Current Filamentation Instability in Laser Wakefield Accelerators

Journal Article · Fri Mar 11 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.106.105001· OSTI ID:21562082

Huntington, C M; Drake, R P ^[1]; Thomas, A G. R.; McGuffey, C; Matsuoka, T; Chvykov, V; Kalintchenko, G; Yanovsky, V; Maksimchuk, A; Krushelnick, K ^[2]; Kneip, S; Najmudin, Z; Palmer, C ^[3]; Katsouleas, T ^[4]

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1. Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48103 (United States)
2. Center for Ultrafast Optical Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 (United States)
3. Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2BZ (United Kingdom)
4. Platt School of Engineering, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, 27708 (United States)

Experiments using an electron beam produced by laser-wakefield acceleration have shown that varying the overall beam-plasma interaction length results in current filamentation at lengths that exceed the laser depletion length in the plasma. Three-dimensional simulations show this to be a combination of hosing, beam erosion, and filamentation of the decelerated beam. This work suggests the ability to perform scaled experiments of astrophysical instabilities. Additionally, understanding the processes involved with electron beam propagation is essential to the development of wakefield accelerator applications.

• OSTI ID: 21562082
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 106, Issue 10; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.105001; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ACCELERATION
ASTROPHYSICS
BEAM-PLASMA SYSTEMS
CURRENTS
ELECTRON BEAMS
EROSION
INSTABILITY
LASERS
LENGTH
PLASMA
SIMULATION
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
WAKEFIELD ACCELERATORS
ACCELERATORS
BEAMS
DIMENSIONS
LEPTON BEAMS
LINEAR ACCELERATORS
PARTICLE BEAMS
PHYSICS