Direct acceleration of electrons in a corrugated plasma waveguide.
Historically, direct acceleration of charged particles by electromagnetic fields has been limited by diffraction, phase matching, and material damage thresholds. A recently developed plasma micro-optic [B. Layer, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 035001 (2007)] removes these limitations and promises to allow high-field acceleration of electrons over many centimeters using relatively small femtosecond lasers. We present simulations that show a laser pulse power of 1.9 TW should allow an acceleration gradient larger than 80 MV/cm. A modest power of only 30 GW would still allow acceleration gradients in excess of 10 MV/cm.
Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA. andrew.g.york+prl@gmail.com
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AG
York
H M
HM
Milchberg
J P
JP
Palastro
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TM
Antonsen