Electron self-injection into an evolving plasma bubble: Quasi-monoenergetic laser-plasma acceleration in the blowout regime

Journal Article · Sun May 15 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3566062· OSTI ID:21537902

Kalmykov, S Y; Shadwick, B A; Umstadter, D P ^[1]; Beck, A; Lefebvre, E ^[2]; Yi, S A; Khudik, V N; Downer, M C ^[3]

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1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-0299 (United States)
2. CEA, DAM, DIF, Arpajon F-91297 (France)
3. Department of Physics, C1500, niversity of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712 (United States)

An electron density bubble driven in a rarefied uniform plasma by a slowly evolving laser pulse goes through periods of adiabatically slow expansions and contractions. Bubble expansion causes robust self-injection of initially quiescent plasma electrons, whereas stabilization and contraction terminate self-injection thus limiting injected charge; concomitant phase space rotation reduces the bunch energy spread. In regimes relevant to experiments with hundred terawatt- to petawatt-class lasers, bubble dynamics and, hence, the self-injection process are governed primarily by the driver evolution. Collective transverse fields of the trapped electron bunch reduce the accelerating gradient and slow down phase space rotation. Bubble expansion followed by stabilization and contraction suppresses the low-energy background and creates a collimated quasi-monoenergetic electron bunch long before dephasing. Nonlinear evolution of the laser pulse (spot size oscillations, self-compression, and front steepening) can also cause continuous self-injection, resulting in a large dark current, degrading the electron beam quality.

• OSTI ID: 21537902
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 18, Issue 5; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3566062; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BUBBLES
ELECTRON BEAMS
ELECTRON DENSITY
INJECTION
LASERS
PHASE SPACE
PLASMA ACCELERATION
PLASMA INSTABILITY
PLASMA WAVES
QUIESCENT PLASMA
ROTATION
TRAPPED ELECTRONS
ACCELERATION
BEAMS
ELECTRONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FERMIONS
INSTABILITY
INTAKE
LEPTON BEAMS
LEPTONS
MATHEMATICAL SPACE
MOTION
PARTICLE BEAMS
PLASMA
SPACE