Relativistic electrons from vacuum laser acceleration using tightly focused radially polarized beams

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Powell, Jeffrey, Jolly, Spencer W., Vallières, Simon, Fillion-Gourdeau, François, Payeur, Stéphane, Fourmaux, Sylvain, Piché, Michel, Ibrahim, Heide, MacLean, Steve, Légaré, François
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
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author Powell, Jeffrey
Jolly, Spencer W.
Vallières, Simon
Fillion-Gourdeau, François
Payeur, Stéphane
Fourmaux, Sylvain
Piché, Michel
Ibrahim, Heide
MacLean, Steve
Légaré, François
author_facet Powell, Jeffrey
Jolly, Spencer W.
Vallières, Simon
Fillion-Gourdeau, François
Payeur, Stéphane
Fourmaux, Sylvain
Piché, Michel
Ibrahim, Heide
MacLean, Steve
Légaré, François
contents We generate a tabletop pulsed relativistic electron beam at 100 Hz repetition rate from vacuum laser acceleration (VLA) by tightly focusing a radially polarized beam into a low-density gas. We demonstrate that strong longitudinal electric fields at the focus can accelerate electrons up to 1.43 MeV by using only 98 GW of peak laser power. The electron energy is measured as a function of laser intensity and gas species, revealing a strong dependence on the atomic ionization dynamics. These experimental results are supported by numerical simulations of particle dynamics in a tightly focused configuration that take ionization into consideration. For the range of intensities considered, it is demonstrated that atoms with higher atomic numbers like krypton can optimally inject electrons at the peak of the laser field, resulting in higher energies and an efficient acceleration mechanism that reaches a significant fraction of the theoretical energy gain limit.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2402_08009
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Relativistic electrons from vacuum laser acceleration using tightly focused radially polarized beams
Powell, Jeffrey
Jolly, Spencer W.
Vallières, Simon
Fillion-Gourdeau, François
Payeur, Stéphane
Fourmaux, Sylvain
Piché, Michel
Ibrahim, Heide
MacLean, Steve
Légaré, François
Optics
Accelerator Physics
Atomic Physics
We generate a tabletop pulsed relativistic electron beam at 100 Hz repetition rate from vacuum laser acceleration (VLA) by tightly focusing a radially polarized beam into a low-density gas. We demonstrate that strong longitudinal electric fields at the focus can accelerate electrons up to 1.43 MeV by using only 98 GW of peak laser power. The electron energy is measured as a function of laser intensity and gas species, revealing a strong dependence on the atomic ionization dynamics. These experimental results are supported by numerical simulations of particle dynamics in a tightly focused configuration that take ionization into consideration. For the range of intensities considered, it is demonstrated that atoms with higher atomic numbers like krypton can optimally inject electrons at the peak of the laser field, resulting in higher energies and an efficient acceleration mechanism that reaches a significant fraction of the theoretical energy gain limit.
title Relativistic electrons from vacuum laser acceleration using tightly focused radially polarized beams
topic Optics
Accelerator Physics
Atomic Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.08009