Direct acceleration of electrons by a CO2 laser in a curved plasma waveguide.
Laser plasma interaction with micro-engineered targets at relativistic intensities has been greatly promoted by recent progress in the high contrast lasers and the manufacture of advanced micro- and nano-structures. This opens new possibilities for the physics of laser-matter interaction. Here we propose a novel approach that leverages the advantages of high-pressure CO2 laser, laser-waveguide interaction, as well as micro-engineered plasma structure to accelerate electrons to peak energy greater than 1 GeV with narrow slice energy spread (~1%) and high overall efficiency. The acceleration gradient is 26 GV/m for a 1.3 TW CO2 laser system. The micro-bunching of a long electron beam leads to the generation of a chain of ultrashort electron bunches with the duration roughly equal to half-laser-cycle. These results open a way for developing a compact and economic electron source for diverse applications.
Institut fuer Theoretische Physik I, Heinrich-Heine-Universitaet Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, 40225 Germany.|State Key Laboratory of High Field Laser Physics, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 800-211, Shanghai 201800, China.
Longqing
L
Yi
Institut fuer Theoretische Physik I, Heinrich-Heine-Universitaet Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, 40225 Germany.
Alexander
A
Pukhov
State Key Laboratory of High Field Laser Physics, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 800-211, Shanghai 201800, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of IFSA (CICIFSA), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
Baifei
B
Shen