A New Scheme for High‐Intensity Laser‐Driven Electron Acceleration in a Plasma

We propose a new approach to high‐intensity relativistic laser‐driven electron acceleration in a plasma. Here, we demonstrate that a plasma wave generated by a stimulated forward‐scattering of an incident laser pulse can be in the longest acceleration phase with injected relativistic beam electrons. This is why the plasma wave has the maximum amplification coefficient which is determined by the acceleration time and the breakdown (overturn) electric field in which the acceleration of the injected beam electrons occurs. We must note that for the longest acceleration phase the relativity of the injected beam electrons plays a crucial role in our scheme. We estimate qualitatively the acceleration parameters of relativistic electrons in the field of a plasma wave generated at the stimulated forward‐scattering of a high‐intensity laser pulse in a plasma. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Energy spectra of electrons in plasma accelerators

The acceleration of electrons in the fast (relativistic) plasma wave, generated, e.g., by intense laser pulse in an underdense plasma, is studied theoretically and numerically. The analytical method, developed to describe the energy spectrum of electrons accelerated in one-dimensional (1-D) plasma wave of an arbitrary form, predicts the “bunching” of electrons in the energy space for linear (harmonic) plasma wave in contrast to the nonlinear one. The results of one- and two-dimensional (2-D) numerical simulations of the resonant and nonresonant electron bunch acceleration are presented and discussed     

On the production of flat electron bunches for laser wakefield acceleration

We suggest a novel method for the injection of electrons into the acceleration phase of particle accelerators, producing low-emittance beams appropriate even for the demanding high-energy linear collider specifications. We discuss the injection mechanism into the acceleration phase of the wakefield in a plasma behind a high-intensity laser pulse, which takes advantage of the laser polarization and focusing. The scheme uses the structurally stable regime of transverse wakewave breaking, when the electron trajectory self-intersection leads to the formation of a flat electron bunch. As shown in three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of the interaction of a laser pulse elongated in the transverse direction with an underdense plasma, the electrons injected via the transverse wakewave breaking and accelerated by the wakewave perform betatron oscillations with different amplitudes and frequencies along the two transverse coordinates. The polarization and focusing geometry lead to a way to produce relativistic electron bunches with an asymmetric emittance (flat beam). An approach for generating flat laser-accelerated ion beams is briefly discussed. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

强激光与细锥靶相互作用产生强流高能电子束的研究

本文提出采用了强激光与细锥形靶作用, 产生大量定向高能电子, 用于快点火激光聚变方案研究. 通过PIC 模拟, 研究了细锥靶和激光脉冲的各项参数, 对产生高能电子的影响. 模拟发现, 细锥靶开口10° 时能够产生较多的高能电子, 当开口角度逐渐增大时, 高能电子的能量和数目都有一定程度下降. 若为细锥靶加上预等离子体, 产生的高能电子的数目将大大提高, 而最高的电子能量将会下降. 中等能量的电子加速主要由于激光有质动力加速, 而高能量的电子加速主要由于电子感应加速. 随着激光脉宽的增加, 高能电子的数量直线上升. 关键词： 细锥形靶 电子加速 感应共振加速     

Thomson-backscattered x rays from laser-accelerated electrons

We present the first observation of Thomson-backscattered light from laser-accelerated electrons. In a compact, all-optical setup, the "photon collider," a high-intensity laser pulse is focused into a pulsed He gas jet and accelerates electrons to relativistic energies. A counterpropagating laser probe pulse is scattered from these high-energy electrons, and the backscattered x-ray photons are spectrally analyzed. This experiment demonstrates a novel source of directed ultrashort x-ray pulses and additionally allows for time-resolved spectroscopy of the laser acceleration of electrons.     

