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Title: Universal scalings for laser acceleration of electrons in ion channels

Journal Article · · Physics of Plasmas
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4964901· OSTI ID:1465155
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [1];  [3]
  1. Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States). Inst. for Fusion Studies and Dept. of Physics
  2. Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States). Center for High Energy Density Science
  3. Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States). Inst. for Fusion Studies and Dept. of Physics; Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States). School of Applied and Engineering Physics

Here, we analytically investigate the acceleration of electrons undergoing betatron oscillations in an ion channel, driven by a laser beam propagating with superluminal (or luminal) phase velocity. The universal scalings for the maximum attainable electron energy are found for arbitrary laser and plasma parameters by deriving a set of dimensionless equations for paraxial ultra-relativistic electron motion. One of our analytic predictions is the emergence of forbidden zones in the electrons' phase space. For an individual electron, these give rise to a threshold-type dependence of the final energy gain on the laser intensity. The universal scalings are also generalized to the resonant laser interaction with the third harmonic of betatron motion and to the case when the laser beam is circularly polarized.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0007889; SC0010622; FA9550-14-1-0045; NA0002723; NA0002008; FG02-04ER54742
OSTI ID:
1465155
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1329487
Journal Information:
Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 23, Issue 10; ISSN 1070-664X
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 35 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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  • Khudik, Vladimir; Zhang, Xi; Arefiev, Alexey
  • ADVANCED ACCELERATOR CONCEPTS: 17th Advanced Accelerator Concepts Workshop, AIP Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4975857
conference January 2017
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Role of direct laser acceleration in energy gained by electrons in a laser wakefield accelerator with ionization injection text January 2014
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Cited By (18)

Radiation reaction as an energy enhancement mechanism for laser-irradiated electrons in a strong plasma magnetic field journal November 2019
Nonlinear parametric resonance of relativistic electrons with a linearly polarized laser pulse in a plasma channel journal April 2017
Electron heating in the laser and static electric and magnetic fields journal January 2018
Interaction of an electron with coherent dipole radiation: Role of convergence and anti-dephasing journal May 2018
Far-field constant-gradient laser accelerator of electrons in an ion channel journal August 2018
Stochastic electron heating in the laser and quasi-static electric and magnetic fields journal December 2018
Direct laser acceleration of electrons in the plasma bubble by tightly focused laser pulses journal August 2019
Extremely intense laser-based electron acceleration in a plasma channel journal January 2018
Effects of laser polarization and wavelength on hybrid laser wakefield and direct acceleration journal August 2018
Highly collimated electron acceleration by longitudinal laser fields in a hollow-core target journal February 2019
Electron dynamics in laser and quasi-static transverse electric and longitudinal magnetic fields journal June 2019
The unexpected role of evolving longitudinal electric fields in generating energetic electrons in relativistically transparent plasmas journal September 2018
The Unexpected Role of Evolving Longitudinal Electric Fields in Generating Energetic Electrons in Relativistically Transparent Plasmas text January 2018
Electron dynamics in laser and quasi-static transverse electric and longitudinal magnetic fields text January 2018
Stochastic electron heating in the laser and quasi-static electric and magnetic fields preprint January 2018
Laser-pulse and electron-bunch plasma wakefield accelerator journal November 2020
Direct laser acceleration of electrons by tightly focused laser pulses text January 2018
WAND-PIC: an accelerated three-dimensional quasi-static particle-in-cell code preprint January 2020