Channeling and time evolution of laser wakes and electron acceleration in a self-modulated laser wakefield accelerator experiment

Author

Ting, A. ; Moore, C.I. ; Krushelnick, K. ; Burris, H.R. ; Manka, C. ; Fischer, R. ; Baine, M. ; Esarey, E. ; Hubbard, R.F. ; Sprangle, P.

Author_Institution

Div. of Plasma Phys., Naval Res. Lab., Washington, DC, USA

Volume

1

fYear

1997

fDate

12-16 May 1997

Firstpage

611

Abstract

Large amplitude plasma wakefields produced by a high power laser pulse in an underdense plasma were studied in a self-modulated laser wakefield accelerator (SM-LWFA) experiment. A pump-probe coherent Thomson scattering (CTS) technique was used and the lifetime of the wakefield was measured to be less than 5 psec. A plasma channel was observed to form in the wake of the pump laser pulse. The trailing probe laser pulse was observed to be guided by this channel for about 20 Rayleigh lengths. High energy electrons (up to 30 MeV) have been measured using a magnetic spectrometer. Highly non-linear plasma waves were also detected using forward Raman scattering diagnostics and were observed to correlate with the electron signals

Keywords

Raman spectra; electron accelerators; laser beam effects; particle beam dynamics; plasma diagnostics; plasma nonlinear waves; wakefield accelerators; electron acceleration; forward Raman scattering diagnostics; large amplitude plasma wakefields; laser wakes; nonlinear plasma waves; plasma channel; pump-probe coherent Thomson scattering; self-modulated laser wakefield accelerator experiment; time evolution; trailing probe laser pulse; underdense plasma; Electrons; Laser excitation; Optical pulses; Plasma accelerators; Plasma measurements; Plasma waves; Power lasers; Pump lasers; Raman scattering; Rayleigh scattering;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Particle Accelerator Conference, 1997. Proceedings of the 1997

Conference_Location

Vancouver, BC

Print_ISBN

0-7803-4376-X

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PAC.1997.749781

Filename

749781