Numerical calculations of a high brilliance synchrotron source and on issues with characterizing strong radiation damping effects in non-linear Thomson/Compton backscattering experiments

A number of theoretical calculations have studied the effect of radiation reaction forces on radiation distributions in strong field counter-propagating electron beam-laser interactions, but could these effects - including quantum corrections - be observed in interactions with realistic bunches and focusing fields, as is hoped in a number of soon to be proposed experiments? We present numerical calculations of the angularly resolved radiation spectrum from an electron bunch with parameters similar to those produced in laser wakefield acceleration experiments, interacting with an intense, ultrashort laser pulse. For our parameters, the effects of radiation damping on the angular distribution and energy distribution of \emph{photons} is not easily discernible for a "realistic" moderate emittance electron beam. However, experiments using such a counter-propagating beam-laser geometry should be able to measure such effects using current laser systems through measurement of the \emph{electron beam} properties. In addition, the brilliance of this source is very high, with peak spectral brilliance exceeding $10^{29}$ photons$\,$s$^{-1}$mm$^{-2}$mrad$^{-2}(0.1$% bandwidth$)^{-1}$ with approximately 2% efficiency and with a peak energy of 10 MeV.Comment: 11 figures, 11 page

Temperature Equilibration Due to Charge State Fluctuations in Dense Plasmas

The charge states of ions in dense plasmas fluctuate due to collisional ionization and recombination. Here we show how, by modifying the ion interaction potential, these fluctuations can mediate energy exchange between the plasma electrons and ions. Moreover, we develop a theory for this novel electron-ion energy transfer mechanism. Calculations using a random walk approach for the fluctuations suggest that the energy exchange rate from charge state fluctuations could be comparable to direct electron-ion collisions. This mechanism is, however, predicted to exhibit a complex dependence on the temperature and ionization state of the plasma, which could contribute to our understanding of significant variation in experimental measurements of equilibration times

Probing electron acceleration and X-ray emission in laser-plasma accelerator

While laser-plasma accelerators have demonstrated a strong potential in the acceleration of electrons up to giga-electronvolt energies, few experimental tools for studying the acceleration physics have been developed. In this paper, we demonstrate a method for probing the acceleration process. A second laser beam, propagating perpendicular to the main beam is focused in the gas jet few nanosecond before the main beam creates the accelerating plasma wave. This second beam is intense enough to ionize the gas and form a density depletion which will locally inhibit the acceleration. The position of the density depletion is scanned along the interaction length to probe the electron injection and acceleration, and the betatron X-ray emission. To illustrate the potential of the method, the variation of the injection position with the plasma density is studied

Tuning the electron energy by controlling the density perturbation position in laser plasma accelerators

A density perturbation produced in an underdense plasma was used to improve the quality of electron bunches produced in the laser-plasma wakefield acceleration scheme. Quasi-monoenergetic electrons were generated by controlled injection in the longitudinal density gradients of the density perturbation. By tuning the position of the density perturbation along the laser propagation axis, a fine control of the electron energy from a mean value of 60 MeV to 120 MeV has been demonstrated with a relative energy-spread of 15 +/- 3.6%, divergence of 4 +/- 0.8 mrad and charge of 6 +/- 1.8 pC.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure

Multi-Pulse Laser Wakefield Acceleration: A New Route to Efficient, High-Repetition-Rate Plasma Accelerators and High Flux Radiation Sources

Laser-driven plasma accelerators can generate accelerating gradients three orders of magnitude larger than radio-frequency accelerators and have achieved beam energies above 1 GeV in centimetre long stages. However, the pulse repetition rate and wall-plug efficiency of plasma accelerators is limited by the driving laser to less than approximately 1 Hz and 0.1% respectively. Here we investigate the prospects for exciting the plasma wave with trains of low-energy laser pulses rather than a single high-energy pulse. Resonantly exciting the wakefield in this way would enable the use of different technologies, such as fibre or thin-disc lasers, which are able to operate at multi-kilohertz pulse repetition rates and with wall-plug efficiencies two orders of magnitude higher than current laser systems. We outline the parameters of efficient, GeV-scale, 10-kHz plasma accelerators and show that they could drive compact X-ray sources with average photon fluxes comparable to those of third-generation light source but with significantly improved temporal resolution. Likewise FEL operation could be driven with comparable peak power but with significantly larger repetition rates than extant FELs

Self-guided wakefield experiments driven by petawatt class ultra-short laser pulses

We investigate the extension of self-injecting laser wakefield experiments to the regime that will be accessible with the next generation of petawatt class ultra-short pulse laser systems. Using linear scalings, current experimental trends and numerical simulations we determine the optimal laser and target parameters, i.e. focusing geometry, plasma density and target length, that are required to increase the electron beam energy (to > 1 GeV) without the use of external guiding structures.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure