相对论飞秒激光脉冲在真空中对预加速电子的加速

通过求解电子运动的相对论方程，发现预加速电子在超强超短激光脉冲的作用下可以获得很高的能量增益. 飞秒激光脉冲的上升沿在焦点附近的区域有效加速电子后，电子和光脉冲一起传播一段距离（远大于瑞利长度）后，激光强度变得很弱，从而使脉冲下降沿对电子的减速作用可以忽略不计，因此电子只经历加速过程而没有被减速，当电子和光脉冲分离时，电子获得了很高的能量增益. 当光强为10¹⁹Ｗ／cm² ，电子的初始能量为MeV量级时，电子的能量增益可以达到01GeV. 进一步讨论了电子的能量增益与电子的初始条件与激光脉冲的参数之间的关系. 关键词： 电子加速 飞秒激光脉冲 能量增益     

紧聚焦的超短超强激光脉冲在真空中加速斜入射的相对论电子

研究了紧聚焦的线偏振飞秒超强高斯激光脉冲俘获并剧烈加速斜入射低能相对论电子的效应 ，发现被俘获的电子在激光脉冲纵向有质动力的强大加速作用下，可以获得GeV量级的能量 ，并详细研究了入射电子的初能量、斜入射角、电子与激光脉冲的相对延迟时间和激光脉冲 宽度等条件对电子能量增益的影响，发现当激光脉宽超过10λ时，脉宽对电子能量增益影响 不大. 关键词： 电子加速 有质动力 能量增益 束腰     

高能电子与超强激光束作用产生的阿秒脉冲列

利用非线性汤姆孙散射的理论，从理论和数值模拟上研究了单电子在横向穿越高斯激光束束 腰时所辐射的x射线阿秒脉冲列的性质. 主要分析了电子以初始能量γ₀=1M eV—100M eV横向穿越激光振幅参数为a₀=1—10的高斯光束束腰获得的阿秒辐射脉冲的 时间 和空间性质. 计算表明，辐射呈现脉冲列的形式. 脉冲列的包络宽度取决于激光强度、束腰 的宽度以及入射电子能量. 电子的初始能量比激光强度对电子辐射脉冲的影响更大. 辐射脉 宽、脉冲间隔和脉冲包络宽度都正比于1/γ²₀，辐射功率正比于 γ⁶₀，辐射能 量正比于γ⁴₀. 当改变激光振幅a₀时，辐射功率正比 于a²₀、辐射包络中单 个脉冲脉宽正比于1/a₀、脉冲之间的间隔正比于a₀. 当保持激光强 度不变，而改变光束 束腰半径w₀时，辐射的脉冲数量、包络和辐射能量正比于w₀. 当 激光功率保 持不变时而改变激光强度和束腰半径时，脉冲包络宽度和最大辐射能量都基本不变. 当激光 振幅参数a₀=1，电子初始能量为10MeV时，激光束腰为两个激光波长时，电子 辐 射脉冲包络宽度只有14×10^-3τ₀（τ₀为入 射激光周期），达到几个阿秒的量级. 关键词： 阿秒脉冲 非线性汤姆孙散射 高斯激光光束     

激光脉冲宽度对有质动力加速电子的影响

基于真空中单电子运动模型,编程计算得到了高斯激光脉冲与初始位于激光传播轴上电子的相互作用结果。不同激光参鼍条件下,得到了电子的能量增益与激光强度、焦斑大小和脉冲宽度关系。结果表明,高斯激光脉冲焦斑较大时,电子没有明显的能量增益,高斯激光脉冲焦斑太小时,电子也没有明显的能量增益。电子的能量增益有一个最佳焦斑大小。在相同激光强度下,电子能量增益的最佳焦斑大小随脉冲宽度的增大而增大,但最佳焦斑大小与脉冲宽度的比值基本上是不变的。     

