Optically Controlled Laser-Plasma Electron Accelerator For Compact Gamma-Ray Sources, Serge Y. Kalmykov, X. Davoine, Isaac Ghebregziabher, Bradley A. Shadwick
Feb 2018
Optically Controlled Laser-Plasma Electron Accelerator For Compact Gamma-Ray Sources, Serge Y. Kalmykov, X. Davoine, Isaac Ghebregziabher, Bradley A. Shadwick
Serge Youri Kalmykov
Generating quasi-monochromatic, femtosecond gamma-ray pulses via Thomson scattering (TS) demands exceptional electron beam (e-beam) quality, such as percent scale energy spread and five-dimensional brightness over 10^16 A/m^2. We show that near-GeV e-beams with these metrics can be accelerated in a cavity of electron density, driven with an incoherent stack of Joule-scale laser pulses through a mm-size, dense plasma (n ~ 10^19 cm^-3). Changing the time delay, frequency difference, and energy ratio of the stack components controls the e-beam phase space on the femtosecond scale, while the modest energy of the optical driver helps afford kHz-scale repetition rate at manageable average …
Multi-Color, Femtosecond Gamma-Ray Pulse Trains Driven By Comb-Like Electron Beams, Serge Y. Kalmykov, X. Davoine, Isaac Ghebregziabher, Bradley A. Shadwick
Feb 2018
Multi-Color, Femtosecond Gamma-Ray Pulse Trains Driven By Comb-Like Electron Beams, Serge Y. Kalmykov, X. Davoine, Isaac Ghebregziabher, Bradley A. Shadwick
Serge Youri Kalmykov
Photon engineering can be exploited to control the nonlinear evolution of the drive pulse in a laser–plasma accelerator (LPA), offering new avenues to tailor electron beam phase space on a femtosecond time scale. One promising option is to drive an LPA with an incoherent stack of two sub-Joule, multi-TW pulses of different colors. Slow self-compression of the bi-color optical driver delays electron dephasing, boosting electron beam energy without accumulation of a massive low-energy tail. The modest energy of the stack affords kHz-scale repetition rate at manageable laser average power. Propagating the stack in a pre-formed plasma channel induces periodic self-focusing …
Accordion Effect Revisited: Generation Of Comb-Like Electron Beams In Plasma Channels, Serge Y. Kalmykov, X. Davoine, Remi Lehe, Agustin F. Lifschitz, Bradley A. Shadwick
Oct 2016
Accordion Effect Revisited: Generation Of Comb-Like Electron Beams In Plasma Channels, Serge Y. Kalmykov, X. Davoine, Remi Lehe, Agustin F. Lifschitz, Bradley A. Shadwick
Serge Youri Kalmykov
Propagating a short, relativistically intense laser pulse in a plasma channel makes it possible to generate comb-like electron beams – sequences of synchronized, low phase-space volume bunches with controllable energy difference. The tail of the pulse, confined in the accelerator cavity (electron density “bubble”), transversely flaps, as the pulse head steadily self-guides. The resulting oscillations of the cavity size cause periodic injection of electrons from ambient plasma, creating an energy comb with the number of components, their energy, and energy separation dependent on the channel radius and pulse length. Accumulation of noise (continuously injected charge) can be prevented using a …
Customizable Electron Beams From Optically Controlled Laser Plasma Acceleration For Γ-Ray Sources Based On Inverse Thomson Scattering, Serge Y. Kalmykov, X. Davoine, Isaac Ghebregziabher, Bradley A. Shadwick
Jan 2016
Customizable Electron Beams From Optically Controlled Laser Plasma Acceleration For Γ-Ray Sources Based On Inverse Thomson Scattering, Serge Y. Kalmykov, X. Davoine, Isaac Ghebregziabher, Bradley A. Shadwick
Serge Youri Kalmykov
