trapped in the stable regions are forever excluded from them--at least in the adiabatic approximation--displacement techniques could also be used to accelerate or decelerate electrons in a free-electron laser. This paper explains the principle behind ''phase-displacement'' acceleration and details an experiment carried out with a 20-MeV electron beam to test these predictions. Results obtained with a tapered-wiggler free-electron laser demonstrate the concepts proposed by Morton for enhanced efficiency. They show deceleration of electrons by as much as 7% and extraction of more than 3% of the total electron-beam energy as laser energy when the laser is operated as an amplifier. The experiment is presently being reconfigured to examine its performance as a laser oscillator

Development of a high power free-electron laser

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Jong Min; Lee, Byung Chul; Kim, Sun Kook; Jung, Yung Wook; Cho, Sung Oh [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1995-01-01

A millimeter-wave free electron laser (FEL) driven by a recirculating electrostatic accelerator has been developed. The wavelength of the FEL is tunable in the range of 3 - 12 mm by tuning the energy of the electron beam. The output power is estimated to be 1 kW. The electrostatic accelerator is composed of high-current electron gun, acceleration tube, high-voltage generator, high-voltage terminal, deceleration tube, electron collator, and vacuum pumps. Two types of LaB{sub 6}-based thermionic electron guns (triode gun and diode gun) and their power supplies have been developed. The voltage of the guns is 30 kV and the output current is - 2 A. A beam-focusing planar undulator and a permanent-magnet helical undulator have been developed and 3D trajectories of electron beam in the undulators have been calculated to find optimal input condition of electron beam. 135 figs, 15 pix, 17 tabs, 98 refs. (Author).

Development of a high power free-electron laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jong Min; Lee, Byung Chul; Kim, Sun Kook; Jung, Yung Wook; Cho, Sung Oh

1995-01-01

A millimeter-wave free electron laser (FEL) driven by a recirculating electrostatic accelerator has been developed. The wavelength of the FEL is tunable in the range of 3 - 12 mm by tuning the energy of the electron beam. The output power is estimated to be 1 kW. The electrostatic accelerator is composed of high-current electron gun, acceleration tube, high-voltage generator, high-voltage terminal, deceleration tube, electron collator, and vacuum pumps. Two types of LaB 6 -based thermionic electron guns (triode gun and diode gun) and their power supplies have been developed. The voltage of the guns is 30 kV and the output current is - 2 A. A beam-focusing planar undulator and a permanent-magnet helical undulator have been developed and 3D trajectories of electron beam in the undulators have been calculated to find optimal input condition of electron beam. 135 figs, 15 pix, 17 tabs, 98 refs. (Author)

A high-power rf linear accelerator for FELS [free-electron lasers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sheffield, R.L.; Watson, J.M.

1987-01-01

This paper describes the design of a high average current rf linear accelerator suitable for driving short-wavelength free-electron lasers (FEL). It is concluded that the design of a room-temperature rf linear acelerator that can meet the stringent requirements of a high-power short-wavelength FEL appears possible. The accelerator requires the use of an advanced photoelectric injector that is under development; the accelerator components, however, do not require appreciable development. At these large beam currents, low-frequency, large-bore room-temperature cavities can be highly efficient and give all specified performance with minimal risk. 20 refs

Detection of laser-accelerated protons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reinhardt, Sabine

2012-08-08

Real-time (Online) detection of laser-accelerated protons is a challenge for any electronic detector system due to the peculiar time structure ({<=} ns) and high intensity ({>=}10{sup 7} p/cm{sup 2}) of the generated ion pulses. Besides considerable saturation effects, problems are expected by an electromagnetic interference pulse (EMP), generated during laser-plasma interaction. In the scope of this work, different detection systems were built-up with regard to specific demands of laser-ion-acceleration at the MPQ ATLAS laser, which allow the quantitative analysis of the generated proton beam. A cell irradiation experiment at the ATLAS laser was accomplished to demonstrate the usability of laser-accelerated protons for radiation therapy. Cells were irradiated with a single shot dose of few Gy for a proton energy of 5 MeV. The following cell analysis required the spatially resolved measurement of the dose distribution. Only radiation-sensitive films were applicable because of the small proton range, although they show significant quenching effects for the used proton energy. This was extensively studied in the 3-200 MeV energy range. A film-based dosimetry protocol for low-energy proton irradiations was developed, making the absolute dose determination in the cell experiment possible. The non-electronic detectors (nuclear track detectors, radiation-sensitive films) are still state of the art in laser-accelerated ion diagnostics, although these detectors only allow a delayed in time (offline) detection. A non-electronic system, based on image plates, was thoroughly characterized and calibrated for ongoing experiments at the ATLAS laser, for the first time. Main objective of this work, though, was the set-up of a real-time detection system, which is urgently required, owing to increasing repetition rate of the laser accelerator (>Hz), to advance the parameter optimisation of the laser-acceleration in an efficient way. Systems based on silicon pixel detectors are

Detection of laser-accelerated protons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reinhardt, Sabine

2012-01-01

Real-time (Online) detection of laser-accelerated protons is a challenge for any electronic detector system due to the peculiar time structure (≤ ns) and high intensity (≥10 7 p/cm 2 ) of the generated ion pulses. Besides considerable saturation effects, problems are expected by an electromagnetic interference pulse (EMP), generated during laser-plasma interaction. In the scope of this work, different detection systems were built-up with regard to specific demands of laser-ion-acceleration at the MPQ ATLAS laser, which allow the quantitative analysis of the generated proton beam. A cell irradiation experiment at the ATLAS laser was accomplished to demonstrate the usability of laser-accelerated protons for radiation therapy. Cells were irradiated with a single shot dose of few Gy for a proton energy of 5 MeV. The following cell analysis required the spatially resolved measurement of the dose distribution. Only radiation-sensitive films were applicable because of the small proton range, although they show significant quenching effects for the used proton energy. This was extensively studied in the 3-200 MeV energy range. A film-based dosimetry protocol for low-energy proton irradiations was developed, making the absolute dose determination in the cell experiment possible. The non-electronic detectors (nuclear track detectors, radiation-sensitive films) are still state of the art in laser-accelerated ion diagnostics, although these detectors only allow a delayed in time (offline) detection. A non-electronic system, based on image plates, was thoroughly characterized and calibrated for ongoing experiments at the ATLAS laser, for the first time. Main objective of this work, though, was the set-up of a real-time detection system, which is urgently required, owing to increasing repetition rate of the laser accelerator (>Hz), to advance the parameter optimisation of the laser-acceleration in an efficient way. Systems based on silicon pixel detectors are applicable for

Study of the Betatron and Compton X-ray sources produced in laser wakefield acceleration of electrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferri, Julien

2016-01-01

An ultra-short and ultra-intense laser pulse propagating in a low-density gas can accelerate in its wake a part of the electrons ionized from the gas to relativistic energies of a few hundreds of MeV over distances of a few millimeters only. During their acceleration, as a consequence of their transverse motion, these electrons emit strongly collimated X-rays in the forward direction, which are called betatron radiations. The characteristics of this source turn it into an interesting tool for high-resolution imagery.In this thesis, we explore three different axis to work on this source using simulations on the Particles-In-Cells codes CALDER and CALDER-Circ. We first study the creation of a betatron X-ray source with kilo-joule and pico-second laser pulses, for which duration and energy are then much higher than usual in this domain. In spite of the unusual laser parameters, we show that X-ray sources can still be generated, furthermore in two different regimes.In a second study, the generally observed discrepancies between experiments and simulations are investigated. We show that the use of realistic laser profiles instead of Gaussian ones in the simulations strongly degrades the performances of the laser-plasma accelerator and of the betatron source. Additionally, this leads to a better qualitative and quantitative agreement with the experiment. Finally, with the aim of improving the X-ray emission, we explore several techniques based on the manipulation of the plasma density profile used for acceleration. We find that both the use of a transverse gradient and of a density step increases the amplitude of the electrons transverse motions, and then increases the radiated energy. Alternatively, we show that this goal can also be achieved through the transition from a laser wakefield regime to a plasma wakefield regime induced by an increase of the density. The laser wakefield optimizes the electron acceleration whereas the plasma wakefield favours the X

Proof on principle experiments of laser wakefield acceleration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakajima, K.; Kawakubo, T.; Nakanishi, H.

