Experimental measurements of magnetic fields generated in the cavity of a self-injecting laser-wakefield accelerator are presented. Faraday rotation is used to determine the existence of multi-megagauss fields, constrained to a transverse dimension comparable to the plasma wavelength and several plasma wavelengths longitudinally. The fields are generated rapidly and move with the driving laser. In our experiment, the appearance of the magnetic fields is correlated to the production of relativistic electrons, indicating that they are inherently tied to the growth and wavebreaking of the nonlinear plasma wave. This evolution is confirmed by numerical simulations, showing that these measurements provide insight into the wakefield evolution with high spatial and temporal resolution.
Ion motion in plasma wakefield accelerators can cause temporal increase of the longitudinal electric field shortly before the wave breaks. The increase is caused by re-distribution of the wave energy in transverse direction and may be important for correct interpretation of experimental results and acceleration of high-quality beams.
A classical model of radiation reaction for the betatron oscillation of an electron in a plasma wakefield accelerator is presented. The maximum energy of the electron due to the longitudinal radiation reaction is found, and the betatron oscillation damping due to both the longitudinal and transverse radiation reaction effects is analyzed. Both theoretical and numerical solutions are shown with good agreements. The regime that the quantum radiation takes effect is also discussed. This model is important for designing future plasma based super accelerators or colliders.
Current models predict the hose instability to crucially limit the applicability of plasma-wakefield accelerators. By developing an analytical model which incorporates the evolution of the hose instability over long propagation distances, this work demonstrates that the inherent drive-beam energy loss, along with an initial beam energy spread detune the betatron oscillations of beam electrons, and thereby mitigate the instability. It is also shown that tapered plasma profiles can strongly reduce initial hosing seeds. Hence, we demonstrate that the propagation of a drive beam can be stabilized …
A new scheme for injection and acceleration of electrons in wakefield accelerators is suggested based on the co-action of a laser pulse and an electron beam. This synergy leads to stronger wakefield generation and higher energy gain in the bubble regime. The strong deformation of the whole bubble leads to electron self-injection at lower laser powers and lower plasma densities. To predict the practical ranges of electron beam and laser pulse parameters an interpretive model is proposed. The effects of altering the initial electron beam position on self-trapping of plasma electrons are studied.…
In this work, we will show through three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations that direct laser acceleration in laser a wakefield accelerator can generate sub-femtosecond electron bunches. Two simulations were done with two laser pulse durations, such that the shortest laser pulse occupies only a fraction of the first bubble, whereas the longer pulse fills the entire first bubble. In the latter case, as the trapped electrons moved forward and interacted with the high intensity region of the laser pulse, micro-bunching occurred naturally, producing 0.5 fs electron bunches. This is not obser…
In this proceeding, we show that when the drive laser pulse overlaps the trapped electrons in a laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA), those electrons can gain energy from direct laser acceleration (DLA) over extended distances despite the evolution of both the laser and the wake. Through simulations, the evolution of the properties of both the laser and the electron beam is quantified, and then the resonance condition for DLA is examined in the context of this change. We find that although the electrons produced from the LWFA cannot continuously satisfy the DLA resonance condition, they neverthe…
Propagation distances of intense laser pulses and high-charge electron beams through the plasma are, respectively, limited by diffraction and self-deceleration. This imposes severe constraints on the performance of the two major advanced accelerator concepts: laser and plasma wakefield accelerators. Using numerical simulations, we demonstrate that when the two beams co-propagate in the plasma, they can interact synergistically and extend each other's travel distances. The key interactions responsible for the synergy are found to be laser channeling by the electron bunch, and direct laser accel…
Laser Wakefield Accelerator (LWFA) is considered as one of the most competitive candidates for the accelerators of the next generation. With the development of high power laser technologies, LWFA has shown its potential of replacing the conventional radio-frequency (RF) accelerators due to its flexibility and adjustability. In this paper, we will study the potential high flux electron beam productions of LWFA driven by petawatt-level laser pulses. In our three dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, an optimal set of parameters gives $\sim 40\ \rm nC$ of charge with $2\ \rm PW$ laser power, …
The effect of an external transverse magnetic field on ionization injection of electrons in a laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA) is investigated by theoretical analysis and particle-in-cell simulations. On application of a few tens of Tesla magnetic field, both the electron trapping condition and the wakefield structure changes significantly such that injection occurs over a shorter distance and at an enhanced rate. Furthermore, beam loading is compensated for, as a result of the intrinsic trapezoidal-shaped longitudinal charge density profile of injected electrons. The nonlinear ionization in…
We analyze the equilibrium configuration for a modulated beam with sharp boundaries exposed to the fields self-generated by the interaction with a plasma. Through a semi-analytical approach we show the presence of multiple equilibrium configurations and we determine the one more suitable for wakefield excitation. Once pointed out the absence of confinement for the front of the beam and the consequently divergence driven by the emittance, we study the evolution of the equilibrium configuration while propagating in the plasma, discarding all the others time-dependencies. We show the onset of a r…
We report on the depletion and power amplification of the driving laser pulse in a strongly-driven laser wakefield accelerator. Simultaneous measurement of the transmitted pulse energy and temporal shape indicate an increase in peak power from $187 \pm 11$ TW to a maximum of $318 \pm 12$ TW after 13 mm of propagation in plasma density of $0.9 \times 10^{18}$ cm$^{-3}$. The power amplification is correlated with the injection and acceleration of electrons in the nonlinear wakefield. This process is modeled by including localized redshift and subsequent group delay dispersion at the laser pulse …
The one-dimensional wakefield generation equations are solved for increasing levels of non-linearity, to demonstrate how they contribute to the overall behaviour of a non-linear wakefield in a plasma. The effect of laser guiding is also studied as a way to increase the interaction length of a laser wakefield accelerator.
