Particle acceleration by laser fields in a dielectric disk-loaded waveguide

A new method is proposed for accelerating relativistic charged particle beams in a vacuum by a laser. The laser propagates in an overmoded waveguide interrupted periodically by thin dielectric disks spaced many wavelengths apart. The particle beam travels along the waveguide axis, passing through ir...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied physics 1998-06, Vol.83 (11), p.5636-5643
Main Authors: Steinhauer, L. C., Romea, R. D., Kimura, W. D., Fontana, J. R.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:A new method is proposed for accelerating relativistic charged particle beams in a vacuum by a laser. The laser propagates in an overmoded waveguide interrupted periodically by thin dielectric disks spaced many wavelengths apart. The particle beam travels along the waveguide axis, passing through irises in the disks. The disks correct for slippage of the particle phase relative to the laser wave. This concept exploits the inverse of familiar radiation processes (transition radiation, diffraction radiation). Several practical accelerator issues are incorporated in a systems analysis. Acceleration gradients in the GeV/m range are projected using lasers with ∼100 GW power. This represents more than an order of magnitude stronger coupling of the laser energy compared to other laser acceleration schemes.
ISSN:0021-8979
1089-7550
DOI:10.1063/1.367416