Preparation For Laser Wakefield Experiments Driven by the Texas Petawatt Laser System

Journal Article · Thu Jan 22 00:00:00 EST 2009 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3080901· OSTI ID:21255215

Reed, S A; Kalmykov, S; Gaul, E; Martinez, M; Henderson, W; Dong, P; Gao, X; Sanders, J C; Wang, X; Shvets, G; Ditmire, T; Downer, M ^[1]

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1. Department of Physics and Institute for Fusion Studies, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712 (United States)

Laboratories around the world are planning petawatt laser driven experiments. The Texas petawatt laser offers the ability to demonstrate laser wake field acceleration (LWFA) in a unique regime with pulse duration ({approx}160 fs) shorter than other petawatt scale systems currently in operation or under development. By focusing the 1.25 PW, 200 J, 160 fs pulses to peak intensity {approx}10{sup 19} W/cm{sup 2}, multi-GeV electron bunches can be produced from a low density He gas jet. The rarefied plasma density (5x10{sup 16}-10{sup 17} cm{sup -3}) required for near-resonant LWFA minimizes plasma lensing and offers long dephasing length for electron acceleration over distances ({approx}10 cm) exceeding the Rayleigh range. Because of the high power, the laser can be focused to a spot (r{sub 0}{approx}100 microns) greater than the plasma wavelength (r{sub 0}>{lambda}{sub p}), thus minimizing radial propagation effects. Together these properties enable the laser pulse to self-guide without the use of a preformed channel lending simplicity and stability to the overall acceleration process. Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations show the laser experiences self-focusing which, because of ultrashort pulse duration, does not lead to a collapse of the wakefield and can generate over 3 GeV electron energy. The presented material will include details of initial measurements of the Texas petawatt laser system, simulations of laser wakefield acceleration for the given laser parameters and the experimental setup currently under construction.

• OSTI ID: 21255215
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1086, Issue 1; Conference: 13. advanced accelerator concepts workshop, Santa Cruz, CA (United States), 27 Jul - 2 Aug 2008; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3080901; (c) 2009 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ACCELERATION
BEAM BUNCHING
ELECTRON BEAMS
GEV RANGE 01-10
LASERS
PETAWATT POWER RANGE
PLASMA
PLASMA DENSITY
PULSES
SIMULATION
WAKEFIELD ACCELERATORS
WAVELENGTHS