Related papers: Nonlinear plasma wavelength scalings in a laser wa…
Non-linear wave-driven processes in plasmas are normally described by either a monochromatic pump wave that couples to other monochromatic waves, or as a random phase wave coupling to other random phase waves. An alternative approach…
An electron injector concept for laser-plasma accelerator was developed in ref [1] and [2] ; it relies on the use of counter-propagating ultrashort laser pulses. In [2], the scheme is as follows: the pump laser pulse generates a large…
The plasma-based acceleration is an encouraging technique to overcome the limits of the accelerating gradient in the conventional RF acceleration. A plasma accelerator is able to provide accelerating fields up to hundreds of $GeV/m$, paving…
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…
We investigate plasma wake generation via Compton scattering from photon bursts, a non-ponderomotive process relevant when the photon wavelength is smaller than the interparticle distance but larger than the Compton wavelength. In this…
Ion motion in plasma wakefield accelerators can cause temporal increase of the longitudinal electric field shortly before the wave breaks. The increase is caused by re-distribution of the wave energy in transverse direction and may be…
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…
The FLASHForward experimental facility is a high-performance test-bed for precision plasma-wakefield research, aiming to accelerate high-quality electron beams to GeV-levels in a few centimetres of ionised gas. The plasma is created by…
Wakefield wavelengths associated with solid-state plasmas greatly limit the accelerating length. An alternative approach employs 2D carbon-based nanomaterials, like graphene or carbon nanotubes (CNTs), configured into structured targets.…
The goal of this paper is to examine experimental progress in laser wakefield acceleration over the past decade (2004-2014), and to use trends in the data to understand some of the important physical processes. By examining a set of over 50…
Accelerating particles to high energies in plasma wakefields is considered to be a promising technique with good energy efficiency and high gradient. While important progress has been made in plasma-based electron acceleration, positron…
In plasma-based acceleration, an ultra-relativistic particle bunch$\unicode{x2014}$or an intense laser beam$\unicode{x2014}$is used to expel electrons from its propagation path, forming a wake that is devoid of electrons. The ions, being…
The paper presents a study of wakefield generation and electron injection via propagation of radially polarized laser pulses in homogeneous pre-ionized plasma. The analytical study is based on Lorentz force and continuity equations.…
We propose a new method for analytical self-consistent description of the excitation of a strongly nonlinear wakefield (a bubble) excited by an electron bunch. This method makes it possible to calculate the shape of the bubble and the…
The interaction of a multi-Petawatt, pancake-shaped laser pulse with an unmagnetized plasma is studied analytically and numerically in the regime of fully relativistic electron jitter velocities and in the context of the laser wakefield…
High energy particle accelerators have been crucial in providing a deeper understanding of fundamental particles and the forces that govern their interactions. In order to increase the energy or reduce the size of the accelerator, new…
We present a novel method for aligning a laser ionized plasma source to a pair of ultra-relativistic electron beams that comprise a plasma wakefield accelerator (PWFA). We achieve alignment by analyzing the plasma afterglow light observed…
Preformed plasma channels are essential for guiding high-power laser pulses over extended distances in laser wakefield accelerators, enabling the generation of multi-GeV electron beams for applications such as free-electron lasers and…
Pushing the high energy frontier of laser wakefield electron acceleration (LWFA) to 10 GeV and beyond requires extending the propagation of relativistic intensity pulses to ~1 m in a low density ($N_e\sim 10^{17} cm^{-3}$) plasma waveguide.…
In the past decades, beam-driven plasma wakefield acceleration (PWFA) experiments have seen remarkable progress by using high-energy particle beams such as electron, positron and proton beams to drive wakes in neutral gas or pre-ionized…