Search Results (67 total)

A laser wakefield acceleration study has been performed in the matched, self-guided, blowout regime producing 720±50  MeV quasimonoenergetic electrons with a divergence Δθ_FWHM of 2.85±0.15  mrad using a 10 J, 60 fs 0.8  μm laser. While maintaining a nearly constant plasma density (3×10¹⁸  cm^-3), the energy gain increased from 75 to 720 MeV when the plasma length was increased from 3 to 8 mm. Absolute charge measurements indicate that self-injection of electrons occurs when the laser power P exceeds 3 times the critical power P_cr for relativistic self-focusing and saturates around 100 pC for P/P_cr>5. The results are compared with both analytical scalings and full 3D particle-in-cell simulations.

Positron trapping and acceleration in a plasma wake using a four-bunch scheme [X. Wang , Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 124801 (2008)] is numerically investigated through 2D particle-in-cell simulations. This scheme that integrates positron generation, trapping, and acceleration into a single stage is a promising approach for investigating positron acceleration in an electron-beam-driven wake. It consists of a plasma with an embedded thin foil target into which two closely spaced electron beams are shot. The first beam creates a region for accelerating and focusing positrons and the second beam provides positrons to be accelerated. Some of the outstanding issues related to the quality of the accelerated positron beam load are discussed as a function of the beam and plasma parameters. Simulations show that a large number of positrons (10⁷–10⁸) can be trapped when the plasma wake is modestly nonlinear, and the positron-generating foil target must be immersed into the plasma. Beam loading can reduce the energy spread of the positron beam load. The quality of the positron beam load is not very sensitive to the exact bunch spacing between the drive electron bunch and the positron beam load.

Multi-GeV trapped electron bunches in a plasma wakefield accelerator (PWFA) are observed with normalized transverse emittance divided by peak current, ϵ_N,x/I_t, below the level of 0.2  μm/kA. A theoretical model of the trapped electron emittance, developed here, indicates that emittance scales inversely with the square root of the plasma density in the nonlinear “bubble” regime of the PWFA. This model and simulations indicate that the observed values of ϵ_N,x/I_t result from multi-GeV trapped electron bunches with emittances of a few  μm and multi-kA peak currents.

We have shown that a seventh-order inverse-free-electron laser (IFEL) interaction, where the radiation frequency is the seventh harmonic of the fundamental resonant frequency, can microbunch a beam of relativistic electrons inside an undulator. Using coherent transition radiation (CTR) emitted by the bunched 12.3 MeV beam as a diagnostic, strong microbunching of the beam is inferred from the observation of CTR at the first, second, and third harmonics of the seed 10  μm radiation. Three-dimensional IFEL simulations show that the observed harmonic ratios can be explained only if transverse spatial distribution of the steepened bunched beam is taken into account.

The self-guiding of relativistically intense but ultrashort laser pulses has been experimentally investigated as a function of laser power, plasma density, and plasma length in the blowout regime. The extent of self-guiding, observed by imaging the plasma exit, is shown to be limited by nonlinear pump depletion with observed self-guiding of over tens of Rayleigh lengths. Spectrally resolved images of the plasma exit show evidence consistent with self-guiding in the plasma wake. Minimal losses of the self-guided pulse resulted when the initial spot size was matched to the blowout radius.

A novel approach for generating and accelerating positron bunches in a plasma wake is proposed and modeled. The system consists of a plasma with an embedded thin foil into which two electron beams are shot. The first beam creates a region for accelerating and focusing positrons and the second beam provides positrons to be accelerated. Monte Carlo and 3D PIC simulations show a large number of positrons (10⁷∼10⁸) are trapped and accelerated to ∼5  GeV over 1 m with relatively narrow energy spread and low emittance.

An ultrarelativistic 28.5 GeV, 700-μm-long positron bunch is focused near the entrance of a 1.4-m-long plasma with a density n_e between ≈10¹³ and ≈5×10¹⁴  cm^-3. Partial neutralization of the bunch space charge by the mobile plasma electrons results in a reduction in transverse size by a factor of ≈3 in the high emittance plane of the beam ≈1  m downstream from the plasma exit. As n_e increases, the formation of a beam halo containing ≈40% of the total charge is observed, indicating that the plasma focusing force is nonlinear. Numerical simulations confirm these observations. The bunch with an incoming transverse size ratio of ≈3 and emittance ratio of ≈5 suffers emittance growth and exits the plasma with approximately equal sizes and emittances.

The electron hosing instability in the blow-out regime of plasma-wakefield acceleration is investigated using a linear perturbation theory about the electron blow-out trajectory in Lu et al. [in Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 165002 (2006)]. The growth of the instability is found to be affected by the beam parameters unlike in the standard theory Whittum et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 67, 991 (1991)] which is strictly valid for preformed channels. Particle-in-cell simulations agree with this new theory, which predicts less hosing growth than found by the hosing theory of Whittum et al.

