Vladimir Khudik

Quasi-monoenergetic laser-plasma acceleration of electrons to 2 GeV

Laser-plasma accelerators of only a centimetre’s length have produced nearly monoenergetic electron bunches with energy as high as 1 GeV. Scaling these compact accelerators to multi-gigaelectronvolt energy would open the prospect of building X-ray free-electron lasers and linear colliders hundreds of times smaller than conventional facilities, but the 1 GeV barrier has so far proven insurmountable. Here, by applying new petawatt laser technology, we produce electron bunches with a spectrum prominently peaked at 2 GeV with only a few per cent energy spread and unprecedented sub-milliradian divergence. Petawatt pulses inject ambient plasma electrons into the laser-driven accelerator at much lower density than was previously possible, thereby overcoming the principal physical barriers to multi-gigaelectronvolt acceleration: dephasing between laser-driven wake and accelerating electrons and laser pulse erosion. Simulations indicate that with improvements in the laser-pulse focus quality, acceleration to nearly 10 GeV should be possible with the available pulse energy.

Electron self-injection into an evolving plasma bubble: Quasi-monoenergetic laser-plasma acceleration in the blowout regime

An electron density bubble driven in a rarefied uniform plasma by a slowly evolving laser pulse goes through periods of adiabatically slow expansions and contractions. Bubble expansion causes robust self-injection of initially quiescent plasma electrons, whereas stabilization and contraction terminate self-injection thus limiting injected charge; concomitant phase space rotation reduces the bunch energy spread. In regimes relevant to experiments with hundred terawatt- to petawatt-class lasers, bubble dynamics and, hence, the self-injection process are governed primarily by the driver evolution. Collective transverse fields of the trapped electron bunch reduce the accelerating gradient and slow down phase space rotation. Bubble expansion followed by stabilization and contraction suppresses the low-energy background and creates a collimated quasi-monoenergetic electron bunch long before dephasing. Nonlinear evolution of the laser pulse (spot size oscillations, self-compression, and front steepening) can also cause continuous self-injection, resulting in a large dark current, degrading the electron beam quality.

Compact tunable Compton x-ray source from laser-plasma accelerator and plasma mirror

We present an in-depth experimental-computational study of the parameters necessary to optimize a tunable, quasi-monoenergetic, efficient, low-background Compton backscattering (CBS) x-ray source that is based on the self-aligned combination of a laser-plasma accelerator (LPA) and a plasma mirror (PM). The main findings are (1) an LPA driven in the blowout regime by 30 TW, 30 fs laser pulses produce not only a high-quality, tunable, quasi-monoenergetic electron beam, but also a high-quality, relativistically intense (a0 ∼ 1) spent drive pulse that remains stable in profile and intensity over the LPA tuning range. (2) A thin plastic film near the gas jet exit retro-reflects the spent drive pulse efficiently into oncoming electrons to produce CBS x-rays without detectable bremsstrahlung background. Meanwhile, anomalous far-field divergence of the retro-reflected light demonstrates relativistic “denting” of the PM. Exploiting these optimized LPA and PM conditions, we demonstrate quasi-monoenergetic (50% FWHM...

Enhancement of laser-driven electron acceleration in an ion channel

A laser beam with duration longer than the period of plasma oscillations propagating through an underdense plasma produces a steady-state positively charged channel in the electron density. We consider a test electron in the two-dimensional plane channel under the combined action of the laser field and the transverse static electric field of the channel. At ultrarelativistic laser wave amplitude (a≫1), the electron is pushed primarily forward. As the electron gradually dephases from the wave, the field it samples and its relativistic γ-factor strongly oscillate. The natural frequency of electron oscillations across the channel (betatron frequency) depends on γ, which couples the betatron oscillations to the longitudinal motion induced by the wave. We show that the modulation of the natural frequency makes the oscillations unstable. The resulting amplification of the oscillations across the channel reduces the axial dephasing between the electron and the wave, leading to a considerable electron energy enha...

Dark-current-free petawatt laser-driven wakefield accelerator based on electron self-injection into an expanding plasma bubble

A dark-current-free plasma accelerator driven by a short (≤150 fs) self-guided petawatt laser pulse is proposed. The accelerator uses two plasma layers, one of which, short and dense, acts as a thin nonlinear lens. It is followed by a long rarefied plasma (~1017 electrons cm−3) in which background electrons are trapped and accelerated by a nonlinear laser wakefield. The pulse overfocused by the plasma lens diffracts in low-density plasma as in vacuum and drives in its wake a rapidly expanding electron density bubble. The expanding bubble effectively traps initially quiescent electrons. The trapped charge given by quasi-cylindrical three-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations (using the CALDER-Circ code) is ~1.3 nC. When laser diffraction saturates and self-guiding begins, the bubble transforms into a bucket of a weakly nonlinear non-broken plasma wave. Self-injection thus never resumes, and the structure remains free of dark current. The CALDER-Circ modelling predicts a few π mm mrad normalized transverse emittance of electron beam accelerated in the first wake bucket. Test-particle modelling of electron acceleration over 9 cm (using the quasistatic PIC code WAKE) sets the upper limit of energy gain 2.6 GeV with ~2% relative spread.

