Parametric investigation of laser wakefield acceleration versus F-number of focusing optics

N. Vafaei-Najafabadi; A. Ali; J. A. Chakera; R. Fedosejevs; Y. Y. Tsui

doi:10.1117/12.839825

4 August 2009 Parametric investigation of laser wakefield acceleration versus F-number of focusing optics

N. Vafaei-Najafabadi, A. Ali, J. A. Chakera, R. Fedosejevs, Y. Y. Tsui

Proceedings Volume 7386, Photonics North 2009; 738638 (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.839825
Event: Photonics North 2009, 2009, Quebec, Canada

Abstract

Laser wakefield acceleration is a growing area of research with the promise of generating high energy, low divergence, and short duration electron bunches from tabletop scale accelerators. To date, electron beams with maximum energy of 1 GeV with 2.5% energy spread have been generated using a 3cm plasma channel^[1]. However in order to advance the maximum energy of electron beams beyond this limit, better understanding of the physics and effect of different parameters on the interaction are essential. In this paper we report on our parametric studies of wakefield electron acceleration using the 10TW chirped pulse amplified laser system at the Advanced Laser Light Source (ALLS), Montreal. Laser pulses with energies of ~210 mJ at 33fs were focused using a short (f/6) and a long focal length (f/12) off axis parabola onto 2mm supersonic helium and nitrogen gas jets at different pressures. Nitrogen with electron densities of up to 2×10²⁰ cm^-3 and helium densities up to 5×10¹⁹ were used. Beams with energies of tens of MeV were observed using the short focal length parabola and beams with energies of several MeV were observed using the long focal length parabola. We also found that electron beams are more easily generated with higher levels of prepulse, consistent with previous reports of prepulse generated guiding channels in the plasma[5].

Citation Download Citation

N. Vafaei-Najafabadi, A. Ali, J. A. Chakera, R. Fedosejevs, and Y. Y. Tsui "Parametric investigation of laser wakefield acceleration versus F-number of focusing optics", Proc. SPIE 7386, Photonics North 2009, 738638 (4 August 2009); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.839825

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available