Related papers: Coherent keV backscattering from plasma-wave boost…
We demonstrate laser-plasma acceleration of high charge electron beams to the ~10 MeV scale using ultrashort laser pulses with as little energy as 10 mJ. This result is made possible by an extremely dense and thin hydrogen gas jet. Total…
Using plasma mirror injection we demonstrate, both analytically and numerically, that a circularly polarized helical laser pulse can accelerate highly collimated dense bunches of electrons to several hundred MeV using currently available…
Laser wakefield accelerators rely on relativistically moving micron-sized plasma cavities that provide extremely high electric field >100GV/m. Here, we demonstrate transverse shaping of the plasma cavity to produce controlled sub-GeV…
A new scheme for injection and acceleration of electrons in wakefield accelerators is suggested based on the co-action of a laser pulse and an electron beam. This synergy leads to stronger wakefield generation and higher energy gain in the…
In this article, we concentrate on the basic physics of relativistic plasma wave accelerators. The generation of relativistic plasma waves by intense lasers or electron beams in low-density plasmas is important in the quest for producing…
We study the conditions for coherent radiation of an electron bunch driven by a counterpropagating strong pulsed electromagnetic plane wave. We derive the spectrum of the coherent radiation and show that it is emitted backwards with respect…
We demonstrate that laser reflection acts as a catalyst for superponderomotive electron production in the preplasma formed by relativistic multipicosecond lasers incident on solid density targets. In 1D particle-in-cell simulations, high…
Relativistic electrons colliding with intense counterpropagating laser pulses are expected to lose energy through radiation reaction. However, we reveal a counterintuitive regime where reflected leptons (including incident electrons,…
The recent advancement of high-intensity lasers has made all-optical Compton scattering become a promising way to produce ultra-short brilliant $\gamma$-rays in an ultra-compact system. However, so far achieved Compton $\gamma$-ray sources…
Exceptional pulse contrast can be critical for ultraintense laser experiments, particularly when using solid density targets, and their use is becoming widespread. However, current plasma mirror technology is becoming inadequate for the new…
The production of energetic (multi-GeV) heavy ion beams by acceleration of ultra-thin foils through the application of radiation pressure to a self-generated, imperfect plasma mirror (photon absorption probability {\eta} finite) is studied.…
Coherent control of a system involves steering an interaction to a final coherent state by controlling the phase of an applied field. Plasmas support coherent wave structures that can be generated by intense laser fields. Here, we…
We propose to use tightly focused lasers to generate high quality electron beams in laser wakefield accelerators. In this scheme, the expansion of the laser beam after the focal position enlarges the size of wakefield bubble, which reduces…
We propose a twisted plasma accelerator capable of generating relativistic electron vortex beams with helical current profiles. The angular momentum of these vortex bunches is quantized, dominates their transverse motion, and results in…
Proton beams with up to 100 pC bunch charge, 0.48 MeV cut-off energy and divergence as low as a $3^{\circ}$ were generated from solid targets at kHz repetition rate by a few-mJ femtosecond laser under controlled plasma conditions. The beam…
Experimental results, supported by precise modelling, demonstrate optimisation of a plasma-based injector with intermediate laser pulse energy ($<1$ J), corresponding to a normalised vector potential $a_0 = 2.15$, using ionisation injection…
A novel ultra-bright high-intensity source of X-ray and gamma radiation is suggested. It is based on the double Doppler effect, where a relativistic flying mirror reflects a counter-propagating electromagnetic radiation causing its…
A high repetition rate electron source was generated by tightly focusing kHz, few-mJ laser pulses into an underdense plasma. This high intensity laser-plasma interaction led to stable electron beams over several hours but with strikingly…
The plasma photocathode has previously been proposed as a source of ultra-high-brightness electron bunches within plasma accelerators. Here, the scheme is extended by using a radially-polarized ionizing laser pulse to generate high-charge,…
An ultra-bright high-intensity X- and gamma-radiation source is proposed. A high-density thin plasma slab, accelerating in the radiation pressure dominant regime by a co-propagating ultra-intense electromagnetic wave, reflects a…