Theoretical study of wakefield acceleration of electrons in capillary Z-pinch plasma waveguide

Abstract

The theoretical investigation of wakefield acceleration of electrons by CO2-laser pulse with central wavelength of 10.6 μm and input peak intensity of ∼1017 W/cm2 in transient hydrogen-plasma waveguide has been conducted. The plasma waveguide is produced by the fast Z-pinch discharge inside a 3 mm inner diameter and 50 mm long capillary. The waveguide properties of the capillary Z-pinch plasma were obtained from the space and frequency dependent wave equation that combines the attenuated charged particle inertia and the light wave effects in the plasma for the ideal Gaussian laser beam. For simulation of temporal and spatial evolution of electron density and other plasma variables during the capillary discharge, we used a standard one-fluid, two-temperature one-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model complemented with atomic data of hydrogen. Simulations showed that the guiding channel occurs far from capillary wall and exists for a few nanoseconds. In terms of laser driven plasma wakefield accelerators (LWFA), the Z-pinch waveguide is able to extend the acceleration length over the whole capillary, assuming that a single-mode transmission takes place. To quantify such ability of the channel, a correlation coefficient was introduced and computed at different input beam spot sizes. An optimal beam spot size was determined by taking maximum of time average of the coefficient over the channel lifetime. At the end of the guiding channel existence, the repetitive focusing and defocusing patterns were observed with intensity increase at the focal points. For simulation of the wakefield acceleration of electrons in the different waveguiding regimes we used the particle-in-cell (PIC) combined with the aforementioned MHD model. Influence of the waveguiding regimes on the electron acceleration was demonstrated.