Vacuum laser acceleration of super-ponderomotive electrons using relativistic transparency injection

Singh, P. K.; Li, F. -Y.; Huang, C. -K.; Moreau, A.; Hollinger, R.; Junghans, A.; Favalli, A.; Calvi, C.; Wang, S.; Wang, Y.; Song, H.; Rocca, J. J.; Reinovsky, R. E.; Palaniyappan, S.

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-27691-w

Title: Vacuum laser acceleration of super-ponderomotive electrons using relativistic transparency injection

Journal Article · Mon Jan 10 00:00:00 EST 2022 · Nature Communications

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27691-w· OSTI ID:1839115

Singh, P. K.;

;

; Hollinger, R.;

; Favalli, A.; Calvi, C.; Wang, S.; Wang, Y.;

; Rocca, J. J.; Reinovsky, R. E.;

Abstract Intense lasers can accelerate electrons to very high energy over a short distance. Such compact accelerators have several potential applications including fast ignition, high energy physics, and radiography. Among the various schemes of laser-based electron acceleration, vacuum laser acceleration has the merits of super-high acceleration gradient and great simplicity. Yet its realization has been difficult because injecting free electrons into the fast-oscillating laser field is not trivial. Here we demonstrate free-electron injection and subsequent vacuum laser acceleration of electrons up to 20 MeV using the relativistic transparency effect. When a high-contrast intense laser drives a thin solid foil, electrons from the dense opaque plasma are first accelerated to near-light speed by the standing laser wave in front of the solid foil and subsequently injected into the transmitted laser field as the opaque plasma becomes relativistically transparent. It is possible to further optimize the electron injection/acceleration by manipulating the laser polarization, incident angle, and temporal pulse shaping. Our result also sheds light on the fundamental relativistic transparency process, crucial for producing secondary particle and light sources.

View Journal Article

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Grant/Contract Number:: 89233218CNA000001; SC0019076

OSTI ID:: 1839115

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1856159

Report Number(s):: LA-UR-21-20711; 54; PII: 27691

Journal Information:: Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Vol. 13 Journal Issue: 1; ISSN 2041-1723

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United Kingdom

Language:: English

References (46)

Laser Electron Accelerator Tajima, T.; Dawson, J. M. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 43, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.43.267	journal	July 1979
Novel aspects of direct laser acceleration of relativistic electrons Arefiev, A. V.; Robinson, A. P. L.; Khudik, V. N. Journal of Plasma Physics, Vol. 81, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022377815000434	journal	May 2015
Amplification of Relativistic Electron Bunches by Acceleration in Laser Fields Braenzel, J.; Andreev, A. A.; Abicht, F. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 118, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.014801	journal	January 2017
Near-100 MeV protons via a laser-driven transparency-enhanced hybrid acceleration scheme Higginson, A.; Gray, R. J.; King, M. Nature Communications, Vol. 9, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03063-9	journal	February 2018
Laser-driven 1 GeV carbon ions from preheated diamond targets in the break-out afterburner regime Jung, D.; Yin, L.; Gautier, D. C. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 20, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4817287	journal	August 2013
First Observation of Acceleration of Electrons by a Laser in a Vacuum Cline, David; Shao, Lei; Ding, Xiaoping Journal of Modern Physics, Vol. 04, Issue 01 https://doi.org/10.4236/jmp.2013.41001	journal	January 2013
Smilei : A collaborative, open-source, multi-purpose particle-in-cell code for plasma simulation Derouillat, J.; Beck, A.; Pérez, F. Computer Physics Communications, Vol. 222 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpc.2017.09.024	journal	January 2018
Wakefield acceleration Tajima, T.; Yan, X. Q.; Ebisuzaki, T. Reviews of Modern Plasma Physics, Vol. 4, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s41614-020-0043-z	journal	May 2020
Perspectives on the generation of electron beams from plasma-based accelerators and their near and long term applications Joshi, C.; Corde, S.; Mori, W. B. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 27, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0004039	journal	July 2020
Efficient quasi-monoenergetic ion beams from laser-driven relativistic plasmas Palaniyappan, Sasi; Huang, Chengkun; Gautier, Donald C. Nature Communications, Vol. 6, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10170	journal	December 2015
Monoenergetic beams of relativistic electrons from intense laser–plasma interactions Mangles, S. P. D.; Murphy, C. D.; Najmudin, Z. Nature, Vol. 431, Issue 7008 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02939	journal	September 2004
GeV Electrons from Ultraintense Laser Interaction with Highly Charged Ions Hu, S. X.; Starace, Anthony F. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 88, Issue 24 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.245003	journal	June 2002
Developments in laser-driven plasma accelerators Hooker, S. M. Nature Photonics, Vol. 7, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2013.234	journal	September 2013
Particle acceleration in relativistic laser channels Pukhov, A.; Sheng, Z. -M.; Meyer-ter-Vehn, J. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 6, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.873242	journal	July 1999
Laser-driven micro-Coulomb charge movement and energy conversion to relativistic electrons Cobble, J. A.; Palaniyappan, S.; Johnson, R. P. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 23, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4962518	journal	September 2016
Ion acceleration by superintense laser-plasma interaction Macchi, Andrea; Borghesi, Marco; Passoni, Matteo Reviews of Modern Physics, Vol. 85, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.85.751	journal	May 2013
Laser plasma accelerators Malka, V. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 19, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3695389	journal	May 2012
085 PW laser operation at 33 Hz and high-contrast ultrahigh-intensity λ = 400 nm second-harmonic beamline Wang, Yong; Wang, Shoujun; Rockwood, Alex Optics Letters, Vol. 42, Issue 19 https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.42.003828	journal	January 2017
Controlled injection and acceleration of electrons in plasma wakefields by colliding laser pulses Faure, J.; Rechatin, C.; Norlin, A. Nature, Vol. 444, Issue 7120 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05393	journal	December 2006
Review of progress in Fast Ignition Tabak, M.; Clark, D. S.; Hatchett, S. P. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 12, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1871246	journal	May 2005
Vacuum laser acceleration of relativistic electrons using plasma mirror injectors Thévenet, M.; Leblanc, A.; Kahaly, S. Nature Physics, Vol. 12, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3597	journal	December 2015
Three-Dimensional Dynamics of Breakout Afterburner Ion Acceleration Using High-Contrast Short-Pulse Laser and Nanoscale Targets Yin, L.; Albright, B. J.; Bowers, K. J. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 107, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.045003	journal	July 2011
Multi-MeV Electron Beam Generation by Direct Laser Acceleration in High-Density Plasma Channels Gahn, C.; Tsakiris, G. D.; Pukhov, A. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 83, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.83.4772	journal	December 1999
High-intensity laser-induced electron acceleration in vacuum Wang, J. X.; Ho, Y. K.; Feng, L. Physical Review E, Vol. 60, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.60.7473	journal	December 1999
Relativistic MeV Photoelectrons from the Single Atom Response of Argon to a $10^{19} W / {cm}^{2}$ Laser Field DiChiara, A. D.; Ghebregziabher, I.; Sauer, R. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 101, Issue 17 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.173002	journal	October 2008
