Quasi-monoenergetic laser-plasma acceleration of electrons to 2 GeV

Xiaoming Wang, Rafal Zgadzaj, Neil Fazel, Zhengyan Li, S. A. Yi, Xi Zhang, Watson Henderson, Y.-Y. Chang, R. Korzekwa, H.-E. Tsai, C.-H. Pai, H. Quevedo, G. Dyer, E. Gaul, M. Martinez, A. C. Bernstein, T. Borger, M. Spinks, M. Donovan, V. Khudik, G. Shvets, T. Ditmire and M. C. Downer ()
Additional contact information
Xiaoming Wang: University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1600, Austin, Texas 78712-1081, USA
Rafal Zgadzaj: University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1600, Austin, Texas 78712-1081, USA
Neil Fazel: University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1600, Austin, Texas 78712-1081, USA
Zhengyan Li: University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1600, Austin, Texas 78712-1081, USA
S. A. Yi: University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1600, Austin, Texas 78712-1081, USA
Xi Zhang: University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1600, Austin, Texas 78712-1081, USA
Watson Henderson: University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1600, Austin, Texas 78712-1081, USA
Y.-Y. Chang: University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1600, Austin, Texas 78712-1081, USA
R. Korzekwa: University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1600, Austin, Texas 78712-1081, USA
H.-E. Tsai: University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1600, Austin, Texas 78712-1081, USA
C.-H. Pai: University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1600, Austin, Texas 78712-1081, USA
H. Quevedo: University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1600, Austin, Texas 78712-1081, USA
G. Dyer: University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1600, Austin, Texas 78712-1081, USA
E. Gaul: University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1600, Austin, Texas 78712-1081, USA
M. Martinez: University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1600, Austin, Texas 78712-1081, USA
A. C. Bernstein: University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1600, Austin, Texas 78712-1081, USA
T. Borger: University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1600, Austin, Texas 78712-1081, USA
M. Spinks: University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1600, Austin, Texas 78712-1081, USA
M. Donovan: University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1600, Austin, Texas 78712-1081, USA
V. Khudik: University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1600, Austin, Texas 78712-1081, USA
G. Shvets: University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1600, Austin, Texas 78712-1081, USA
T. Ditmire: University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1600, Austin, Texas 78712-1081, USA
M. C. Downer: University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1600, Austin, Texas 78712-1081, USA

Nature Communications, 2013, vol. 4, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Laser-plasma accelerators of only a centimetre’s length have produced nearly monoenergetic electron bunches with energy as high as 1 GeV. Scaling these compact accelerators to multi-gigaelectronvolt energy would open the prospect of building X-ray free-electron lasers and linear colliders hundreds of times smaller than conventional facilities, but the 1 GeV barrier has so far proven insurmountable. Here, by applying new petawatt laser technology, we produce electron bunches with a spectrum prominently peaked at 2 GeV with only a few per cent energy spread and unprecedented sub-milliradian divergence. Petawatt pulses inject ambient plasma electrons into the laser-driven accelerator at much lower density than was previously possible, thereby overcoming the principal physical barriers to multi-gigaelectronvolt acceleration: dephasing between laser-driven wake and accelerating electrons and laser pulse erosion. Simulations indicate that with improvements in the laser-pulse focus quality, acceleration to nearly 10 GeV should be possible with the available pulse energy.

Date: 2013
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2988

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