Electron self-injection threshold for the tandem-pulse laser wakefield accelerator

Physics of Plasmas, vol. 27

Abstract

A controllable injection scheme is key to producing high quality laser-driven electron beams and x rays. Self-injection is the most straightforward scheme leading to high current and peak energies but is susceptible to variations in laser parameters and target characteristics. In this work, improved control of electron self-injection in the nonlinear cavity regime using two laser-pulses propagating in tandem is investigated. In particular, the advantages of the tandem-pulse scheme in terms of injection threshold, electron energy, and beam properties in a regime relevant to betatron radiation are demonstrated. Moreover, it is shown that the laser power threshold for electron self-injection can be reduced by up to a factor of two compared to the standard, single-pulse wakefield scheme.

Authors 5

1. Zahra M. Chitgar Aachen Institut für Experimentalphysik III B und III Physikalisches Institut 2

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Supercomputing Centre · RWTH Aachen University · KU Leuven

   Affiliation as printed

   Institut für Experimentalphysik III B und III, Physikalisches Institut 2 , RWTH Aachen, 52074 Aachen, Germany

   Institute for Advanced Simulation, Jülich Supercomputing Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich 1 , D-52425 Jülich, Germany

   3Centre for Mathematical Plasma Astrophysics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium

2. P. Gibbon

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Supercomputing Centre · KU Leuven

   Affiliation as printed

   Centre for Mathematical Plasma Astrophysics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven 3 , 3000 Leuven, Belgium

   Institute for Advanced Simulation, Jülich Supercomputing Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich 1 , D-52425 Jülich, Germany

3. J. Böker

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · KU Leuven

   Affiliation as printed

   Institut für Kernphysik (IKP-4) 4 , Forschungszentrum Jülich, D-52425 Jülich, Germany

   3Centre for Mathematical Plasma Astrophysics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium

4. A. Lehrach Aachen Institut für Experimentalphysik III B und III Physikalisches Institut 2

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · RWTH Aachen University · KU Leuven

   Affiliation as printed

   Institut für Experimentalphysik III B und III, Physikalisches Institut 2 , RWTH Aachen, 52074 Aachen, Germany

   Institut für Kernphysik (IKP-4) 4 , Forschungszentrum Jülich, D-52425 Jülich, Germany

   3Centre for Mathematical Plasma Astrophysics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium

5. M. Büscher

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf · KU Leuven

   Affiliation as printed

   Institut für Laser- und Plasmaphysik, Heinrich-Heine Universität Düsseldorf 6 , D-40225 Düsseldorf, Germany

   Peter Grünberg Institut (PGI-6), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH 5 , D-52425 Jülich, Germany

   3Centre for Mathematical Plasma Astrophysics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium