Visible-Laser Acceleration of Relativistic Electrons in a Semi-Infinite Vacuum
- Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305 (United States)
We demonstrate a new particle acceleration mechanism using 800 nm laser radiation to accelerate relativistic electrons in a semi-infinite vacuum. The experimental demonstration is the first of its kind and is a proof of principle for the concept of laser-driven particle acceleration in a structure loaded vacuum. We observed up to 30 keV energy modulation over a distance of 1000{lambda}, corresponding to a 40 MeV/m peak gradient. The energy modulation was observed to scale linearly with the laser electric field and showed the expected laser-polarization dependence. Furthermore, as expected, laser acceleration occurred only in the presence of a boundary that limited the laser-electron interaction to a finite distance.
- OSTI ID:
- 20696502
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review Letters, Vol. 95, Issue 13; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.134801; (c) 2005 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0031-9007
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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