Laser wakefield acceleration of electrons in the blowout regime can be controlled by tailoring the laser pulse phase and the plasma target. The100nm-scale bandwidth and negative frequency chirp of the optical driver compensate for the nonlinear frequency red-shift imparted by wakefield excitation.This mitigates pulse self-steepening and suppresses continuous injection. The plasma channel suppresses diffraction of the pulse leading edge, further reducing self-steepening, making injection even quieter. Besides, the channel destabilizes the pulse tail confined within the accelerator cavity (the electron density “bubble”), causing oscillations in the bubble size. The resulting periodic injection generates background-free comb-like beams – sequences of synchronized, …
Optical Control Of Electron Phase Space In Plasma Accelerators With Incoherently Stacked Laser Pulses, Serge Y. Kalmykov, Xavier Davoine, Remi Lehe, Agustin F. Lifschitz, Bradley A. Shadwick
May 2015
Optical Control Of Electron Phase Space In Plasma Accelerators With Incoherently Stacked Laser Pulses, Serge Y. Kalmykov, Xavier Davoine, Remi Lehe, Agustin F. Lifschitz, Bradley A. Shadwick
Serge Youri Kalmykov
It is demonstrated that synthesizing an ultrahigh-bandwidth, negatively chirped laser pulse by incoherently stacking pulses of different wavelengths makes it possible to optimize the process of electron self-injection in a dense, highly dispersive plasma (n_0 \sim 10^{19} cm^{-3}). Avoiding transformation of the driving pulse into a relativistic optical shock maintains a quasi-monoenergetic electron spectrum through electron dephasing and boosts electron energy far beyond the limits suggested by existing scaling laws. In addition, evolution of the accelerating bucket in a plasma channel is shown to produce a background-free, tunable train of femtosecond-duration, 35 - 100 kA, time-synchronized quasi-monoenergetic electron bunches. The …
Accordion Effect In Plasma Channels: Generation Of Tunable Comb-Like Electron Beams, Serge Y. Kalmykov, Bradley A. Shadwick, Isaac A. Ghebregziabher, Xavier Davoine, Remi Lehe, Agustin F. Lifschitz, Victor Malka
May 2014
Accordion Effect In Plasma Channels: Generation Of Tunable Comb-Like Electron Beams, Serge Y. Kalmykov, Bradley A. Shadwick, Isaac A. Ghebregziabher, Xavier Davoine, Remi Lehe, Agustin F. Lifschitz, Victor Malka
Serge Youri Kalmykov
Propagating a short, relativistically intense laser pulse in a plasma channel makes it possible to generate comb-like electron beams for advanced radiation sources. The ponderomotive force of the leading edge of the pulse expels all electrons facing the pulse. The bare ions attract the ambient plasma electrons, forming a closed bubble of electron density confining the pulse tail. The cavity of electron density evolves slowly, in lock-step with the optical driver, and readily traps background electrons. The combination of a bubble (a self-consistently maintained, “soft” hollow channel) and a preformed channel forces transverse flapping of the laser pulse tail, causing …
All-Optical Control Of Electron Self-Injection In Millimeter-Scale, Tapered Dense Plasmas., Serge Y. Kalmykov, Xavier Davoine, Bradley A. Shadwick
Feb 2014
All-Optical Control Of Electron Self-Injection In Millimeter-Scale, Tapered Dense Plasmas., Serge Y. Kalmykov, Xavier Davoine, Bradley A. Shadwick
Serge Youri Kalmykov
It is demonstrated that a laser pulse with an ultrahigh bandwidth (400 nm) is an asset for future high-repetition-rate , quasimonoenergetic (QME), GeV-scale laser plasma electron accelerators. Manipulating the phase of the driver has a direct impact on evolution of the accelerating bucket (a cavity of electron density maintained by the pressure of the laser pulse radiation), making it possible to control electron self-injection and the final parameters of the QME beam by purely optical means. The large bandwidth makes it possible to compensate for the frequency red-shift accumulated at the pulse leading edge in transit through the plasma. Advancing …
