Yuelin Li

Efficient acceleration of monoenergetic proton beam by sharp front laser pulse

Stable acceleration of relativistic ions by the radiation pressure of a superintense, circularly polarized laser pulse with sharp front is investigated by analytical modeling and particle-in-cell simulation. For foils with given density and thickness, the suitable steepness of the laser front is found to suppress instabilities and efficiently drive a stable monoenergetic ion beam. With a laser pulse of peak amplitude a{sub 0}=200, a proton beam of energy about 10 GeV can be generated. The dynamics of the laser-compressed electron layer and the ions in the hole-boring stage are investigated. In the case studied, the ions initially in the middle of the target are found to be accelerated to the back surface of the target ahead of the other ions.

Electron injection by a nanowire in the bubble regime

The triggering of wave-breaking in a three-dimensional laser plasma wake (bubble) is investigated. The Coulomb potential from a nanowire is used to disturb the wake field to initialize the wave-breaking. The electron acceleration becomes more stable and the laser power needed for self-trapping is lowered. Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations were performed. Electrons with a charge of about 100 pC can be accelerated stably to energy about 170 MeV with a laser energy of 460 mJ. The first step towards tailoring the electron beam properties such as the energy, energy spread, and charge is discussed

Manipulation of spatiotemporal photon distribution via chromatic aberration

We demonstrate a spatiotemporal laser-pulse-shaping scheme that exploits the chromatic aberration in a dispersive lens. This normally harmful effect transforms the phase modulation into a beam-size modulation at the focal plane. In combination with the intricate diffraction effect via beam apodization, this method provides a spatiotemporal control of photon distribution with an accuracy of diffraction limit on a time scale of femtoseconds.

Overloading effect of energetic electrons in the bubble regime of laser wakefield acceleration

The overloading effect of self-injected high-charge electron bunch in the bubble regime of laser wakefield acceleration is studied. When too many electrons are trapped by the bubble, the wakefield can be strongly modified, preventing further injection of the background electrons. This process is directly observed in two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation and is explained using a one-dimensional wake model. For obtaining significantly more energetic electrons, the use of a decreasing plasma density profile is proposed.

Shortening of a laser pulse with a self-modulated phase at the focus of a lens.

We found that, at the focus of a chromatic lens, a laser pulse with a self-modulated phase can be shortened due to the radial dependence of the group delay imposed by the lens. Normally, this group delay stretches a short pulse into a long pulse by spreading the arrival time of the pulse at the focus. However, for a pulse with a self-modulated phase, it causes the fields with different phases to overlap, thus resulting in destructive interference that shortens the pulse.

Ultrafast spatiotemporal laser pulse engineering using chromatic dispersion

We discuss a new method for manipulating the optical field distribution in time and space at the focal plane of a chromatic lens. Chromatic dispersion and aberration make it possible to control the photon distribution in both time and space by properly controlling the amplitude and phase of the incident laser pulse, including shortening a laser pulse or generating a specific time-dependent transverse distribution. As an example, we discuss the generation of a quasi-three-dimensional ellipsoidal photon distribution and a proof-of-principle experiment, where favourable agreement between theoretical calculations and the data is observed.

Beam slowing down in a laser plasma accelerator by laser-induced betatron oscillation

The beam in a laser wakefield can be slowed down by laser-induced, large-amplitude betatron oscillation, leading to potential larger dephasing length between the beam and the wake field and in turn a higher beam energy.

Electron and Ion Acceleration in the Bubble Regime

Electron and proton trapping and acceleration by an electron bubble in laser interaction with plasma are investigated by using three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. A nanowire is used to initialize the wave-breaking. Protons can be efficiently accelerated if the plasma consists mainly of heavier ions such as tritium.

Optimization of a femtosecond Ti:Sapphire amplifier using an acousto-optic programmable dispersive filter and a genetic algorithm

The temporal output of a Ti:Sapphire laser system has been optimized using an acousto-optic programmable dispersive filter and a genetic algorithm. In-situ recording the evolution of spectral phase, amplitude and temporal pulse profile for each iteration of the algorithm using SPIDER shows that we are able to lock the spectral phase of the laser pulse within a narrow margin. By using the second harmonic of the CPA laser as feedback for the genetic algorithm, it has been demonstrated that severe mismatch between the compressor and stretcher can be compensated for in a short period of time.

Femtosecond electron and x-ray source based on laser wakefield accelerator

A terawatt tabletop laser wakefield acceleration source of relativistic electrons has been developed in our Terawatt Ultrafast High Field Facility (TUHFF). The preliminary results for ultrafast radiolysis of liquid water using this femtosecond electron source are presented. A TUHFF based femtosecond x-ray source is proposed. Thomson scattering of the accelerated electrons off a counterpropagating terawatt laser beam will be used to generate keV x-ray photons. The expected parameters of this x-ray source have been estimated. The short pulse duration, high flux, and good collimation of the resulting x-ray beam would be conducive for ultrafast time-resolved x-ray absorption studies of short-lived transient species in gases, liquids, and solids. It is argued that the solvation dynamics of Br atoms generated in photoinduced electron detachment from aqueous bromide would make a convenient choice for the first pump-probe experiment using this x-ray source.