Related papers: FLASHForward: Plasma-wakefield accelerator science…
In the laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA) a short intense laser pulse, with a duration of the order of a plasma wave period, excites an unusually strong plasma wake wave (laser wakefield). Recent experiments on laser wakefield acceleration…
Laser wakefield accelerators (LWFAs) have electric fields that are orders of magnitude larger than those of conventional accelerators, promising an attractive, small-scale alternative for next-generation light sources and lepton colliders.…
A scheme of laser wakefield acceleration, when a relatively rare and long bunch of non-relativistic or weakly-relativistic electrons is initially in front of the laser pulse, is suggested and considered. The motion of test electrons is…
The injection of electrons into a laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA) is observed to generate an intense coherent ultra-broadband and ultrashort pulse radiation flash, consistent with the acceleration of electrons from rest to nearly the…
In the Phase 2 of the AWAKE first experimental run (from May to November 2018), an electron beam was used to probe and test proton-driven wakefield acceleration in a rubidium plasma column. In this work, we analyze the overall charge…
A novel approach to implement and control electron injection into the accelerating phase of a laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA) is presented. It utilizes a wire, which is introduced into the flow of a supersonic gas jet creating shock…
Since it is possible to form laser pulses with a frequency much larger than the frequency of visible light, Prof. T.Tajima proposed using such pulse to accelerate the particles at its injection into the crystal. Here, the wakefield…
Laser wakefield accelerators rely on the extremely high electric fields of nonlinear plasma waves to trap and accelerate electrons to relativistic energies over short distances. When driven strongly enough, plasma waves break, trapping a…
Ionization injection in a plasma wakefield accelerator was investigated experimentally using two lithium plasma sources of different lengths. The ionization of the helium gas, used to confine the lithium, injects electrons in the wake.…
The production of ultra-bright electron bunches using ionization injection triggered by two transversely colliding laser pulses inside a beam-driven plasma wake is examined via three-dimensional (3D) particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. The…
We show through experiments that a transition from laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) regime to a plasma wakefield acceleration (PWFA) regime can drive electrons up to energies close to the GeV level. Initially, the acceleration mechanism…
In a laser plasma accelerator (LPA), a short and intense laser pulse propagating in a plasma drives a wakefield (a plasma wave with a relativistic phase velocity) that can sustain extremely large electric fields, enabling compact…
We report on an experimental demonstration of laser wakefield electron acceleration using a sub-TW power laser by tightly focusing 30-fs laser pulses with only 8 mJ pulse energy on a 100 \mu m scale gas target. The experiments are carried…
Frequency up-shifting of laser light in a beam-driven plasma wakefield has the potential to provide high-intensity sources of short wavelength radiation. Simulations have demonstrated that a laser pulse can undergo large frequency shifts,…
In AWAKE a self-modulated proton bunch drives wakefields in a plasma. Recent experiments successfully demonstrated many aspects of the self-modulation of the drive bunch as well as acceleration of test electrons. Next experiments will focus…
We demonstrate a novel approach to the generation of femtosecond electron bunch trains via laser-driven wakefield acceleration. We use two independent high-intensity laser pulses, a drive, and injector, each creating their own plasma wakes.…
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…
Laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) in a gas cell target separating injection and acceleration section has been investigated to produce high-quality electron beams. A detailed study has been performed on controlling the quality of…
Achieving high-quality electron beams from laser wakefield accelerators critically relies on density tailoring to control electron dynamics during injection, acceleration, and extraction. We report on the experimental observation of…
An ultra-short (about 30 fs) petawatt laser pulse focused with a wide focal spot (about 100 microns) in a rarefied plasma (electron density of order 10^{17} per cm^3) excites a nonlinear plasma wakefield which can accelerate injected…