Simulation study of electron injection into plasma wake fields by colliding laser pulses using OOPIC

An electron injector concept for a laser-plasma accelerator has been developed which relies on the use of counter propagating ultrashort laser pulses. In this paper, we use OOPIC the fully self-consistent, two-dimensional, particle-in-cell code to make a parameter study to determine the bunches that can be obtained through collisions of two collinear laser pulses in uniform plasma. A series of simulations show that one can obtain a short (<10fs) bunch with its charge of about 15pC, and energy spread of about 15%. We also discussed the variation of the transverse spot size of the electron bunch and found the bunch would undergo the betatron oscillations.     

Tailored terahertz pulses from a laser-modulated electron beam

We present a new method to generate steady and tunable, coherent, broadband terahertz radiation from a relativistic electron beam modulated by a femtosecond laser. We have demonstrated this in the electron storage ring at the Advanced Light Source. Interaction of an electron beam with a femtosecond laser pulse copropagating through a wiggler modulates the electron energies within a short slice of the electron bunch with about the same duration of the laser pulse. The bunch develops a longitudinal density perturbation due to the dispersion of electron trajectories, and the resulting hole emits short pulses of temporally and spatially coherent terahertz pulses synchronized to the laser. We present measurements of the intensity and spectra of these pulses. This technique allows tremendous flexibility in shaping the terahertz pulse by appropriate modulation of the laser pulse.     

Fully coherent x-ray pulses from a regenerative-amplifier free-electron laser

We propose and analyze a regenerative-amplifier free-electron laser (FEL) to produce fully coherent, hard x-ray pulses. The method makes use of narrow-bandwidth Bragg crystals to form an x-ray feedback loop around a relatively short undulator. Self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) from the leading electron bunch in a bunch train is spectrally filtered by the Bragg reflectors and is brought back to the beginning of the undulator to interact repeatedly with subsequent bunches in the bunch train. The FEL interaction with these short bunches regeneratively amplifies the radiation intensity and broadens its spectrum, allowing for effective transmission of the x rays outside the crystal bandwidth. The spectral brightness of these x-ray pulses is about 2 to 3 orders of magnitude higher than that from a single-pass SASE FEL.     

Coherent acceleration by laser pulse echelons in periodic plasma structures

We consider a possibilty to use an echelon of mutually coherent laser pulses generated by the emerging CAN (Coherent Amplification Network) technology for direct particle acceleration in periodic plasma structures. We discuss resonant and free streaming configurations. The resonant plasma structures can trap energy of longer laser pulses but are limited to moderate laser intensities of about 10¹⁴?W/cm² and are very sensitive to the structure quality. The free streaming configurations can survive laser intensities above 10¹⁸?W/cm² for several tens of femtoseconds so that sustained accelerating rates well above TeV/m are feasible. In our full electromagnetic relativistic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations we show a test electron bunch gaining up to 200?GeV over a distance of 10.2?cm only.     

Thomson backscattering X-rays from ultra-relativistic electron bunches and temporally shaped laser pulses

The process of Thomson scattering of an ultra-intense laser pulse by a relativistic electron bunch has been proposed as a way to obtain a bright source of short, tunable and quasi-monochromatic X-ray pulses. The real applicability of such a method depends crucially on the electron-beam quality, the angular and energetic distributions playing a relevant role. In this paper we present the computation of the Thomson-scattered radiation generated by a plane-wave, linearly polarized and flat-top laser pulse, incident on a counterpropagating electron bunch having a sizable angular divergence and a generic energy distribution. Both linear and nonlinear Thomson-scattering regimes are considered and the impact of the rising front of the pulse on the scattered-radiation distribution has been taken into account. Simplified relations valid for long laser pulses and small values of both scattering angle and bunch divergence are also reported. Finally, we apply the results to the cases of backscattering with electron bunches typically produced with both standard radio-frequency-based accelerators and laser–plasma accelerators.     

Femtosecond X-ray generation through relativistic electron beam–laser interaction

Methods for generating ultra-short X-rays using the interaction of intense laser pulses with relativistic electron beams, and their application to measuring ultra-fast phenomena in solid state materials, are reviewed. Two different methods that use a long electron bunch and short laser pulse are discussed: Thomson scattering and optical slicing which have been implemented on linac and storage ring beams, respectively. The possibility of generating ultrashort electrons bunches from laser-plasma injectors is discussed.     

