Relativistic Bi-Stability In A Plasma Beatwave Accelerator

Beatwave excitation of plasma waves is analyzed in the regime where relativistic corrections to the plasma frequency are important. It is shown that a long beatwave pulse can excite strong plasma waves in its wake even when the beatwave frequency is detuned from the electron plasma frequency. The wake is caused by the dynamic bi-stability of the nonlinear plasma wave if the beatwave amplitude exceeds the analytically calculated threshold. Two possible beatwave drivers are considered: intensity-modulated laser pulse and density-modulated electron beam. It is found that, due to the relativistic bi-stability, so portions of the driver may experience photon blue-shifting (for the laser driver) or electron acceleration (for the beam driver). In the latter case a combined accelerator/injector is envisioned.Physic

Design And Fabrication Of A Surface-Wave Accelerator Based On Silicon Carbide

The principles and electromagnetic simulations of a novel accelerating structure are described. The structure is planar, consisting of two plates of silicon carbide (SiC) separated by a vacuum gap. Charged particle bunches are accelerated in the vacuum gap by the surface electromagnetic waves (phonon polaritons) localized near the vacuum/SiC interface. The structure can be powered by a carbon dioxide (CO2) laser with the wavelength lambda(0) approximate to 10.6mum. The operating wavelength is dictated by the frequency-dependent dielectric permittivity epsilon(omega) of SiC which is negative for the frequencies in the CO2 tunability range. The resulting accelerator can support accelerating fields well in excess of 1 GeV/m without breakdown, and provide the path to compact and inexpensive particle accelerators. The challenge of coupling radiation into a very narrow (a few microns) vacuum gap is resolved by designing a coupling grating on the top surface of a Si wafer, and attaching a thin SiC film to the bottom of the wafer. Preliminary fabrication results are reported.Physic

Wake excited in plasma by an ultrarelativistic pointlike bunch

We study propagation of a relativistic electron bunch through a cold plasma assuming that the transverse and longitudinal dimensions of the bunch are much smaller than the plasma collisionless skin depth. Treating the bunch as a point charge and assuming that its charge is small, we derive a simplified system of equations for the plasma electrons and show that, through a simple rescaling of variables, the bunch charge can be eliminated from the equations. The equations demonstrate an ion cavity formed behind the driver. They are solved numerically and the scaling of the cavity parameters with the driver charge is obtained. A numerical solution for the case of a positively charged driver is also found.Department of Energy DE-AC03-76SF00515U.S. Department of Energy DEFG02-04ER54742 DE-SC0007889 DE-SC0010622Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) FA9550-14-1-0045Physic

All-optical suppression of relativistic self-focusing of laser beams in plasmas

It is demonstrated that a catastrophic relativistic self-focusing (RSF) of a high-power laser pulse can be prevented all-optically by a second, much weaker, copropagating pulse. RSF suppression occurs when the difference frequency of the pulses slightly exceeds the electron plasma frequency. The mutual defocusing is caused by the three-dimensional electron density perturbation driven by the laser beat wave slightly above the plasma resonance. A bienvelope model describing the early stage of the mutual defocusing is derived and analyzed. Later stages, characterized by the presence of a strong electromagnetic cascade, are investigated numerically. Stable propagation of the laser pulse with weakly varying spot size and peak amplitude over several Rayleigh lengths is predicted.U.S. Department of Energy DE-FG02-04ER54763 DE-FG02-04ER41321 DE-FG02-07ER54945NSF PHY-0114336Physic

Left-Handed Surface Waves in a Photonic Structure

It is demonstrated that an isotropic left-handed medium can be constructed as a photonic structure consisting of two dielectric materials, one with positive and another with negative dielectric permittivities epsilon. Electromagnetic waves supported by this structure are the surface waves localized at the dielectric interfaces. These surface waves can be either surface phonons or surface plasmons. Two examples of negative epsilon materials are used: silicon carbide and free-electron gas.Comment: 7 pages, two figure

Analytic Model Of Electron Self-Injection In A Plasma Wakefield Accelerator In The Strongly Nonlinear Bubble Regime

Self-injection of background electrons in plasma wakefield accelerators in the highly nonlinear bubble regime is analyzed using particle-in-cell and semi-analytic modeling. It is shown that the return current in the bubble sheath layer is crucial for accurate determination of the trapped particle trajectories.Physic

Plasmonic Scaling of Superconducting Metamaterials

Superconducting metamaterials are utilized to study the approach to the plasmonic limit simply by tuning temperature to modify the superfluid density, and thus the superfluid plasma frequency. We examine the persistence of artificial magnetism in a metamaterial made with superconductors in the plasmonic limit, and compare to the electromagnetic behavior of normal metals as a function of frequency as the plasma frequency is approached from below. Spiral-shaped Nb thin film meta-atoms of scaled dimensions are employed to explore the plasmonic behavior in these superconducting metamaterials, and the scaling condition allows extraction of the temperature dependent superfluid density, which is found to be in good agreement with expectations.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Monoenergetic Acceleration Of A Target Foil By Circularly Polarized Laser Pulse In Rpa Regime Without Thermal Heating

A kinetic model of the monoenergetic acceleration of a target foil irradiated by the circularly polarized laser pulse is developed. The target moves without thermal heating with constant acceleration which is provided by chirping the frequency of the laser pulse and correspondingly increasing its intensity. In the accelerated reference frame, bulk plasma in the target is neutral and its parameters are stationery: cold ions are immobile while nonrelativistic electrons bounce back and forth inside the potential well formed by ponderomotive and electrostatic potentials. It is shown that a positive charge left behind of the moving target in the ion tail and a negative charge in front of the target in the electron sheath form a capacitor whose constant electric field accelerates the ions of the target. The charge separation is maintained by the radiation pressure pushing electrons forward. The scalings of the target thickness and electromagnetic radiation with the electron temperature are found.Physic