Dual effects of stochastic heating on electron injection in laser wakefield acceleration
- Department of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China)
- Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics, Beijing 100094 (China)
- Institute for Fusion Theory and Simulation, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China)
Electron injection into the wakefield of an intense short laser pulse by a weaker laser pulse propagating in the opposite direction is reconsidered using two-dimensional (2D) particle-in-cell simulations as well as analytical modeling. It is found that for linearly polarized lasers the injection efficiency and the quality of the wakefield accelerated electrons increase with the intensity of the injection laser only up to a certain level, and then decreases. Theory and simulation tracking test electrons originally in the beat region of the two laser pulses show that the reduction of the injection efficiency at high injection-laser intensities is caused by stochastic overheating of the affected electrons.
- OSTI ID:
- 22303791
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 21, Issue 8; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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