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We measure the emission of energetic electrons from the interaction between ultrashort laser pulses and a solid density plasma in the relativistic regime. We detect an electron beam that only appears with few-cycle pulses (< 10 fs) and…
The emergence of multi-petawatt laser facilities is expected to push forward the maximum energy gain that can be achieved in a single stage of a LWFA to tens of GeV, which begs the question - is it likely to impact particle physics by…
We examine the influence of non-ideal plasma-density and non-Gaussian transverse laser-intensity profiles in the laser wakefield accelerator analytically and numerically. We find that the characteristic amplitude and scale length of…
In the present work, we demonstrate for the first time a proof-of-principle experiment for nanoparticle-assisted laser wakefield acceleration. The nanoparticles, generated through laser ablation of aluminium, were introduced into the plasma…
The quality of electron beams produced from plasma-based accelerators, i.e., normalized brightness and energy spread, has made transformative progress in the past several decades in both simulation and experiment. Recently, full-scale…
We propose a new approach to high-intensity relativistic laser-driven electron acceleration in a plasma. Here, we demonstrate that a plasma wave generated by a stimulated forward-scattering of an incident laser pulse can be in the longest…
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…
A laser pulse traveling through a plasma can excite large amplitude plasma waves that can be used to accelerate relativistic electron beams in a very short distance---a technique called laser wakefield acceleration. Many wakefield…
We show that both the maximum energy gain and the accelerated beam quality can be efficiently controlled by the plasma density profile. Choosing a proper density gradient one can uplift the dephasing limitation. When a periodic wake field…
In this dissertation, a fully object-oriented, fully relativistic, multi-dimensional Particle-In-Cell code was developed and applied to answer key questions in plasma-based accelerator research. The simulations increase the understanding of…
Self-focusing and guiding of ultra-short (pulse duration: L<lambda_P: plasma wavelength), intense laser pulses in underdense plasma relevant to laser wakefield electron acceleration has been studied numerically. The analysis considers…
An optical injection scheme into the laser wakefield accelerator by preceding injection pulse is investigated by means of 3D numerical particle-in-cell simulations. Quasimonoenergetic hundred-pC electron bunches as short as 6 fs can be…
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…
Plasma wakefield acceleration (PWFA) is a novel acceleration technique with promising prospects for both particle colliders and light sources. However, PWFA research has so far been limited to a few large-scale accelerator facilities…
We propose a preliminary analytical procedure in 4 steps (based on an improved fully relativistic plane hydrodynamic model) to tailor the initial density of a cold diluted plasma to the laser pulse profile so as to control wave-breaking…
Structured light pulses hold significant promise for their ability to overcome dephasing in laser-wakefield accelerators, that should facilitate applications in high-energy physics and XFEL. Numerical studies have shown that sculpting a…
In an electron wakefield accelerator, an intense laser pulse or charged particle beam excites plasma waves. Under proper conditions, electrons from the background plasma are trapped in the plasma wave and accelerated to ultra-relativistic…
Electron self-injection and acceleration until dephasing in the blowout regime is studied for a set of initial conditions typical of recent experiments with 100 terawatt-class lasers. Two different approaches to computationally efficient,…
We report on the depletion and power amplification of the driving laser pulse in a strongly-driven laser wakefield accelerator. Simultaneous measurement of the transmitted pulse energy and temporal shape indicate an increase in peak power…
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,…