Plasma Wakefield Accelerators promise huge acceleration gradients that are three orders of magnitude greater than today's conventional radio frequency (RF) accelerators. These novel accelerators show also the potential of diminishing the size of the future accelerators nearly by the same factor. This review gives brief explanations and the working principles of the Plasma Wakefield Accelerators and shows the recent developments of the field. The current challenges are given and the potential future use of the Plasma Wakefield Accelerators are discussed.
We analyze the transverse stability for a configuration of multiple gaussian bunches subject to the self-generated plasma wakefield. Through a semi-analytical approach we first study the equilibrium configuration for the modulated beam and then we investigate the evolution of the equilibrium configuration due to the emittance-driven expansion of the beam front that results in a rigid backward shift. The rear-directed shift brings the modulated beam out of the equilibrium, with the possibility for some of the bunch particles to be lost with a consequent deterioration of the driver. We look ther…
The concept of a hybrid laser wakefield/direct laser plasma accelerator is proposed. Relativistic electrons undergoing resonant betatron oscillations inside the plasma bubble created by a laser pulse are accelerated by gaining energy directly from the laser pulse and from its plasma wake. The resulting bifurcated phase space of self-injected plasma electrons contains a population that experiences wakefield acceleration beyond the standard one-dimensional limit because of the multi-dimensional nature of its motion that reduces the phase slippage between the electrons and the wake.
A new electron injection scheme is proposed in sub-relativistic plasma wakefield accelerators. A transverse laser ionizes a dopant gas and ponderomotively accelerates the released electrons in the direction of wake propagation. This process enables electron trapping in the wakefield even for a wakefield potential below the trapping threshold. We study the scheme theoretically and by means of particle-in-cell simulations to demonstrate high-quality beam formation and acceleration with sub-micrometer normalized emittances and sub-percent uncorrelated energy spreads.
