Journal ArticleDOI
Physics of laser-driven plasma-based electron accelerators
TLDR
In this paper, the basic physics of laser pulse evolution in underdense plasmas is also reviewed, including the propagation, self-focusing, and guiding of laser pulses in uniform density channels and with preformed density channels.Abstract:
Laser-driven plasma-based accelerators, which are capable of supporting fields in excess of 100 GV/m, are reviewed. This includes the laser wakefield accelerator, the plasma beat wave accelerator, the self-modulated laser wakefield accelerator, plasma waves driven by multiple laser pulses, and highly nonlinear regimes. The properties of linear and nonlinear plasma waves are discussed, as well as electron acceleration in plasma waves. Methods for injecting and trapping plasma electrons in plasma waves are also discussed. Limits to the electron energy gain are summarized, including laser pulse diffraction, electron dephasing, laser pulse energy depletion, and beam loading limitations. The basic physics of laser pulse evolution in underdense plasmas is also reviewed. This includes the propagation, self-focusing, and guiding of laser pulses in uniform plasmas and with preformed density channels. Instabilities relevant to intense short-pulse laser-plasma interactions, such as Raman, self-modulation, and hose instabilities, are discussed. Experiments demonstrating key physics, such as the production of high-quality electron bunches at energies of 0.1-1 GeV, are summarized.read more
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Journal ArticleDOI
Extremely high-intensity laser interactions with fundamental quantum systems
TL;DR: In this article, a review of recent investigations on high-energy processes within the realm of relativistic quantum dynamics, quantum electrodynamics, and nuclear and particle physics, occurring in extremely intense laser fields is presented.
Journal ArticleDOI
Ion acceleration by superintense laser-plasma interaction
TL;DR: An overview of the state of the art of ion acceleration by laser pulses as well as an outlook on its future development and perspectives are given in this article. But the main features observed in the experiments, the observed scaling with laser and plasma parameters, and the main models used both to interpret experimental data and to suggest new research directions are described.
Journal ArticleDOI
Review of laser-driven ion sources and their applications.
TL;DR: The historical background including the early laser-matter interaction studies on energetic ion acceleration relevant to inertial confinement fusion is reviewed and several implemented and proposed mechanisms of proton and/or ion acceleration driven by ultra-short high-intensity lasers are described.
Journal ArticleDOI
Femtosecond x rays from laser-plasma accelerators
Sebastien Corde,K. Ta Phuoc,Guillaume Lambert,R. Fitour,Victor Malka,Antoine Rousse,Arnaud Beck,Erik Lefebvre +7 more
TL;DR: In this paper, a unified formalism is presented for the betatron radiation of trapped and accelerated electrons in the so-called bubble regime, the synchrotron radiation of laser-accelerated electrons in usual meter-scale undulators, the nonlinear Thomson scattering from relativistic electrons oscillating in an intense laser field, and the Thomson backscattered radiation of a laser beam by laser accelerated electrons.
Journal ArticleDOI
Quasi-monoenergetic laser-plasma acceleration of electrons to 2 GeV
Xiaoming Wang,Rafal Zgadzaj,N. Fazel,Zhengyan Li,S. A. Yi,Xi Zhang,W. Henderson,Y. Y. Chang,R. Korzekwa,Hai-En Tsai,Chih-Hao Pai,Hernan Quevedo,Gilliss Dyer,Erhard Gaul,Mikael Martinez,Aaron C Bernstein,T. Borger,M. Spinks,Michael E Donovan,V. Khudik,Gennady Shvets,Todd Ditmire,Michael W Downer +22 more
TL;DR: Simulations indicate that with improvements in the laser-pulse focus quality, acceleration to nearly 10 GeV should be possible with the available pulse energy, and the principal physical barriers to multi-gigaelectronvolt acceleration are overcome.