Matched Guiding and Controlled Injection in Dark-Current-Free, 10-GeV-Class, Channel-Guided Laser Plasma Accelerators
Abstract
We measure the high intensity laser propagation throughout meter-scale, channel-guided LPAs by adjusting the length of the plasma channel on a shot-by-shot basis, showing high quality guiding of 500 TW laser pulses over 30 cm in a hydrogen plasma of density . We observed transverse energy transport of higher-order modes in the first of the plasma channel, followed by quasi-matched propagation, and the gradual, dark-current-free depletion of laser energy to the wakefield. We quantify the laser-to-wake transfer efficiency limitations of currently available PW-class laser systems, and demonstrate via simulation how control over the laser mode can significantly improve accelerated beam parameters. Using just 21.3 J of laser energy, and triggering localized electron injection into the accelerator, we observed electron bunches with single, quasimonoenergetic peaks, relative energy spreads as low as 3 % and energy up to 9.2 GeV with charge extending beyond 10 GeV.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2408.00740,
title = {Matched Guiding and Controlled Injection in Dark-Current-Free, 10-GeV-Class, Channel-Guided Laser Plasma Accelerators},
author = {A. Picksley and J. Stackhouse and C. Benedetti and K. Nakamura and H. E. Tsai and R. Li and B. Miao and J. E. Shrock and E. Rockafellow and H. M. Milchberg and C. B. Schroeder and J. van Tilborg and E. Esarey and C. G. R. Geddes and A. J. Gonsalves},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2408.00740},
year = {2024}
}