超强圆偏振激光直接加速产生超高能量电子束

研究表明, 峰值强度为10²²–10²⁵ W/cm²量级的圆偏振激光脉冲的有质动力场可以直接加速并产生GeV–TeV的单能电子束, 其中被加速电子的能量与激光脉冲的峰值强度成线性定标关系. 为了获得更高能量的电子束, 通过对一维解析模型的分析得到: 如果电子束在激光传播的方向上具一个初始能量E₀, 那么这种线性的定标关系可以被打破, 被加速电子束最终的能量可以被放大E₀倍. 这是由于具有一定初始能量的电子束不容易被激光脉冲抛在后面, 进而获得更高的加速距离. 二维粒子模拟结果显示: 当电子束的初始能量E₀为MeV量级时这个方法是有效的, 而当E₀过大时这个方法失效. 这是因为当电子的加速距离远大于激光脉冲的瑞利长度时, 激光强度的衰减使得电子束的加速错过了最佳加速场.     

激光脉冲形状对弓形波电子俘获的影响

使用二维粒子模拟程序研究了电子弓形波注入机制中激光脉冲形状对电子俘获效果的影响. 研究结果表明, 激光脉冲时间上升沿陡峭的正扭曲脉冲激发的尾波场强度高, 加速区域分布广, 并且有利于电子获得更高的初速度, 从而推动更多的电子进入尾波场加速相位. 在其他条件相同的情况下, 正扭曲脉冲的电子俘获数目远高于激光脉冲时间分别为高斯形和负扭曲分布的情形, 使得电子束的品质得到改善. 研究结果对于理解尾波场加速中电子注入过程以及获得大电荷量高能电子束具有积极意义. 关键词： 尾波场 电子俘获 时间波形 粒子模拟     

用拉盖尔-高斯激光对真空中电子直接加速

对用拉盖尔-高斯(LG)光束加速电子作了研究.结果表明，仅模指数为p和l=1的LG光束的纵向电场可用于加速电子.模指数为p和l=1的线偏振和圆偏振LG光束都对电子有加速效果.对轴上光场的相速度和群速度以及电子能量增益等物理特征作了讨论.给出了轴上光场的相速度和群速度、加速电位及电子能量增益等的解析表达式，并作了数值计算和分析. 关键词： 激光电子加速 拉盖尔-高斯光束 线偏振和圆偏振 能量增益     

Compton散射下激光等离子体界面附近电子的运动

研究了多光子非线性Compton散射下等离子体中两个不同密度区的界面附近耦合激光场中电子的运动, 导出了电子的横向动量与纵向动量相互关系的一般方程.研究发现：介质的非均匀性导致电子运动特性的重要变化,在一定的条件下,这种非均匀性有利于注入电子获得加速;散射可有效地降低弹推阈值.当耦合脉冲强度低于弹推阈值时,电子最终被脉冲超过,但无论对初始时刻静止的电子还是运动的电子,能量增益均不为0,且随注入能量的提高而迅速地增加.当耦合脉冲强度高于弹推阈值时,电子最终超过脉冲而获得很高的能量增益,其值远远高于均匀等离子体的情况.在入射相同能量的情况下,耦合光会使电子获得更高的能量增益.     

电子在超短激光脉冲修正场中的动力学特性研究

给出了一种精确描述超短、紧聚焦激光脉冲的新方法，其思路是根据两个无量纲小量ε=1/(ω0t0)和s=1/(k0w0)（其中ω0=ck0为中心振荡频率，t0为脉冲延迟时间，w0为激光束腰半径）进行展开来计算脉冲的高阶修正场.在激光束近轴近似表达式的基础上，给出了高斯脉冲一阶修正场的解析表达式，并研究发现其振幅和相位相对于零阶修正场（即长脉冲近似）的修正量都在ε的量级甚至更小.另外对电子在超短高斯脉冲一阶修正场中的动力学特性研究发现：对于ω0t0>20的情况，零阶修正场可以正确地描述电子被光场加速的特性；当ω0t0<20时，则需要采用高阶修正场. 关键词： 超短激光脉冲 激光加速     

高斯光脉冲在非线性增益介质中的孤子特性

本文从理论上分析了高斯光脉冲在非线性增益介质中的传播特性,从而解释高斯光脉冲的压缩及展宽和形成光孤子的机理。用计算机模拟了不同参数的高斯光脉冲在非线性增益介质中的传播过程,并获得了脉宽沿传播方向变化的定量关系。结果表明,以不同能量向增益介质中注入高斯脉冲,有可能产生各阶光孤子,但由于增益的存在,光孤子的传输距离受到限制。     