1994-01-01

The principle of laser wakefield particle acceleration has been tested by the Nd:glass laser system providing a short pulse with a power of 10 TW and a duration of 1 ps. Electrons accelerated up to 18 MeV/c have been observed by injecting 1 MeV/c electrons emitted from a solid target by an intense laser impact. The accelerating field gradient of 30 GeV/m is inferred. (author)

Electron energy and electron trajectories in an inverse free-electron laser accelerator based on a novel electrostatic wiggler

Science.gov (United States)

Nikrah, M.; Jafari, S.

2016-06-01

We expand here a theory of a high-gradient laser-excited electron accelerator based on an inverse free-electron laser (inverse-FEL), but with innovations in the structure and design. The electrostatic wiggler used in our scheme, namely termed the Paul wiggler, is generated by segmented cylindrical electrodes with applied oscillatory voltages {{V}\\text{osc}}(t) over {{90}\\circ} segments. The inverse-FEL interaction can be described by the equations that govern the electron motion in the combined fields of both the laser pulse and Paul wiggler field. A numerical study of electron energy and electron trajectories has been made using the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. The results indicate that the electron attains a considerable energy at short distances in this device. It is found that if the electron has got sufficient suitable wiggler amplitude intensities, it can not only gain higher energy in longer distances, but also can retain it even after the passing of the laser pulse. In addition, the results reveal that the electron energy gains different peaks for different initial axial velocities, so that a suitable small initial axial velocity of e-beam produces substantially high energy gain. With regard to the transverse confinement of the electron beam in a Paul wiggler, there is no applied axial guide magnetic field in this device.

Principles of laser-plasma accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malka, V.; Mora, P.

2009-01-01

The continuing development of powerful laser systems has permitted to extend the interaction of laser beams with matter far into the relativistic domain in which extremely high electric and magnetic fields are generated. Thanks to these tremendous fields, that only plasma can support and sustain, new and compact approaches for producing energetic particle beams have been recently achieved (for example the bubble regime and the colliding laser pulses scheme). The incredible progress of these laser-plasma accelerators has allowed physicists to produce high quality beams of energetic radiation and particles. These beams have interesting properties such as shortness, brightness and spatial quality, and could lend themselves to applications in many fields, including medicine (radiotherapy, proton therapy, imaging), radiation biology (short-time-scale), chemistry (radiolysis), physics and material science (radiography, electron and photon diffraction), security (material inspection), and of course accelerator science. Stimulated by the advent of compact and powerful lasers, with moderate costs and high repetition rate, this research field has witnessed considerable growth in the past few years, and the promises of laser-plasma accelerators are in tremendous progress. The recent years in particular have seen spectacular progress in the acceleration of electrons and of ions, both in terms of energy and in terms of quality of the beams. (authors)

2D hydrodynamic simulations of a variable length gas target for density down-ramp injection of electrons into a laser wakefield accelerator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kononenko, O., E-mail: olena.kononenko@desy.de [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Hamburg (Germany); Lopes, N.C.; Cole, J.M.; Kamperidis, C.; Mangles, S.P.D.; Najmudin, Z. [The John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science, The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, SW7 2BZ UK (United Kingdom); Osterhoff, J. [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Hamburg (Germany); Poder, K. [The John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science, The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, SW7 2BZ UK (United Kingdom); Rusby, D.; Symes, D.R. [Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Didcot OX11 0QX (United Kingdom); Warwick, J. [Queens University Belfast, North Ireland (United Kingdom); Wood, J.C. [The John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science, The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, SW7 2BZ UK (United Kingdom); Palmer, C.A.J. [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Hamburg (Germany)

2016-09-01

In this work, two-dimensional (2D) hydrodynamic simulations of a variable length gas cell were performed using the open source fluid code OpenFOAM. The gas cell was designed to study controlled injection of electrons into a laser-driven wakefield at the Astra Gemini laser facility. The target consists of two compartments: an accelerator and an injector section connected via an aperture. A sharp transition between the peak and plateau density regions in the injector and accelerator compartments, respectively, was observed in simulations with various inlet pressures. The fluid simulations indicate that the length of the down-ramp connecting the sections depends on the aperture diameter, as does the density drop outside the entrance and the exit cones. Further studies showed, that increasing the inlet pressure leads to turbulence and strong fluctuations in density along the axial profile during target filling, and consequently, is expected to negatively impact the accelerator stability.

