Femtosecond electron pulse characterization using laser ponderomotive scattering

We demonstrate a method for the measurement of the instantaneous duration of femtosecond electron pulses using the ponderomotive force of an intense ultrashort laser pulse. An analysis procedure for the extraction of the electron pulse duration from the transient change of the transverse electron beam profile is proposed. The durations of the electron pulses generated in our setup were determined to be 410+/-30 fs.     

All-optical cascaded laser wakefield accelerator using ionization-induced injection

We report on near-GeV electron beam generation from an all-optical cascaded laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA). Electron injection and acceleration are successfully separated and controlled in different LWFA stages by employing two gas cells filled with a He/O2 mixture and pure He gas, respectively. Electrons with a Maxwellian spectrum, generated from the first LWFA assisted by ionization-induced injection, were seeded into the second LWFA with a 3-mm-thick gas cell and accelerated to be a 0.8-GeV quasimonoenergetic electron beam, corresponding to an acceleration gradient of 187 GV/m. The demonstrated scheme paves the way towards the multi-GeV laser accelerators.     

基于激光尾场加速的自反射式全光汤姆孙散射的参数优化

基于激光尾场加速的全光汤姆孙散射能够提供高质量X射线束并大大减小装置的尺寸.与分光式相比,自反射式的构架可以降低实验的时空同步难度,但是由于激光尾场电子加速和汤姆孙散射过程耦合, X射线优化难度大,目前缺乏参数优化的相关报道.本文用数值模拟修正解析理论的方法,定量分析了激光尾场电子加速和汤姆孙散射过程中激光和电子束的焦斑、脉宽、能量等参数变化情况,并给出了激光在等离子体镜上的反射率,从而实现了用解析公式计算而非数值模拟跟踪参数变化,在保证精度的同时节约了计算时间.另外,利用修正后的公式优化了给定激光条件下的自反射式全光汤姆孙散射X射线,通过改变等离子体密度和等离子体镜位置这两个参数给出了最优X射线亮度和光子产额,该方法为将来结合人工智能优化控制全光汤姆孙散射光源提供了理论基础.     

激光尾波场中光子加速研究

在SILEX-Ⅰ激光装置上,测量了超短超强激光脉冲与稀薄等离子体相互作用之后的透射谱. 实验中发现,激光尾波场产生的密度扰动导致等离子体折射率随时间空间不断变化,导致光子的加速/减速. 透射谱上主要表现为激光频率谱峰的劈裂和随密度变化的展宽,没有发现与前向受激拉曼散射或自调制不稳定性相联系的边频波. 同时,利用LPIC++无碰撞粒子模拟程序模拟了超短超强激光与稀薄等离子体相互作用后的透射谱,模拟结果也发现了明显的光子加速过程. 关键词： 超短超强激光脉冲 透射谱 光子加速/减速     

锐真空-等离子体边界倾角对激光尾波场加速中电子注入的影响

超短超强激光脉冲在气体等离子体中激发的尾波场加速在过去40年里有了长足的发展,人们已经在厘米加速距离内获得了数GeV的准单能电子加速,激光尾波加速的最高电子能量已经达到8 GeV.为了进一步提升加速电子束的稳定性和品质,多种电子注入方式先后被提出.本文研究了基于锐真空-等离子体边界面的密度跃变注入,着重讨论了不同角度的倾斜边界面对注入电子品质的影响.二维粒子模拟研究表明,与倾角为0°的垂直边界面相比,在合适的倾斜边界角下,第二个尾波空泡内产生的注入电量可以有近三倍的提升,同时偏振方向与入射面平行的驱动激光可以增加第一个空泡内注入电子的电量.根据不同激光入射角度时尾波场中电子自注入的起始位置差异,分析了电子电量与横向振荡增强的原因.这些研究有利于提升基于Betatron运动的尾波场辐射及其应用.     

激光脉冲的横向波形对弓形波电子俘获的影响

用粒子模拟研究了在激光尾波场电子弓形波注入过程中激光脉冲的横向波形对尾波场俘获电子数目的影响, 发现与高斯激光相比, 超高斯形激光更有利于拉动空泡闭合前侧边的电子团向空泡尾部汇聚形成高能量局域化的弓形波, 从而导致更多的电子注入到空泡的加速相, 使得被俘获的电子数目提高近5倍, 且电子束品质得到改善.该研究对于进一步理解尾波场加速中电子注入等有参考价值. 关键词： 尾波场 电子俘获 横向波形 粒子模拟     

Observation of large-angle quasimonoenergetic electrons from a laser wakefield

A relativistically intense laser pulse is focused into a helium jet and quasimonoenergetic electrons emitted at a 40 degrees angle with respect to the laser axis are observed. The average electron energy is between 1 and 2 MeV and the total accelerated charge is about 1 nC emitted in a 10 degrees cone angle. Three dimensional particle-in-cell simulations reproduce key features of the experimental results and show that the interaction between ionization heating and nonlinear cavitation wakefields is responsible for the acceleration.     

Electron, positron, and photon wakefield acceleration: trapping, wake overtaking, and ponderomotive acceleration

The electron, positron, and photon acceleration in the first cycle of a laser-driven wakefield is investigated. Separatrices between different types of the particle motion (trapped, reflected by the wakefield and ponderomotive potential, and transient) are demonstrated. The ponderomotive acceleration of electrons can be largely compensated by the wakefield action, in contrast to positrons and positively charged mesons. The electron bunch energy spectrum is analyzed. The maximum upshift of an electromagnetic wave frequency during reflection from the wakefield is obtained.     

