Multi-GeV Electron Acceleration in Wakefields Strongly Driven by Oversized Laser Spots

Experiments were performed on laser wakefield acceleration in the highly nonlinear regime. With laser powers P<250  TW and using an initial spot size larger than the matched spot size for guiding, we were able to accelerate electrons to energies E_{max}>2.5  GeV, in fields exceeding 500  GV m^{-1}, with more than 80 pC of charge at energies E>1  GeV. Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that using an oversized spot delays injection, avoiding beam loss as the wakefield undergoes length oscillation. This enables injected electrons to remain in the regions of highest accelerating fields and leads to a doubling of energy gain as compared to results from using half the focal length with the same laser.