Electron acceleration in the bubble regime

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jansen, Oliver

2014-02-03

The bubble regime of laser-wakefield acceleration has been studied over the recent years as an important alternative to classical accelerators. Several models and theories have been published, in particular a theory which provides scaling laws for acceleration parameters such as energy gain and acceleration length. This thesis deals with numerical simulations within the bubble regime, their comparison to these scaling laws and data obtained from experiments, as well as some specific phenomenona. With a comparison of the scaling laws with numerical results a parameter scan was able to show a large parameter space in which simulation and theory agree. An investigation of the limits of this parameter space revealed boundaries to other regimes, especially at very high (a{sub 0} > 100) and very low laser amplitudes (a{sub 0} < 4). Comparing simulation data with data from experiments concerning laser pulse development and electron energies, it was found that experimental results can be adequately reproduced using the Virtual-Laser-Plasma-Laboratory code. In collaboration with the Institut fuer Optik und Quantenelektronik at the Friedrich-Schiller University Jena synchrotron radiation emitted from the inside of the bubble was investigated. A simulation of the movement of the electrons inside the bubble together with time dependent histograms of the emitted radiation helped to prove that the majority of radiation created during a bubble acceleration originates from the inside of the bubble. This radiation can be used to diagnose the amplitude of oscillation of the trapped electrons. During a further study it was proven that the polarisation of synchrotron radiation from a bubble contains information about the exact oscillation direction. This oscillation was successfully controlled by using either a laser pulse with a tilted pulse front or an asymmetric laser pulse. First results of ongoing studies concerning injecting electrons into an existing bubble and a scheme called

Phase space linearization and external injection of electron bunches into laser-driven plasma wakefields at REGAE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zeitler, Benno Michael Georg

2017-01-01

Laser Wake field Acceleration (LWFA) has the potential to become the next-generation acceleration technique for electrons. In particular, the large field gradients provided by these plasma-based accelerators are an appealing property, promising a significant reduction of size for future machines and user facilities. Despite the unique advantages of these sources, however, as of today, the produced electron bunches cannot yet compete in all beam quality criteria compared to conventional acceleration methods. Especially the stability in terms of beam pointing and energy gain, as well as a comparatively large energy spread of LWFA electron bunches require further advancement for their applicability. The accelerated particles are typically trapped from within the plasma which is used to create the large field gradients in the wake of a high-power laser. From this results a lack of control and access to observing the actual electron injection - and, consequently, a lack of experimental verification. To tackle this problem, the injection of external electrons into a plasma wakefield seems promising. In this case, the initial beam parameters are known, so that a back-calculation and reconstruction of the wakefield structure are feasible. Such an experiment is planned at the Relativistic Electron Gun for Atomic Exploration (REGAE). REGAE, which is located at DESY in Hamburg, is a small linear accelerator offering unique beam parameters compatible with the requirements of the planned experiment. The observations and results gained from such an external injection are expected to improve the beam quality and stability of internal injection variants, due to the broadened understanding of the underlying plasma dynamics. Furthermore, an external injection will always be required for so-called staging of multiple LWFA-driven cavities. Also, the demonstration of a suchlike merging of conventional and plasma accelerators gives rise to novel hybrid accelerators, where the matured

Phase space linearization and external injection of electron bunches into laser-driven plasma wakefields at REGAE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zeitler, Benno Michael Georg [Hamburg Univ. (Germany). Fakultaet fuer Mathematik, Informatik und Naturwissenschaften