Intensification and location of relativistic laser pulses against pointing fluctuations with micro-tube plasma lenses

We analyze, via an off-axis incident model and three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, the influence of beam pointing fluctuations (BPFs) on the propagation properties of relativistic laser pulses in micro-tubes. It is observed that the in-tube laser intensity can be further amplified in the BPFs-induced off-axis incident case. But the intensification factor exhibits strong polarization-dependence. When the laser pulse is linearly polarized in the off-axis incident plane (p-polarization), more electrons may be dragged out from about a half of the tube inner surface in each across section than in the on-axis incident case, enhancing the effects of relativistic nonlinearity and channel focusing. The area for generating more electrons is reduced by one half in the s-polarization case, resulting in less efficient light intensification. The BPFs-induced off-axis incident also leads to pulse shortening. Moreover, light confinement in the tube core is evident and the laser pulse tends to be coaxial with the tube.     

Additional acceleration and collimation of relativistic electron beams by magnetic field resonance at very high intensity laser interaction

For the interpretation of experiments for acceleration of electrons at interaction up to nearly GeV energy in laser produced plasmas, we present a new model using interaction magnetic fields. In addition to the ponderomotive acceleration of highly relativistic electrons at the interaction of very short and very intense laser pulses, a further acceleration is derived from the interaction of these electron beams with the spontaneous magnetic fields of about 100 MG. This additional acceleration is the result of a laser-magnetic resonance acceleration (LMRA) around the peak of the azimuthal magnetic field. This causes the electrons to gain energy within a laser period. Using a Gaussian laser pulse, the LMRA acceleration of the electrons depends on the laser polarization. Since this is in the resonance regime, the strong magnetic fields affect the electron acceleration considerably. The mechanism results in good collimated high energetic electrons propagating along the center axis of the laser beam as has been observed by experiments and is reproduced by our numerical simulations. PACS 41.75.Jv; 52.38.Kd; 52.65.Cc     

Pulse chirping effect on controlling the transverse cavity oscillations in nonlinear bubble regime

The propagation of an intense laser pulse in an under-dense plasma induces a plasma wake that is suitable for the acceleration of electrons to relativistic energies. For an ultra-intense laser pulse which has a longitudinal size shorter than the plasma wavelength, λp, instead of a periodic plasma wave, a cavity free from cold plasma electrons, called a bubble, is formed behind the laser pulse. An intense charge separation electric field inside the moving bubble can capture the electrons at the base of the bubble and accelerate them with a narrow energy spread. In the nonlinear bubble regime, due to localized depletion at the front of the pulse during its propagation through the plasma, the phase shift between carrier waves and pulse envelope plays an important role in plasma response. The carrier–envelope phase(CEP) breaks down the symmetric transverse ponderomotive force of the laser pulse that makes the bubble structure unstable. Our studies using a series of two-dimensional(2D) particle-in-cell(PIC) simulations show that the frequency-chirped laser pulses are more effective in controlling the pulse depletion rate and consequently the effect of the CEP in the bubble regime. The results indicate that the utilization of a positively chirped laser pulse leads to an increase in rate of erosion of the leading edge of the pulse that rapidly results in the formation of a steep intensity gradient at the front of the pulse. A more unstable bubble structure, the self-injections in different positions, and high dark current are the results of using a positively chirped laser pulse. For a negatively chirped laser pulse, the pulse depletion process is compensated during the propagation of the pulse in plasma in such a way that results in a more stable bubble shape and therefore, a localized electron bunch is produced during the acceleration process. As a result, by the proper choice of chirping, one can tune the number of self-injected electrons, the size of accelerated bunch and its energy spectrum to the values required for practical applications.     

Near-GeV-energy laser-wakefield acceleration of self-injected electrons in a centimeter-scale plasma channel

The first three-dimensional, particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of laser-wakefield acceleration of self-injected electrons in a 0.84 cm long plasma channel are reported. The frequency evolution of the initially 50 fs (FWHM) long laser pulse by photon interaction with the wake followed by plasma dispersion enhances the wake which eventually leads to self-injection of electrons from the channel wall. This first bunch of electrons remains spatially highly localized. Its phase space rotation due to slippage with respect to the wake leads to a monoenergetic bunch of electrons with a central energy of 0.26 GeV after 0.55 cm propagation. At later times, spatial bunching of the laser enhances the acceleration of a second bunch of electrons to energies up to 0.84 GeV before the laser pulse intensity is significantly reduced.     