Simulations of stable compact proton beam acceleration from a two-ion-species ultrathin foil

We report stable laser-driven proton beam acceleration from ultrathin foils consisting of two ion species: heavier carbon ions and lighter protons. Multidimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that the radiation pressure leads to very fast and complete spatial separation of the species. The laser pulse does not penetrate the carbon ion layer, avoiding the proton Rayleigh–Taylor (RT)-like instability. Ultimately, the carbon ions are heated and spread extensively in space. In contrast, protons always ride on the front of the carbon ion cloud, forming a compact high quality bunch. We introduce a simple three-interface model to interpret the instability suppression in the proton layer. The model is backed by simulations of various compound foils such as carbon–deuterium and carbon–tritium foils. The effects of the carbon ions’ charge state on proton acceleration are also investigated. It is shown that with the decrease of the carbon ion charge state, both the RT-like instability and the Coulomb explosio...

Synergistic Laser-Wakefield and Direct-Laser Acceleration in the Plasma-Bubble Regime

The concept of a hybrid laser plasma accelerator is proposed. Relativistic electrons undergoing resonant betatron oscillations inside the plasma bubble created by a laser pulse are accelerated by gaining energy directly from the laser pulse and from its plasma wake. The resulting phase space of self-injected plasma electrons is split into two, containing a subpopulation that experiences wakefield acceleration beyond the standard dephasing limit because of the multidimensional nature of its motion that reduces the phase slippage between the electrons and the wake.

Analytic model of electromagnetic fields around a plasma bubble in the blow-out regime

An analytic model of the electric and magnetic fields surrounding the nonlinear plasma “bubble” formed around the high-current electron bunch in a plasma wakefield accelerator is developed. The model, justified by the results of particle-in-cell simulations, accurately captures the thin high-density plasma sheath and extended return current layer surrounding the bubble. The resulting global fields inside and outside the bubble are used to investigate electron self-injection in a plasma with a smooth density gradient. It is shown that accurate description of the current/density sheaths is crucial for quantitative description of self-injection.

Nonlinear evolution of the Weibel instability of relativistic electron beams

Physics of the long-term evolution of the Weibel instability (WI) of an electron beam propagating through the plasma is described. Several phenomena occurring during the WI are identified: (i) the exponential growth stage resulting in beam breakup into small current filaments; (ii) merger of the small filaments and beam particles’ trapping inside them; (iii) filaments’ compression and expulsion of the ambient plasma from the filaments; (iv) formation of high-current filaments and their merger. It is shown that during the final stage these beam filaments can carry super-Alfvenic currents and form hollow current density profiles similar to the Hammer–Rostoker equilibrium. This explains why the initially increasing magnetic field energy eventually decreases during the late stage of the instability. Different computational approaches to modeling both collisionless and collisional WI are also described.Physics of the long-term evolution of the Weibel instability (WI) of an electron beam propagating through the plasma is described. Several phenomena occurring during the WI are identified: (i) the exponential growth stage resulting in beam breakup into small current filaments; (ii) merger of the small filaments and beam particles’ trapping inside them; (iii) filaments’ compression and expulsion of the ambient plasma from the filaments; (iv) formation of high-current filaments and their merger. It is shown that during the final stage these beam filaments can carry super-Alfvenic currents and form hollow current density profiles similar to the Hammer–Rostoker equilibrium. This explains why the initially increasing magnetic field energy eventually decreases during the late stage of the instability. Different computational approaches to modeling both collisionless and collisional WI are also described.

Beyond the ponderomotive limit: Direct laser acceleration of relativistic electrons in sub-critical plasmas

We examine a regime in which a linearly polarized laser pulse with relativistic intensity irradiates a sub-critical plasma for much longer than the characteristic electron response time. A steady-state channel is formed in the plasma in this case with quasi-static transverse and longitudinal electric fields. These relatively weak fields significantly alter the electron dynamics. The longitudinal electric field reduces the longitudinal dephasing between the electron and the wave, leading to an enhancement of the electron energy gain from the pulse. The energy gain in this regime is ultimately limited by the superluminosity of the wave fronts induced by the plasma in the channel. The transverse electric field alters the oscillations of the transverse electron velocity, allowing it to remain anti-parallel to laser electric field and leading to a significant energy gain. The energy enhancement is accompanied by the development of significant oscillations perpendicular to the plane of the driven motion, making...