Further Acceleration of MeV Electrons by a Relativistic Laser Pulse

With the development of photocathode rf electron gun, electrons with high-brightness and mono-energy can be obtained easily. By numerically solving the relativistic equations of motion of an electron generated from this facility in laser fields modelled by a circular polarized Gaussian laser pulse, we find the electron can obtain high energy gain from the laser pulse. The corresponding acceleration distance for this electron driven by the ascending part of the laser pulse is much longer than the Rayleigh length, and the light amplitude experienced on the electron is very weak when the laser pulse overtakes the electron. The electron is accelerated effectively and the deceleration can be neglected. For intensities around 10¹⁹ W•μm²/cm², an electron's energy gain near 0.1 GeV can be realized when its initial energy is 4.5 MeV, and the final velocity of the energetic electron is parallel with the propagation axis. The energy gain can be up to 1 GeV if the intensity is about 10²¹ W•μm²/cm². The final energy gain of the electron as a function of its initial conditions and the parameters of the laser beam has also been discussed.     

超短超强激光导引及对电子加速的影响

使用粒子模拟程序对30 fs超短超强激光在均匀与抛物型两种密度分布等离子体中的传输, 以及在稳定传输状态下尾场的电子注入与加速形成的电子能谱进行了模拟与分析. 固定入射激光束斑尺寸, 在(0.4-2)×10¹⁹/cm³等离子体密度范围, 对比分析了归一化峰值强度从1-6范围的激光脉冲在上述两种密度分布等离子 体中传输时激光束斑尺寸的演化, 结果表明抛物型分布的等离子体密度通道能够对超短超强脉冲实现良好的导引, 有利于高能电子加速. 对于较高密度情况,即使在均匀等离子体中依靠相对论自聚 焦等机制也可以实现良好的自导引传输,有利于实验简化以及产生更大电量的加速电子.     

Intensity threshold in vacuum laser acceleration

The dependence of the electron-energy gain on the on-axis laser intensity of a TEM₀₀ light wave in vacuum, called the capture and acceleration scenario (CAS), has been studied. We found that there exists a laser intensity threshold for the CAS scheme to work. The physical meaning of the intensity threshold is that, when the intensity is strong enough, fast electrons injected into the Rayleigh zone where the phase velocity of the light wave is subluminous can be accelerated until they catch up with the phase velocity before they slip out. Thereby these electrons can receive a considerable amount of energy from the laser field. Analytical calculations based on this situation and simulation results show similar features in that the intensity threshold value, (a₀ ^T)², is strongly dependent on the laser-beam width at focus, kw₀. For example, kw₀=40 corresponds to a₀ ^T∼5, which is available by present laser systems. Also, it has been proved that the maximal electron-energy gain in the CAS regime is linearly proportional to the laser intensity as well as to kw₀. Received: 20 January 2003 / Revised version: 6 March 2003 / Published online: 23 May 2003 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +86-21/6564-3815, E-mail: hoyk@fudan.ac.cn     

Ponderomotive acceleration of electrons by an ultrashort laser pulse

By using the corrected solutions for an ultrashort laser pulse, we study the laser-driven electron violent acceleration in vacuum. Our simulations demonstrate that an ultrashort laser pulse with an intensity a₀≡eE₀/m_eωc=3 can accelerate electrons to an energy more than 0.5 GeV. The scaling laws for the net energy gain in different pulse length and laser radius at focus are also studied. Its acceleration mechanism is found to be ponderomotive acceleration.     