Electron acceleration by a short relativistic laser pulse at the front of solid targets

Acceleration of electrons in a low-density plasma in front of a solid target by a propagating short ultraintense laser pulse is studied. When the laser is reflected at the target surface the accelerated electrons, with energy scaling as the laser intensity, continue to move forward inertially and thus escape from the pulse. Electrons accelerated backwards by the reflected light can attain even higher energies due to their longer acceleration length and their high initial momentum from a relativistic return current.     

锥形激光等离子体中Compton 散射对电子的加速

应用相对论性电子与光子非弹性碰撞模型和经典相对论电动力学理论,结合锥形飞秒强激光等离子体中的光场特性和静电场能,分析、计算了入射的高能电子束与等离子体中的光子发生多光子非线性Compton散射时对电子的加速效应,发现等离子体中的光场会引起电子加速能量的振荡;等离子体中的静电场降低电子的加速效应。用高能电子束与锥形飞秒强激光等离子体中的光子发生双光子非线性Compton散射,是加速电子最为理想的情况。     

Acceleration of nonmonoenergetic electron bunches injected into a wake wave

The trapping and acceleration of nonmonoenergetic electron bunches in a wake field wave excited by a laser pulse in a plasma channel is studied. Electrons are injected into the region of the wake wave potential maximum at a velocity lower than the phase velocity of the wave. The paper analyzes the grouping of bunch electrons in the energy space emerging in the course of acceleration under certain conditions of their injection into the wake wave and minimizing the energy spread for such electrons. The factors determining the minimal energy spread between bunch electrons are analyzed. The possibility of monoenergetic acceleration of electron bunches generated by modern injectors in a wake wave is analyzed.     

Stochastic heating and acceleration of electrons in colliding laser fields in plasma

We propose a mechanism that leads to efficient acceleration of electrons in plasma by two counterpropagating laser pulses. It is triggered by stochastic motion of electrons when the laser fields exceed some threshold amplitudes, as found in single-electron dynamics. It is further confirmed in particle-in-cell simulations. In vacuum or tenuous plasma, electron acceleration in the case with two colliding laser pulses can be much more efficient than with one laser pulse only. In plasma at moderate densities, such as a few percent of the critical density, the amplitude of the Raman-backscattered wave is high enough to serve as the second counterpropagating pulse to trigger the electron stochastic motion. As a result, even with one intense laser pulse only, electrons can be heated up to a temperature much higher than the corresponding laser ponderomotive potential.     

电子在激光驻波场中运动产生的太赫兹及X射线辐射研究

采用单电子模型和经典辐射理论分别对低能和高能电子在线偏振激光驻波场中的运动和辐射过程进行了研究. 结果表明: 垂直于激光电场方向入射的低速电子在激光驻波场中随着光强的增大, 逐渐从一维近周期运动演变为二维折叠运动, 并产生强的微米量级波长的太赫兹辐射; 高能电子垂直或者平行于激光电场方向入射到激光驻波场中, 都会产生波长在几个纳米的高频辐射; 低能电子与激光驻波场作用中, 激光强度影响着电子的运动形式、辐射频率以及辐射强度; 高能电子入射时, 激光强度影响了电子高频辐射的强度, 电子初始能量影响着辐射的频率; 电子能量越高, 产生的辐射频率越大. 研究表明可以由激光加速电子的方式得到不同能量的电子束, 并利用电子束在激光驻波场的辐射使之成为太赫兹和X射线波段的小型辐射源. 研究结果可以为实验研究和利用激光驻波场中的电子辐射提供依据.     

Angular distribution of electrons in the field of a short laser pulse of relativistic intensity

Based on the dynamics of the electron in the field of a laser pulse of relativistic intensity, the electron emission angles with respect to the laser pulse propagation axis are calculated. The angular distribution of accelerated electrons is analyzed together with their energy spectrum. It is shown that fast electrons forming the high-energy spectral region are emitted into a fixed angular cone.     