The extraordinary ability of space-charge waves in plasmas to accelerate charged particles at gradients that are orders of magnitude greater than in current accelerators has been well documented. We develop a phenomenological framework for laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) in the 3D nonlinear regime, in which the plasma electrons are expelled by the radiation pressure of a short pulse laser, leading to nearly complete blowout. Our theory provides a recipe for designing a LWFA for given laser and plasma parameters and estimates the number and the energy of the accelerated electrons whether self-injected or externally injected. These formulas apply for self-guided as well as externally guided pulses (e.g. by plasma channels). We demonstrate our results by presenting a sample particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation of a 30   fs, 200 TW laser interacting with a 0.75 cm long plasma with density 1.5×10¹⁸  cm^-3 to produce an ultrashort (10 fs) monoenergetic bunch of self-injected electrons at 1.5 GeV with 0.3 nC of charge. For future higher-energy accelerator applications, we propose a parameter space, which is distinct from that described by Gordienko and Pukhov [Phys. Plasmas 12, 043109 (2005)] in that it involves lower plasma densities and wider spot sizes while keeping the intensity relatively constant. We find that this helps increase the output electron beam energy while keeping the efficiency high.

The onset of trapping of electrons born inside a highly relativistic, 3D beam-driven plasma wake is investigated. Trapping occurs in the transition regions of a Li plasma confined by He gas. Li plasma electrons support the wake, and higher ionization potential He atoms are ionized as the beam is focused by Li ions and can be trapped. As the wake amplitude is increased, the onset of trapping is observed. Some electrons gain up to 7.6 GeV in a 30.5 cm plasma. The experimentally inferred trapping threshold is at a wake amplitude of 36  GV/m, in good agreement with an analytical model and PIC simulations.

A comprehensive analysis is presented that describes amplification of a seed THz pulse in a single-pass free-electron laser (FEL) driven by a photoinjector. The dynamics of the radiation pulse and the modulated electron beam are modeled using the time-dependent FEL code, GENESIS 1.3. A 10-ps (FWHM) electron beam with a peak current of 50–100 A allows amplification of a ∼1  kW seed pulse in the frequency range 0.5–3 THz up to 10–100 MW power in a relatively compact 2-m long planar undulator. The electron beam driving the FEL is strongly modulated, with some inhomogeneity due to the slippage effect. It is shown that THz microbunching of the electron beam is homogeneous over the entire electron pulse when saturated FEL amplification is utilized at the very entrance of an undulator. This requires seeding of a 30-cm long undulator buncher with a 1–3 MW of pump power with radiation at the resonant frequency. A narrow-band seed pulse in the THz range needed for these experiments can be generated by frequency mixing of CO₂ laser lines in a GaAs nonlinear crystal. Two schemes for producing MW power pulses in seeded FELs are considered in some detail for the beam parameters achievable at the Neptune Laboratory at UCLA: the first uses a waveguide to transport radiation in the 0.5–3 THz range through a 2-m long FEL amplifier and the second employs high-gain third harmonic generation using the FEL process at 3–9 THz.

Positrons in the energy range of 3–30 MeV, produced by x rays emitted by betatron motion in a plasma wiggler of 28.5 GeV electrons from the SLAC accelerator, have been measured. The extremely high-strength plasma wiggler is an ion column induced by the electron beam as it propagates through and ionizes dense lithium vapor. X rays in the range of 1–50 MeV in a forward cone angle of 0.1 mrad collide with a 1.7 mm thick tungsten target to produce electron-positron pairs. The positron spectra are found to be strongly influenced by the plasma density and length as well as the electron bunch length. By characterizing the beam propagation in the ion column these influences are quantified and result in excellent agreement between the measured and calculated positron spectra.

Plasma production via field ionization occurs when an incoming particle beam is sufficiently dense that the electric field associated with the beam ionizes a neutral vapor or gas. Experiments conducted at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center explore the threshold conditions necessary to induce field ionization by an electron beam in a neutral lithium vapor. By independently varying the transverse beam size, number of electrons per bunch, or bunch length, the radial component of the electric field is controlled to be above or below the threshold for field ionization. Additional experiments ionized neutral xenon and neutral nitric oxide by varying the incoming beam’s bunch length. A self-ionized plasma is an essential step for the viability of plasma-based accelerators for future high-energy experiments.

The propagation of an intense relativistic electron beam through a gas that is self-ionized by the beam’s space charge and wakefields is examined analytically and with 3D particle-in-cell simulations. Instability arises from the coupling between a beam and the offset plasma channel it creates when it is perturbed. The traditional electron hose instability in a preformed plasma is replaced with this slower growth instability depending on the radius of the ionization channel compared to the electron blowout radius. A new regime for hose stable plasma wakefield acceleration is suggested.

