Multi-GeV electron generation using Texas petawatt laser system

The parameters of the Texas Petawatt (PW) laser system presently make it the unique facility that can accomplish self-guided multi-GeV electron acceleration. Simulation results [1] show that the PW laser beam can be self-guided up to 10cm in the plasma bubble regime of LWFA, significantly increasing the electron acceleration length. It is also shown that electrons can be self-injected into the plasma bubble; small admixture of high Z gas may be required in some regimes to assist self-injection. $\sim $7GeV with less than 10{\%} energy spread and $\sim $1nC electron beams are expected to be generated with the above experimental conditions. Optical diagnostics include transverse Thomson scattering of the PW drive beam to observe laser self-guiding, and transverse shadowgraphy and interferometry to observe plasma morphology. Single-shot Frequency Domain Holography (FDH) [2] will also be employed in an off-axis geometry to visualize the formation and evolution of the plasma bubble. \\[4pt] [1] S. Y. Kalmykov et. al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 135004 (2009) \\[0pt] [2] N. H. Matlis et. al., Nature Phys. 2, 749 (2006)