Electron Acceleration by Beating of Two Intense Cross-Focused Hollow Gaussian Laser Beams in Plasma

This paper presents propagation of two cross-focused intense hollow Gaussian laser beams(HGBs) in collisionless plasma and its effect on the generation of electron plasma wave(EPW) and electron acceleration process,when relativistic and ponderomotive nonlinearities are simultaneously operative. Nonlinear differential equations have been set up for beamwidth of laser beams, power of generated EPW, and energy gain by electrons using WKB and paraxial approximations. Numerical simulations have been carried out to investigate the effect of typical laser-plasma parameters on the focusing of laser beams in plasmas and further its effect on power of excited EPW and acceleration of electrons. It is observed that focusing of two laser beams in plasma increases for higher order of hollow Gaussian beams,which significantly enhanced the power of generated EPW and energy gain. The amplitude of EPW and energy gain by electrons is found to enhance with an increase in the intensity of laser beams and plasma density. This study will be useful to plasma beat wave accelerator and in other applications requiring multiple laser beams.     

Particle simulation on electron acceleration process by the laser ponderomotive force in inhomogeneous underdense plasma layers

The mechanism of electron ponderomotive acceleration due to increasing group velocity of laser pulse in inhomogeneous underdense plasma layers is studied by two-dimensional relativistic parallel particle-in-cell code. The electrons within the laser pulse move with it and can be strongly accelerated ponderomotively when the duration of laser pulse is much shorter than the duration of optimum condition for acceleration in the wake. The extra energy gain can be attributed to the change of laser group velocity. More high energy electrons are generated in the plasma layer with descending density profile than that with ascending density profile. The process and character of electron acceleration in three kinds of underdense plasma layers are presented and compared.     

Theoretical investigation of controlled generation of a dense attosecond relativistic electron bunch from the interaction of an ultrashort laser pulse with a nanofilm

For controllable generation of an isolated attosecond relativistic electron bunch [relativistic electron mirror (REM)] with nearly solid-state density, we propose using a solid nanofilm illuminated normally by an ultraintense femtosecond laser pulse having a sharp rising edge. With two-dimensional (2D) particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations, we show that, in spite of Coulomb forces, all of the electrons in the laser spot can be accelerated synchronously, and the REM keeps its surface charge density during evolution. We also developed a self-consistent 1D theory, which takes into account Coulomb forces, radiation of the electrons, and laser amplitude depletion. This theory allows us to predict the REM parameters and shows a good agreement with the 2D PIC simulations.     

通道靶对超强激光加速质子束的聚焦效应

发散角过大是制约超强激光与固体靶相互作用加速产生高能质子束应用的一个重大物理难题.本文提出了一种结构化的通道靶型,与超强激光相互作用可提高质子束的发散特性,通道壁上产生的横向电荷分离静电场可对质子有效聚焦.采用二维particle-in-cell粒子模拟程序对激光通道靶相互作用过程进行了研究,分析了加速质子束的性能特点.模拟结果表明,与传统平面靶相比,通道靶可以在不过多损失能量的情况下产生具有更好准直性的质子束,尤其当通道靶的直径与激光焦斑尺寸和质子源尺寸相当时,横向静电场能够有效聚焦质子束,并且可保证相对较高的激光能量利用率.     

Angular distributions of fast electrons, ions, and Bremsstrahlung x/gamma-rays in intense laser interaction with solid targets

We study the angular distributions of fast electrons, ions, and bremsstrahlung x/ gamma-rays generated during the interaction of an ultrashort intense laser pulse with solid targets. A relation is found on the angular directions for fast electrons and ions as a function of the particle's kinetic energy, experienced Coulomb potential changes, and the incident angle of the laser pulse. It is valid independent of the acceleration mechanisms and the polarization of the laser pulse, as confirmed by particle-in-cell simulations. The angular distribution of bremsstrahlung x/gamma-rays is presented to show explicitly its correlation with the corresponding angular distributions of electrons.