Multi-GeV electron acceleration driven by the Texas Petawatt laser

ORAL

Abstract

We present the preparation for high energy (multi-GeV) electron generation in underdense plasmas interacting with 1PW, 150fs Texas Petawatt laser pulses. Electron laser wakefield acceleration experiments have demonstrated that 1GeV electron beams can be produced with multi-TW class laser systems. Scaling laws and simulations have predicted that 3-10GeV electrons can be generated with a short pulse PW laser system without any external guiding mechanism. The Texas Petawatt system has an F /40 focusing geometry, which along with laser self-guiding creates a long laser plasma interaction length while still maintaining intensity above 10$^{19}$W/cm$^2$. This configuration also creates an opportunity to ``visualize'' the plasma wakefield structures using the single shot frequency-domain holography (FDH) technique. This presentation includes the Texas Petawatt laser, laser wakefield experimental setup, plasma diagnostic setup and anticipated preliminary experimental results during 2010. Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of laser wakefield electron acceleration and the FDH diagnostic are also presented.

*This work is supported by the US Department of Energy.

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Authors

  • X. Wang

    • Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin

  • D. Du

    • Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin

  • S.A. Yi

    • Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin

  • E. D'Avignon

    • Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin

  • S. Kalmykov

    • Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin

  • S. Reed

    • Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin

  • W. Henderson

    • Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin

  • P. Dong

    • Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin

  • R. Zgadzaj

    • Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin

  • G. Dyer

    • Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin

  • E. Gaul

    • Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin

  • M. Martinez

    • Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin

  • T. Ditmire

    • Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin

  • G. Shvets

    • Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin

  • M. Downer

    • Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin