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Zgadzaj R, Welch J, Cao Y, Amorim LD, Cheng A, Gaikwad A, Iapozzutto P, Kumar P, Litvinenko VN, Petrushina I, Samulyak R, Vafaei-Najafabadi N, Joshi C, Zhang C, Babzien M, Fedurin M, Kupfer R, Kusche K, Palmer MA, Pogorelsky IV, Polyanskiy MN, Swinson C, Downer MC. Plasma electron acceleration driven by a long-wave-infrared laser. Nat Commun 2024; 15:4037. [PMID: 38740793 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48413-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2023] [Accepted: 04/29/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Laser-driven plasma accelerators provide tabletop sources of relativistic electron bunches and femtosecond x-ray pulses, but usually require petawatt-class solid-state-laser pulses of wavelength λL ~ 1 μm. Longer-λL lasers can potentially accelerate higher-quality bunches, since they require less power to drive larger wakes in less dense plasma. Here, we report on a self-injecting plasma accelerator driven by a long-wave-infrared laser: a chirped-pulse-amplified CO2 laser (λL ≈ 10 μm). Through optical scattering experiments, we observed wakes that 4-ps CO2 pulses with < 1/2 terawatt (TW) peak power drove in hydrogen plasma of electron density down to 4 × 1017 cm-3 (1/100 atmospheric density) via a self-modulation (SM) instability. Shorter, more powerful CO2 pulses drove wakes in plasma down to 3 × 1016 cm-3 that captured and accelerated plasma electrons to relativistic energy. Collimated quasi-monoenergetic features in the electron output marked the onset of a transition from SM to bubble-regime acceleration, portending future higher-quality accelerators driven by yet shorter, more powerful pulses.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Zgadzaj
- University of Texas at Austin, 2515 Speedway C1600, Austin, TX, 78712, USA
| | - J Welch
- University of Texas at Austin, 2515 Speedway C1600, Austin, TX, 78712, USA
| | - Y Cao
- University of Texas at Austin, 2515 Speedway C1600, Austin, TX, 78712, USA
| | - L D Amorim
- Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA
| | - A Cheng
- Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA
| | - A Gaikwad
- Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA
| | - P Iapozzutto
- Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA
| | - P Kumar
- Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA
| | | | - I Petrushina
- Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA
| | - R Samulyak
- Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA
| | | | - C Joshi
- University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA
| | - C Zhang
- University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA
| | - M Babzien
- Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, 11973, USA
| | - M Fedurin
- Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, 11973, USA
| | - R Kupfer
- Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, 11973, USA
| | - K Kusche
- Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, 11973, USA
| | - M A Palmer
- Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, 11973, USA
| | | | | | - C Swinson
- Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, 11973, USA
| | - M C Downer
- University of Texas at Austin, 2515 Speedway C1600, Austin, TX, 78712, USA.
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Makos I, Orfanos I, Nayak A, Peschel J, Major B, Liontos I, Skantzakis E, Papadakis N, Kalpouzos C, Dumergue M, Kühn S, Varju K, Johnsson P, L'Huillier A, Tzallas P, Charalambidis D. Α 10-gigawatt attosecond source for non-linear XUV optics and XUV-pump-XUV-probe studies. Sci Rep 2020; 10:3759. [PMID: 32111920 PMCID: PMC7048767 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-60331-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2019] [Accepted: 01/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The quantum mechanical motion of electrons and nuclei in systems spatially confined to the molecular dimensions occurs on the sub-femtosecond to the femtosecond timescales respectively. Consequently, the study of ultrafast electronic and, in specific cases, nuclear dynamics requires the availability of light pulses with attosecond (asec) duration and of sufficient intensity to induce two-photon processes, essential for probing the intrinsic system dynamics. The majority of atoms, molecules and solids absorb in the extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) spectral region, in which the synthesis of the required attosecond pulses is feasible. Therefore, the XUV spectral region optimally serves the study of such ultrafast phenomena. Here, we present a detailed review of the first 10-GW class XUV attosecond source based on laser driven high harmonic generation in rare gases. The pulse energy of this source largely exceeds other laser driven attosecond sources and is comparable to the pulse energy of femtosecond Free-Electron-Laser (FEL) XUV sources. The measured pulse duration in the attosecond pulse train is 650 ± 80 asec. The uniqueness of the combined high intensity and short pulse duration of the source is evidenced in non-linear XUV-optics experiments. It further advances the implementation of XUV-pump-XUV-probe experiments and enables the investigation of strong field effects in the XUV spectral region.
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Affiliation(s)
- I Makos
- Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas, Institute of Electronic Structure & Laser, GR71110, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.,Department of Physics, University of Crete, GR71003, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
| | - I Orfanos
- Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas, Institute of Electronic Structure & Laser, GR71110, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.,Department of Physics, University of Crete, GR71003, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
| | - A Nayak
- Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas, Institute of Electronic Structure & Laser, GR71110, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.,ELI-ALPS, ELI-Hu Non-Profit Ltd., Dugonics tér 13, H-6720, Szeged, Hungary.,Institute of Physics, University of Szeged, Dom tér 9, 6720, Szeged, Hungary
| | - J Peschel
- Department of Physics, Lund University, SE-221 00, Lund, Sweden
| | - B Major
- ELI-ALPS, ELI-Hu Non-Profit Ltd., Dugonics tér 13, H-6720, Szeged, Hungary
| | - I Liontos
- Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas, Institute of Electronic Structure & Laser, GR71110, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
| | - E Skantzakis
- Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas, Institute of Electronic Structure & Laser, GR71110, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
| | - N Papadakis
- Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas, Institute of Electronic Structure & Laser, GR71110, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
| | - C Kalpouzos
- Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas, Institute of Electronic Structure & Laser, GR71110, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
| | - M Dumergue
- ELI-ALPS, ELI-Hu Non-Profit Ltd., Dugonics tér 13, H-6720, Szeged, Hungary
| | - S Kühn
- ELI-ALPS, ELI-Hu Non-Profit Ltd., Dugonics tér 13, H-6720, Szeged, Hungary
| | - K Varju
- ELI-ALPS, ELI-Hu Non-Profit Ltd., Dugonics tér 13, H-6720, Szeged, Hungary.,Department of Optics and Quantum Electronics, University of Szeged, Dom tér 9, 6720, Szeged, Hungary
| | - P Johnsson
- Department of Physics, Lund University, SE-221 00, Lund, Sweden
| | - A L'Huillier
- Department of Physics, Lund University, SE-221 00, Lund, Sweden
| | - P Tzallas
- Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas, Institute of Electronic Structure & Laser, GR71110, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.,ELI-ALPS, ELI-Hu Non-Profit Ltd., Dugonics tér 13, H-6720, Szeged, Hungary
| | - D Charalambidis
- Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas, Institute of Electronic Structure & Laser, GR71110, Heraklion, Crete, Greece. .,Department of Physics, University of Crete, GR71003, Heraklion, Crete, Greece. .,ELI-ALPS, ELI-Hu Non-Profit Ltd., Dugonics tér 13, H-6720, Szeged, Hungary.
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