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A scheme for fast, compact, and controllable acceleration of heavy particles in vacuum is proposed, in which two counterpropagating lasers with variable frequencies drive a beat-wave structure with variable phase velocity, thus allowing for trapping and acceleration of heavy particles, such as ions or muons. Fine control over the energy distribution and the total charge of the beam is obtained via tuning of the frequency variation. The acceleration scheme is described with a one-dimensional theory, providing the general conditions for trapping and scaling laws for the relevant features of the particle beam. Two-dimensional, electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulations confirm the validity and the robustness of the physical mechanism.
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A scheme for fast, compact, and controllable acceleration of heavy particles in vacuum has been recently proposed [F. Peano et al., New J. Phys. 10 033028 (2008)], wherein two counterpropagating laser beams with variable frequencies drive a beat-wave structure with variable phase velocity, leading to particle trapping and acceleration. The technique allows for fine control over the energy distribution and the total charge of the accelerated beam, to be obtained via tuning of the frequency variation. Here, the theoretical bases of the acceleration scheme are described, and the possibility of applications to ultrafast muon acceleration and to the prompt extraction of cold-muon beams is discussed.
Laser-plasma accelerators produce electric fields of the order of 100 GV/m, more than 1000 times larger than radio-frequency accelerators. Thanks to this unique field strength, they appear as a promising path to generate electron beams beyond the TeV, for high-energy physics. Yet, large electric fields are of little benefit if they are not maintained over a long distance. It is therefore of the utmost importance to guide the ultra-intense laser pulse that drives the accelerator. Reaching very high energies is equally useless if the properties of the electron beam change completely shot to shot. While present state-of-the-art laser-plasma accelerators can already separately address guiding and control challenges by tweaking the plasma structures, the production of beams combining high quality and high energy is yet to be demonstrated. Here we use a new approach for guiding the laser, and combined it with a controlled injection technique to demonstrate the reliable and efficient acceleration of high-quality electron beams up to 1.1 GeV, from a 50 TW-class laser.
It is shown that co-linear injection of electrons or positrons into the wakefield of the self-modulating particle beam is possible and ensures high energy gain. The witness beam must co-propagate with the tail part of the driver, since the plasma wave phase velocity there can exceed the light velocity, which is necessary for efficient acceleration. If the witness beam is many wakefield periods long, then the trapped charge is limited by beam loading effects. The initial trapping is better for positrons, but at the acceleration stage a considerable fraction of positrons is lost from the wave. For efficient trapping of electrons, the plasma boundary must be sharp, with the density transition region shorter than several centimeters. Positrons are not susceptible to the initial plasma density gradient.
One of the major goals of research for laser-plasma accelerators is the realization of compact sources of femtosecond X-rays. In particular, using the modest electron energies obtained with existing laser systems, Compton scattering a photon beam off a relativistic electron bunch has been proposed as a source of high-energy and high-brightness photons. However, laser-plasma based approaches to Compton scattering have not, to date, produced X-rays above 1 keV. Here, we present a simple and compact scheme for a Compton source based on the combination of a laser-plasma accelerator and a plasma mirror. This approach is used to produce a broadband spectrum of X-rays extending up to hundreds of keV and with a 10,000-fold increase in brightness over Compton X-ray sources based on conventional accelerators. We anticipate that this technique will lead to compact, high-repetition-rate sources of ultrafast (femtosecond), tunable (X- through gamma-ray) and low-divergence (~1 degree) photons from source sizes on the order of a micrometre.
The acceleration of super-heavy ions (SHIs) from plasmas driven by ultrashort (tens of femtoseconds) laser pulses is a challenging topic waiting for breakthrough. The detecting and controlling of the ionization process, and the adoption of the optimal acceleration scheme are crucial for the generation of highly energetic SHIs. Here, we report the experimental results on the generation of deeply ionized super-heavy ions (Au) with unprecedented energy of 1.2 GeV utilizing ultrashort laser pulses (22 fs) at the intensity of 10^22 W/cm2. A novel self-calibrated diagnostic method was developed to acquire the absolute energy spectra and charge state distributions of Au ions abundant at the charge state of 51+ and reaching up to 61+. The measured charge state distributions supported by 2D particle-in-cell simulations serves as an additional tool to inspect the ionization dynamics associated with SHI acceleration, revealing that the laser intensity is the crucial parameter for the acceleration of Au ions over the pulse duration. The use of double-layer targets results in a prolongation of the acceleration time without sacrificing the strength of acceleration field, which is highly favorable for the generation of high-energy super heavy ions.
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