title: Self-guided laser wakefield acceleration beyond 1 GeV using ionization-induced injection.
abstract: The concepts of matched-beam, self-guided laser propagation and ionization-induced injection have been combined to accelerate electrons up to 1.45 GeV energy in a laser wakefield accelerator. From the spatial and spectral content of the laser light exiting the plasma, we infer that the 60 fs, 110 TW laser pulse is guided and excites a wake over the entire 1.3 cm length of the gas cell at densities below 1.5 × 10(18) cm(-3). High-energy electrons are observed only when small (3%) amounts of CO2 gas are added to the He gas. Computer simulations confirm that it is the K-shell electrons of oxygen that are ionized and injected into the wake and accelerated to beyond 1 GeV energy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA. cclayton@ucla.edu
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Clayton
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Ralph
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Albert
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Fonseca
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Glenzer
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Joshi
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Marsh
authors.forename: S F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.forename: W B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pak
authors.forename: F S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Tsung
authors.forename: B B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Pollock
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: L O
authors.initials: LO
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Froula