Tunable energy spectrum betatron x-ray sources in a plasma wakefield

X-ray sources with tunable energy spectra have a wide range of applications in different scenarios due to their different penetration depths.However,existing x-ray sources face difficulties in terms of energy regulation.In this paper,we present a scheme for tuning the energy spectrum of a betatron x-ray generated from a relativistic electron bunch oscillating in a plasma wakefield.The center energy of the x-ray source can be tuned from several keV to several hundred keV by changing the plasma density,thereby extending the control range by an order of magnitude.At different central energies,the brightness of the betatron radiation is in the range of 3.7×10^(22)to 5.5×10^(22)photons/(0.1%BW·s·mm^(2)·mrad^(2))and the photon divergence angle is about 2 mrad.This high-brightness,energy-controlled betatron source could pave the way to a wide range of applications requiring photons of specific energy,such as phase-contrast imaging in medicine,non-destructive testing and material analysis in industry,and imaging in nuclear physics.

Effect of sharp vacuum-plasma boundary on the electron injection and acceleration in a few-cycle laser driven wakefield

The electron injection and acceleration driven by a few-cycle laser with a sharp vacuum-plasma boundary have been investigated through three-dimensional(3D)particle-in-cell simulations.It is found that an isotropic boundary impact injection(BII)first occurs at the vacuum-plasma boundary,and then carrier-envelope-phase(CEP)shift causes the transverse oscillation of the plasma bubble,resulting in a periodic electron self-injection(SI)in the laser polarization direction.It shows that the electron charge of the BII only accounts for a small part of the total charge,and the CEP can effectively tune the quality of the injected electron beam.The dependences of laser intensity and electron density on the total charge and the ratio of BII charge to the total charge are studied.The results are beneficial to electron acceleration and its applications,such as betatron radiation source.

Electromagnetic Emission from Laser Wakefields in Magnetized Underdense Plasmas

A wakefield driven by a short intense laser pulse in a perpendicularly magnetized underdense plasma is studied analytically and numerically for both weakly relativistic and highly relativistic situations. Owing to the DC magnetic field, a transverse component of the electric fields associated with the wakefield appears, while the longitudinal wave is not greatly affected by the magnetic field up to 22 Tesla. Moreover, the scaling law of the transverse field versus the longitudinal field is derived. One-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation results confirm the analytical results. Wakefield transmission through the plasma-vacuum boundary, where electromagnetic emission into vacuum occurs, is also investigated numerically. These results are useful for the generation of terahertz radiation and the diagnosis of laser wakefields.

Laser Wakefield Acceleration Using Mid-Infrared Laser Pulses

We study a laser wakefield acceleration driven by mid-infrared （mid-IR） laser pulses through two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. Since a mid-IR laser pulse can deliver a larger ponderomotive force as compared with the usual 0.8 μm wavelength laser pulse, it is found that electron self-injection into the wake wave occurs at an earlier time, the plasma density threshold for injection becomes lower, and the electron beam charge is substantially enhanced. Meanwhile, our study also shows that quasimonoenergetic electron beams with a narrow energy-spread can be generated by using mid-IR laser pulses. Such a mid-IR laser pulse can provide a feasible method for obtaining a high quality and high charge electron beam. Therefore, the current efforts on constructing mid-IR terawatt laser systems can greatly benefit the laser wakefield acceleration research.

Developments in laser wakefield accelerators:From single-stage to two-stage

Laser wakefield accelerators（LWFAs） are compact accelerators which can produce femtosecond high-energy electron beams on a much smaller scale than the conventional radiofrequency accelerators. It is attributed to their high acceleration gradient which is about 3 orders of magnitude larger than the traditional ones. The past decade has witnessed the major breakthroughs and progress in developing the laser wakfield accelerators. To achieve the LWFAs suitable for applications,more and more attention has been paid to optimize the LWFAs for high-quality electron beams. A single-staged LWFA does not favor generating controllable electron beams beyond 1 Ge V since electron injection and acceleration are coupled and cannot be independently controlled. Staged LWFAs provide a promising route to overcome this disadvantage by decoupling injection from acceleration and thus the electron-beam quality as well as the stability can be greatly improved.This paper provides an overview of the physical conceptions of the LWFA, as well as the major breakthroughs and progress in developing LWFAs from single-stage to two-stage LWFAs.

