GeV-scale electron acceleration in a gas-filled capillary discharge waveguide


GeV-scale electron acceleration in a gas-filled capillary discharge waveguide

Karsch, S.; Osterhoff, J.; Popp, A.; Rowlands-Rees, T. P.; Major, Z.; Fuchs, M.; Marx, B.; Hörlein, R.; Schmid, K.; Veisz, L.; Becker, S.; Schramm, U.; Hidding, B.; Pretzler, G.; Habs, D.; Grüner, F.; Hooker, S. M.; Krausz, F.

We report experimental results on laser-driven electron acceleration with low divergence. The electron beam was generated by focussing 750-mJ, 42-fs laser pulses into a gas-filled capillary discharge waveguide at electron densities in the range between 1018 cm−3 and 1019 cm−3. Quasi-monoenergetic electron bunches with energies as high as 500 MeV have been detected, with features reaching up to 1 GeV, albeit with large shot-to-shot fluctuations. A more stable regime with higher bunch charge (20-45 pC) and less energy (200-300 MeV) could also be observed. The beam divergence and the pointing stability are around or below 1 mrad and 8 mrad, respectively. These findings are consistent with self-injection of electrons into a breaking plasma wave.

Keywords: PACS: 41.75.Jv; 42.65.Jx; 52.38.Kd

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Publ.-Id: 10601