Laser beam coupling with capillary discharge plasma for laser wakefield acceleration applications

Abstract

One of the most robust methods, demonstrated up to date, of accelerating electron beams by laser-plasma sources is the utilization of plasma channels generated by the capillary discharges. These channels, i.e., plasma columns with a minimum density along the laser pulse propagation axis, may optically guide short laser pulses, thereby increasing the acceleration length, leading to a more efficient electron acceleration. Although the spatial structure of the installation is simple in principle, there may be some important effects caused by the open ends of the capillary, by the supplying channels etc., which require a detailed 3D modeling of the processes taking place in order to get a detailed understanding and improve the operation. However, the discharge plasma, being one of the most crucial components of the laser-plasma accelerator, is not simulated with the accuracy and resolution required to advance this promising technology. In the present work, such simulations are performed using the code MARPLE. First, the process of the capillary filling with a cold hydrogen before the discharge is fired, through the side supply channels is simulated. The main goal of this simulation is to get a spatial distribution of the filling gas in the region near the open ends of the capillary. A realistic geometry is used for this and the next stage simulations, including the insulators, the supplying channels as well as the electrodes. Second, the simulation of the capillary discharge is performed with the goal to obtain a time-dependent spatial distribution of the electron density near the open ends of the capillary as well as inside the capillary. Finally, to evaluate effectiveness of the beam coupling with the channeling plasma wave guide and electron acceleration, modeling of laser-plasma interaction was performed with the code INF&RNO

11 pages, 9 figures

References in corpus (2)

• Enhancement of electron energy to multi-GeV regime by a dual-stage laser-wakefield accelerator pumped by petawatt laser pulses
• Plasma Equilibrium inside Various Cross-Section Capillary Discharges

Cited by in corpus (6)

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• Direct Measurement of Focusing Fields in Active Plasma Lenses
• Phase-matched high-order harmonic generation in pre-ionized noble gases
• On production and asymmetric focusing of flat electron beams using rectangular capillary discharge plasmas
• Impact of Electron Transport Models on Capillary Discharge Plasmas
• Modeling of Advanced Accelerator Concepts