Influence of a Magnetic Guide Field on Injection in Wakefield Acceleration

The influence of an external static field applied in the direction parallel to the direction of propagation of a high intensity driving laser pulse on the electron trapping in laser wakefield acceleration is explored.

Wakefield Resonant Excitation by Intense Laser Pulse in Capillary Plasma

The laser-induced plasma wakefield in a capillary is investigated on the basis of a simple two-dimensional analytical model. It is shown that as an intense laser pulse reshaped by the capillary wall propagates in capillary plasma, it resonantly excites a strong wakefield if a suitable laser pulse width and capillary radius are chosen for a certain plasma density. The dependence of the laser width and capillary radius on the plasma density for resonance conditions is considered. The wakefield amplitude and longitudinal scale of bubbles in capillary plasma are much larger than those in unbounded plasma, so the capillary guided plasma wakefield is more favorable to electron acceleration.

Wakefield generation by chirped super-Gaussian laser pulse in inhomogeneous plasma

We study the effect of nonlinearly chirped super-Gaussian （SG） laser pulse on wakefield generation in an inhomogeneous plasma. The different types of nonlinearly chirped pulse are employed, and different kinds of inhomogeneous plasma density are used. The maximum wakefield amplitude as the function of nonlinearly chirped laser pulse and inhomogeneous plasma density in parameter space are obtained. Moreover, the dependence of the maximum wakefield amplitude on the SG laser pulse index is discussed. This shows that a larger wakefield can be obtained when the chirped pulse and inhomogeneous density are in the critical regions. Wakefield generation can be controlled by adjusting the chirped SG pulse and inhomogeneous plasma density parameters. That is, we provide an efficient way for the controlled generation of the wakefield.

Effect of multiple parameters on the supersonic gas-jet target characteristics for laser wakefield acceleration

The supersonic gas-jet target is an important experimental target for laser wakefield acceleration(LWFA),which has great potential for driving novel radiation sources such as betatron radiation and Compton scattering gamma rays.According to different electron acceleration requirements,it is necessary to provide specific supersonic gas jets with different density profiles to generate electron beams with high quality and high repetition rates.In this study,the interference images and density profiles of different gas-jet targets were obtained through a modified Nomarski interference diagnosis system.The relationships between the gas density and back pressure,nozzle structure,and other key parameters were studied.Targets with different characteristics are conducive to meeting the various requirements of LWFA.

Collimated gamma rays from laser wakefield accelerated electrons

Betatron radiation from laser wakefield accelerated electrons and X-rays scattered off a counter-propagating relativistic electron bunch arecollimated and hold the potential to extend the energy range to hard X-ray or gamma ray band. The peak brightness of these incoherent radiations could reach the level of the brightest synchrotron light sources in the world due to their femtosecond pulse duration and source sizedown to a few micrometers. In this article, the principle and properties of these radiation sources are briefly reviewed and compared. Then wepresent our recent progress in betatron radiation enhancement in the perspective of both photon energy and photon number. The enhancement istriggered by using a clustering gas target, arousing a second injection of a fiercely oscillating electron bunch with large charge or stimulating aresonantly enhanced oscillation of the ionization injected electrons. By adopting these methods, bright photon source with energy over 100 keVis generated which would greatly impact applications such as nuclear physics, diagnostic radiology, laboratory astrophysics and high-energydensity science.