Generation of electron nanobunches and short-wavelength radiation upon reflection of a relativistic-intensity laser pulse from a finite-size target

We have proposed an efficient scheme of generation of short dense electron bunches during the interaction at large angles of incidence of a laser pulse with a thin transversally semibounded laser target. Streams of bunches can be used to simultaneously and independently generate pulsed X-ray radiation as fast electrons hit secondary targets. Dependences of bunch parameters (the number of particles in the bunch and the bunch energy and thickness) on the angle of incidence and laser intensity have been obtained. It has been shown that, upon reflection from the target, the relativistic-intensity laser wave is efficiently converted (the energy-conversion factor reaches ～20%) into a sequence of electromagnetic tens-of-nanometer-long atto pulses, which follow one after another in the period of the initial laser wave. We have investigated how the parameters of the atto pulse depend on the angle of incidence and the laser intensity. We have shown that atto pulses are generated most efficiently at large angles of incidence (≥50°) of the laser pulse on the target.     

用ICCD作光开关测量储存环中光学速调管谐波超辐射

 用高通断比ICCD作为快速光开关,在中国科学技术大学的800MeV电子储存环上建造了一套光学速调管谐波超辐射测量系统,从每隔106个自发辐射脉冲1个谐波超辐射脉冲所形成的脉冲链里选出超辐射脉冲,测量谐波辐射的相干增强因子和谱宽。     

Modeling of Laser Generation and Propagation of Electron Bunch Along Thin Irradiated Wire

Three-dimensional numerical PIC simulation allowed the detection and study of the formation of an electron bunch moving with relativistic velocity along a thin metal wire during its irradiation with a short laser pulse of relativistic intensity. The bunch motion is accompanied by electromagnetic surface-type pulses.     

Measurement of the Gaponov-Miller force produced in vacuum by tightly focused intense femtosecond laser radiation

A method for measuring the Gaponov-Miller force (GMF) is demonstrated based on the deflection of a picosecond photoelectron beam exposed to tightly focused intense femtosecond laser radiation. It is shown experimentally that the action of this force produced by femtosecond laser pulses linearly depends on their intensity. The method can be used to verify the correctness of measuring the duration of an ultrashort electron bunch based on the GMF.     

储存环自由电子激光相干谐波实验的同步系统

 为了获得短波长自由电子激光(FEL),可以使储存环中的相对论性电子与外加强激光脉冲在光学速调管中充分耦合,从而产生高次谐波的相干辐射。为使耦合充分,必须使电子束团与激光脉冲在时间和空间上完全同步。其中空间上的同步可通过调节外激光的光路来实现,给出了实现时间上同步的一种方案。     

Generation of femtosecond X-ray pulses via laser–electron beam interaction

The generation of femtosecond X-ray pulses will have important scientific applications by enabling the direct measurement of atomic motion and structural dynamics in condensed matter on the fundamental time scale of a vibrational period. Interaction of femtosecond laser pulses with relativistic electron beams is an effective approach to generating femtosecond pulses of X-rays. In this paper we present recent results from proof-of-principle experiments in which 300 fs pulses are generated from a synchrotron storage ring by using an ultrashort optical pulse to create femtosecond time structure on the stored electron bunch. A previously demonstrated approach for generating femtosecond X-rays via Thomson scattering between terawatt laser pulses and relativistic electrons is reviewed and compared with storage-ring based schemes.     

A simple method for timing an XFEL source to high-power lasers

We propose a technique for timing an X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) to a high-power conventional laser with femtosecond accuracy, yielding the relative jitter between pump and X-ray probe, and allowing sorting of experimental results over a certain time window. The same electron bunch is used to produce both an XFEL pulse and an ultrashort optical pulse by means of an optical radiator downstream of the X-ray undulator. Being produced by the same electron bunch, these pulses are perfectly synchronized. Cross-correlation techniques will allow to determine relative jitter between the optical pulse (and, thus, the XFEL pulse) and a pulse from an external pump-laser. Technical realization of the proposed timing scheme uses an optical-replica synthesizer setup to be installed after the final bunch-compression stage of the XFEL for electron bunch diagnostics purposes. A number of critical issues are quantitatively analyzed.     

Generation and time jitter of the loose soliton bunch in a passively mode-locked fiber laser

We report a regime of the loose soliton bunch in an erbium-doped passively mode-locked fiber laser. In this state,every soliton bunch consists of multiple pulses. The amount of multiple pulses inside the soliton bunch increase as the pump power rises. Moreover, the temporal average pulse-to-pulse separation decreases in general with the increase of the pump power. Further, the spatial-temporal sequences based on the dispersive Fourier transformation technique show that pulse-to-pulse interactions and time jitter can result in pulse forking inside the soliton bunch. Finally, we theoretically demonstrate the soliton bunch with different pulse-to-pulse separations.     