2017-01-15

Laser Wake field Acceleration (LWFA) has the potential to become the next-generation acceleration technique for electrons. In particular, the large field gradients provided by these plasma-based accelerators are an appealing property, promising a significant reduction of size for future machines and user facilities. Despite the unique advantages of these sources, however, as of today, the produced electron bunches cannot yet compete in all beam quality criteria compared to conventional acceleration methods. Especially the stability in terms of beam pointing and energy gain, as well as a comparatively large energy spread of LWFA electron bunches require further advancement for their applicability. The accelerated particles are typically trapped from within the plasma which is used to create the large field gradients in the wake of a high-power laser. From this results a lack of control and access to observing the actual electron injection - and, consequently, a lack of experimental verification. To tackle this problem, the injection of external electrons into a plasma wakefield seems promising. In this case, the initial beam parameters are known, so that a back-calculation and reconstruction of the wakefield structure are feasible. Such an experiment is planned at the Relativistic Electron Gun for Atomic Exploration (REGAE). REGAE, which is located at DESY in Hamburg, is a small linear accelerator offering unique beam parameters compatible with the requirements of the planned experiment. The observations and results gained from such an external injection are expected to improve the beam quality and stability of internal injection variants, due to the broadened understanding of the underlying plasma dynamics. Furthermore, an external injection will always be required for so-called staging of multiple LWFA-driven cavities. Also, the demonstration of a suchlike merging of conventional and plasma accelerators gives rise to novel hybrid accelerators, where the matured

Optimized operation of dielectric laser accelerators: Single bunch

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adi Hanuka

2018-05-01

Full Text Available We introduce a general approach to determine the optimal charge, efficiency and gradient for laser driven accelerators in a self-consistent way. We propose a way to enhance the operational gradient of dielectric laser accelerators by leverage of beam-loading effect. While the latter may be detrimental from the perspective of the effective gradient experienced by the particles, it can be beneficial as the effective field experienced by the accelerating structure, is weaker. As a result, the constraint imposed by the damage threshold fluence is accordingly weakened and our self-consistent approach predicts permissible gradients of ∼10  GV/m, one order of magnitude higher than previously reported experimental results—with unbunched pulse of electrons. Our approach leads to maximum efficiency to occur for higher gradients as compared with a scenario in which the beam-loading effect on the material is ignored. In any case, maximum gradient does not occur for the same conditions that maximum efficiency does—a trade-off set of parameters is suggested.

Summary Report of Working Group 1: Laser-Plasma Acceleration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Geddes, C.G.R.; Clayton, C.; Lu, W.; Thomas, A.G.R.

2010-06-01

Advances in and physics of the acceleration of particles using underdense plasma structures driven by lasers were the topics of presentations and discussions in Working Group 1 of the 2010 Advanced Accelerator Concepts Workshop. Such accelerators have demonstrated gradients several orders beyond conventional machines, with quasi-monoenergetic beams at MeV-GeV energies, making them attractive candidates for next generation accelerators. Workshop discussions included advances in control over injection and laser propagation to further improve beam quality and stability, detailed diagnostics and physics models of the acceleration process, radiation generation as a source and diagnostic, and technological tools and upcoming facilities to extend the reach of laser-plasma accelerators.

Summary Report of Working Group 1: Laser-Plasma Acceleration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geddes, C.G.R.; Clayton, C.; Lu, W.; Thomas, A.G.R.

2010-01-01

Advances in and physics of the acceleration of particles using underdense plasma structures driven by lasers were the topics of presentations and discussions in Working Group 1 of the 2010 Advanced Accelerator Concepts Workshop. Such accelerators have demonstrated gradients several orders beyond conventional machines, with quasi-monoenergetic beams at MeV-GeV energies, making them attractive candidates for next generation accelerators. Workshop discussions included advances in control over injection and laser propagation to further improve beam quality and stability, detailed diagnostics and physics models of the acceleration process, radiation generation as a source and diagnostic, and technological tools and upcoming facilities to extend the reach of laser-plasma accelerators.

Gain physics of rf-linac-driven xuv free-electron lasers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goldstein, J.C.; McVey, B.D.; Newnam, B.E.

1986-01-01

In an rf-linac-driven xuv free-electron laser oscillator, the gain depends on the details of the shape of the electron beam's phase-space distribution, particularly the distribution of electrons in the transverse (to the direction of propagation) position and velocity coordinates. This strong dependence occurs because the gain in this device is inhomogeneously broadened. Our previous theoretical studies have assumed that the transverse phase space distribution is a product of uncorrelated Gaussian functions. In the present work, we shall present the results of a theoretical study of the gain for non-Gaussian phase-space distributions. Such distributions arise either from a better representation of the electron beam from an rf-linac or from an emittance filter applied to the beam after the linac

Shaping of pulses in optical grating-based laser systems for optimal control of electrons in laser plasma wake-field accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toth, Cs.; Faure, J.; Geddes, C.G.R.; Tilborg, J. van; Leemans, W.P.