J×B heating by very intense laser light Kruer, W. L.; Estabrook, Kent Physics of Fluids, Vol. 28, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.865171	journal	January 1985
Dynamics of relativistic transparency and optical shuttering in expanding overdense plasmas Palaniyappan, Sasi; Hegelich, B. Manuel; Wu, Hui-Chun Nature Physics, Vol. 8, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys2390	journal	August 2012
Beyond the ponderomotive limit: Direct laser acceleration of relativistic electrons in sub-critical plasmas Arefiev, A. V.; Khudik, V. N.; Robinson, A. P. L. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 23, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4946024	journal	April 2016
Electron Acceleration by a Tightly Focused Laser Beam Salamin, Yousef I.; Keitel, Christoph H. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 88, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.095005	journal	February 2002
A laser–plasma accelerator producing monoenergetic electron beams Faure, J.; Glinec, Y.; Pukhov, A. Nature, Vol. 431, Issue 7008 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02963	journal	September 2004
MeV bremsstrahlung X rays from intense laser interaction with solid foils Palaniyappan, S.; Gautier, D. C.; Tobias, B. J. Laser and Particle Beams, Vol. 36, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0263034618000551	journal	December 2018
Parametric Amplification of Laser-Driven Electron Acceleration in Underdense Plasma Arefiev, Alexey V.; Breizman, Boris N.; Schollmeier, Marius Physical Review Letters, Vol. 108, Issue 14 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.145004	journal	April 2012
High-quality electron beams from a laser wakefield accelerator using plasma-channel guiding Geddes, C. G. R.; Toth, Cs.; van Tilborg, J. Nature, Vol. 431, Issue 7008 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02900	journal	September 2004
Nonlinear ponderomotive scattering of relativistic electrons by an intense laser field at focus Hartemann, F. V.; Fochs, S. N.; Le Sage, G. P. Physical Review E, Vol. 51, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.51.4833	journal	May 1995
Physics of laser-driven plasma-based electron accelerators Esarey, E.; Schroeder, C. B.; Leemans, W. P. Reviews of Modern Physics, Vol. 81, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.81.1229	journal	August 2009
Bright Laser-Driven Neutron Source Based on the Relativistic Transparency of Solids Roth, M.; Jung, D.; Falk, K. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 110, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.044802	journal	January 2013
Radiation pressure acceleration of thin foils with circularly polarized laser pulses Robinson, A. P. L.; Zepf, M.; Kar, S. New Journal of Physics, Vol. 10, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/10/1/013021	journal	January 2008
Absorption of ultra-intense laser pulses Wilks, S. C.; Kruer, W. L.; Tabak, M. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 69, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.69.1383	journal	August 1992
Vacuum laser acceleration using a radially polarized CO2 laser beam Liu, Y.; Cline, D.; He, P. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 424, Issue 2-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-9002(98)01433-8	journal	March 1999
Nonlinear electrodynamics of the interaction of ultra-intense laser pulses with a thin foil Vshivkov, V. A.; Naumova, N. M.; Pegoraro, F. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 5, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.872961	journal	July 1998
Stochastic Heating and Acceleration of Electrons in Colliding Laser Fields in Plasma Sheng, Z. -M.; Mima, K.; Sentoku, Y. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 88, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.055004	journal	January 2002
Experimental Observation of Electrons Accelerated in Vacuum to Relativistic Energies by a High-Intensity Laser Malka, G.; Lefebvre, E.; Miquel, J. L. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 78, Issue 17 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.78.3314	journal	April 1997
Direct acceleration of an electron in infinite vacuum by a pulsed radially-polarized laser beam Wong, Liang Jie; Kärtner, Franz X. Optics Express, Vol. 18, Issue 24 https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.18.025035	journal	January 2010
Sub-cycle dynamics in relativistic nanoplasma acceleration Cardenas, D. E.; Ostermayr, T. M.; Di Lucchio, L. Scientific Reports, Vol. 9, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-43635-3	journal	May 2019
Laser acceleration of electrons in vacuum Esarey, Eric; Sprangle, Phillip; Krall, Jonathan Physical Review E, Vol. 52, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.52.5443	journal	November 1995
Exact analysis of ultrahigh laser-induced acceleration of electrons by cyclotron autoresonance Salamin, Yousef I.; Faisal, F. H. M.; Keitel, Christoph H. Physical Review A, Vol. 62, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.62.053809	journal	October 2000

Similar Records

Ion Acceleration from the Interaction of Ultra-Intense Lasers with Solid Foils

Thesis/Dissertation · Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2004 · OSTI ID:1839115

Allen, Matthew M.

Relativistically Induced Transparency in Plasma (Final Research Report)

Technical Report · Wed Nov 29 00:00:00 EST 2023 · OSTI ID:1839115

Willingale, Louise

Harnessing the relativistic Buneman instability for laser-ion acceleration in the transparency regime

Journal Article · Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Physics of Plasmas · OSTI ID:1839115

Stark, D. J.; Yin, L.; Albright, B. J.

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
Laser-produced plasmas
Plasma-based accelerators

Title: Vacuum laser acceleration of super-ponderomotive electrons using relativistic transparency injection

Citation Formats

References (46)

Similar Records

Related Subjects