Studies of laser wakefield structures and electron acceleration in underdense plasmas
- FOCUS Center and Center for Ultrafast Optical Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2099 (United States)
- FOCUS Center, Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712-1081 (United States)
- Physics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6372 (United States)
Experiments on electron acceleration and optical diagnostics of laser wakes were performed on the HERCULES facility in a wide range of laser and plasma parameters. Using frequency domain holography we demonstrated single shot visualization of individual plasma waves, produced by 40 TW, 30 fs laser pulses focused to the intensity of 10{sup 19} W/cm{sup 2} onto a supersonic He gas jet with plasma densities n{sub e}<10{sup 19} cm{sup -3}. These holographic 'snapshots' capture the variation in shape of the plasma wave with distance behind the driver, and resolve wave front curvature seen previously only in simulations. High-energy quasimonoenergetic electron beams were generated using plasma density in the range 1.5x10{sup 19}{<=}n{sub e}{<=}3.5x10{sup 19} cm{sup -3}. These experiments demonstrated that the energy, charge, divergence, and pointing stability of the beam can be controlled by changing n{sub e}, and that higher electron energies and more stable beams are produced for lower densities. An optimized quasimonoenergetic beam of over 300 MeV and 10 mrad angular divergence is demonstrated at a plasma density of n{sub e}{approx_equal}1.5x10{sup 19} cm{sup -3}. The resultant relativistic electron beams have been used to perform photo-fission of {sup 238}U with a record high reaction yields of {approx}3x10{sup 5}/J. The results of initial experiments on electron acceleration at 70 TW are discussed.
- OSTI ID:
- 21120398
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 15, Issue 5; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2856373; (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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