Dephasingless Laser Wakefield Acceleration
- Univ. of Rochester, NY (United States). Lab. for Laser Energetics
Laser wakefield accelerators (LWFAs) produce significantly high gradients enabling compact accelerators and radiation sources, but face design limitations, such as dephasing, occurring when trapped electrons outrun the accelerating phase of the wakefield. In this report we combine spherical aberration with a novel cylindrically symmetric echelon optic to spatiotemporally structure an ultra-short, high-intensity laser pulse that can overcome dephasing by propagating at any velocity over any distance. The ponderomotive force of the spatiotemporally shaped pulse can drive a wakefield with a phase velocity equal to the speed of light in vacuum, preventing trapped electrons from outrunning the wake. Simulations in the linear regime and scaling laws in the bubble regime illustrate that this dephasingless LWFA can accelerate electrons to high energies in much shorter distances than a traditional LWFA—a single 4.5 m stage can accelerate electrons to TeV energies without the need for guiding structures.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Rochester, NY (United States). Lab. for Laser Energetics
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- NA0003856; SC0016253
- OSTI ID:
- 1618301
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1607814
- Report Number(s):
- 2019-306; 1563; 2519; PRLTAO; 2019-306, 1563, 2519; TRN: US2106806
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review Letters, Vol. 124, Issue 13; ISSN 0031-9007
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
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