Measurements of the critical power for self-injection of electrons in a laser wakefield accelerator

Froula, D H; Clayton, C E; Doppner, T; Fonseca, R A; Marsh, K A; Barty, C J; Divol, L; Glenzer, S H; Joshi, C; Lu, W; Martins, S F; Michel, P; Mori, W; Palastro, J P; Pollock, B B; Pak, A; Ralph, J E; Ross, J S; Siders, C; Silva, L O; Wang, T

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.215006

Measurements of the critical power for self-injection of electrons in a laser wakefield accelerator

Journal Article · Tue Jun 02 04:00:00 EDT 2009 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.215006· OSTI ID:969826

Froula, D H; Clayton, C E; Doppner, T; Fonseca, R A; Marsh, K A; Barty, C J; Divol, L; Glenzer, S H; Joshi, C; Lu, W; Martins, S F; Michel, P; Mori, W; Palastro, J P; Pollock, B B; Pak, A; Ralph, J E; Ross, J S; Siders, C; Silva, L O more »

A laser wakefield acceleration study has been performed in the matched, self-guided, blow-out regime where a 10 J, 60 fs laser produced 720 {+-} 50 MeV quasi-monoenergetic electrons with a divergence of {Delta}{theta} = 2.85 {+-} 0.15 mRad. While maintaining a nearly constant plasma density (3 x 10{sup 18} cm{sup -3}), a linear electron energy gain was measured from 100 MeV to 700 MeV when the plasma length was scaled from 3 mm to 8 mm. Absolute charge measurements indicate that self-injection occurs when P/P{sub cr} > 4 and saturates around 100 pC for P/P{sub cr} > 12. The results are compared with both analytical scalings and full 3D particle-in-cell simulations.

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Research Organization:: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

DOE Contract Number:: W-7405-ENG-48

OSTI ID:: 969826

Report Number(s):: LLNL-JRNL-413708

Journal Information:: Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 21 Vol. 103; ISSN 0031-9007

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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