Electron acceleration to GeV energy by a chirped laser pulse in vacuum in the presence of azimuthal magnetic field

Abstract

Electron acceleration by a frequency-chirped circularly polarized (CP) laser pulse in vacuum in the presence of azimuthal magnetic field has been studied. A laser pulse propagating along +z-axis interacts with a pre-accelerated electron injected at a small angle in the direction of propagation of laser pulse in vacuum. The electron is accelerated with high energy in the presence of azimuthal magnetic field till the saturation of betatron resonance. A linear frequency chirp increases the duration of interaction of laser pulse with electron and hence enforces the resonance for longer duration. The presence of azimuthal magnetic field further improves the electron acceleration by keeping the electron motion parallel to the direction of propagation for longer distances. Thus, resonant enhancement appears due to the combined effect of chirped CP laser pulse and azimuthal magnetic field. An electron with few MeV of initial energy gains high energy of the order of GeV. Higher energy gain is obtained with intense chirped laser pulse in the presence of azimuthal magnetic field.