Betatron x-ray sources from laser-plasma accelerators combine compactness, high peak brightness, femtosecond pulse duration and broadband spectrum. However, when produced with Terawatt class lasers, their energy was so far restricted to a few kilo-electronvolt (keV), limiting the range of possible applications. Here we present a simple method to increase the energy and the flux by an order of magnitude without increasing the laser energy. The orbits of the relativistic electrons emitting the radiation were controlled using density tailored plasmas so that the efficiency of the Betatron source …
We investigate the generation of twin $γ$ ray beams in collision of an ultrahigh intensity laser pulse with a laser wakefield accelerated electron beam by using particle-in-cell simulation. We consider the composed target of a homogeneous underdense preplasma in front of an ultrathin solid foil. The electrons in the preplasma are trapped and accelerated by the wakefield. When the laser pulse is reflected by the thin solid foil, the wakefield accelerated electrons continue to move forward and passing through the foil almost without the influence of the reflected laser pulse and the foil. Conseq…
A controllable injection scheme is key to producing high quality laser-driven electron beams and X-rays. Self-injection is the most straightforward scheme leading to high current and peak energies, but is susceptible to variations in laser parameters and target characteristics. In this work improved control of electron self-injection in the nonlinear cavity regime using two laser-pulses propagating in tandem is investigated. In particular the advantages of the tandem-pulse scheme in terms of injection threshold, electron energy and beam properties in a regime relevant to betatron radiation are…
The phase velocity of the wakefield of a laser wakefield accelerator can, theoretically, be manipulated by shaping the longitudinal plasma density profile, thus controlling the parameters of the generated electron beam. We present an experimental method where using a series of shaped longitudinal plasma density profiles we increased the mean electron peak energy by more than 50%, from 174.8 +/- 1.3 MeV to 262 +/- 9.7 MeV and the maximum peak energy from 182.1 MeV to 363.1 MeV. The divergence follows closely the change of mean energy and decreases from 58.95 +/- 0.45 mrad to 12.63 +/- 1.17 mrad…
We present a new concept for a plasma wakefield accelerator driven by magnetowaves (MPWA). This concept was originally proposed as a viable mechanism for the "cosmic accelerator" that would accelerate cosmic particles to ultra high energies in the astrophysical setting. Unlike the more familiar Plasma Wakefield Accelerator (PWFA) and the Laser Wakefield Accelerator (LWFA) where the drivers, the charged-particle beam and the laser, are independently existing entities, MPWA invokes the high-frequency and high-speed whistler mode as the driver, which is a medium wave that cannot exist outside of …
Three-dimensional Particle-in-Cell (PIC) simulations with the code QuickPIC are used to illustrate the typical accelerating structures associated with the interaction of an intense laser beam with an underdense plasma in the blowout regime. Our simulations are performed with an externally injected electron beam, positioned in the region of maximum accelerating gradients. As the laser propagates in the plasma, almost complete electron cavitation occurs, leading to the generation of accelerating fields in excess of 1 GeV/cm.
We demonstrate that hybrid laser wakefield and direct acceleration (LWDA) can be significantly improved by using two laser pulses with different polarizations or frequencies. The improvement entails higher energy and charge of the accelerated electrons, as well as weaker sensitivity to the time delay between the leading (pump) pulse responsible for generating the wakefield, and the trailing laser pulse responsible for direct laser acceleration (DLA). When the two laser pulses have the same frequency, it is shown that it is advantageous to have their polarization states orthogonal to each other…
Accelerating particles to high energies with a high-gradient wakefield accelerator may require use of multiple stages. Coupling beams from one stage to another can be difficult due to high divergence and non-negligible energy spreads. We review the challenges, technical requirements and currently proposed methods for solving the staging problem.
The self-modulation instability is a key effect that makes possible the usage of nowadays proton beams as drivers for plasma wakefield acceleration. Development of the instability in uniform plasmas and in plasmas with a small density up-step is numerically studied with the focus at nonlinear stages of beam evolution. The step parameters providing the strongest established wakefield are found, and the mechanism of stable bunch train formation is identified.
We reconstruct spectra of secondary X-rays from a tunable 250-350 MeV laser wakefield electron accelerator from single-shot X-ray depth-energy measurements in a compact (7.5 $\times$ 7.5 $\times$ 15 cm), modular X-ray calorimeter made of alternating layers of absorbing materials and imaging plates. X-rays range from few-keV betatron to few-MeV inverse Compton to >100 MeV bremsstrahlung emission, and are characterized both individually and in mixtures. Geant4 simulations of energy deposition of single-energy X-rays in the stack generate an energy-vs-depth response matrix for a given stack confi…
Beginning from the set of cold-fluid plus Maxwell equations in the instantaneous, Lorentz-boosted Pulse Co-Moving Frame (PCMF), a new quasi-static theory is developed to describe the nonlinear pulse evolutions due to the wakefield excitation, and is verified through comparison with particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. According to this theory, the plasma-motion can be treated perturbatively and produces quasi-static wakefield in the PCMF, and the pulse envelope is governed by a form of the Schrodinger equation. The pulse evolutions are characterized by local conservation laws resulted from this…
