Demonstration of passive plasma lensing of a laser wakefield accelerated electron bunch

S. Kuschel; D. Hollatz; T. Heinemann; O. Karger; M. B. Schwab; D. Ullmann; A. Knetsch; A. Seidel; C. Rödel; M. Yeung; M. Leier; A. Blinne; H. Ding; T. Kurz; D. J. Corvan; A. Sävert; S. Karsch; M. C. Kaluza; B. Hidding; M. Zepf

doi:10.1103/PhysRevAccelBeams.19.071301

Demonstration of passive plasma lensing of a laser wakefield accelerated electron bunch

S. Kuschel, D. Hollatz, T. Heinemann, O. Karger, M. B. Schwab, D. Ullmann, A. Knetsch, A. Seidel, C. Rödel, M. Yeung, M. Leier, A. Blinne, H. Ding, T. Kurz, D. J. Corvan, A. Sävert, S. Karsch, M. C. Kaluza, B. Hidding, M. Zepf

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Abstract

We report on the first demonstration of passive all-optical plasma lensing using a two-stage setup. An intense femtosecond laser accelerates electrons in a laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA) to 100 MeV over millimeter length scales. By adding a second gas target behind the initial LWFA stage we introduce a robust and independently tunable plasma lens. We observe a density dependent reduction of the LWFA electron beam divergence from an initial value of 2.3 mrad, down to 1.4 mrad (rms), when the plasma lens is in operation. Such a plasma lens provides a simple and compact approach for divergence reduction well matched to the mm-scale length of the LWFA accelerator. The focusing forces are provided solely by the plasma and driven by the bunch itself only, making this a highly useful and conceptually new approach to electron beam focusing. Possible applications of this lens are not limited to laser plasma accelerators. Since no active driver is needed the passive plasma lens is also suited for high repetition rate focusing of electron bunches. Its understanding is also required for modeling the evolution of the driving particle bunch in particle driven wake field acceleration.

Original language	English
Article number	071301
Number of pages	9
Journal	Physical Review Accelerators and Beams
Volume	19
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevAccelBeams.19.071301
Publication status	Published - 1 Jul 2016

Funding

B. Beleites and F. Ronneberger have contributed to this work by operating the JETI laser facility. W. Ziegler made significant contributions to the gas cell design. The authors gratefully acknowledge the following open-sourceprojects: Numpy [46], Matplotlib [47], IPython [48], postpic [49]. The authors gratefully acknowledge the computing time granted by the John von Neumann Institute for Computing (NIC) and provided on the supercomputer JUROPA at J?lich Supercomputing Centre (JSC). This study was supported by DFG (Grants No. TR18-B9, and No. KA 2869/2-1), BMBF (Contracts No. 05K10SJ2, No. 03ZIK052, and No. 05K16SJC), and the European Regional Development Fund (EFRE).

Keywords

laser wakefield accelerated electron bunch
passive all-optical plasma lensing
laser wakefield accelerator
LWFA
plasma

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10.1103/PhysRevAccelBeams.19.071301

Kuschel-etal-PRAB-2016-Demonstration-of-passive-plasma-lensing-of-a-laser-wakefield-accelerated-electron-bunchFinal published version, 1.16 MBLicence: CC BY 3.0

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Kuschel, S., Hollatz, D., Heinemann, T., Karger, O., Schwab, M. B., Ullmann, D., Knetsch, A., Seidel, A., Rödel, C., Yeung, M., Leier, M., Blinne, A., Ding, H., Kurz, T., Corvan, D. J., Sävert, A., Karsch, S., Kaluza, M. C., Hidding, B., & Zepf, M. (2016). Demonstration of passive plasma lensing of a laser wakefield accelerated electron bunch. Physical Review Accelerators and Beams, 19(7), Article 071301. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevAccelBeams.19.071301

@article{9de13cc3874a41e1afd4d00541424206,

title = "Demonstration of passive plasma lensing of a laser wakefield accelerated electron bunch",

abstract = "We report on the first demonstration of passive all-optical plasma lensing using a two-stage setup. An intense femtosecond laser accelerates electrons in a laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA) to 100 MeV over millimeter length scales. By adding a second gas target behind the initial LWFA stage we introduce a robust and independently tunable plasma lens. We observe a density dependent reduction of the LWFA electron beam divergence from an initial value of 2.3 mrad, down to 1.4 mrad (rms), when the plasma lens is in operation. Such a plasma lens provides a simple and compact approach for divergence reduction well matched to the mm-scale length of the LWFA accelerator. The focusing forces are provided solely by the plasma and driven by the bunch itself only, making this a highly useful and conceptually new approach to electron beam focusing. Possible applications of this lens are not limited to laser plasma accelerators. Since no active driver is needed the passive plasma lens is also suited for high repetition rate focusing of electron bunches. Its understanding is also required for modeling the evolution of the driving particle bunch in particle driven wake field acceleration.",