A plasma-wakefield accelerator has accelerated particles by over 2.7 GeV in a 10 cm long plasma module. A 28.5 GeV electron beam with 1.8×10¹⁰ electrons is compressed to 20  μm longitudinally and focused to a transverse spot size of 10  μm at the entrance of a 10 cm long column of lithium vapor with density 2.8×10¹⁷  atoms/cm³. The electron bunch fully ionizes the lithium vapor to create a plasma and then expels the plasma electrons. These electrons return one-half plasma period later driving a large amplitude plasma wake that in turn accelerates particles in the back of the bunch by more than 2.7 GeV.

Energy gain of trapped electrons in excess of 20 MeV has been demonstrated in an inverse-free-electron-laser (IFEL) accelerator experiment. A 14.5 MeV electron beam is copropagated with a 400 GW CO₂ laser beam in a 50 cm long undulator strongly tapered in period and field amplitude. The Rayleigh range of the laser, ∼1.8  cm, is much shorter than the undulator length yielding a diffraction-dominated interaction. Experimental results on the dependence of the acceleration on injection energy, laser focus position, and laser power are discussed. Simulations, in good agreement with the experimental data, show that most of the energy gain occurs in the first half of the undulator at a gradient of 70  MeV/m and that the structure in the measured energy spectrum arises because of higher harmonic IFEL interaction in the second half of the undulator.

A concept for increasing the energy of a multibunch linear collider using plasma wakefields is examined. The realization of high beam quality and high efficiency (and high luminosity) requires more complexity than the original plasma afterburner concept proposed for doubling the energy of single bunch linear colliders. This paper discusses the possibilities of using alternate bunches in the train to drive the wake and accelerate upon it or alternately a few bunches to excite the wake and a single bunch to accelerate it. Simulation results indicate that an energy of collision/energy of linac ratio of 2.8 can be obtained with 4% energy spread and 0.29 relative luminosity by utilizing five drive bunches per accelerated bunch. The concept including transverse effects is modeled with 2D linear plasma wakefield theory.

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.

A high-gradient, meter-scale plasma-wakefield accelerator module operating in the electron blowout regime is demonstrated experimentally. The beam and plasma parameters are chosen such that the matched beam channels through the plasma over more than 12 beam beta functions without spreading or oscillating over a range of densities optimum for observing both deceleration and acceleration. The wakefield decelerates the bulk of the initially 28.5 GeV beam by up to 155 MeV; however, particles in the back of the same beam are accelerated by up to 280 MeV at a density of 1.9×10¹⁴   cm^-3 as the wakefield changes sign.

Enhanced energy gain of externally injected electrons by a ∼3  cm long, high-gradient relativistic plasma wave (RPW) is demonstrated. Using a CO₂ laser beat wave of duration longer than the ion motion time across the laser spot size, a laser self-guiding process is initiated in a plasma channel. Guiding compensates for ionization-induced defocusing (IID) creating a longer plasma, which extends the interaction length between electrons and the RPW. In contrast to a maximum energy gain of 10 MeV when IID is dominant, the electrons gain up to 38 MeV energy in a laser-beat-wave-induced plasma channel.

The nonresonant beat-wave excitation of relativistic plasma waves is studied in two-dimensional simulations and experiments. It is shown through simulations that, as opposed to the resonant case, the accelerating electric fields associated with the nonresonant plasmons are always in phase with the beat-pattern of the laser pulse. The excitation of such nonresonant relativistic plasma waves is shown to be possible for plasma densities as high as 14 times the resonant density. The density fluctuations and the fields associated with these waves have significant magnitudes, facts confirmed experimentally using collinear Thomson scattering and electron injection, respectively. The applicability of these results towards eventual phase-locked acceleration of prebunched and externally injected electrons is discussed.

Tunnel ionizing neutral gas with the self-field of a charged particle beam is explored as a possible way of creating plasma sources for a plasma wakefield accelerator [Bruhwiler et al., Phys. Plasmas (to be published)]. The optimal gas density for maximizing the plasma wakefield without preionized plasma is studied using the PIC simulation code OSIRIS [R. Hemker et al., in Proceeding of the Fifth IEEE Particle Accelerator Conference (IEEE, 1999), pp. 3672–3674]. To obtain wakefields comparable to the optimal preionized case, the gas density needs to be seven times higher than the plasma density in a typical preionized case. A physical explanation is given.

Plasma wakefields are both excited and probed by propagating an intense 28.5 GeV positron beam through a 1.4 m long lithium plasma. The main body of the beam loses energy in exciting this wakefield while positrons in the back of the same beam can be accelerated by the same wakefield as it changes sign. The scaling of energy loss with plasma density as well as the energy gain seen at the highest plasma density is in excellent agreement with simulations.

We report on the first study of the dynamic transverse forces imparted to an ultrarelativistic positron beam by a long plasma in the underdense regime. Focusing of the 28.5 GeV beam is observed from time-resolved beam profiles after the 1.4 m plasma. The strength of the imparted force varies along the ∼12  ps full length of the bunch as well as with plasma density. Computer simulations substantiate the longitudinal aberration seen in the data and reveal mechanisms for emittance degradation.