Wide-angle electron beams from laser-wakefield accelerators

Brunetti, E.; Yang, Xue; Li, Fei Yu; Gil, D. Reboredo; Welsh, G. H.; Cipiccia, Silvia; Ersfeld, B.; Grant, D. W.; Grant, P.; Islam, M. R.; Shahzad, Mohammed; Tooley, Matthew P.; Vieux, G.; Wiggins, Sean M.; Sheng, Zheng-Ming; Jaroszynski, D. A.

doi:10.1117/12.2269314

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…After a short overview of the experimental setup, the experimental results obtained from different types of diagnostics are presented. The resulting spatial structure of accelerated electrons consists of a central spot in laser forward direction and a surrounding outer ring-structure, similar to structures observed from LWFA [18][19][20]. There, the outer ring-structure stems from electrons that do not meet the trapping condition in the first wake but get accelerated via the subsequent wakes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 56%

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Spatial profile of accelerated electrons from ponderomotive scattering in hydrogen cluster targets

et al. 2022

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We study the laser-driven acceleration of electrons from overdense hydrogen clusters to energies of up to 13 MeV in laser forward direction and several hundreds of keV in an outer ring-structure. The use of cryogenic hydrogen allows for high repetition-rate operation and examination of the influence of source parameters like temperature and gas flow. The outer ring-structure of accelerated electrons, originating from the interaction, that is robust against the change of laser and target parameters can be observed for low electron densities of ca. 3×10^16 cm−3 . For higher electron densities, an additional central spot of electrons in the laser forward direction can be observed. Utilizing 3D-PIC simulations, it is revealed that both electron populations mainly stem from ponderomotive scattering.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 56%

“…These outer electrons can be used i.a. for the generation of transition radiation in the THz range by interaction with a foil [44] as well as lower-energy, nC-class sources [18] needed for e.g. radiotherapy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial profile of accelerated electrons from ponderomotive scattering in hydrogen cluster targets

et al. 2022

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“…Laser-wakefield accelerators have been shown not only to produce high-energy, short electron bunches, but also to emit a low-energy, high-charge electron beam on a cone centred along the laser propagation axis. 13,14 Correspondence can be sent to DAJ. E-mail: d.a.jaroszynski@strath.ac.uk Theoretical studies indicate that these wide-angle beams can also produce mJ-level THz radiation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coherent terahertz radiation emitted by wide-angle electron beams from a laser-wakefield accelerator

Brunetti¹,

Yang²,

Jaroszynski³

2019

Relativistic Plasma Waves and Particle Beams as Coherent and Incoherent Radiation Sources III

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Laser-wakefield accelerators generate femtosecond-duration electron bunches with energies from 10s of MeV to several GeV in millimetre distances by exploiting the large accelerating gradients created when a high-intensity laser pulse propagates in an underdense plasma. The process governing the formation of the accelerating structure ("bubble") also causes the generation of sub-picosecond duration, 1-2 MeV nanocoulomb electron beams emitted obliquely into a hollow cone around the laser propagation axis. We present simulations showing that these wide-angle beams can be used to produce coherent transition radiation in the 0.1-5 THz frequency range with 10s µJ to mJ-level energy if passed through an inserted metal foil, or directly at the plasma-vacuum interface. We investigate how the properties of terahertz radiation change with foil size, position and orientation. The bunch length and size of wide-angle beams increase quickly as the electrons leave the accelerator, causing a shift of the radiation frequency peak from about 1 THz at a distance of 0.1 mm from the accelerator exit to 0.2 THz at 1 mm. If the foil size is reduced, for example to match the typical diameter of the plasma channel formed in a laser-wakefield accelerator, simulating the emission from the plasma-vacuum boundary, the low-frequency side of the spectrum is suppressed. The charge of wide-angle electron beams is expected to increase linearly with the laser intensity, with a corresponding quadratic increase of the terahertz radiation energy, potentially paving the way for mJ-level sources of coherent terahertz radiation.

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High-energy coherent terahertz radiation emitted by wide-angle electron beams from a laser-wakefield accelerator

2018

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High-charge electron beams produced by laser-wakefield accelerators are potentially novel, scalable sources of high-power terahertz radiation suitable for applications requiring high-intensity fields. When an intense laser pulse propagates in underdense plasma, it can generate femtosecond duration, self-injected picocoulomb electron bunches that accelerate on-axis to energies from 10s of MeV to several GeV, depending on laser intensity and plasma density. The process leading to the formation of the accelerating structure also generates non-injected, sub-picosecond duration, 1-2MeV nanocoulomb electron beams emitted obliquely into a hollow cone around the laser propagation axis. These wide-angle beams are stable and depend weakly on laser and plasma parameters. Here we perform simulations to characterise the coherent transition radiation emitted by these beams if passed through a thin metal foil, or directly at the plasma-vacuum interface, showing that coherent terahertz radiation with 10sμJ to mJ-level energy can be produced with an optical to terahertz conversion efficiency up to 10 −4 -10 −3 .

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Wide-angle electron beams from laser-wakefield accelerators

Cited by 3 publications

References 30 publications

Spatial profile of accelerated electrons from ponderomotive scattering in hydrogen cluster targets

Spatial profile of accelerated electrons from ponderomotive scattering in hydrogen cluster targets

Coherent terahertz radiation emitted by wide-angle electron beams from a laser-wakefield accelerator

High-energy coherent terahertz radiation emitted by wide-angle electron beams from a laser-wakefield accelerator

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