Parametric study of the current filamentation instability using laser wakefield accelerated electron beams

As the fidelity of electron beams produced via Laser Wakefield Acceleration (LWFA) improves over time, so too does the opportunity to use these beams for the application of studying relativistic plasma phenomena. Current filamentation instability (CFI), the formation of high current density filaments in a relativistic beam as it travels through a cold background plasma, is an astrophysical instability that may be observed in laboratory scales using beams from LWFA. An experiment was conducted at Colorado State University's ALEPH facility where we measured the dependence of the CFI growth rate on plasma parameters such as length, density, and ion species of the background plasma using electron beams generated via LWFA. The relativistic beam plasma from LWFA and the background plasma for CFI were controlled independently. Results from analysis of data taken on this experiment and trends relating the growth of beam filaments to the measured parameter space will be discussed. These results will be compared to Particle-in-Cell simulations and established theoretical frameworks.