IPAC'26 - the 17th International Particle Accelerator Conference

Controlled injection and acceleration of 10 GeV-class electron beams in a laser wakefield accelerator

20 May 2026, 11:00

30m

C.I.D

Invited Oral Presentation MC3.A09: Advanced techniques/Novel sources: Muon Accelerators, Neutrino Factories, Muon Colliders MC3 : Alternative Particle Sources and Acceleration Techniques

Speaker

Alex Picksley (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

Description

We measure the high-intensity laser propagation throughout meter-scale, channel-guided laser-plasma accelerators by adjusting the length of the plasma channel on a shot-by-shot basis, showing high-quality guiding of 500 TW laser pulses over 30 cm in a hydrogen plasma of density 𝑛≈10^17  cm−3. We observed transverse energy transport of higher-order modes in the first ≈12  cm of the plasma channel, followed by quasimatched propagation, and the gradual, dark-current-free depletion of laser energy to the wake. We quantify the laser-to-wake transfer efficiency limitations of currently available petawatt-class lasers and demonstrate via simulation how control over the laser mode can significantly improve beam parameters. Using 21.3 J of laser energy, and triggering localized electron injection, we observed electron bunches with single, quasimonoenergetic peaks up to 9.2 GeV with charge extending beyond 10 GeV.
Reference:
Picksley et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 133, 255001 (2024)