High-voltage pulse generator to produce plasma channels for laser wakefield acceleration

Summary form only given. Laser-Wakefield Accelerators (LWFA) use the interaction of intense and short-pulse lasers with plasmas to create relativistic high-amplitude plasma density waves. These waves are able to sustain electric fields of GV/cm leading to compact relativistic electron sources. The electron energy gain can be significantly enhanced by propagating the laser in a plasma channel with a parabolic radial density profile that is able to guide the laser beam as in an optical fiber. In this way, the laser beam is kept focused to high-intensity by a length many times longer than the Rayleigh length extending the effective acceleration length.