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Investigation of Early Plasma Evolution Induced by Ultrashort Laser Pulses
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Direct Observation of the Injection Dynamics of a Laser Wakefield Accelerator Using Few-Femtosecond Shadowgraphy.

A Sävert1, S P D Mangles2, M Schnell1

  • 1Institut für Optik und Quantenelektronik, Abbe-Center of Photonics, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, 07743 Jena, Germany.

Physical Review Letters
|August 15, 2015
PubMed
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Few-femtosecond shadowgraphy reveals plasma wave evolution in laser wakefield accelerators. Lengthening of the plasma period drives self-injection of electrons, confirmed by simulations.

Area of Science:

  • Plasma Physics
  • Laser-Plasma Interactions
  • Particle Acceleration

Background:

  • Laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) is a promising technique for generating high-energy electron beams.
  • Understanding the nonlinear evolution of plasma waves is crucial for optimizing LWFA performance.
  • Direct visualization of plasma wave dynamics has been challenging.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To visualize the nonlinear evolution of plasma waves in LWFA using few-femtosecond shadowgraphy.
  • To quantitatively assess the size and shape of plasma waves.
  • To investigate the mechanism of electron self-injection.

Main Methods:

  • Utilizing few-femtosecond shadowgraphic snapshots with transverse synchronized few-cycle probe pulses.
  • Correlating shadowgraphic images with electron density distributions.

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  • Performing three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations to model the plasma dynamics.

    • Main Results:

    • Shadowgraphic snapshots provide quantitative data on plasma wave size and shape.
    • Observed a lengthening of the first plasma period during nonlinear evolution.
    • Demonstrated that this lengthening induces self-injection of electrons into the plasma wave.

    Conclusions:

    • Few-femtosecond shadowgraphy is a powerful tool for studying laser-driven plasma waves.
    • Plasma period lengthening is identified as a key mechanism for electron self-injection in LWFA.
    • Simulation results validate the experimental observations of plasma wave dynamics and electron injection.