Related papers: Optimized matching conditions for self-guided lase…
A new electron acceleration mechanism is identified that develops when a relativistically intense laser irradiates the wedge of an over-dense plasma. This induces a diffracted electromagnetic wave with a significant longitudinal electric…
We have investigated numerically the coupling between a 10 \si{MeV} electron bunch of high charge (\SI{> 100}{pc}) with a laser generated accelerating plasma wave. Our results show that a high efficiency coupling can be achieved using a…
The quality of electron bunches accelerated by laser wakefields is highly dependant on the temporal and spatial features of the laser driver. Analysis of experiments performed at APOLLON PW-class laser facility shows that spatial…
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,…
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…
New acceleration technology is mandatory for the future elucidation of fundamental particles and their interactions. A promising approach is to exploit the properties of plasmas. Past research has focused on creating large-amplitude plasma…
We have detected the presence of very high intensity surface waves that are excited during plasma waveguided laser wakefield acceleration. Wakefield acceleration can be enchanced by the introduction of an ``all optical" plasma waveguide…
The direct laser acceleration (DLA) of electrons in underdense plasmas can provide 100s of nC of electrons accelerated to near-GeV energies using currently available lasers. Here we demonstrate the key role of electron transverse…
We access the possibility of using the conventional RF accelerator as an injector for the plasma driven wakefield accelerator. Conventional accelerators deliver high quality beams with low emittance and low energy spread. Once injected into…
We demonstrate that electrons can be efficiently accelerated to high energy in spatially non-uniform, intense laser fields. Laser non-uniformities occur when a perfect plane wave reflects off a randomly perturbed surface. By solving for…
We study and discuss electron acceleration in vacuum interacting with fundamental Gaussian pulses using specific parameters relevant for the multi-PW femtosecond lasers at ELI-NP. Taking into account the characteristic properties of both…
Laser accelerated protons can be a complimentary source for treatment of oncological diseases to the existing hadron therapy facilities. We demonstrate how the protons, accelerated from near-critical density plasmas by laser pulses having…
We propose a new and simple strategy for controlled ionization-induced trapping of electrons in a beam-driven plasma accelerator. The presented method directly exploits electric wakefields to ionize electrons from a dopant gas and capture…
Despite the successful demonstration of compact free electron lasers (FELs) driven by laser wakefield accelerators (LWFAs), the pursuit of further enhancements in high-gain compact FELs presents a challenge due to the limitations in…
We propose and detail a multi-step analytical procedure, based on an improved fully relativistic plane model for Laser Wake Field Acceleration, to tailor the initial density of a cold diluted plasma to the laser pulse profile, so as to…
Laser-plasma accelerators present a promising alternative to conventional accelerators. To fully exploit the extreme amplitudes of the plasma fields and produce high-quality beams, precise control over electron injection into the…
It is shown that co-linear injection of electrons or positrons into the wakefield of the self-modulating particle beam is possible and ensures high energy gain. The witness beam must co-propagate with the tail part of the driver, since the…
Laser plasma interaction with micro-engineered targets at relativistic intensities has been greatly promoted by recent progress in the high contrast lasers and the manufacture of advanced micro- and nano-structures. This opens new…
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,…
High laser intensities enable the production of electron-positron pairs from bright gamma rays passing through strong fields. Potentially the most promising approach for all-optical experiments in the near term uses dense but higher…