2003-01-01

In typical chirped pulse amplification (CPA) laser systems, scanning the grating separation in the optical compressor causes the well know generation of linear chirp of frequency vs. time in a laser pulse, as well as a modification of all the higher order phase terms. By setting the compressor angle slightly different from the optimum value to generate the shortest pulse, a typical scan around this value will produce significant changes to the pulse shape. Such pulse shape changes can lead to significant differences in the interaction with plasmas such as used in laser wake-field accelerators. Strong electron yield dependence on laser pulse shape in laser plasma wake-field electron acceleration experiments have been observed in the L'OASIS Lab of LBNL [1]. These experiments show the importance of pulse skewness parameter, S, defined here on the basis of the ratio of the ''head-width-half-max'' (HWHM) and the ''tail-width-halfmax'' (TWHM), respectively

Plasma based accelerators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Caldwell, Allen [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Physik, Muenchen (Germany)

2015-05-01

The concept of laser-induced plasma wakefields as a technique to accelerate charged particles was introduced 35 years ago as a means to go beyond the accelerating gradients possible with metallic cavities supporting radio frequency electromagnetic fields. Significant developments in laser technology have made possible the pulse intensity needed to realize this concept, and rapid progress is now underway in the realization of laser-driven plasma wakefield acceleration. It has also been realized that similar accelerating gradients can be produced by particle beams propagating in plasmas, and experimental programs have also been undertaken to study this possibility. Positive results have been achieved with electron-driven plasma wakefields, and a demonstration experiment with proton-driven wakefields is under construction at CERN. The concepts behind these different schemes and their pros and cons are described, as well as the experimental results achieved. An outlook for future practical uses of plasma based accelerators will also be given.

Particle acceleration in near critical density plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gu, Y.J.; Kong, Q.; Kawata, S.; Izumiyama, T.; Nagashima, T.

2013-01-01

Charged particle acceleration schemes driven by ultra intense laser and near critical density plasma interactions are presented. They include electron acceleration in a plasma channel, ion acceleration by the Coulomb explosion and high energy electron beam driven ion acceleration. It is found that under the near critical density plasma both ions and electrons are accelerated with a high acceleration gradient. The electron beam containing a large charge quantity is accelerated well with 23 GeV/cm. The collimated ion bunch reaches 1 GeV. The investigations and discussions are based on 2.5D PIC (particle-in-cell) simulations. (author)

CAS - CERN Accelerator School: Free Electron Lasers and Energy Recovery Linacs

CERN Document Server

2018-01-01

These proceedings collate lectures given at the course on Free Electron Lasers and Energy Recovery Linacs (FELsand ERLs), organised by the CERN Accelerator School (CAS). The course was held at the Hotel Scandic HamburgEmporio, Hamburg, Germany from 31 May to 10 June 2016, in collaboration with DESY. Following introductorylectures on radiation issues, the basic requirements on linear accelerators and ERLs are discussed. Undulators andthe process of seeding and lasing are then treated in some detail, followed by lectures on various beam dynamicsand controls issues.

Vacuum electron acceleration by coherent dipole radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Troha, A.L.; Van Meter, J.R.; Landahl, E.C.; Alvis, R.M.; Hartemann, F.V.; Troha, A.L.; Van Meter, J.R.; Landahl, E.C.; Alvis, R.M.; Li, K.; Luhmann, N.C. Jr.; Hartemann, F.V.; Unterberg, Z.A.; Kerman, A.K.

1999-01-01

The validity of the concept of laser-driven vacuum acceleration has been questioned, based on an extrapolation of the well-known Lawson-Woodward theorem, which stipulates that plane electromagnetic waves cannot accelerate charged particles in vacuum. To formally demonstrate that electrons can indeed be accelerated in vacuum by focusing or diffracting electromagnetic waves, the interaction between a point charge and coherent dipole radiation is studied in detail. The corresponding four-potential exactly satisfies both Maxwell's equations and the Lorentz gauge condition everywhere, and is analytically tractable. It is found that in the far-field region, where the field distribution closely approximates that of a plane wave, we recover the Lawson-Woodward result, while net acceleration is obtained in the near-field region. The scaling of the energy gain with wave-front curvature and wave amplitude is studied systematically. copyright 1999 The American Physical Society

Electron accelerator with a laser ignition for investigation of beam plasma by optical methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kabanov, S.N.; Korolev, A.A.; Kul'beda, V.E.; Razumovskij, A.I.; Trukhin, V.A.

