Laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) of electrons occurs when an intense short laser pulse focused in an underdense plasma drives in its wake a plasma wave with an amplitude large enough to trap and accelerate electrons. Relativistic electron bunches are easily obtained through this mechanism and have given rise to a large number of studies and publications. Despite these efforts, the...
Since their inception, laser-wakefield accelerators (LWFAs) have shown their capability to produce high-quality, monoenergetic electron beams. Yet, the push toward higher electron energies and more efficient accelerators is constrained by several limitations. Foremost among these are the dephasing and diffraction limits. A promising strategy to address these issues involves using structured...
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...
Plasma discharge devices have recently demonstrated their potential for compact particle beam manipulation. Building upon the Active Plasma Lens and its extension to curved geometries (Active Plasma Bending), new studies have revealed that chicane-like configurations can support sub-betatron oscillations of the beam. Motivated by this observation, the novel concept of the Plasma Discharge...
High gradient radio frequency (rf) driven photoguns are photoemission electron sources that have important applications for accelerator-based instruments, such as light sources and electron microscopy. Numerous efforts have been made to push for even higher field gradient while suppressing rf breakdowns. We propose the Compressed Ultrashort Pulse Injector Demonstrator, a 1.6 cell photogun...
Muography is a useful technology for non-destructive inspection of a large-scale structure. Muography with cosmic ray muons has limitations such as low rates, particularly low muon rates in the horizontal direction, and energy spreading, which require long observation times and limit its resolution. Worldwide, large structures such as bridges built during the economic development period of the...
Improved control of high intensity laser beam parameters on target recently enabled laser accelerated proton bunches with energies beyond 100 MeV, dose-controlled irradiation of biological samples, and the demonstration of FEL gain based on laser wakefield acceleration of electrons.
This presentation focuses on the chain of developments at the Petawatt laser DRACO at Helmholtz-Center...
Dephasing between the driver and witness is one of the main mechanisms limiting witness energy gain in plasma acceleration. We show time-resolved, picosecond-scale measurements of the self-modulating proton driver in AWAKE (Advanced WAKefield Experiment at CERN) as a function of plasma length, revealing the evolution of this drive bunch caused by transverse wakefield development and dephasing....