Prompt acceleration of a μ^(+) beam in a toroidal wakefield driven by a shaped steep-rising-front Laguerre–Gaussian laser pulse

Recent experimental data for anomalous magnetic moments strongly indicates the existence of new physics beyond the Standard Model.Energetic μ^(+) bunches are relevant to μ^(+) rare decay,spin rotation,resonance and relaxation(μSR)technology,future muon colliders,and neutrino factories.In this paper,we propose prompt μ^(+) acceleration in a nonlinear toroidal wakefield driven by a shaped steep-rising-front Laguerre–Gaussian(LG)laser pulse.An analytical model is described,which shows that a μ^(+) beam can be focused by an electron cylinder at the centerline of a toroidal bubble and accelerated by the front part of the longitudinal wakefield.A shaped LG laser with a short rise time can push plasma electrons,generating a higher-density electron sheath at the front of the bubble,which can enhance the acceleration field.The acceleration field driven by the shaped steep-rising-front LG laser pulse is about four times greater than that driven by a normal LG laser pulse.Our simulation results show that a 300 MeV μ^(+) bunch can be accelerated to 2 GeV and its transverse size is focused from an initial value of w_(0)=5μm to w=2μm in the toroidal bubble driven by the shaped steep-rising-front LG laser pulse with a normalized amplitude of a=22.

Two-stage γ ray emission via ultrahigh intensity laser pulse interaction with a laser wakefield accelerated electron beam

In this study, we investigate the generation of twin γ ray beams in the collision of an ultrahigh intensity laser pulse with a laser wakefield accelerated electron beam using a particle-in-cell simulation. We consider the composed target of a homogeneous underdense preplasma in front of an ultrathin solid foil. The electrons in the preplasma are trapped and accelerated by the wakefield. When the laser pulse is reflected by the thin solid foil, the wakefield accelerated electrons continue to move forward and pass through the foil almost without influence from the reflected laser pulse or foil. Consequently, two groups of γ ray flashes, with tunable time delay and energy, are generated by the wakefield accelerated electron beam interacting with the reflected laser pulse from the foil as well as another counter-propagating petawatt laser pulse behind the foil. Additionally, we study the dependence of the γ photon emission on the preplasma densities, driving laser polarization, and solid foil.

Influence of a Magnetic Guide Field on Self-Injection in Wakefield Acceleration

The influence of an external static field applied in the direction of propagation of a high intensity driving laser pulse on the electron trapping in laser wakefield acceleration is explored. It is shown that, in the case of self-injection, the electric charge accelerated can be enhanced in some physical situations.

Influence of a Static Magnetic Field on Beam Emittance in Laser Wakefield Acceleration

The enhancement of trapping and the optimization of beam quality are two key issues of Laser Wakefield Acceleration (LWFA). The effect of a homogenous constant magnetic field B0, parallel to the direction of propagation of the pump pulse, is studied in the blowout regime via 2Dx3Dv Particle-In-Cell simulations. Electrons are injected into the wake using a counter-propagating low amplitude laser. Transverse currents are generated at the rim of the bubble, which results in the amplification of the B0 field at the rear of the bubble. Therefore the dynamics of the beam is modified, the main effect is the reduction of the transverse emittance when B0 is raised. Depending on beam loading effects the low energy tail, observed in the non-magnetized case, can be suppressed when B0 is applied, which provides a mono-energetic beam.

Simulation of Plasma Density Gradient Generation by Wakefield and the Effect of Probe Pulse Time-Delay on the Photon Acceleration

Laser Wakefield is produced by ultra-high intensity laser pulse interacting with underdense plasma with special conditions for the laser wavelength and plasma density. In this mechanism, nonlinear forces appear due to the very high amplitudes of the electromagnetic wave and these forces evacuate plasma electrons from the path of the laser pulse leading to very high electron plasma density gradients. Due to the electrostatic forces which result from these density perturbations, the electrons move very fast in oscillatory manner to restore neutrality creating a wake of electron density perturbations behind the laser pulse. Detailed investigation has been dealt with the time-delay between the driver laser pulse and the probe pulse which can affect the production of high plasma gradients needed for photon acceleration process.

