Speaker
Description
Laser wakefield accelerators (LWFAs) have been experimentally shown to produce sustained gradients of tens of GeV/m over tens of centimeters. While the strength of these fields has been demonstrated, a direct measurement of the field configurations inside an LWFA represents an emerging research topic. Here, we report on the results of transverse probing of the fields inside an LWFA at densities of 1e+15 — 1e+17 1/cm3, corresponding to plasma wavelengths in the range of several hundred microns. The LWFA is driven by BNL Accelerator Test Facility’s unique long-wave-infrared CO2 laser (9.2 μm) pulse, which currently generates 2 ps long pulses at 2-3 TW. The linac-produced electron beam has an energy of 50-60 MeV and about a 200 fs long bunch length. A YAG:Ce scintillator placed on a translation stage records the electron beam density profile at distances of up to 10 cm from the plasma. Particle-In-Cell Simulations using OSIRIS are used to corroborate the results of the experiment.
Funding Agency
We acknowledge the support by U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science under Award No. DE-SC-0014043.
| Region represented | North America |
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