Ionization injection and acceleration in a dephasingless laser wakefield accelerator

ORAL

Abstract

The viability of laser wakefield accelerators for use in next-generation x-ray free-electron lasers or linear colliders is limited by dephasing, diffraction, and pump depletion. Spatiotemporally structuring the laser pulse using an axiparabola and echelon can overcome these limitations by producing an intensity peak that travels at or near the vacuum speed of light in a plasma over many Rayleigh ranges [J. P. Palastro, et al., PRL, 124(13), 134802 (2020)]. Here, we present particle-in-cell simulations that show ionization injection and acceleration of a 25-pC electron beam to a maximum energy of 2.1 GeV over 20 dephasing lengths (1.3 cm) using a 6.2-J laser driver in the nonlinear bubble regime. Stable propagation is obtained by masking the inner portion of the axiparabola, accelerating the focus to compensate for the changing spot size, and offsetting the density profile to mitigate unwatned self-focusing. Scaling these results to a 500-J laser pulse could produce a 125-GeV electron beam in under 1 m.

*This work conducted under the auspices of the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences under Award Number DE-SC00215057, the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration under Award Number DE-NA0003856, the University of Rochester, and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

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Publication: Planned manuscript for submission to Nature Communications

Presenters

  • Kyle G Miller

    • Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester
    • University of Rochester, Laboratory for Laser Energetics

Authors

  • Kyle G Miller

    • Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester
    • University of Rochester, Laboratory for Laser Energetics

  • Manfred Virgil V Ambat

    • University of Rochester, Laboratory for Laser Energetics
    • Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester

  • Jacob R Pierce

    • University of California, Los Angeles
    • UCLA Plasma Simulation Group, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
    • UCLA Department of Physics and Astronomy
    • University of California Los Angeles
    • UCLA

  • Jessica Shaw

    • University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics
    • University of Rochester

  • Kale Weichman

    • Laboratory for Laser Energetics, U. of Rochester
    • University of Rochester, Laboratory for Laser Energetics
    • Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester

  • Warren Mori

    • University of California, Los Angeles
    • University of California Los Angeles

  • Dustin H Froula

    • University of Rochester
    • University of Rochester, Laboratory for Laser Energetics

  • John P Palastro

    • University of Rochester
    • University of Rochester, Laboratory for Laser Energetics