Related papers: Dual-energy electron beams from a compact laser-dr…
We report a synergistic enhancement of betatron radiation based on the hybrid laser and plasma wakefield acceleration scheme. Quasi-phase-stable acceleration in an up-ramp plasma density first generates GeV-energy electron beams that act as…
Using fully three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we show that readily available femtosecond laser systems can stably generate proton beams with hundred MeV energy and low spread at $\sim1\%$ level by parallel irradiation of a…
Ultrafast phenomena on a femtosecond timescale are commonly examined by pump-probe experiments. This implies multiple measurements where the sample under investigation is pumped with a short light pulse and then probed with a second pulse…
Beam-driven plasma-wakefield acceleration (PWFA) has emerged as a transformative technology with the potential to revolutionize the field of particle acceleration, especially toward compact accelerators for high-energy and high-power…
We propose a new method for self-injection of high-quality electron bunches in the plasma wakefield structure in the blowout regime utilizing a "flying focus" produced by a drive beam with an energy chirp. In a flying focus the speed of the…
Active energy compression scheme is presently being investigated for future laser-plasma accelerators. This method enables generating laser-plasma accelerator electron beams with a small, $\sim 10^{-5}$, relative slice energy spread. When…
A single-atom 'double-slit' experiment is realized by photo-ionizing Rubidium atoms using two independent low power lasers. The photoelectron wave of well-defined energy recedes to the continuum either from the 5P or 6P states in the same…
A method is proposed for producing monoergetic, high-quality ion beams in vacuum, via direct acceleration by the electromagnetic field of two counterpropagating, variable-frequency lasers: ions are trapped and accelerated by a beat-wave…
This study explores nanoparticle-assisted electron injection as a method for controlling beam charge in laser wakefield acceleration through particle-in-cell simulations. We systematically investigate how the material (Li through Au) and…
We report on systematic and high-precision measurements of dephasing, an effect that fundamentally limits the performance of laser wakefield accelerators. Utilizing shock-front injection, a technique providing stable, tunable and…
The electric field in laser-driven plasma wakefield acceleration is orders of magnitude higher than conventional radio-frequency cavities, but the energy gain is limited by dephasing between the ultra-relativistic electron bunch and the…
Recent studies have demonstrated the possibility of accelerating electrons to MeV energies in ambient air using tightly focused laser configurations. In this article, we explore possible strategies to control and optimize the resulting…
We demonstrate that hybrid laser wakefield and direct acceleration (LWDA) can be significantly improved by using two laser pulses with different polarizations or frequencies. The improvement entails higher energy and charge of the…
Laser wakefield acceleration is paving the way for the next generation of electron accelerators, for their own sake and as radiation sources. A controllable dual-wake injection scheme is put forward here to generate an ultrashort triplet…
Though wakefield acceleration in crystal channels has been previously proposed, x-ray wakefield acceleration has only recently become a realistic possibility since the invention of the single-cycled optical laser compression technique. We…
Plasma-based accelerators have made remarkable progress over the last two decades. Their unique characteristics make them tools that can revolutionize fields of science and applications. AWAKE takes advantage of the availability of…
Betatron radiation from laser wakefield accelerators is an ultrashort pulsed source of hard, synchrotron-like x-ray radiation. It emanates from a centimetre scale plasma accelerator producing GeV level electron beams. In recent years…
A new method for diagnosing the temporal characteristics of ultrashort electron bunches with linear energy chirp generated from a laser wakefield accelerator is described. When the ionization-injected bunch interacts with the back of the…
Temporally-modulated electron beams have a wide array of applications ranging from the generation of coherently-enhanced electromagnetic radiation to the resonant excitation of electromagnetic wakefields in advanced-accelerator concepts.…
Laser-electron beam collisions that aim to generate electron-positron pairs require laser intensities $I \gtrsim 10^{21} ~\textrm{W/cm}^2$, which can be obtained by focusing a 1-PW optical laser to a spot smaller than 10 $~\mu$m. Spatial…