Wakefields studies for the SXFEL user facility

Besides the original seeded undulator line,in the soft X-ray free-electron laser(SXFEL) user facility in Shanghai,a second undulator line based on self-amplified spontaneous emission is proposed to achieve 2-nm laser pulse with extremely high brightness.In this paper,the beam energy deviation induced by the undulator wakefields is numerically calculated,and 3D and 2D results agree well with each other.The beam energy loss along the undulator degrades the expected FEL output performances,i.e.,the pulse energy,radiation power and spectrum,which can be compensated with a proper taper in the undulator.Using the planned time-resolved diagnostic,a novel experiment is proposed to measure the SXFEL longitudinal wakefields.

Transverse wakefield calculated by the double circuit model

X-band accelerators for multi-bunches are a new way to produce high luminosity and energy efficiency bunches. The smaller the size and the more bunches, the more severe is the wakefield in the X-band accelerators, unless some means of strongly suppressing the transverse wakefield is adopted in the design of the accelerating structure. Here, the derivation of the wakefield function of the double circuit model and its application to the designed accelerator structure have been demonstrated.

利用均匀密度等离子体通道加速质子的辐射压力增强方案

提出了辐射压力加速与激光尾波场加速相结合的高能质子加速方案.该方案中在临界密度薄靶后端增加一个均匀密度等离子体通道获得了峰值能量为22.2 GeV、截止能量为36.4 GeV和电荷量为0.67 nC的高能质子束,与质子在纯辐射压力加速中相比,其高能质子的截止能量可以提升2个数量级.结果证实了通过在近临界密度薄靶后面连接一个均匀密度等离子体通道,等离子体通道中激光激发的尾波场可以捕获经辐射压力过程预加速的质子并维持长时间的加速,最终获得高能质子,本文还研究了不同均匀密度等离子体通道中质子的加速情况,发现密度越高,则被加速质子的峰值能量和截止能量越高,电荷量也越大.该组合加速方案对高能质子束的产生与应用具有一定的指导意义.

Micro-size picosecond-duration fast neutron source driven by a laser-plasma wakefield electron accelerator

A pulsed fast neutron source is critical for applications of fast neutron resonance radiography and fast neutron absorption spectroscopy.However,due to the large transversal source size(of the order of mm)and long pulse duration(of the order of ns)of traditional pulsed fast neutron sources,it is difficult to realize high-contrast neutron imaging with high spatial resolution and a fine absorption spectrum.Here,we experimentally present a micro-size ultra-short pulsed neutron source by a table-top laser-plasma wakefield electron accelerator driving a photofission reaction in a thin metal converter.A fast neutron source with source size of approximately 500μm and duration of approximately 36 ps has been driven by a tens of MeV,collimated,micro-size electron beam via a hundred TW laser facility.This micro-size ultra-short pulsed neutron source has the potential to improve the energy resolution of a fast neutron absorption spectrum dozens of times to,for example,approximately 100 eV at 1.65 MeV,which could be of benefit for high-quality fast neutron imaging and deep understanding of the theoretical model of neutron physics.

Laser wakefield electron acceleration for γ-ray radiography application

An electron beam is obtained using laser wakefield electron accelerator, and converted into a γ-ray source after undergoing bremsstrahlung radiation in a dense material. A quasi-monoenergetic structure is observed when the length of the plasma channel was modified. The structure has a 58-MeV peak energy, 15- mrad （full-width at half-maximum） divergence angle, and 340-pC charge. The γ-ray source generated by this high-quality electron beam is brighter and has higher spatial and temporal resolutions than other conventional sources. A γ-ray radiography demonstrational experiment is performed. Pictures of a ball with different layers made of different materials are taken. The results show a clear structure and density resolution.