Laser Wakefield Acceleration at Reduced Density in the Self-Guided Regime
Experiments conducted using a 200TW 60 fs laser have demonstrated up to 720 MeV electrons in the self-guided laser wakefield regime using pure Helium gas jet targets. Charge and energy of the accelerated electrons was measured using an electron spectrometer with a 0.5T magnet and charge callibrated image plates. The self-trapped charge in a helium plasma was shown to fall off with decreasing electron density with a threshold at 2.5 x 10{sup 18} (cm{sup -3}) below which no charge is trapped. Self-guiding however is shown to continue below this density limitation over distances of 14 mm with an exit spot size of 25{micro}m. Simulations show that injection of electrons at these densities can be assisted through ionization induced trapping in a mix of Helium with 3% Oxygen.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 986058
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-JRNL-420517; PHPAEN; TRN: US1006292
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 17, Issue 5; ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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