Relativistic laser wakefield acceleration is characterized by an unsurpassed accelerating gradient, which is very suitable for electron acceleration over short distances and could be a promising candidate for next-generation compact accelerators. However, using this technique for positron acceleration is still challenging because positively charged particles are naturally defocused in nonlinear wakefields. Here we propose and numerically demonstrate a scheme to accelerate an externally injected positron beam in a nonlinear laser wakefield in a regime where a tail wave is formed behind density …
Drive particle beams in linear or weakly nonlinear regimes of the plasma wakefield accelerator quickly reach a radial equilibrium with the wakefield, which is described in detail for the first time. The equilibrium beam state and self-consistent wakefields are obtained by combining analytical relationships, numerical integration, and first-principle simulations. In the equilibrium state, the beam density is strongly peaked near the axis, the beam radius is constant along the beam, and longitudinal variation of the focusing strength is balanced by varying beam emittance. The transverse momentum…
We show analytically and through three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations that non-linear wakefields driven by Laguerre-Gaussian laser pulses can lead to hollow electron self-injection and positron acceleration. We find that higher order lasers can drive donut shaped blowout wakefields with strong positron accelerating gradients comparable to those of a spherical bubble. Corresponding positron focusing forces can be more than an order of magnitude stronger than electron focusing forces in a spherical bubble. Required laser intensities and energies to reach the non-linear donut shaped blo…
Laser wakefield acceleration offers the promise of a compact electron accelerator for generating a multi-GeV electron beam using the huge field gradient induced by an intense laser pulse, compared to conventional rf accelerators. However, the energy and quality of the electron beam from the laser wakefield accelerator have been limited by the power of the driving laser pulses and interaction properties in the target medium. Recent progress in laser technology has resulted in the realization of a petawatt (PW) femtosecond laser, which offers new capabilities for research on laser wakefield acce…
The acceleration gradients generated in a laser- or beam-driven plasma wakefield accelerator are typically three orders of magnitude greater than those produced by a conventional accelerator, and hence plasma accelerators can open a route to a new generation of very compact machines. In addition, plasma-based accelerators can generate beams with unique properties, such as tens of kiloamp peak currents, attosecond bunch duration, ultrahigh brightness and intrinsic particle beam-laser pulse synchronization. In this roadmap we review the status of plasma accelerator research in the UK. We outline…
We present a theoretical investigation of the excitation of multiple electrostatic wakefields by the ponderomotive force of a short electromagnetic pulse propagating through a dense plasma. It is found that the inclusion of the quantum statistical pressure and quantum electron tunneling effects can qualitatively change the classical behavior of the wakefield. In addition to the well known plasma oscillation wakefield, with a wavelength of the order of the electron skin depth, which in a dense plasma is of the order of several nanometers, wakefields in dense plasmas with a shorter wavelength ar…
Multistage coupling of laser-wakefield accelerators is essential to overcome laser energy depletion for high-energy applications such as TeV level electron-positron colliders. Current staging schemes feed subsequent laser pulses into stages using plasma mirrors, while controlling electron beam focusing with plasma lenses. Here a more compact and efficient scheme is proposed to realize simultaneous coupling of the electron beam and the laser pulse into a second stage. A curved channel with transition segment is used to guide a fresh laser pulse into a subsequent straight channel, while allowing…
We investigate the effects of a Stern-Gerlach-type addition to the Lorentz force on electrons in a laser wakefield accelerator. The Stern-Gerlach-type terms are found to generate a family of trajectories describing electrons that surf along the plasma density wave driven by a laser pulse. Such trajectories could lead to an increase in the size of an electron bunch, which may have implications for attempts to exploit such bunches in future free electron lasers.
Plasma wakefield acceleration in the nonlinear blowout regime has been shown to provide high acceleration gradients and high energy transfer efficiency while maintaining great beam quality for electron acceleration. In contrast, research on positron acceleration in this regime is still in a preliminary stage. We find that an on-axis electron filament can be self-consistently formed and maintained by loading an intense positron beam at the back of the electron beam driven blowout cavity. Via an analytic model and fully nonlinear simulations, we show this coaxial electron filament not only can f…
We discovered a novel effect that can cause witness emittance growth in plasma wakefield accelerators. The effect appears in linear or moderately nonlinear plasma waves. The witness experiences a time-varying focusing force and loses quality during the time required for the drive beam to reach transverse equilibrium with the plasma wave. The higher the witness charge, the lower the emittance growth rate because of additional focusing of the witness by its own wakefield. However, the witness head always degrades, and the boundary between degraded and intact parts gradually propagates backward a…
