CERN Accelerating science

Published Articles
Report number	CERN-ACC-2017-0047
Title	Three electron beams from a laser-plasma wakefield accelerator and the energy apportioning question
Author(s)	Yang, X (Strathclyde University, Glasgow, UK) ; Brunetti, Enrico (Strathclyde University, Glasgow, UK) ; Reboredo Gil, David (Strathclyde University, Glasgow, UK) ; Welsh, Gregor H (Strathclyde University, Glasgow, UK) ; Li, Y.F (Strathclyde University, Glasgow, UK) ; Cipiccia, Silvia (Strathclyde University, Glasgow, UK) ; Ersfeld, Bernhard (Strathclyde University, Glasgow, UK) ; Grant, D. W (Strathclyde University, Glasgow, UK) ; Grant, P. A (Strathclyde University, Glasgow, UK) ; Islam, Muhammad (Strathclyde University, Glasgow, UK) ; Tooley, M.B (Strathclyde University, Glasgow, UK) ; Vieux, Gregory (Strathclyde University, Glasgow, UK and Institute of Physics ASCR, Prague, Czech Republic) ; Wiggins, Sally (Strathclyde University, Glasgow, UK) ; Sheng, Zheng-Ming (Strathclyde University, Glasgow, UK and Capital Normal Beijing University, China) ; Jaroszynski, Dino (Strathclyde University, Glasgow, UK)
Publication	2017
Imprint	2017-03-10
In:	Sci. Rep. 7 (2017) 43910
DOI	10.1038/srep43910
Subject category	Accelerators and Storage Rings ; 13: Novel Acceleration Techniques (ANAC2) ; 13.1: Coordination and Communication
Abstract	Laser-wakefield accelerators are compact devices capable of delivering ultra-short electron bunches with pC-level charge and MeV-GeV energy by exploiting the ultra-high electric fields arising from the interaction of intense laser pulses with plasma. We show experimentally and through numerical simulations that a high-energy electron beam is produced simultaneously with two stable lowerenergy beams that are ejected in oblique and counter-propagating directions, typically carrying off 5–10% of the initial laser energy. A MeV, 10s nC oblique beam is ejected in a 30°–60° hollow cone, which is filled with more energetic electrons determined by the injection dynamics. A nC-level, 100s keV backward-directed beam is mainly produced at the leading edge of the plasma column. We discuss the apportioning of absorbed laser energy amongst the three beams. Knowledge of the distribution of laser energy and electron beam charge, which determine the overall efficiency, is important for various applications of laser-wakefield accelerators, including the development of staged high-energy accelerators.

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