Electron Dynamics and Characteristics of Attosecond Electromagnetic Emissions in Relativistic Laser-Plasma Interactions

Generation of attosecond electromagnetic(EM) pulses and the associated electron dynamics are studied using particle-in-cell simulations of relativistic laser pulses interacting with over-dense plasma foil targets. The interaction process is found to be so complicated even in the situation of utilizing driving laser pulses of only one cycle. Two electron bunches closely involved in the laser-driven wavebreaking process contribute to attosecond EM pulses through the coherent synchrotron emission process whose spectra are found to follow an exponential decay rule. Detailed investigations of electron dynamics indicate that the early part of the reflected EM emission is the high-harmonics produced through the relativistic oscillating mirror mechanism. High harmonics are also found to be generated through the Bremsstrahlung radiation by one electron bunch that participates in the wavebreaking process and decelerates when it experiences the local wavebreaking-generated high electrostatic field in the moving direction.     

Time-resolved phase measurement of a self-amplified free-electron laser

We report on the first time-resolved phase measurement on self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) free-electron laser (FEL) pulses. We observed that the spikes in the output of such free-electron laser pulses have an intrinsic positive chirp. We also observed that the energy chirp in the electron bunch mapped directly into the FEL output. Under certain conditions, the two chirps cancel each other. The experimental result was compared with simulations and interpreted with SASE theory.     

Attosecond electron bunches

Electron bunches of attosecond duration may coherently interact with laser beams. We show how p-polarized ultraintense laser pulses interacting with sharp boundaries of overdense plasmas can produce such bunches. Particle-in-cell simulations demonstrate attosecond bunch generation during pulse propagation through a thin channel or in the course of grazing incidence on a plasma layer. In the plasma, due to the self-intersection of electron trajectories, electron concentration is abruptly peaked. A group of counterstream electrons is pushed away from the plasma through nulls in the electromagnetic field, having inherited a peaked electron density distribution and forming relativistic ultrashort bunches in vacuum.     

Electrons in the Field of Interfering Laser Pulses with Tilted Fronts: Formation of Compressed Bunches and Their Application for the Generation of Coherent γ – Rays

Simulations show that optical traps for charged particles can be formed in the fields of intense ultrashort laser pulses with tilted amplitude fronts. The traps travel in space with the velocities close to the speed of light and can be used for the creation of electron bunches which, at the laser intensities which are currently attainable, are compressed to proportions far below the laser wavelength and have energies reaching hundreds of GeV per particle. If an additional ultrashort laser pulse is propagated in the direction opposite to that of the bunch motion and interacts with the electrons, inverse Compton scattering occurs, with most of the electron energy being transferred to the resulting gamma‐quanta. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Mode locking in a free-electron laser amplifier

A technique is proposed to generate attosecond pulse trains of radiation from a free-electron laser amplifier. The optics-free technique synthesizes a comb of longitudinal modes by applying a series of spatiotemporal shifts between the copropagating radiation and electron bunch in the free-electron laser. The modes may be phase locked by modulating the electron beam energy at the mode spacing frequency. Three-dimensional simulations demonstrate the generation of a train of 400 as pulses at gigawatt power levels evenly spaced by 2.5 fs at a wavelength of 124 angstroms. In the x-ray at wavelength 1.5 angstroms, trains of 23 as pulses evenly spaced by 150 as and of peak power up to 6 GW are predicted.     

Experimental verification of laser photocathode RF gun as aninjector for a laser plasma accelerator

The feasibility of the laser photocathode RF gun, BNL/GUN-IV, as an injector for a laser plasma accelerator was investigated at the subpicosecond S-band twin linac system of the Nuclear Engineering Research Laboratory, University of Tokyo. Electron beam energy of 16 MeV, emittance of 6π mm mrad, bunch length of 240 fs (FWHM), and charge per bunch of 350 pC were confirmed at 10 Hz. As for diagnosis of the femtosecond electron bunch, the quantitative comparison of performance of the femtosecond streak camera, the coherent transition radiation (CTR) Michelson interferometer, and the far-infrared polychromator was carried out. We concluded that the streak camera is the most reliable up to 200 fs and that the polychromator is the best for the shorter electron bunch. The 3.5-ps (rms) resolved synchronization between the YLF laser driver for the gun and the electron bunch was achieved. Based on the above experiences, we have designed and installed a much better laser-electron synchronization system using the Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti:Sapphire laser with the min harmonics synchrolocker and the stable 15-MW klystron. The timing jitter is expected to be suppressed down to 320 fs (rms)