Coherent and incoherent electromagnetic radiation emitted from a laser wakefield accelerator is calculated based on Lienard-Wiechert potentials. It is found that at wavelengths longer than the bunch length, the radiation is coherent. The coherent radiation, which typically lies in the infrared range, shows features that reveal details of the acceleration process and properties of the electron bunch, such as its duration, charge, energy, and offset with respect to the wakefield axis. The incoherent range of the spectrum, which extends to the X-ray frequency range, consists of rather broad peaks…
The energy spread in laser-wakefield accelerators is primarily limited by the energy-chirp introduced during the injection and acceleration processes. Here we propose and demonstrate the use of longitudinal density tailoring to adapt the accelerating fields and reduce the chirp at the end of the accelerator. Experimental data supported by 3D PIC simulations show that broadband electron beams can be converted to quasi-monoenergetic beams of less than 10% energy spread while maintaining a high charge of more than 120 pC. In the linear and quasi-linear regimes of wakefield acceleration, the metho…
Laser wakefield acceleration of electrons usually offers an axisymmetry around the laser propagation axis. Thus, the accelerating electrons that are focused on axis often execute small transverse oscillations. In this Article, we propose a simple scheme to break this symmetry, which enhances the transverse wiggling of electrons and boosts the betatron radiation emission. Through 3D particle-in-cell simulations, we show that sending the laser with a small angle of incidence on a transverse plasma density gradient generates an asymmetric wakefield. It first provokes injection and then increases …
For the laser wakefield acceleration, suppression of beam energy spread while keeping sufficient charge is one of the key challenges. In order to achieve this, we propose bichromatic laser ionization injection with combined laser wavelengths of $2.4\rm μm$ and $0.8\rm μm$ for wakefield excitation and for triggering electron injection via field ionization, respectively. A laser pulse at $2.4\rm μm$ wavelength enables one to drive an intense acceleration structure with relatively low laser power. To further reduce the requirement of laser power, we also propose to use carbon dioxide as the worki…
A new injection scheme using the interference of two coaxial laser pulses is proposed for generating high quality beams in laser wakefield accelerators. In this scheme, a relatively loosely focused laser pulse drives the plasma wakefield, and a tightly focused laser pulse with similar intensity triggers interference ring pattern which creates onion-like multi sheaths in the plasma wakefield. Due to the wavefront curvature change after the focal position of the tightly focused laser, the innermost sheath of the wakefield expands, which slows down the effective phase velocity of the wakefield an…
A laser pulse guided in a curved plasma channel can excite wakefields that steer electrons along an arched trajectory. As the electrons are accelerated along the curved channel, they emit synchrotron radiation. We present simple analytical models and simulations examining laser pulse guiding, wakefield generation, electron steering, and synchrotron emission in curved plasma channels. For experimentally realizable parameters, a ~2 GeV electron emits 0.1 photons per cm with an average photon energy of multiple keV.
Bright dual-pulse betatron X-ray generation from a laser wakefield accelerator
Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences（北京量子信息科学研究院）；Zhengzhou University（郑州大学）；Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院高能物理研究所）；Tsinghua University（清华大学）
We study the energetics of wake excitation during the laser-plasma interaction in application to laser wakefield accelerators. We find that both the wake amplitude and the accelerating efficiency (transformer ratio) can be maximized by properly shaping the longitudinal profile of the driving laser pulse. The corresponding family of laser pulse shapes is derived in the nonlinear regime of laser-plasma interaction. Such shapes provide theoretical upper limit on the magnitude of the wakefield and efficiency by allowing for uniform photon deceleration inside the laser pulse. We also construct real…
Single cycle laser pulse propagating inside a plasma causes controllable asymmetric plasma electron expulsion from laser according to laser carrier envelope phase (CEP) and forms an oscillating plasma bubble. Bubble's transverse wakefield is modified, exhibiting periodic modulation. Injection scheme for a laser wakefield accelerator combining a single cycle low frequency laser pulse and a many cycle high frequency laser pulse is proposed. The co-propagating laser pulses form a transversely oscillating wakefield which efficiently traps and accelerates electrons from background plasma. By tuning…
We have investigated the role that the transverse electric field of the laser plays in the acceleration of electrons in a laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA) operating in the quasi-blowout regime through particle-in-cell code simulations. In order to ensure that longitudinal compression and/or transverse focusing of the laser pulse is not needed before the wake can self-trap the plasma electrons, we have employed the ionization injection technique. Furthermore, the plasma density is varied such that at the lowest densities, the laser pulse occupies only a fraction of the first wavelength of the…
High-intensity X-ray sources are invaluable tools, enabling experiments at the forefront of our understanding of materials science, chemistry, biology, and physics. Laser-plasma electron accelerators are sources of high-intensity X-rays, as electrons accelerated in wakefields emit short-wavelength radiation due to betatron oscillations. While applications such as phase-contrast imaging with these betatron sources have already been demonstrated, others would require higher photon number and would benefit from increased tunability. In this paper we demonstrate, through detailed 3D simulations, a…
