Controlled Electron Injection into Plasma Accelerators and SpaceCharge Estimates
- Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
Plasma based accelerators are capable of producing electron sources which are ultra-compact (a few microns) and high energies (up to hundreds of MeVs) in much shorter distances than conventional accelerators. This is due to the large longitudinal electric field that can be excited without the limitation of breakdown as in RF structures.The characteristic scale length of the accelerating field is the plasma wavelength and for typical densities ranging from 1018 - 1019 cm-3, the accelerating fields and scale length can hence be on the order of 10-100GV/m and 10-40 μm, respectively. The production of quasimonoenergetic beams was recently obtained in a regime relying on self-trapping of background plasma electrons, using a single laser pulse for wakefield generation. In this dissertation, we study the controlled injection via the beating of two lasers (the pump laser pulse creating the plasma wave and a second beam being propagated in opposite direction) which induce a localized injection of background plasma electrons. The aim of this dissertation is to describe in detail the physics of optical injection using two lasers, the characteristics of the electron beams produced (the micrometer scale plasma wavelength can result in femtosecond and even attosecond bunches) as well as a concise estimate of the effects of space charge on the dynamics of an ultra-dense electron bunch with a large energy spread.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 860349
- Report Number(s):
- LBNL-57514; R&D Project: 455401; BnR: KA1501020; TRN: US0504899
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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