Waveform Control of Relativistic Electron Dynamics in Laser-Plasma Acceleration
The interaction of ultraintense laser pulses with an underdense plasma is used in laser-plasma acceleration to create compact sources of ultrashort pulses of relativistic electrons and x rays. The accelerating structure is a plasma wave, or wakefield, that is excited by the laser ponderomotive force...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Physical Society
2022-02-01
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| Series: | Physical Review X |
| Online Access: | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.12.011036 |
| _version_ | 1819319628207226880 |
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| author | Julius Huijts Lucas Rovige Igor A. Andriyash Aline Vernier Marie Ouillé Jaismeen Kaur Zhao Cheng Rodrigo Lopez-Martens Jérôme Faure |
| author_facet | Julius Huijts Lucas Rovige Igor A. Andriyash Aline Vernier Marie Ouillé Jaismeen Kaur Zhao Cheng Rodrigo Lopez-Martens Jérôme Faure |
| author_sort | Julius Huijts |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The interaction of ultraintense laser pulses with an underdense plasma is used in laser-plasma acceleration to create compact sources of ultrashort pulses of relativistic electrons and x rays. The accelerating structure is a plasma wave, or wakefield, that is excited by the laser ponderomotive force, a force that is usually assumed to depend solely on the laser envelope and not on its exact waveform. Here, we use near-single-cycle laser pulses with a controlled carrier-envelope phase to show that the actual waveform of the laser field has a clear impact on the plasma response. The beam pointing of our relativistic electron beam oscillates in phase with the carrier-envelope phase of the laser, at an amplitude of 15 mrad, or 30% of the beam divergence. Numerical simulations explain this observation through asymmetries in the injection and acceleration of the electron beam, which are locked to the carrier-envelope phase. These results imply that we achieve waveform control of relativistic electron dynamics. Our results pave the way to high-precision, subcycle control of electron injection in plasma accelerators, enabling the production of attosecond relativistic electron bunches and x rays. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-24T11:06:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-254409d9170d4423b92687a109a4312c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2160-3308 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-24T11:06:42Z |
| publishDate | 2022-02-01 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Physical Review X |
| spelling | doaj.art-254409d9170d4423b92687a109a4312c2022-12-21T16:58:36ZengAmerican Physical SocietyPhysical Review X2160-33082022-02-0112101103610.1103/PhysRevX.12.011036Waveform Control of Relativistic Electron Dynamics in Laser-Plasma AccelerationJulius HuijtsLucas RovigeIgor A. AndriyashAline VernierMarie OuilléJaismeen KaurZhao ChengRodrigo Lopez-MartensJérôme FaureThe interaction of ultraintense laser pulses with an underdense plasma is used in laser-plasma acceleration to create compact sources of ultrashort pulses of relativistic electrons and x rays. The accelerating structure is a plasma wave, or wakefield, that is excited by the laser ponderomotive force, a force that is usually assumed to depend solely on the laser envelope and not on its exact waveform. Here, we use near-single-cycle laser pulses with a controlled carrier-envelope phase to show that the actual waveform of the laser field has a clear impact on the plasma response. The beam pointing of our relativistic electron beam oscillates in phase with the carrier-envelope phase of the laser, at an amplitude of 15 mrad, or 30% of the beam divergence. Numerical simulations explain this observation through asymmetries in the injection and acceleration of the electron beam, which are locked to the carrier-envelope phase. These results imply that we achieve waveform control of relativistic electron dynamics. Our results pave the way to high-precision, subcycle control of electron injection in plasma accelerators, enabling the production of attosecond relativistic electron bunches and x rays.http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.12.011036 |
| spellingShingle | Julius Huijts Lucas Rovige Igor A. Andriyash Aline Vernier Marie Ouillé Jaismeen Kaur Zhao Cheng Rodrigo Lopez-Martens Jérôme Faure Waveform Control of Relativistic Electron Dynamics in Laser-Plasma Acceleration Physical Review X |
| title | Waveform Control of Relativistic Electron Dynamics in Laser-Plasma Acceleration |
| title_full | Waveform Control of Relativistic Electron Dynamics in Laser-Plasma Acceleration |
| title_fullStr | Waveform Control of Relativistic Electron Dynamics in Laser-Plasma Acceleration |
| title_full_unstemmed | Waveform Control of Relativistic Electron Dynamics in Laser-Plasma Acceleration |
| title_short | Waveform Control of Relativistic Electron Dynamics in Laser-Plasma Acceleration |
| title_sort | waveform control of relativistic electron dynamics in laser plasma acceleration |
| url | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.12.011036 |
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