激光等离子体尾波加速器的发展和展望

超强激光在气体等离子体中传输时可以激发出大振幅的电子等离子体尾波。激光等离子体尾波加速器是利用该尾波对带电粒子（特别是电子和正电子）进行加速的一种新型装置。由于其加速梯度相较于现有的常规加速器可以提升1000倍,为建造超紧凑型的加速器和辐射源奠定了基础,也为将来建造基于等离子体的超高能正负电子对撞机和自由电子激光装置提供了可能。对该新型加速器的原理、特点、发展历程,尤其是近十年来的主要进展和未来发展趋势及面临的主要挑战进行简要梳理和介绍。     

Self-focusing of laser beams in a plasma by ponderomotive forces

Self-focusing of a laser beam in a plasma is treated in terms of the ponderomotive acceleration due to the gradient of the light intensity. The focusing of radiation within the first minima of diffraction sets a lower limit to the laser power which is of the order of 1 MW for the usual lasers if cut-off density and a plasma temperature of about 10 eV are assumed.     

有质动力和静电分离场对激光等离子体流体力学状态的影响

利用建立在欧拉坐标系上的一维电子_离子双流双温流体力学程序, 模拟了超短脉冲强激光 (1×1015W/cm2, 150fs)与线性密度梯度等离子体相互作用的流体力学过程. 模拟结果显示，入射激光与临界密度面的反射光叠加，在临界密度以下区域形成局域驻波， 产生的强有质动力在低密区驱动电子形成周期性密度结构——Bragg光栅，激光的反射被增 强. 临界密度处有质动力将等离子体分成向内和向外运动的两部分. 由于离子所受的有质动 力和热压强的梯度力远小于电子，体系产生了强静电分离场，离子的运动主要由该静电分离 场决定. 对双流双温模型和单流双温模型的模拟结果进行了比较. 当有质动力和热压强梯度 力较大时，两种模型对等离子体流体力学状态的描述有明显差异，单流双温模型无法描述此 时的流体力学状态. 关键词： 有质动力 密度调制 双流双温流体力学模型 单流模型     

Accurate monoenergetic electron parameters of laser wakefield in a bubble model

A reliable analytical expression for the potential of plasma waves with phase velocities near the speed of light is derived. The presented spheroid cavity model is more consistent than the previous spherical and ellipsoidal model and it explains the mono-energetic electron trajectory more accurately, especially at the relativistic region. As a result, the quasi-mono-energetic electrons output beam interacting with the laser plasma can be more appropriately described with this model.     

Phase velocity and particle injection in a self-modulated proton-driven plasma wakefield accelerator

It is demonstrated that the performance of the self-modulated proton driver plasma wakefield accelerator is strongly affected by the reduced phase velocity of the plasma wave. Using analytical theory and particle-in-cell simulations, we show that the reduction is largest during the linear stage of self-modulation. As the instability nonlinearly saturates, the phase velocity approaches that of the driver. The deleterious effects of the wake's dynamics on the maximum energy gain of accelerated electrons can be avoided using side-injections of electrons, or by controlling the wake's phase velocity by smooth plasma density gradients.     

Simulation studies of laser wakefield acceleration based on typical 100 TW laser facilities

In this paper, 2-D Particle-In-Cell simulations are made for Laser Wakefield Accelerations (LWFA). As in a real experiment, we perform plasma density scanning for typical 100 TW laser facilities. Several basic laws for self-injected acceleration in a bubble regime are presented. According to these laws, we choose a proper plasma density and then obtain a high quality quasi-monoenergetic electron bunch with a rms energy of more than 650 MeV and a bunch length of less than 1.5 \upmu m.     

Simulation studies of laser wakefield acceleration based on typical 100 TW laser facilities

In this paper,2-D Particle-In-Cell simulations are made for Laser Wakefield Accelerations(LWFA).As in a real experiment,we perform plasma density scanning for typical 100 TW laser facilities.Several basic laws for self-injected acceleration in a bubble regime are presented.According to these laws,we choose a proper plasma density and then obtain a high quality quasi-monoenergetic electron bunch with arms energy of more than 650 MeV and a bunch length of less than 1.5 μn.     

Complete temporal characterization of asymmetric pulse compression in a laser wakefield

We present complete experimental characterization of the temporal shape of an intense ultrashort 200-TW laser pulse driving a laser wakefield. The phase of the pulse was uniquely measured by using (second-order) frequency-resolved optical gating. The pulses are asymmetrically compressed and exhibit a positive chirp consistent with the expected asymmetric self-phase-modulation due to photon acceleration or deceleration in a relativistic plasma wave. The measured pulse duration decreases linearly with increasing length and density of the plasma, in quantitative agreement with the intensity-dependent group velocity variation in the plasma wave.     

Relativistic ponderomotive forces in the field of intense laser radiation

The motion of a relativistic charged particle in the presence of the field of high-power laser radiation represented in the form of a Gaussian beam of arbitrary mode is analyzed. The vector potential of the radiation field is expanded in terms of a small parameter (the ratio of the wavelength to the Gaussian beam waist). A specific feature of averaging with respect to the phases of the high-mode Gaussian beams is demonstrated. The averaged equations for the motion of particle and a general expression for the ponderomotive relativistic force for the circularly polarized radiation are derived. It is demonstrated that relativistic effects suppress the averaged action of high-power laser radiation on the particle.     

Observation of a hot high-current electron beam from a self-modulated laser wakefield accelerator

A highly relativistic electron beam produced by a 50 TW laser-plasma accelerator has been characterized by photonuclear techniques. The beam has large divergence that increases with plasma density. The electron yield also increases with plasma density and reaches up to 4x10(11) electrons ( >10 MeV), with beam current approaching the Alfvén limit. Effective electron temperatures exceeding 8 MeV are found, leading to an order of magnitude higher photonuclear activation yield than in solid target experiments with the same laser system.