Adaptive control of laser-wakefield accelerators driven by mid-IR laser pulses

Lin, J.; Ma, Y.; Schwartz, R.; Woodbury, D.; Nees, J. A.; Mathis, M.; Thomas, A. G. R.; Krushelnick, K.; Milchberg, H.

doi:10.1364/OE.27.010912

Adaptive control of laser-wakefield accelerators driven by mid-IR laser pulses

Journal Article · Thu Apr 04 00:00:00 EDT 2019 · Optics Express

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.27.010912· OSTI ID:1505638

; Ma, Y.; ; ; Nees, J. A.; Mathis, M.; Thomas, A. G. R.; ; Milchberg, H.

There has been growing interest both in studying high intensity ultrafast laser plasma interactions with adaptive control systems as well as using long wavelength driver beams. We demonstrate the coherent control of the dynamics of laser-wakefield acceleration driven by ultrashort (~ 100 fs) mid-infrared (~ 3.9 μm) laser pulses. The critical density at this wavelength is 7.3 × 10¹⁹ cm^-3, which is achievable with an ordinary gas target system. Interactions between mid-infrared laser pulses and such near-critical-density plasma may be beneficial due to much higher absorption of laser energy. In addition, the normalized vector potential of the laser field a₀ increases with longer laser wavelength, lowering the required peak laser intensity to drive non-linear laser-wakefield acceleration. Here, MeV level, collimated electron beams with non-thermal, peaked energy spectra are generated. Optimization of electron beam qualities are realized through adaptive control of the laser wavefront. A genetic algorithm controlling a deformable mirror improves the electron total charge, energy spectra, beam pointing and stability at various plasma density profiles. Particle-in-cell simulations reveal that the optimal wavefront causes an earlier injection on the density up-ramp and thus higher energy gain as well as less filamentation during the interaction, which leads to the improvement in electron beam collimation and energy spectra.

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Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Grant/Contract Number:: NA0003864

OSTI ID:: 1505638

Journal Information:: Optics Express, Journal Name: Optics Express Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 27; ISSN 1094-4087; ISSN OPEXFF

Publisher:: Optical Society of America (OSA)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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