1990-01-01

Facility to conduct investigations into dense gas beam plasma is described. Facility comprises: electron accelerator (200-300 keV, 5kA, 20ns), OGM-40 ignition ruby laser LZhI-501 diagnostic laser (with 0.55-0.66 μm tunable wave length), Michelson interferometer and diagnostic equipment for optical measurements. Laser ignition of spark gap is introduced to strong synchronization (±10ns) of radiation pulse of diagnostic laser with beam current pulse

Phase-space holes due to electron and ion beams accelerated by a current-driven potential ramp

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. V. Goldman

2003-01-01

Full Text Available One-dimensional open-boundary simulations have been carried out in a current-carrying plasma seeded with a neutral density depression and with no initial electric field. These simulations show the development of a variety of nonlinear localized electric field structures: double layers (unipolar localized fields, fast electron phase-space holes (bipolar fields moving in the direction of electrons accelerated by the double layer and trains of slow alternating electron and ion phase-space holes (wave-like fields moving in the direction of ions accelerated by the double layer. The principal new result in this paper is to show by means of a linear stability analysis that the slow-moving trains of electron and ion holes are likely to be the result of saturation via trapping of a kinetic-Buneman instability driven by the interaction of accelerated ions with unaccelerated electrons.

A bremsstrahlung gamma-ray source based on stable ionization injection of electrons into a laser wakefield accelerator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Döpp, A., E-mail: andreas.doepp@polytechnique.edu [LOA, ENSTA ParisTech, CNRS, École polytechnique, Université Paris-Saclay, 828 bd des Maréchaux, 91762 Palaiseau Cedex (France); Centro de Laseres Pulsados, Parque Cientfico, 37185 Villamayor, Salamanca (Spain); Guillaume, E.; Thaury, C.; Lifschitz, A. [LOA, ENSTA ParisTech, CNRS, École polytechnique, Université Paris-Saclay, 828 bd des Maréchaux, 91762 Palaiseau Cedex (France); Sylla, F. [SourceLAB SAS, 86 rue de Paris, 91400 Orsay (France); Goddet, J-P.; Tafzi, A.; Iaquanello, G.; Lefrou, T.; Rousseau, P. [LOA, ENSTA ParisTech, CNRS, École polytechnique, Université Paris-Saclay, 828 bd des Maréchaux, 91762 Palaiseau Cedex (France); Conejero, E.; Ruiz, C. [Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidad de Salamanca, Plaza de laMerced s/n, 37008 Salamanca (Spain); Ta Phuoc, K.; Malka, V. [LOA, ENSTA ParisTech, CNRS, École polytechnique, Université Paris-Saclay, 828 bd des Maréchaux, 91762 Palaiseau Cedex (France)

2016-09-11

Laser wakefield acceleration permits the generation of ultra-short, high-brightness relativistic electron beams on a millimeter scale. While those features are of interest for many applications, the source remains constraint by the poor stability of the electron injection process. Here we present results on injection and acceleration of electrons in pure nitrogen and argon. We observe stable, continuous ionization-induced injection of electrons into the wakefield for laser powers exceeding a threshold of 7 TW. The beam charge scales approximately with the laser energy and is limited by beam loading. For 40 TW laser pulses we measure a maximum charge of almost 1 nC per shot, originating mostly from electrons of less than 10 MeV energy. The relatively low energy, the high charge and its stability make this source well-suited for applications such as non-destructive testing. Hence, we demonstrate the production of energetic radiation via bremsstrahlung conversion at 1 Hz repetition rate. In accordance with GEANT4 Monte-Carlo simulations, we measure a γ-ray source size of less than 100 μm for a 0.5 mm tantalum converter placed at 2 mm from the accelerator exit. Furthermore we present radiographs of image quality indicators.

Inverse free electron laser beat-wave accelerator research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marshall, T.C.; Bhattacharjee, A.

