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Põder K, Wood JC, Lopes NC, Cole JM, Alatabi S, Backhouse MP, Foster PS, Hughes AJ, Kamperidis C, Kononenko O, Mangles SPD, Palmer CAJ, Rusby D, Sahai A, Sarri G, Symes DR, Warwick JR, Najmudin Z. Multi-GeV Electron Acceleration in Wakefields Strongly Driven by Oversized Laser Spots. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2024; 132:195001. [PMID: 38804956 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.132.195001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2023] [Accepted: 03/01/2024] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
Experiments were performed on laser wakefield acceleration in the highly nonlinear regime. With laser powers P<250 TW and using an initial spot size larger than the matched spot size for guiding, we were able to accelerate electrons to energies E_{max}>2.5 GeV, in fields exceeding 500 GV m^{-1}, with more than 80 pC of charge at energies E>1 GeV. Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that using an oversized spot delays injection, avoiding beam loss as the wakefield undergoes length oscillation. This enables injected electrons to remain in the regions of highest accelerating fields and leads to a doubling of energy gain as compared to results from using half the focal length with the same laser.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Põder
- The John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science, Imperial College, London SW7 2BZ, United Kingdom
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, D-22607 Hamburg, Germany
| | - J C Wood
- The John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science, Imperial College, London SW7 2BZ, United Kingdom
| | - N C Lopes
- The John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science, Imperial College, London SW7 2BZ, United Kingdom
- GoLP/Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - J M Cole
- The John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science, Imperial College, London SW7 2BZ, United Kingdom
| | - S Alatabi
- The John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science, Imperial College, London SW7 2BZ, United Kingdom
| | - M P Backhouse
- The John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science, Imperial College, London SW7 2BZ, United Kingdom
| | - P S Foster
- Central Laser Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot OX11 0QX, United Kingdom
| | - A J Hughes
- The John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science, Imperial College, London SW7 2BZ, United Kingdom
| | - C Kamperidis
- The John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science, Imperial College, London SW7 2BZ, United Kingdom
- ELI-ALPS, ELI-HU Non-profit Ltd., Szeged, Hungary
| | - O Kononenko
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, D-22607 Hamburg, Germany
- LOA, ENSTA ParisTech-CNRS-École Polytechnique-Université Paris-Saclay, 828 Boulevard des Maréchaux, 91762 Palaiseau Cedex, France
| | - S P D Mangles
- The John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science, Imperial College, London SW7 2BZ, United Kingdom
| | - C A J Palmer
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, D-22607 Hamburg, Germany
- Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, BT7 1NN, United Kingdom
| | - D Rusby
- Central Laser Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot OX11 0QX, United Kingdom
| | - A Sahai
- The John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science, Imperial College, London SW7 2BZ, United Kingdom
| | - G Sarri
- Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, BT7 1NN, United Kingdom
| | - D R Symes
- Central Laser Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot OX11 0QX, United Kingdom
| | - J R Warwick
- Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, BT7 1NN, United Kingdom
| | - Z Najmudin
- The John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science, Imperial College, London SW7 2BZ, United Kingdom
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Song H, Kim CM, Won J, Song J, Lee S, Ryu CM, Bang W, Nam CH. Characterization of relativistic electron-positron beams produced with laser-accelerated GeV electrons. Sci Rep 2023; 13:310. [PMID: 36609530 PMCID: PMC9823095 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-27617-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2022] [Accepted: 01/04/2023] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
The characterization of an electron-positron beam generated from the interaction of a multi-GeV electron beam with a lead plate is performed using GEANT4 simulations. The dependence of the positron beam size on driver electron beam energy and lead converter thickness is investigated in detail. A pancake-like positron beam structure is generated with a monoenergetic multi-GeV driver electron beam, with the results indicating that a 5 GeV driver electron beam with 1 nC charge can generate a positron beam with a density of 1015-1016 cm-3 at one radiation length of lead. In addition, we find that electron-positron beams generated using above-GeV electron beams have neutralities greater than 0.3 at one radiation length of lead, whereas neutralities of 0.2 are observed when using a 200 MeV electron beam. The possibility of observing plasma instabilities in experiments is also examined by comparing the plasma skin depth with the electron-positron beam size. A quasi-neutral electron-positron plasma can be produced in the interaction between a 1 nC, 5 GeV electron beam and lead with a thickness of five radiation lengths. Our findings will aid in analyzing and interpreting laser-produced electron-positron plasma for laboratory astrophysics research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hoon Song
- Center for Relativistic Laser Science, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Gwangju, 61005, Korea
- Department of Physics and Photon Science, GIST, Gwangju, 61005, Korea
| | - Chul Min Kim
- Center for Relativistic Laser Science, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Gwangju, 61005, Korea
- Advanced Photonics Research Institute, GIST, Gwangju, 61005, Korea
| | - Junho Won
- Center for Relativistic Laser Science, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Gwangju, 61005, Korea
- Department of Physics and Photon Science, GIST, Gwangju, 61005, Korea
| | - Jaehyun Song
- Center for Relativistic Laser Science, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Gwangju, 61005, Korea
- Department of Physics and Photon Science, GIST, Gwangju, 61005, Korea
| | - Seongmin Lee
- Center for Relativistic Laser Science, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Gwangju, 61005, Korea
- Department of Physics and Photon Science, GIST, Gwangju, 61005, Korea
| | - Chang-Mo Ryu
- Center for Relativistic Laser Science, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Gwangju, 61005, Korea
| | - Woosuk Bang
- Center for Relativistic Laser Science, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Gwangju, 61005, Korea.
- Department of Physics and Photon Science, GIST, Gwangju, 61005, Korea.
| | - Chang Hee Nam
- Center for Relativistic Laser Science, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Gwangju, 61005, Korea
- Department of Physics and Photon Science, GIST, Gwangju, 61005, Korea
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Demonstration of a compact plasma accelerator powered by laser-accelerated electron beams. Nat Commun 2021; 12:2895. [PMID: 34001874 PMCID: PMC8129089 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23000-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2021] [Accepted: 04/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Plasma wakefield accelerators are capable of sustaining gigavolt-per-centimeter accelerating fields, surpassing the electric breakdown threshold in state-of-the-art accelerator modules by 3-4 orders of magnitude. Beam-driven wakefields offer particularly attractive conditions for the generation and acceleration of high-quality beams. However, this scheme relies on kilometer-scale accelerators. Here, we report on the demonstration of a millimeter-scale plasma accelerator powered by laser-accelerated electron beams. We showcase the acceleration of electron beams to 128 MeV, consistent with simulations exhibiting accelerating gradients exceeding 100 GV m−1. This miniaturized accelerator is further explored by employing a controlled pair of drive and witness electron bunches, where a fraction of the driver energy is transferred to the accelerated witness through the plasma. Such a hybrid approach allows fundamental studies of beam-driven plasma accelerator concepts at widely accessible high-power laser facilities. It is anticipated to provide compact sources of energetic high-brightness electron beams for quality-demanding applications such as free-electron lasers. Particle accelerators based on laser- or electron-driven plasma waves promise compact sources for relativistic electron bunches. Here, Kurz and Heinemann et al. demonstrate a hybrid two-stage configuration, combining the individual features of both accelerating schemes.
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