keywords = "laser wakefield accelerated electron bunch, passive all-optical plasma lensing, laser wakefield accelerator, LWFA, plasma",

author = "S. Kuschel and D. Hollatz and T. Heinemann and O. Karger and Schwab, {M. B.} and D. Ullmann and A. Knetsch and A. Seidel and C. R{\"o}del and M. Yeung and M. Leier and A. Blinne and H. Ding and T. Kurz and Corvan, {D. J.} and A. S{\"a}vert and S. Karsch and Kaluza, {M. C.} and B. Hidding and M. Zepf",

year = "2016",

month = jul,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1103/PhysRevAccelBeams.19.071301",

language = "English",

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journal = "Physical Review Accelerators and Beams",

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Kuschel, S, Hollatz, D, Heinemann, T, Karger, O, Schwab, MB, Ullmann, D, Knetsch, A, Seidel, A, Rödel, C, Yeung, M, Leier, M, Blinne, A, Ding, H, Kurz, T, Corvan, DJ, Sävert, A, Karsch, S, Kaluza, MC, Hidding, B & Zepf, M 2016, 'Demonstration of passive plasma lensing of a laser wakefield accelerated electron bunch', Physical Review Accelerators and Beams, vol. 19, no. 7, 071301. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevAccelBeams.19.071301

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AU - Kuschel, S.

AU - Hollatz, D.

AU - Heinemann, T.

AU - Karger, O.

AU - Schwab, M. B.

AU - Ullmann, D.

AU - Knetsch, A.

AU - Seidel, A.

AU - Rödel, C.

AU - Yeung, M.

AU - Leier, M.

AU - Blinne, A.

AU - Ding, H.

AU - Kurz, T.

AU - Corvan, D. J.

AU - Sävert, A.

AU - Karsch, S.

AU - Kaluza, M. C.

AU - Hidding, B.

AU - Zepf, M.

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N2 - We report on the first demonstration of passive all-optical plasma lensing using a two-stage setup. An intense femtosecond laser accelerates electrons in a laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA) to 100 MeV over millimeter length scales. By adding a second gas target behind the initial LWFA stage we introduce a robust and independently tunable plasma lens. We observe a density dependent reduction of the LWFA electron beam divergence from an initial value of 2.3 mrad, down to 1.4 mrad (rms), when the plasma lens is in operation. Such a plasma lens provides a simple and compact approach for divergence reduction well matched to the mm-scale length of the LWFA accelerator. The focusing forces are provided solely by the plasma and driven by the bunch itself only, making this a highly useful and conceptually new approach to electron beam focusing. Possible applications of this lens are not limited to laser plasma accelerators. Since no active driver is needed the passive plasma lens is also suited for high repetition rate focusing of electron bunches. Its understanding is also required for modeling the evolution of the driving particle bunch in particle driven wake field acceleration.

AB - We report on the first demonstration of passive all-optical plasma lensing using a two-stage setup. An intense femtosecond laser accelerates electrons in a laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA) to 100 MeV over millimeter length scales. By adding a second gas target behind the initial LWFA stage we introduce a robust and independently tunable plasma lens. We observe a density dependent reduction of the LWFA electron beam divergence from an initial value of 2.3 mrad, down to 1.4 mrad (rms), when the plasma lens is in operation. Such a plasma lens provides a simple and compact approach for divergence reduction well matched to the mm-scale length of the LWFA accelerator. The focusing forces are provided solely by the plasma and driven by the bunch itself only, making this a highly useful and conceptually new approach to electron beam focusing. Possible applications of this lens are not limited to laser plasma accelerators. Since no active driver is needed the passive plasma lens is also suited for high repetition rate focusing of electron bunches. Its understanding is also required for modeling the evolution of the driving particle bunch in particle driven wake field acceleration.

KW - laser wakefield accelerated electron bunch

KW - passive all-optical plasma lensing

KW - laser wakefield accelerator

KW - LWFA

KW - plasma

U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevAccelBeams.19.071301

DO - 10.1103/PhysRevAccelBeams.19.071301

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85011263769

SN - 1098-4402

VL - 19

JO - Physical Review Accelerators and Beams

JF - Physical Review Accelerators and Beams

IS - 7

M1 - 071301

ER -

Demonstration of passive plasma lensing of a laser wakefield accelerated electron bunch

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