1993-09-01

A calculation on the stabilization of the sideband instability in the free electron laser (FEL) and inverse FEL (IFEL) was completed. The issue arises in connection with the use of a tapered (''variable-parameter'') undulator of extended length, such as might be used in an ''enhanced efficiency'' traveling-wave FEL or an IFEL accelerator. In addition, the FEL facility at Columbia was configured as a traveling wave amplifier for a 10-kW signal from a 24-GHz magnetron. The space charge field in the bunches of the FEL was measured. Completed work has been published

The LILIA (laser induced light ions acceleration) experiment at LNF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agosteo, S.; Anania, M.P.; Caresana, M.; Cirrone, G.A.P.; De Martinis, C.; Delle Side, D.; Fazzi, A.; Gatti, G.; Giove, D.; Giulietti, D.; Gizzi, L.A.; Labate, L.; Londrillo, P.; Maggiore, M.; Nassisi, V.; Sinigardi, S.; Tramontana, A.; Schillaci, F.; Scuderi, V.; Turchetti, G.

2014-01-01

Laser-matter interaction at relativistic intensities opens up new research fields in the particle acceleration and related secondary sources, with immediate applications in medical diagnostics, biophysics, material science, inertial confinement fusion, up to laboratory astrophysics. In particular laser-driven ion acceleration is very promising for hadron therapy once the ion energy will attain a few hundred MeV. The limited value of the energy up to now obtained for the accelerated ions is the drawback of such innovative technique to the real applications. LILIA (laser induced light ions acceleration) is an experiment now running at LNF (Frascati) with the goal of producing a real proton beam able to be driven for significant distances (50–75 cm) away from the interaction point and which will act as a source for further accelerating structure. In this paper the description of the experimental setup, the preliminary results of solid target irradiation and start to end simulation for a post-accelerated beam up to 60 MeV are given

The LILIA (laser induced light ions acceleration) experiment at LNF

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Agosteo, S. [Energy Department, Polytechnic of Milan and INFN, Milan (Italy); Anania, M.P. [INFN LNF Frascati, Frascati (Italy); Caresana, M. [Energy Department, Polytechnic of Milan and INFN, Milan (Italy); Cirrone, G.A.P. [INFN LNS Catania, Catania (Italy); De Martinis, C. [Physics Department, University of Milan and INFN, Milan (Italy); Delle Side, D. [LEAS, University of Salento and INFN, Lecce (Italy); Fazzi, A. [Energy Department, Polytechnic of Milan and INFN, Milan (Italy); Gatti, G. [INFN LNF Frascati, Frascati (Italy); Giove, D. [Physics Department, University of Milan and INFN, Milan (Italy); Giulietti, D. [Physics Department, University of Pisa and INFN, Pisa (Italy); Gizzi, L.A.; Labate, L. [INO-CNR and INFN, Pisa (Italy); Londrillo, P. [Physics Department, University of Bologna and INFN, Bologna (Italy); Maggiore, M. [INFN LNL, Legnaro (Italy); Nassisi, V., E-mail: vincenzo.nassisi@le.infn.it [LEAS, University of Salento and INFN, Lecce (Italy); Sinigardi, S. [Physics Department, University of Bologna and INFN, Bologna (Italy); Tramontana, A.; Schillaci, F. [INFN LNS Catania, Catania (Italy); Scuderi, V. [INFN LNS Catania, Catania (Italy); Institute of Physics of the ASCR, Prague (Czech Republic); Turchetti, G. [Physics Department, University of Bologna and INFN, Bologna (Italy); and others

2014-07-15

Laser-matter interaction at relativistic intensities opens up new research fields in the particle acceleration and related secondary sources, with immediate applications in medical diagnostics, biophysics, material science, inertial confinement fusion, up to laboratory astrophysics. In particular laser-driven ion acceleration is very promising for hadron therapy once the ion energy will attain a few hundred MeV. The limited value of the energy up to now obtained for the accelerated ions is the drawback of such innovative technique to the real applications. LILIA (laser induced light ions acceleration) is an experiment now running at LNF (Frascati) with the goal of producing a real proton beam able to be driven for significant distances (50–75 cm) away from the interaction point and which will act as a source for further accelerating structure. In this paper the description of the experimental setup, the preliminary results of solid target irradiation and start to end simulation for a post-accelerated beam up to 60 MeV are given.