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Title: Capturing relativistic wakefield structures in plasmas using ultrashort high-energy electrons as a probe

Journal Article · · Scientific Reports
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/srep29485 · OSTI ID:1312955
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [4];  [3];  [3];  [5]
  1. Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China); China Academy of Engineering Physics, Sichuan (China); Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ., Shanghai (China)
  2. Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China)
  3. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
  4. China Academy of Engineering Physics, Sichuan (China)
  5. Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China); Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ., Shanghai (China)
+ Show Author Affiliations

A new method capable of capturing coherent electric field structures propagating at nearly the speed of light in plasma with a time resolution as small as a few femtoseconds is proposed. This method uses a few femtoseconds long relativistic electron bunch to probe the wake produced in a plasma by an intense laser pulse or an ultra-short relativistic charged particle beam. As the probe bunch traverses the wake, its momentum is modulated by the electric field of the wake, leading to a density variation of the probe after free-space propagation. This variation of probe density produces a snapshot of the wake that can directly give many useful information of the wake structure and its evolution. Furthermore, this snapshot allows detailed mapping of the longitudinal and transverse components of the wakefield. We develop a theoretical model for field reconstruction and verify it using 3-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. This model can accurately reconstruct the wakefield structure in the linear regime, and it can also qualitatively map the major features of nonlinear wakes. As a result, the capturing of the injection in a nonlinear wake is demonstrated through 3D PIC simulations as an example of the application of this new method.

Research Organization:
Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
FG02-92ER40727; SC0008491; SC0008316
OSTI ID:
1312955
Journal Information:
Scientific Reports, Vol. 6; ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 20 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (7)

Visualization of relativistic laser pulses in underdense plasma journal March 2020
Mapping electromagnetic fields structure in plasma using a spin polarized electron beam journal December 2019
Probing thermal Weibel instability in optical-field-ionized plasmas using relativistic electron bunches journal January 2020
Probing plasma wakefields using electron bunches generated from a laser wakefield accelerator journal March 2018
Mapping electromagnetic fields structure in plasma using a spin polarized electron beam text January 2019
Visualization of relativistic laser pulses in underdense plasma text January 2020
Visualization of Relativistic Laser Pulses in Underdense Plasma text January 2020

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