Signatures of the Unruh effect via high-power, short-pulse lasers

The ultra-high fields of high-power short-pulse lasers are expected to contribute to understanding fundamental properties of the quantum vacuum and quantum theory in very strong fields. For example, the neutral QED vacuum breaks down at the Schwinger field strength of 1.3×10¹⁸ V/m, where a virtual e⁺e^- pair gains its rest mass energy over a Compton wavelength and materializes as a real pair. At such an ultra-high field strength, an electron experiences an acceleration of a_S=2×10²⁸g and hence fundamental phenomena such as the long predicted Unruh effect start to play a role. The Unruh effect implies that the accelerated electron experiences the vacuum as a thermal bath with the Unruh temperature. In its accelerated frame the electron scatters photons off the thermal bath, corresponding to the emission of an entangled pair of photons in the laboratory frame. While it remains an experimental challenge to reach the critical Schwinger field strength within the immediate future even in view of the enormous thrust in high-power laser developments in recent years, the near-future laser technology may allow to probe the signatures of the Unruh effect mentioned above. Using a laser-accelerated electron beam (γ～300) and a counter-propagating laser beam acting as optical undulator should allow to create entangled Unruh photon pairs (i.e., signatures of the Unruh effect) with energies of the order of several hundred keV. An even substantially improved experimental scenario can be realized by using a brilliant 20 keV photon beam as X-ray undulator together with a low-energy (γ≈2) electron beam. In this case the separation of the Unruh photon pairs from background originating from linearly accelerated electrons (classical Larmor radiation) is significantly improved. Detection of the Unruh photons may be envisaged by Compton polarimetry in a 2D-segmented position-sensitive germanium detector.     

A Compact Pulsed HF Laser Based on an Auto-Wave Photon-Branched Chain Reaction

Huge energy gain is detected theoretically in a pulsed chemical laser-amplifier based on a photon-branched chain reaction initiating in a gaseous disperse medium composed of H₂–F₂–O₂–He and Al particles by focused external infrared radiation. It is shown that this effect is observed due to the other optical effect of diffractive multifocal focusing of the input radiation on a certain type of bicomponent optical system coupled structurally with the input mirror of an unstable telescopic laser cavity. Such a relatively simple bicomponent diffraction system, consisting of two plane screens with circular apertures on a given optical axis, enables one to focus the input beam without using classical refraction elements such as lenses and prisms. The focusing of the input signal ensures the minimization of the initially excited volume of the laser active medium and the appropriate sharp lowering of the necessary energy of the input pulse up to 10^-6 J. This enables the laser system to reach a high value of the energy gain of 10⁹. The huge laser energy gain allows us to use a master oscillator in the form of a small microjoule laser powered by an accumulator, and consequently makes it possible to construct a completely self-contained compact pulsed chemical HF-laser.     

Effect of nonlinear chirped Gaussian laser pulse parameters on the electron acceleration

One-dimensional analysis of electron acceleration by a nonlinear chirped Gaussian laser pulse was investigated numerically. Two main nonlinear chirped pulses, polynomial and periodical were used. The maximum energy of electron in nonlinear chirped is approximately three times more than that of linear chirped. In the case of first order nonlinear polynomial chirp, Ω(ξ) = 1 + aξ + bξ ², the electron can be accelerated up to 5.3 GeV. Indeed, the analysis of the electron trajectory in x-z plane showed that the electron in the field of the nonlinear chirped pulse has a much smaller divergence than that of linear chirped pulse.     

Laser wiggler beat wave in a plasma

It is shown that by combining a laser wave and an electron beam propagating through a plasma inside a wiggler: (i) Electrons can be accelerated to high energies. For usual laser frequencies and wiggler wavelengths, plasma densities are in the range 10¹⁵–10¹⁶ cm^-3. The plasma density fluctuation in the longitudinal wave suffices to obtain electron energies of several hundred MeV over short distances. (ii) High frequency radiation can be amplified.     

Generation of a dense electron beam in a thin film using an ultraintense femtosecond laser pulse

Electron dynamics in a thin target irradiated with femtosecond laser pulses at an intensity of 10²⁰ W/cm² is studied in the framework of the kinetic theory of laser plasma based on the construction of propagators (in classical limit) for electron and ion distribution functions in plasma. The calculations are performed for real densities and charges of plasma ions. Electrons are partly ejected from the target. The laser pulse energy is predominantly absorbed by electrons, and the electrons are accelerated to relatively high energies.