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- Title
High-quality electron beams from a laser wakefield accelerator using plasma-channel guiding.
- Authors
Geddes, C.G.R.; Toth, Cs.; van Tilborg, J.; Esarey, E.; Schroeder, C.B.; Bruhwiler, D.; Nieter, C.; Cary, J.; Leemans, W.P.
- Abstract
Laser-driven accelerators, in which particles are accelerated by the electric field of a plasma wave (the wakefield) driven by an intense laser, have demonstrated accelerating electric fields of hundreds of GV?m-1 (refs 1-3). These fields are thousands of times greater than those achievable in conventional radio-frequency accelerators, spurring interest in laser accelerators as compact next-generation sources of energetic electrons and radiation. To date, however, acceleration distances have been severely limited by the lack of a controllable method for extending the propagation distance of the focused laser pulse. The ensuing short acceleration distance results in low-energy beams with 100 per cent electron energy spread, which limits potential applications. Here we demonstrate a laser accelerator that produces electron beams with an energy spread of a few per cent, low emittance and increased energy (more than 109 electrons above 80?MeV). Our technique involves the use of a preformed plasma density channel to guide a relativistically intense laser, resulting in a longer propagation distance. The results open the way for compact and tunable high-brightness sources of electrons and radiation.
- Subjects
ELECTRON beams; PARTICLE beams; LASERS; ELECTRON accelerators; PARTICLE accelerators; LASER plasmas; LASER beams; PLASMA gases
- Publication
Nature, 2004, Vol 431, Issue 7008, p538
- ISSN
0028-0836
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/nature02900