Staged Electron Laser Acceleration Research Articles

Quasistatic capillary discharge plasma model

A one-dimensional, quasistatic model of a capillary discharge plasma has been developed. Such a plasma is useful as a medium to generate plasma waves for acceleration of electrons via processes such as laser wakefield acceleration or plasma wakefield acceleration. Another important characteristic of the plasma is its intrinsic parabolic density distribution near the center of the capillary, which can channel a laser beam along the capillary. The model is intended to be a design tool to aid in the selection of the capillary parameters in order to obtain desired plasma characteristics, e.g., plasma density and matched laser beam radius for guiding. An optional external axial magnetic field can be included, which improves the laser-channeling effect in some cases. The model also enables a measure of the potential for laser damage of the capillary wall. Results are presented for the design of a gas-filled capillary that will be tested during the staged electron laser acceleration--laser wakefield (STELLA-LW) experiment.

Inverse free electron lasers and laser wakefield acceleration driven by CO 2 lasers

The staged electron laser acceleration (STELLA) experiment demonstrated staging between two laser-driven devices, high trapping efficiency of microbunches within the accelerating field and narrow energy spread during laser acceleration. These are important for practical laser-driven accelerators. STELLA used inverse free electron lasers, which were chosen primarily for convenience. Nevertheless, the STELLA approach can be applied to other laser acceleration methods, in particular, laser-driven plasma accelerators. STELLA is now conducting experiments on laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA). Two novel LWFA approaches are being investigated. In the first one, called pseudo-resonant LWFA, a laser pulse enters a low-density plasma where nonlinear laser/plasma interactions cause the laser pulse shape to steepen, thereby creating strong wakefields. A witness e-beam pulse probes the wakefields. The second one, called seeded self-modulated LWFA, involves sending a seed e-beam pulse into the plasma to initiate wakefield formation. These wakefields are amplified by a laser pulse following shortly after the seed pulse. A second e-beam pulse (witness) follows the seed pulse to probe the wakefields. These LWFA experiments will also be the first ones driven by a CO(2) laser beam.

Pseudoresonant laser Wakefield acceleration driven by 10.6-/spl mu/m laser light

This work describes an experiment to demonstrate, for the first time, laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA), driven by 10.6-/spl mu/m light from a CO/sub 2/ laser. This experiment is also noteworthy because it will operate in a pseudoresonant LWFA regime, in which the laser-pulse-length is too long for resonant LWFA, but too short for self-modulated LWFA. Nonetheless, high acceleration gradients are still possible. This experiment builds upon an earlier experiment called staged electron laser acceleration (STELLA), where efficient trapping and monoenergetic laser acceleration of electrons were demonstrated using inverse free electron lasers. The aim is to apply the STELLA approach of laser-driven microbunch formation followed by laser-driven trapping and acceleration to LWFA. These capabilities are important for a practical electron linear accelerator based upon LWFA.

Beam dynamics analysis of femtosecond microbunches produced by the staged electron laser acceleration experiment

Preservation of the femtosecond (fs) microbunches, created during laser acceleration, is a crucial step to enable staging of the laser acceleration process. This paper focuses on the optimization of the beam dynamics of fs microbunches transported through the staged electron laser acceleration (STELLA-II) experiment being carried out at the Brookhaven National Laboratory Accelerator Test Facility. STELLA-II consists of an inverse free electron laser (IFEL) untapered undulator, which acts as an electron beam energy modulator; a magnetic chicane, which acts as a buncher; a second IFEL tapered undulator, which acts as an accelerator; and a dipole, which serves as an energy spectrometer. When the energy-modulated macrobunch traverses through the chicane and a short drift space, microbunches of order fs in duration (i.e., $\ensuremath{\sim}3\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{fs}$ FWHM) are formed. The 3-fs microbunches are accelerated by interacting with a high-power ${\mathrm{CO}}_{2}$ laser beam in the following tapered undulator. These extremely short microbunches may experience significant space charge and coherent synchrotron radiation effects when traversing the STELLA-II transport line. These effects are analyzed and the safe operating conditions are determined. With less than 0.5-pC microbunch charge, both microbunch debunching and emittance growth are negligible, and the energy-spread increase is less than 5%. These results are also useful for the laser electron acceleration project at SLAC and in possible future programs where the fs microbunches are employed for other purposes.

Detailed experimental results for laser acceleration staging

Detailed experimental results of staging two laser-driven, relativistic electron accelerators are presented. During the experiment called STELLA (staged electron laser acceleration), an inverse free-electron laser (IFEL) is used to modulate the electron energy, thereby, causing $\ensuremath{\sim}3\mathrm{fs}$ microbunches to form separated by the laser wavelength at $10.6\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{m}$ (equivalent to a 35 fs period). A second IFEL accelerates the electrons depending upon the phase of the microbunches entering the second IFEL with respect to the laser beam driving the second IFEL. The data presented includes electron energy spectra as a function of the phase delay and laser power driving the first IFEL. Also shown is a comparison with the computer model, which includes space charge and misalignment effects.

Inverse Cerenkov acceleration and inverse free-electron laser experimental results for staged electron laser acceleration

The goal of the staged electron laser acceleration (STELLA) experiment is to demonstrate staging of the laser acceleration process whereby an inverse free electron laser (IFEL) will be used to prebunch the electrons, which are then accelerated in an inverse Cerenkov accelerator (ICA). As preparation for this experiment, a new permanent magnet wiggler for the IFEL was constructed and the ICA system was modified. Both systems have been tested on a new beamline specifically built for STELLA. The improved electron beam (e-beam) with its very low emittance (0.8 mm-mrad normalized) enabled focusing the e-beam to an average radius (1/spl sigma/) of 65 /spl mu/m, within the ICA interaction region. This small e-beam focus greatly enhanced the ICA process and resulted in electron energy spectra that have demonstrated the best agreement to date in both overall shape and magnitude with the model predictions. The electron energy spectrum using the new wiggler in the IFEL was also measured. These results will be described as well as future improvements to the STELLA experiment.