Inverse free electron lasers and laser wakefield acceleration driven by CO2 lasers

W. D. Kimura*, N. E. Andreev, M. Babzien, I. Ben-Zvi, D. B. Cline, C. E. Dilley, S. C. Gottschalk, S. M. Hooker, K. P. Kusche, S. V. Kuznetsov, I. V. Pavlishin, I. V. Pogorelsky, A. A. Pogosova, L. C. Steinhauer, A. Ting, V. Yakimenko, A. Zigler, F. Zhou

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

The staged electron laser acceleration (STELLA) experiment demonstrated staging between two laser-driven devices, high trapping efficiency of microbunches within the accelerating field and narrow energy spread during laser acceleration. These are important for practical laser-driven accelerators. STELLA used inverse free electron lasers, which were chosen primarily for convenience. Nevertheless, the STELLA approach can be applied to other laser acceleration methods, in particular, laser-driven plasma accelerators. STELLA is now conducting experiments on laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA). Two novel LWFA approaches are being investigated. In the first one, called pseudo-resonant LWFA, a laser pulse enters a low-density plasma where nonlinear laser/plasma interactions cause the laser pulse shape to steepen, thereby creating strong wakefields. A witness e-beam pulse probes the wakefields. The second one, called seeded self-modulated LWFA, involves sending a seed e-beam pulse into the plasma to initiate wakefield formation. These wakefields are amplified by a laser pulse following shortly after the seed pulse. A second e-beam pulse (witness) follows the seed pulse to probe the wakefields. These LWFA experiments will also be the first ones driven by a CO2 laser beam.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)611-622
Number of pages12
JournalPhilosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences
Volume364
Issue number1840
DOIs
StatePublished - 15 Mar 2006

Keywords

  • Co laser
  • Inverse free electron laser
  • Laser acceleration
  • Laser wakefield acceleration
  • Microbunch

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